So that it permanently stays away?
What is rosacea? Why are my cheeks so pink? And small lumps have turned up and the redness won’t go away…….. and what are those small red veins? Broken capillaries?
These are the common questions women ask their beauty therapist, doctor, and dermatologist.
If you have any of the above symptoms, you may be suffering from rosacea.
How do you know for sure if you have rosacea? – here are some of the symptoms;
- Constant redness, usually across your cheeks, nose, chin and forehead.
- Small bumps resembling acne.
- Stinging and burning skin – some or all days.
- Patches of rough, dry skin.
- Larger pores sometimes – not always.
- Broken blood vessels on your eyelids.
- Bumps on your eyelids.
What are the causes of rosacea?
There are several factors that cause rosacea. These include hereditary (genetic), environmental, vascular, and inflammatory factors as well as reaction to the demodex mite (microscopic mite that lives on human skin, commonly called ‘eyelash mite’).
Another reason which is extremely common is a compromised acid mantle – which is the skin’s protective layer.
When you have a damaged or compromised acid mantle, your skin is exposed and vulnerable to external factors, such as dirt and bacteria. More importantly, in this case, it is less able to regulate the amount of water loss through the surface of the skin and cannot maintain its proper pH levels, which need to be slightly acidic for optimal function. This creates dehydrated and sensitive skin, which in turn will exacerbate the occurrence of rosacea.
By creating a strong and intact acid mantle, your skin can protect itself, maintain its proper pH levels, and reduce the amount of water loss through the skin’s surface.
Besides damaged acid mantle the main causes you have rosacea are; hormonal, internal inflammation, inflammatory diet, gut issues and overuse of medication.
You need to treat the problem from inside as well as out, most treatments are about treating the problem by using an antibacterial cream or cortisone cream – these solve the problem short term – but not long term, plus they compromise the protective layer of the skin causing the problem to keep on reoccurring.
By treating the skincare problem with natural acid mantle protecting and rebuilding skincare plus a specialised diet you can clear up the problem permanently.
The Rosacea diet is the same as my eczema diet it seems to be hard work – but I promise you it will work! If you need more help you can book in a glowing skin appointment and I will tailor a diet for you.
But to start off with – let’s get you using the correct skincare!
How to treat rosacea through proper skincare.
Firstly, we need to ensure your skin doesn’t get stripped in any way. The biggest problem I find is that rosacea is often treated as if it were acne and foaming cleansers are used (which are not any good for acne either!)
Rosacea is called acne rosacea because it often does look like pimples, but they aren’t pimples – they are small, inflamed spots.
Cleanse twice daily with an oil cleanser such as the Everything Skin Oil removing it with a soft cloth such as a muslin cloth of face washer. Replace your muslin cloth or face washer every few days – you don’t want dirt, makeup and bacterial build up in the cloths (caused by makeup residue in the cloths or environmental – such as mould, or bacteria from the toilet when it is flushed because the seats weren’t put down YUK ) to end up on your face again.
If you are wearing makeup – double cleanse to remove all dirt – same applies if you work in an office, or in the city even if you don’t wear makeup because of air-conditioning bacteria or pollution.
The oil cleanser will gently lift off the dirt and leave a protective layer on your skin – helping it keep the acid mantle intact.
If the oil cleanser is a wash off one, or a foaming oil cleanser – it is NOT an oil cleanser. These oil cleansers still contain soap bases which strip the acid mantle. It must be an 100% oil cleanser.
Then your skin needs a product which protects it – the cream must be emollient – not one loaded with water and or chemicals – if it says aqua or water as the first ingredient you know it contains 70% water – this is not going to protect your skin.
Also avoid active ingredients such as AHA’s. The only active ingredient I recommend you apply is a quality Vitamin C – therapist prescribed, or a natural occurring Vitamin C serum with no petrol by-products in it.
You need to use a completely natural – ideally organic buttery balm like cream which leaves a protective film over the skin such as the Everything Skin Cream.
Avoid creams containing chemical humectants as they draw moisture out of the air when there is moisture – but out of your skin when there isn’t – such as an airconditioned room or heated room, or when we are in a drought.
You can use natural humectant ingredients such as Honey, Aloe Vera, Allantoin and Seaweed Algae.
Chemical humectant products are; glycerine, sodium hyaluronate, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, sodium PCA, and sorbitol.
One natural humectant which I don’t recommend is Hyaluronic Acid – although this is naturally found in our skin – it still draws moisture from the air or your skin – and can be extremely drying – this is better replaced by a diet high in hyaluronic foods – but that is another blog post (subscribe if you would like to read it!)
I am a massive fan of light therapy. Light therapy stimulates the cells to renew themselves whilst repairing them and therefore healing the skin. Use light therapy with a correct skincare routine and the correct diet such as the eczema diet which is a non inflammatory diet and you will have healthy glowing skin in no time!
As always – if you need help – book a glowing skin consultation with me.
Yvette x