Constant flushing and blushing, red bumps and pimple-like lumps… that’s what rosacea often looks and feels like. Trust us — if you know, you know. While it can be frustrating, rosacea can be managed with the right sensitive skin products, plus a few helpful tricks, tools and tips.

In this guide, we’re going to go over the basics of rosacea, including how to live and thrive with it. Here’s what we’ll go over:

Ultimate Guide to Skincare for Rosacea

• What is rosacea?
• What causes rosacea?
• Is there a cure for rosacea?
• Does makeup make rosacea worse?
• Skincare ingredients to avoid if you have rosacea
• The best skincare products for rosacea
• The best makeup products for rosacea
  
  

Rosacea is a fairly common skin condition that causes extreme sensitivity and reactivity to environmental changes. It can look or feel very different from person to person. Common symptoms include frequent or permanent blushing, general facial redness from enlarged blood vessels, hot flushes, and often a pimple- or acne-like rash. 

Unfortunately, the exact causes of rosacea remain unknown. Rosacea is different to normal sensitivity that almost everyone else faces occasionally — for someone with normal skin, it can be relatively straightforward to work out why your skin is suddenly sensitive. For someone with rosacea, there may be multiple causes that trigger a flare-up. Management comes down to experimenting and identifying rosacea triggers to avoid.

A few common things that are known to trigger redness include spicy food, alcohol, sun exposure, extreme heat or cold, stress and — perhaps unsurprisingly — harsh skincare products. Yep, choosing skincare and makeup designed for extremely sensitive skin can play a huge role in keeping those flares at bay.

Unfortunately, there is no long-term cure for rosacea. Unlike normal skin sensitivity, it generally doesn’t come and go — the symptoms of rosacea just need to be managed a little each day.

The best ‘cure’ for rosacea’s symptoms is prevention: which means avoiding your own set of particular rosacea triggers and creating a unique skincare routine for your skin sensitivity. With that said, if you suffer from rosacea, there are a few treatment options that you can explore with your doctor or dermatologist. A common symptom of rosacea is permanent redness caused by dilated blood vessels under the surface of the skin — laser treatments and intense pulsed light (IPL) are designed to reduce this dilation. Likewise, oral antibiotics, topical creams, lotions, gels, and sensitive skincare regimens can help reduce inflammation and redness.

Above everything, it’s important to keep in mind that a treatment or management technique that works for one person won’t necessarily work for everyone. It’s important to speak to a healthcare professional familiar with your unique skin needs about what is best for you.

Full disclosure: some makeup can make rosacea worse. However, the good news is that not all makeup products will necessarily cause a flare-up — it’s just one of the myths we are trying to crush about using makeup with sensitive skin. 

By using only dermatologically-tested makeup products (like ours at Innoxa), you can reduce the chances of causing redness, inflammation or irritation. Before you use any makeup all over your face, it’s important to perform a patch test. Just dab a small about of the product onto a small, inconspicuous part of your neck and wait 24 hours to see if redness or irritation develops. If there’s no change, you might just be in luck!

There are many common rosacea triggers hiding inside popular skincare and makeup products. Frustratingly, some of the worst offenders also happen to be some of the trendiest ingredients on social media. For example, Salicylic Acid and Witch Hazel are touted as wonder ingredients for acne-prone skin but can be triggers for anyone with rosacea. 

Some common ingredients that are known to trigger rosacea flare-ups include:

• Sodium laurel sulphate (often found in foaming, bubbling products like shampoo)
• Anything labelled as ‘fragrance’
• Alcohol (sometimes labelled as ‘isopropyl’)
• Witch Hazel
• Salicylic Acid
• Lactic Acid
• Glycolic Acid
• Glycerin
• Rose Water
• Glycerin
• Peppermint oil
• Eucalyptus oil
• Tea tree oil
• Camphor
• Urea
• Menthol
• Retinoids.

It’s important to stick to skincare formulated for sensitive skin, like Innoxa’s dermatologically tested sensitive skin range. It’s also a great idea to get comfortable checking the ingredients list on any new product before you try it. We recommend saving the list above to your phone for future reference!  

So now you know which ingredients to avoid, what should you be looking for in rosacea-friendly skincare and makeup? Three words: gentle, gentle, gentle! 

Flare-ups can be tricky to keep at bay if you don’t have the best skincare products for rosacea on hand. Firstly, daily sun protection is non-negotiable to protect your sensitive skin. Next, mild and dermatologically tested cleansers and light moisturisers free from triggering ingredients are a must. Products with ingredients like azelaic acid and hyaluronic acid, and anti-inflammatory ingredients that nix redness, like niacinamide, get a big tick of approval.

Don’t be tempted by face masks, facials, exfoliants, peels, and other non-essential treatments. These should also be approached with caution, as they can irritate the skin and trigger your rosacea. Now, let’s take a look at some specific products we recommend if you’ve got rosacea.

Best Cleanser for Rosacea

Best Moisturiser for Rosacea

Innoxa Super Sensitive Day + Night Cream
$29.95

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Formulated with high-performance antioxidants, Vitamin E & Edelweiss, Innoxa Super Sensitive Day + Night Cream is a gentle cream that will leave your skin moisturised, soothed, and protected from environmental irritants. It’s been formulated without fragrance and contains a variety of nourishing fruit waters from apple, orange and jojoba seeds.

Whether your skin is oily or dry — when it comes to rosacea, things can go either way — moisturising regularly is an important part of managing flare-ups. Keeping your skin moisturised can help reduce peeling, dryness and roughness which may present itself as redness or bumpy skin texture. It’s important to only use a moisturiser formulated specifically for sensitive skin. 

Best SPF Protection for Rosacea

CC Cream
$29.95

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Let’s start with an important point: wearing SPF daily is essential for all skin types. However, sun exposure is one of the common rosacea triggers, so daily sun protection is even more important if you’ve got extremely sensitive skin. 

When choosing sunscreen, there are some key ingredients to look for if you’ve got sensitive skin. Dermatologists advise using a sunscreen that offers broad-spectrum protection (that is, it blocks out both UVA and UVB rays) and contains SPF 30 or higher. Some other ingredients you should be after include zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (or both), and silicone (which may be listed as dimethicone, orcyclomethicone, or cyclomethicone). These are friendly for sensitive skin.

It’s also important to choose a sunscreen that is fragrance-free. Hot tip: if it says ‘unscented’ rather than ‘fragrance-free’, put it back onto the shelf. These aren’t the same thing!

Once you’ve aced your base with a rosacea-friendly sensitive skincare routine, it’s time to get thinking about your makeup kit. All the gals are here: primers, foundations, concealers, colour correctors, you name it! With so much product variety out there, making good choices can be a murky business.

Like with skincare products, what matters most is identifying triggers and keeping an eye on that ingredient list! As a general rule, opt for fragrance-free formulations and choose mineral-based makeup if possible. If in doubt, chat to your dermatologist or GP and always test out any new products before applying them to your whole face!

Best Primer for Rosacea