Rosacea Makeup? - YouLookFab Forum

Thistle

Veteran

Do you know what triggers the rosacea?

It can be set-off by certain dyes, scents, etc. That may help is finding the right make-up choice

6 years ago

BrieN

Veteran

I can't help you with the foundation because my Rosacea is the opposite--flares horribly with chemical sunscreen. Kat Von D tatoo liquid eyeliner has worked beautifully for me. As always with Rosacea YMMV.

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Thistle, the underlying reasons have to do with medications and electrolyte levels and so forth, and too complex for now. But as far as topical sensitivity, I basically don't do well on my face with anything super moisturizing or super drying. I'm allergic to Shea Butter (respiratory allergy) but it wouldn't do my face any good anyway. And Drying essential oils like rosemary, peppermint, eucalyptus, witch hazel are also reliably bad.

BrieN, Do you do just a standard subtle daytime liner with the liquid eyeliner? I'm actually NOT sensitive to the Urban Decay liquid liner, but have only managed to make a party cat-eye style look good with black liner. Are you using black? I might need to try brown liquid for daytime.... thinking....

6 years ago

Dagmar O

Active Member

This is my first time commenting after having joined approx 10months ago but rosacea is such a difficult problem to deal with that I had to jump in. I have never been able to isolate a trigger as it seems that just breathing can make me flare up but it is definitely worse when I drink wine or am stressed. Mine began shortly after a course of antibiotics that caused me to have a severe sun reaction. I have suffered from Rosacea since my mid 20's and am now in my mid 50's.
I've used many types of products to cover the redness on my face which is quite severe and have had the best luck with mineral powders, however, I only have redness with no breakouts. Lately, I have been using Jane Ireland pressed powder (SPF 20) and underage cream concealer as it really covers my problem areas while looking quite sheer on my skin. Occasionally, when my skin feels dry, I use the Jane Ireland BB cream which is very full coverage but since I have to follow-up with a powder to set it, I usually stick with a powder foundation as it is so simple. I don't wear eyeliner but do use Lise Water eye pencils and Benefit mascara. I use a Charlotte Tillsbury highlighter and contour powder sometimes and I use a Nars pressed powder blush. My eyebrow pencil is by Babor. As a face cream I use SK-II for a toner/essence and then Reversa anti wrinkle cream (SPF30) for its anti aging properties (this product is counter intuitive as it contains glycolic acid which irritates many rosacea sufferers but it has not bothered me.)
I hope this helps!

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Dagmar O, Welcome! I’m glad you decided to comment. My rosacea onset story is similar. It started because I have to take Plaquenil (hydroxychoroquine) and for me it causes terrible sun sensitivity; I get hives from the sun if I’m not careful. This is particularly maddening, because plaquenil is used in other people to be a treatment against sun sensitivity and to decrease getting hives from the sun! Yet in some small number of people, it has the opposite effect. So, it’s not that surprising that the corollary is that I also have the opposite sunscreen sensitivity as most folks with rosacea.

However, when I need to take oral antibiotics for whatever reason, then my rosacea goes away completely. So complicated! So far, I only treat it with topical antibiotics, metronidazole gel. I’m tolerating the sun a lot better now, though not nearly as well as before Plaquenil.

My number one food trigger is sodium chloride! This is compounded by the fact that I also tend towards low blood pressure, so if I eat too low salt for too long I get lightheaded. Perhaps this solves your mystery trigger? Certainly alcohol and stress tend to cause people to eat saltier foods.

On a practical matter, I’m wondering if there are one or two vendors that carry all of the different products which you suggested? I’m hoping not to be ordering from many different websites if at all possible.

Also, as a general rosacea product recommendation, I kept seeing forum recommendations for the CeraVe cream. Since I generally don’t need any cream, I wasn’t sure what to do with that recommendation, but then I came across their hydrating cleanser at the store, and it has performed beyond my wildest expectations.

Thanks for responding. I’m sure others will also benefit from your suggestions.

6 years ago

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

I am not a

rosacea sufferer, but you may want to give the I.T. Cosmetics B.B. Cream a try. It is spf 50, pretty full coverage, a physical sunscreen. My skin is finicky and it seems to do well with this product. It's also covering enough that it would probably cover your redness. Beware, it runs dark, though. Buy a shade or two lighter than you think you need.

FWIW, I have heard Jane Iredale products are extremely good as well for sensitive skin.

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Jenava, Perhaps your suggestion of the I.T. Cosmetics B.B. Cream will be a winner for someone here with a more typical rosacea case. I’m backwards girl. No ability to use physical sunscreen.

I use Neutrogena chemical sunscreen, SPF 110 for direct exposure of over 5 minutes and SPF 30 for after 5pm or very overcast/rainy days. I’m looking for makeup that is purely makeup: especially since I mostly want it for evening wear.

ETA: I was initially trying to say that I’d settle for a tinted sunscreen if it was only chemical based, but not if it was mineral based.

6 years ago

Dagmar O

Active Member

3style, it is interesting to read your theory on salt. I have a weakness for it and it is one thing that I never tried to eliminate to see if it was a trigger. Funnily enough, I also have low blood pressure! One of the really frustrating aspects of this condition is how differently it presents person to person. What works for one person really does not work at all for the next.

In terms of where I buy my products, Jane Iredale is sold through spas where I live or through Amazon. Everything else I buy through Sephora except my mascara which is available from our local drug store chain with a very solid beauty section (Shoppers Drugs, a Canadian store).

BTW, I should have done an 'anti' auto correct spell check….my foundation products are by Jane Iredale, not Ireland, and the concealer cream is undereye, not underage!

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Dagmar, yes I realized about autocorrect. I’ve had autocorrect change something to be the F word, so I’m pretty careful about double checking for unintended words.

6 years ago

Barbara

Active Member

I have suffered from rosacea for many years. I have tried to mask it without success until about 2 years ago. I stumbled across Smashbox primer for redness. Beautiful thin formula. Then I stumbled across Clinique Redness foundation ( not sure of the specific name). Love it! It gives me sufficient coverage without looking ‘made up’! Now willing to have photos taken of me without having photographer sign an affidavit swearing they would photoshop the redness out before posting a picture!!!

6 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Facial redness is such a problem - I constantly get asked about my 'sunburn'! Like Barbara, I'm a fan of Smashbox green primer - sometimes alone and sometimes followed with a little BB cream.

Too bad mineral doesn't work for you. I've been spending time outside in the garden since I retired and have been using a zinc based 50 SPF sunblock for babies that leaves a slight white film That knocks down the red. A family member commented that my skin looked really good and chalked it up to my recent retirement, but I think it was a return to using Cereve products and the mineral sunscreen!

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Barbara and Runcarla: I’ve had good luck with smashbox products in the past. I think I hit upon a couple of discontinued products from what I had been using and then kind of forgot about them. I’ll check it out.

From Clinique redness solutions I only tried their yellow tinted powder. It was not irritating but difficult to not look jaundiced, so I never really thought about that product line again. Will look more carefully.

Runcarla do you use Smashbox brand of BB cream?

I’m actually okay with the bareMinerals brand of mineral sunscreen powder, but it’s not enough sunscreen by itself and awfully chalky looking on top of already whitish sunscreen. I’ll try to think about if it makes sense to use as a touch up powder or something like that.

ETA: It’s mineral sunscreen in a liquid or paste that is a problem, but not in a dry powder.

6 years ago

April

Veteran

I try to use a "full coverage" makeup with sunscreen for my rosacea-prone cheek. A dab of "green stick" will counteract the redness as well.

As far as brands, right now I'm using L'Oreal Infallible Total Cover, over a coating of Eucerin Daily Protection Lotion for sensitive skin.

I need to experiment more with green primers, because the one I bought is too sheer and silicone-y and slides all over my face.

6 years ago

shiny

Veteran

I've told my story here before: I had horrible and ever worsening rosacea. Dermatologist ran all the tests. Turns out I had a severe B12 deficiency. Long story short, it's some genetic thing that affects 6% of the population and the deficiency had been going on for years and years. Solved the B12 deficiency, and the rosacea went away. (Well, I'll still get a bit red-faced if I drink too much wine but nothing like it was).

During that time I did like the Clinique anti-redness products.

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

April, Thanks for the recommendations. I will add those products to the short list. Probably Eucerin would be more of a winter product for me, but the L’Oréal might work now.

Shiny, that’s really interesting. Hoping other readers will check this out.

My B12 level is tested at least annually. Last time was about 4 months ago. Right now my levels are good. But my rosacea was not half so bad back when I was having B12 shots, so it might be worth seeing if doing shots again improves things, or if I might be able to absorb it by mouth since I’m off of acid blockers now.

6 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

I wonder if I had rosacea? Last year, my lab report indicated low Vitamin D. A nurse practitioner friend told me that’s common as you age. Anyway, I started taking a multivitamin with 250 percent of the RDA of Vitamin D, but it also has 417 percent of the RDA of B12. My face was always kind of red, but I assumed it was because of birding/hiking outdoors, even with sunscreen. But now the redness has really lessened, even with birding in the Arctic for 14 hours a day.

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

JAileen fascinating. Do you mind telling me the name of that supplement? You can PM me if you prefer. I’m supposed to take lots of VitD anyway so this might really help me.

6 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

3style, it’s just Centrum Silver multivitamin.

6 years ago

BrieN

Veteran

Have never even heard about B12 Rosacea link...am ordering supplements now!

6 years ago

shiny

Veteran

I think it's important to remember that rosacea is just a symptom. It can have a lot of different causes. Low B12 is just one of them, not the only for sure.

JAileen they started me on the shots for months since my B12 levels were basically zero by the time I was dx'ed. Then they tried to switch me over to oral B12 (cyanocobalamin-- the stuff most commonly found on your drug store shelves). My levels rapidly tanked yet again. More B12 shots to get the levels back up again. Then they tried oral methylcobalamin B12 and that was just the ticket. For some reason my body can absorb that type and not the other. I take 5000 mg a day.

Note I had a whole bunch of other symptoms not just rosacea. Google B12 deficiency symptoms and I pretty much had them all. I have some permanent nerve damage in my feet (although they've recovered quite a bit, which is why shoes are bugging me so much these days). But it was the rosacea that I went to the dermatologist about. She almost didn't test my B12 levels, but she'd tested nearly everything else she could think of and that all came back clean.

6 years ago

tulle

Veteran

I feel for you, 3style. I had a bout with rosacea a few years ago that lasted for several months. I found then that all pencil-type cosmetics (lip liners, eye liners, eyebrow pencils, etc) were bad for me. I used very little make-up during that time for fear of worsening the condition. A little Physician's Formula light-toned bronzing powder made the redness look more like a healthy glow, and Almay Clear Complexion concealer/corrector used in small dabs helped around my nose and eyes. I still use and like both. But I was lucky: after much trial and error, I discovered that my rosacea seemed to stem from a reaction to certain microorganisms that thrive in skin oils. I cut my hair short and began using Selsun Blue (any shampoo containing selenium sulfide would work) every day on my hair and eyebrows, and the rosacea stabilized and eventually went away completely. I don't know whether it would work for you, but it may be worth a try. I no longer use that shampoo (it's a little rough on hair over time) but I keep a bottle handy, in case. Now I use only shampoos, soaps, and toothpaste that contain no laureth sulfates--another irritating, and very common, ingredient. I still avoid most make-up pencils, and anything oily, including expensive face creams. My cleansing ritual is ridiculously cheap and easy: I wash my face with a very simple, unscented soap, rinse a lot, then apply a very small amount of vaseline to my wet skin, and pat dry. I still keep make-up to a minimum, but I no longer worry much about my skin; it's clear, soft and healthy. I wish you luck in finding out what's causing your rosacea. Don't give up--you will find lots of information online from fellow sufferers that may help you.

6 years ago

krishnidoux

Veteran

Still reading the comments, but had to jump in.

Fellow Rosacea sufferer here.

Recently, I found out - it was a real epiphany - that the best way to prevent the flaking/uneven coverage/shine effect/patchy application is to use a silicone primer (I use La Base from Chanel and it changed everything for me). I still use serums and sunscreen moisturizers, only I added this one step before applying makeup, and suddenly multiplied my makeup options. I must add I found a brush to spread concealer and makeup, not my hands, yields better results.

I have also been using the precription Retin-A cream Stieva-A for 4 years now, and my rosacea - which also gave me nodular acne - doesn't bother me nearly as much as it did before. However you have to be prepared for an acclimatation period for the cream (about 1 month). It helped to mix it with moisturizer.

Now, when I see a rosacea flareup - often right before my periods - I rub a little bit of the Stieva cream and it goes away within about 4 hours.

6 years ago

krishnidoux

Veteran

Shiny, this is so interesting! Thank you for sharing.

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

One of my doctors started me on a digestive enzyme formula which seems to be making a huge improvement in the rosacea as well as the Raynauds. The bottle says that it isn’t for continuous use, so I’m not sure how long he wants me to try it, but at least for the next two months.

WRT makeup so far I’m just making an effort to think about using a little bit to make things look better rather than a lot to make things look perfect. Because if I use a lot of product, then my skin gets too oily or dry in response. I’m thinking that I can get through the summer with my existing makeup and then try suggested products when the weather gets a bit cooler.

6 years ago

Dagmar O

Active Member

Hi 3style
Would you consider elaborating on the digestive enzyme formula you have been prescribed so that I can ask my doctor about it? I haven't heard anything about this in my years of on again/off again research into rosacea. BTW, in addition to my rosacea, I have also been a lifelong sufferer (since childhood) with Raynaud's. I just wonder how these things get started - it is truly perplexing to me given my overall excellent health and lifestyle….

6 years ago

Helena

Veteran

I had mild rosacea a few years ago (not sure why it came or why it left) ... Two random things that helped me were coconut oil applied very lightly to the red areas daily, and also wearing blue, which visually calms the look of the redness for some reason. Good luck!

6 years ago

3style

Veteran

Dagmar, the product is called Interfase Plus from Klaire labs. http://Www.klaire.com. I’ve tried many other enzymes on and off for about 15 years for other reasons but none have been nearly this effective. The odd part is that it contains lysozyme from egg white. I’m so allergic to eggs that flu shot gives me a rash, and isn’t recommended for me. But this product is great. These enzymes are intended to break up biofilms (cloaking mechanism) produced by pathogenic bacteria in the intestines. The idea is to bust up these bad cell colonies and break them down and expel them and replace them with better bacteria. This particular doctor likes to try things on the leading edge of available medical knowledge. There’s a lot more components involved for the full protocol; antibiotics, probiotics, liposomal glutathione, liver cleaning herbs, special colostrum products. And as I mentioned upthread, I take Plaquenil which boosts effectiveness of other drugs. It’s a whole bag of tricks. If you’re really interested PM me and I can get into even more details.

6 years ago

Faith

Active Member

I have the same rosacea as you, I get hives from the sun and no mineral sunscreen. I use the Obagi line that my derm recommended to me and after trying hundreds of sunscreens, I really love the Elta MD which costs me a fortune to order in from the US. I like the Jane iredale line but I’ve also had luck with Laura mercier foundations and tinted moisturizers that don’t use mineral based makeup. I feel your pain! The extreme heat or cold weather can cause me to flare up although my derm has started using an IPL on me, lightest setting, and that has helped me as well! Interesting connection with b12, I’ll be mention8ng to my doctor next time.

6 years ago

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