Rosacea Articles

How long have you lived with rosacea?

I was diagnosed with rosacea at 21, which was 15 years ago. Looking back I think I had early signs of rosacea from about 18 but – as I didn’t know what rosacea was and was unaware of the warning signs – I wrote it off as my generally sensitive and fair skin playing up.

What are your triggers?

My list of triggers is long, but my most common ones are stress, extremes of temperature, and alcohol.

How do you manage your rosacea? 

I wish there was a neat answer to this question, but the true answer is that I make hundreds of micro-decisions each day that all add up to keeping my rosacea under control.

The temperature of my shower, the foods I eat, stress levels, alcohol intake, skincare, sleep (amount and quality), the products I use in my hair, in the shower, the washing detergents I use… It sounds exhausting but at this point I am so used to it that I barely notice. I will automatically weigh up everything in my life to decide whether the resulting flare up is worth it. Sometimes it is (e.g. a lovely evening of wine drinking with my friends) and sometimes it’s not.

Each person has different triggers and a different tipping point. Listening to you skin and learning its limitations can seem like a daunting task but it’s so worth it in the end.

You post a lot about makeup. How does covering up work within the skin positivity remit?

This is a topic that is fervently debated even within the skin positivity community. I believe that we can work on our own skin positivity - learning to treat and look at ourselves with love and kindness and even reach true skin positivity - but unfortunately, we still live in a society that judges people on the way they look.

I have been humiliated at work, talked down to, and have had colleagues imply that I am incompetent because of the way my skin looks. No matter how we feel about our skin, people are still treated differently based on assumptions and stereotypes.

I see my role in the skin positivity community as supporting those with visible differences but also educating those who do not suffer. My message reaches further online than it ever could in person and I believe that anything that spreads the skin positivity message takes us closer to a more accepting and kind world.

How has rosacea affected your mental health?

I think this is something I’m still coming to terms with. I was a confident and outgoing child and looking back I can now see how much the changes in my skin impacted my self-esteem and confidence. I didn’t want to speak up at university or in the workplace because I hated being the centre of attention.

The feelings of isolation, helplessness, and hopelessness were all-encompassing and I’m still trying to undo that damage now. I think this is what drove me to start my blog and why I still continue to write it now; I don’t ever want anyone to feel as lost and alone as I did when I was first diagnosed.

I share my tips and advice for the physical side of rosacea, but more importantly I talk openly about how hard it can be to live with an incurable skin condition. I find that these posts and conversations are the ones that people find most useful.

What kinds of unsolicited comments have you received because of your skin?

Unfortunately, unsolicited comments are common with any visible difference.

Often people think they are being funny (“catch the sun at the weekend?”), sometimes they are concerned (“are you okay, you’re really red?”), and sometimes they are implying something a lot more serious (“have you been drinking?”).

It can be exhausting to constantly respond to these comments and it has a negative impact on your confidence as you assume that everyone is thinking the same thing. This is why makeup can be such a helpful tool for people with a skin condition: sometimes we just want to go to work, have a night out, or go shopping without people staring or offering their uneducated opinion.

How do you deal with the emotional fallout of living with the skin condition? Do you have coping strategies? 

Over the years, I have developed some helpful strategies for managing the psychological side of my rosacea. I use positive affirmations to help ground me and remind myself that I am more than my skin, and I also rely on breathing exercises to calm me when my skin is flaring.

I lean heavily on the rosacea and skin positivity community. I cannot tell you how much it comforts and strengthens me to be able to go online and share my story, knowing that I can connect with those who understand and empathise. Finding other people who can share my experience has been one of the most transformative steps in my rosacea journey.

What advice do you have for people who are living with rosacea and may be struggling to come to terms with it?

You are not alone.

You are dealing with something that will have an enormous impact on your life and although some people may not understand that and try to minimise it (“it could be worse”, “it’s just skin”, “it’s just a bit of blushing”), I want you to know that your feelings are valid.

I also try to steer people away from comparison. I tortured myself for years comparing my skin to that of my friends, to celebrities, models. It’s unfair and pointless – you have a skin condition and no amount of comparison or beating yourself up about it will help you.

It’s also unhelpful to constantly think about who you were before rosacea. Yes, it might hurt to look at photos of your flawless skin from a year ago, or 15 years ago, but it does not help you now. Try to look at how your skin is improving now. How does your skin look in comparison to when you were first diagnosed? How do you actions impact your skin now? Try to live in the present, that is where you have the power to make changes that will help you and your skin.

What role does sun protection play in your skincare regime?

I wear factor 50 sunscreen every single day that I am exposed to the sun – whether that’s walking outside, sitting in a car, or working by a large window.

Sun exposure is one of the biggest triggers for rosacea so it’s crucial that sufferers take their sunscreen application seriously. You may need to test out a few to find one that works for you, but I promise there is one out there.

Should we trust influencers who claim to have ‘cured’ their rosacea?

At present, there is no cure for rosacea.

Anyone who claims that they’ve ‘cured’ their rosacea is usually trying to sell you something and I think that’s incredibly irresponsible. When you dig a little deeper, most people have usually just managed the condition to the point that it’s in ‘remission’. They’ve removed every one of their triggers and their skin has responded in kind.

If someone with a peanut allergy stops eating peanuts, we wouldn’t say they’ve ‘cured’ their allergy, we’d say they’ve just ‘managed’ it! I live in hope that eventually there will be a cure for rosacea, but until a person making these claims can also give scientific evidence that their ‘method’ has also ‘cured’ a significant amount of others with rosacea, it’s still anecdotal.

What are your go-to skincare products?

Every person’s rosacea is different and what works for me may not work for you. I use a lot of products from La Roche-Posay (I especially love their Toleriane cleanser, Ultra Fluid moisturiser and the Anthelios XL Shaka Fluid SPF50+), and I remove make up and SPF with an oil cleanser like the Pai Rosehip Cleansing Oil.

I don’t currently use any medication for my skin, but this is what works for me and any decisions around stopping, starting or swapping meds should always be made with your dermatologist or GP.

You can follow Lex's adventures here.