As much as I w
ork hard to avoid rosacea triggers and make lifestyle changes to keep my skin condition under control, there are times when flare-ups happen. Inevitably, flare-ups happen at points in my life when I can’t just hide myself from the rest of the world.
Flare-ups love to happen right before important occasions. That’s likely in part because my rosacea reacts to stress and anxiety, which I have in spades, particularly ahead of social events. As a result, there are times when, despite my best efforts, covering the redness is my only option.
That said, as with everything when you have rosacea, covering up the redness needs to be done in a certain way. My skin will only tolerate certain products and ingredients and among those, only some provide enough coverage to actually stop the redness from showing through.
Still, I’ve managed to find a system that works for me. My method likely won’t work for everyone as we all have our own triggers and skin intolerances, but I hope you find this helpful in coming up with the rosacea redness cover-up strategy that works for you.
Here’s how I cover rosacea with makeup:
- Cleanse – I always start with a clean face. The last thing I want to do is use makeup to push dirt, excess oil, dead skin cells, pollution, pollen, or other types of irritant against my already reactive skin. I cleanse with a very gentle product that washes away impurities without stripping my skin’s natural protective barrier. For more information about my cleansing routine, check out the post I made about that here: How I Created My Rosacea Skin Care Routine – Part 1 – Cleanser
- Moisturize – While moisturizing is important, something too heavy can alter the way makeup performs on my face. For this reason, I try to choose my best and most easily absorbed moisturizer, and I use as little of it as I can while still doing the job. I talk more about how I select my moisturizer in this blog post: How I Created My Rosacea Skin Care Routine – Part 2 – Moisturizer
- Sun protection – If I’m headed out for an evening, I skip this step. However, if I’m going out during the daytime, sunscreen is a must. I try to choose either an ultra-light fluid for very sensitive skin that will sit nicely under makeup (as opposed to a lotion or a cream) or I go for an all-natural zinc oxide product and apply a thin layer. Yes, it leaves whiteness behind on my face, but when all is said and done, I will be covering it all up with makeup that matches my natural skin tone, so the whiteness doesn’t matter much to me in this situation.
- Primer – I never used to believe in primer. I thought it was just another product cosmetics companies use to make money. Then I tried a very good one meant for reactive skin, and I couldn’t believe the difference it made to the way my makeup looked and performed over several hours. In my ever-so-humble opinion, if you are going to spend money on anything to make sure your makeup looks great without irritating your skin, it should be your primer.
Concealer – I’ve seen a lot of debate in this area. Some people with rosacea swear by green tinted concealer, others use yellow. I use a pale green, and I try to apply as thin a layer as I can. If the green colour is too dark, my foundation won’t cover it up, and the finished product looks muddy and greenish. Not exactly the best look. I won’t use anything darker than a pale minty green. The lime-green and grass-green colour correctors cover the redness but they refuse to be covered by my foundation. That said, since we all have different skin tones, you might find that a different shade of green or the yellow will work for you. If you have access to a makeup specialist who has experience with covering redness, I highly recommend consulting with him or her so you can test a few shades of concealer with your skin tone and to make sure they won’t cause your skin to react.- Liquid or cream foundation – I typically use two types of foundation. First liquid or cream, then a light powder on top. I find that the coverage is better this way and it looks more like “real” skin when all is said and done. That said, because a lot of layers of makeup are being applied, it’s always a good idea to use as little as possible. I use a medium-to-high coverage product and apply thin layers with a very soft brush using a dabbing motion instead of a sweeping one. I do one full layer and then touch up the areas that need a bit of extra help before blending it all in.
- Powder foundation – A high quality mineral makeup foundation can easily become your best friend. I use this to top off my look when I’m having a flare-up, but I use it on its own (without the concealer or liquid foundation) when I’m not having a flare-up. This gives that final layer of coverage with a more finished look than the liquid on its own. I apply it lightly with a very soft flat-top/kabuki brush using gentle swirling motions.
Blush – Believe it or not, after all that effort to cover redness, I do apply blush. With a very light hand, I apply just a touch of sheer pink in the colour that naturally occurs on my face. I add just a tiny bit of it to the tops of my cheeks, over my nose and up the side of my face to my temples. The key isn’t to give my cheeks redness, it’s to break the uniformity left behind by the foundation. After all, I want to look like a person, not a mannequin!
I know that some people go ahead with highlighting and contouring after this point, but I don’t. I already have so many layers of makeup on by this step that I want to try to minimize the “extras.” After all, the more I apply, the more likely I am to have a reaction to something. That said, I go to town when it comes to applying colour to my eyelids and lips. I just make sure to choose gentle products (as my eyes tend to be sensitive, too).
A few extra tips that work for me:
- Read ingredients – At first, it can feel like you’re taking your first chemistry class and you’ve accidentally walked into the advanced lesson, but over time, you will start to learn the common substances and whether or not you want them on your skin. Some of the easier things to watch for are: fragrances, menthol, witch hazel, peppermint, clove oil, eucalyptus oil, salicylic acid, glycol acid and alcohols. For me, they’re an automatic no-no.
- Read labels – Look for products that say things like “hypoallergenic,” “non-comedogenic,” and that are designed for “sensitive skin” or “reactive skin.” None of these labels will guarantee that your skin won’t react to them, but they’re a good place to start.
Keep brushes, sponges and other tools clean – If you give bacteria and other nasties the opportunity to grow on your makeup brushes, sponges and everything else you use to apply your makeup, they will. Spreading those critters over your face with each application will only increase the chance of irritation. I wash most of my brushes in a gentle, natural cleansing solution (I use soap nuts and water) and then rinse them after every use. That way, they’re dry and clean by the next time I need to apply makeup.- Use light, uniform applications – It’s easy to want to slather a thick coating of makeup over your face to cover redness as much as possible, but putting your makeup on too heavily will look worse than it will if a bit of redness peeks through. Add makeup lightly and uniformly. When you work a bit at a time, you can be sure that you’re using the minimum amount of product required to get the job done.
- Wear makeup only when absolutely necessary – There was a time when I’d wake up in the morning and put makeup on, just in case. What if someone knocks on the door? What if I need to rush out at the last minute? The problem is that no matter how great the makeup is, it’s better for it not to be on your skin. My strategy now is to put makeup on at the last minute before I head out or have guests, then take it off the moment I get home. That way, my skin can be clean and “irritant-free” for as much time as possible. Yes, that does mean that I must occasionally receive mail at the door without any makeup on, but if the mail carrier doesn’t judge me for the old, beat-up track suit I wear when I’m hanging around the house, then a bit of extra rosiness on my face won’t make a difference!
That’s it. It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. It certainly comes with a learning curve, but once I have the right products handy, it’s actually quite quick to apply, even at my worst.
I hope you find this helpful. Feel free to comment on any handy tips and techniques you have for covering your rosacea flare-ups. I’m always eager to learn more from other Rosy Friends! We’re all in this together.
will be freezing cold, then the next day will be sunny and summery. That will be followed by another cold snap and then suddenly a rainy, damp day. Temperatures fluctuate. Humidity is up and down. The sun hides behind heavy clouds only to suddenly appear at a huge UV intensity. Not to mention the pollen! If there’s an environmental condition that can irritate my skin, the spring is likely to provide it.
Focus on sun protection – Sun exposure is one of my top rosacea triggers. That being the case, I do think of sun protection as a year-round effort. Particularly as I know that the majority of UV rays still penetrate the clouds. That said, the fact is that I naturally receive far less direct sun exposure in the winter than in the summer. Therefore, I not only need to start paying attention to protecting my skin as I always do, but I also need to keep in mind that my skin can easily go into “sun shock” from suddenly being exposed to far more sunshine than I have experienced in months. I upgrade my sunscreen and start focusing on keeping my face shaded either with large brimmed hats, parasols or staying out of the sun when I can.
Pay attention to seasonal allergies – Springtime allergies are a bit of a double-whammy for me. I have to cope with the fresh release of pollen and molds in the air outside from the damp, mild weather. However, this is also a time when a lot of winter allergies from indoor dust are at their worst because my home has been closed up for a few months. I find that a good spring cleaning, opening windows to air out my home (whenever it’s warm enough to do so) and talking to my doctor about allergy shots/antihistamine use is an important start for every spring. Allergies are a direct route to a rosacea flare-up for me, so keeping on top of them wherever possible is very important.
Focus on overall health – At the same time that I’m avoiding triggers, I also try to place an additional focus on my overall health. Springtime is a beautiful time of year to do that, too. I go for a lot of walks, enjoy some low- to mid-impact exercise and breathe the fresh air. I work on easing my stress and make meals that are packed with nutrients. This improves my overall skin health and general wellness. In this way, my skin is healthier and more resilient and the rest of my body is less prone to illness. Since having a cold or flu is a sure path to a flare-up, preventing infection is also a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
The best thing for you to do is to talk about it with your doctor. This may be your regular general practitioner or it could be a dermatologist.
At first, the odds are that you will be given a prescription and the instruction to make regular appointments for monitoring progress. If you were diagnosed by your general practitioner, this may mean that you will receive a referral to a dermatologist as well. If your physician or dermatologist does tell you to use a prescription and make certain changes to your lifestyle, it is important to follow them consistently and to the letter.
After that first few days, the redness came back with a vengeance. In fact, it worsened. Moreover, the booklet wasn’t joking when it said that a side effect was increased sun sensitivity. Yikes! I wasn’t supposed to mix the medication with my own moisturizers or sunscreens, so I found myself desperately trying to keep to the shade. I bought big hats, and stuck to shadowy areas as much as I could. I felt like a vampire and it did not make for a fun summer!
So I started learning on my own. I researched heavily. At first, I fell for “rosacea cure” scams, but I came to recognize that there wasn’t a cure out there so I should stop looking for it. Instead, I looked into any studies I could find – there weren’t that many at the time – and began thinking of my rosacea from another angle. I stopped looking for something I could simply apply to my face to correct all my symptoms. Instead, I started thinking of my skin as a reflection of everything else going on in my body.
At this point, I’d moved and was seeing a new doctor. My old doctor wasn’t always thrilled when I made any suggestions of my own, so when I saw my new doctor for the first time, I was nervous about bringing up 
At the same time, I stopped caring about my looks as a whole. I didn’t dress up anymore. I didn’t do anything with my hair. I kept myself clean and groomed, but didn’t make any real efforts. Why bother? I’m not saying that people need to wear makeup, dress up and do their hair in any special way. How you style yourself is up to you. But those were things that used to bring me a lot of joy. They were a fun part of my life. Rosacea ruined that for me for a time, and I gave up on them because I felt like I’d never again be able to get the results I wanted.
From my experience of over a decade and a half with rosacea, I hope you will allow me to share these few lessons with you. I’m not a doctor or a skin care specialist. I’m someone with the condition who went through a very long, slow learning curve. I’m hoping these lessons will help you to rocket through the process much more quickly than I did:
Winter’s cold and windy weather is a disaster for those of us whose cheeks are rosy at the best of times. Even if you live in a part of the world that doesn’t experience extremes of cold that are quite as intense as mine, the odds are that your winters are far cooler, rainier or snowier than your summers. If your skin’s anything like mine, that means you’re going to need to switch up your skin care products and the way you use them.
While there are lots of overall 
As I’ve thought about the various skin care and cosmetic products I’ve tried this year, the dozens upon dozens of videos I’ve made on my rosacea vlog on YouTube, and the posts I’ve made on my blog, it has made me realize that I’ve come a long way in a short time. Now that I know what I have learned in the last few months, it would be great to be able to travel back in time and share it all with my younger self.
During that time, I poked around online to see if I could find out if anyone else had “acne” like mine. The more I researched, the more it looked like I had something called “rosacea.” I’d never heard of it before. I read into it extensively and during my next visit at the doctor’s office, I asked if that might be what I had. After a few minor skin checks and a short conversation, I received my first rosacea diagnosis and a prescription for another cream – this one for the right condition.
Frustrated with the loss of time and money on the prescription that didn’t work, I went online again. I started to look for a rosacea cure. It had to be out there. The more I searched, the more I found products, treatments and even home remedies that claimed to be the ultimate cure. People who had symptoms even worse than mine (according to their pictures) reported that they’d “cured” their rosacea with this one simple herbal concoction, “miracle solution” or “scientifically proven serum.”
I have always loved sunlight. It feels wonderful. I didn’t apply sunscreen for the first time until I was eighteen years old. Until I was nineteen, my backyard had a swimming pool in it and my sister and I spent most of our summers either swimming or sunning. I worked very hard to find that balance between a nice tan and a horrible burn. Having very pale skin, both my sister and I have suffered terrible, blistering sunburns.
I’ve called it “living the Rosy Life.” It’s my way of putting a positive spin on the many changes I’ve made to my lifestyle in the name of rosacea prevention and healing. I have tracked, identified and reduced my triggers. I’ve changed what I eat to include more anti-inflammatory foods and fewer trigger foods. I’ve started using soap nuts instead of traditional laundry detergent (one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!). I’ve been using LED light therapy at home on a (nearly) daily basis. I’ve started using 
There are 
Next, comes the ice packs. I know that some people are tempted to apply an ice pack directly to the inflamed skin. I’m of a different mindset. Since I know that my skin reacts very badly to extreme cold in the wintertime, this makes me believe that applying ice directly to my face may not be a good idea. Instead, I take one or two
If it doesn’t look like this will be enough to reduce your redness, a touch of green mineral concealer to neutralise the redness, followed by a thin layer or two of mineral foundation powder can help you to hide it. Use gentle, circular motions with a very soft brush to apply the powders then spritz your face with a little more thermal water to give a more natural and finished look to the makeup (and to enjoy a bit more cooling).