Advice for my skin issues? (rosacea and anti-aging)
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Wed Jan 16, 2013 5:34 am

Hi everyone! I've been a lurker on EDS for a while now and I've found a ton of useful information, but now I thought I'd ask some questions specific to myself that I haven't found answers to. I'm an 18-year-old female, and while my skin isn't terrible, it's not very good, either.

My main skin issue is redness/flushing, which has been a problem for a couple of years now. Rosacea runs in my family, so it's not a surprise, but unfortunately, what I have is much more severe than any of my relatives. I usually have a big flush in the early evening with smaller flushes throughout the days, and visits to multiple doctors and monitoring of my lifestyle have shown that there's no specific systematic problem or triggers (food, heat, etc.), I'm just a flusher. Even when I'm not flushed, my cheeks are blotchy and covered with broken blood vessels. I tried v-beam (purpuric) last summer, and sadly it did absolutely nothing to improve my skin. I decided to try IPL earlier this month since I'm not in a place right now where I can take multiple days off to recover. However, I'm becoming a little concerned about possible negative effects after reading some horror stories online. While I'm having the IPL done by a doctor, the doctor was initially very reluctant to perform IPL at first, saying he only does it on patients with large broken vessels or severe rosacea. He even said IPL can cause blemishes later on, which I've never heard before. We ended up doing a test which produced no problems (so far...) but now I'm a little concerned about doing any further treatments (which I know would be required to see results...).

If IPL/V-beam don't work, what are other ways you guys recommend I work on improving my flushing and broken capillaries? The think I'm most curious about is red light therapy/LED, particularly the Baby Quasar, but would it be possible to damage my skin using it?

On another note, my second skin concern is lines/wrinkles. I know I'm still young, but my delicate skin and face shape have already led to lines/light wrinkles in my nasolabial area and at the top of my cheekbones (they extend from the inner corners of my eyes and go out in a curve-- there's no muscle that caused them so I think they may be sleep lines even though I sleep on my back). Anyway, I want to get rid of these lines! Smile

I've been using a DIY vitamin C serum and OTC retinol (ROC) for several months no but to no avail. The two things I feel would be good next steps are a stronger retinol/retinoid and facial exercises.
1)retinol/retinoid: might something like green cream or retin-A (bought online) help or be harmful? I'd only be using it in the areas with lines.
2) facial exercises-- I'm really curious about this but also scared about potentially ruining my skin. The main facial exercise/massage methods I've looked at are ageless, flexeffect, carolyn's, and the tanaka massage. Do you think doing any of these would be beneficial at my age? I'm really determined to get rid of these facial lines! I was thinking carolyn's combined with the tanaka massage might be the most gentle, but I'm not sure if they'd be effective in my areas of concern.

Anyway, what tips/advice can you all give me? My new year's resolution was to improve my skin, but I want to make sure I do it in the right way. Smile

Thanks in advance!

Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:09 am

Try to use products contains calendula and lavender. Smile

free skin care · Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:24 am

I still am a big fan of the Proheal, whether IS CLinical or Phyto C.
I also like Cereve nighttime cream, and Clinique BB cream which helps calm redness.
I found that the retinol products like Retin A are too much for my rosacea skin and actually made it worse.

Wed Jan 16, 2013 5:52 pm

I forgot one other thing I was curious about-- dry brushing. Might this help with the broken capillaries by thickening my skin? Or could it worsen them? As you can see above, I have lots of things I'm considering but I don't know what to try first/what to avoid.

Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:21 am

Hi Lexiophile,

I'm not nearly as experienced as many contributors on this forum, especially in terms of gadgets - haven't tried any yet - but here a a few things I can point out from my own experience (sensitive skin) although we are all so different:

I would steer away from powerful active ingredients in skin care products (anti-ageing/wrinkle) unless you have been specifically advised to use them. I have delicate sensitive skin and I've found that I'm best on gentle products. The Avène range is great for this, it also includes anti-redness, calming creams.

Also, I've generally not responded well to nice organic, natural lotions and potions, probably down to the essential oils being too potent for my skin. Shame! Natural products can be strong stuff.

If you are considering facial exercises, choose a system that gives you good access to the founder/trainers. Carolyn's Facial Fitness / Flexeffect to name just two, I can vouch for their good support.

Note that facial exercise programmes often incorporate handling/massaging of the skin anyway, so at least for the first few months I would not add any other massage as you will be getting enough with the exercise regime.

Re dry brushing, personally I would stay away from this. At least for now while you have the broken caps.

Lastly, I'd introduce things one at a time, with a good space in between. Any new cream, treatment, massage, exercise, device, etc. Then you know what's causing what, what is helping. You probably do this already, but worth mentioning.

It is very easy to overdo it! Some people are lucky in that they respond well to all their treatments, but many of us have a bumpier ride, so go steady and you'll be fine!

HTH Smile

Dotty

free skin care · Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:20 am

I do dry brushing but not on my face. I also do not do any microdermabrasions anymore, the derm and estheticians advise against it. Gentle exfoliaiton is the key.
Learning the hard way but rosacea is difficult to treat. IPL's are a very good defense. Having undergone the Finacea and Oracea rout for several years as well, but that did not work either. The Differin just made me break out hidously.
That's why I just did the Cutera Excel V laser to be done with orals/topicals. Painful, but hopefully well worth it.
Then it is back to the basics of Clarisonic, proheal and gentle peels, etc.
We shall see!

Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:26 pm

Dotty, if you tried Carolyn's and flexeffect, which one did you like better? Why?

Fri Jan 18, 2013 4:43 am

Quote:

Dotty, if you tried Carolyn's and flexeffect, which one did you like better? Why?

I couldn't say one's better than the other. Actually with Flexeffect I never got past the "maintenance" toning exercises rather than the programme proper, but that is because my skin reacted strangely to facial exercises, no matter what the programme, so in the end I stopped. In fact I bought the Flexeffect programme initially to get the support from their trainers. They were incredibly helpful and supportive and actually advised me against buying the programme until I was really ready to try exercises again. I bought it anyway because I felt I needed a lot of support at the time, and I got it, so it was well worth it.

My face has responded pretty unusually, and the issue is not so much with the programmes, which many benefit from, as with my facial skin.

What you will find is that, for mysterious reasons, different programmes suit different people (and a few people like me may unfortunately never suit facial exercises). It may be a question of trial and error.

So, I can totally vouch for Flexeffect in terms of their knowledge, long experience and commitment to supporting users on their forum, which you can access once you've purchased.

Carolyn is very kind and responsive too. She's brilliant at getting right back to you and answering questions.

Both programmes are hands-on and involve massage. The reason I suggested them is for the support, so you can get specific guidance for your skin condition. Indeed you could get in touch with Carolyn and Flexeffect before you even make a purchase (Flexeffect also have a public forum).

Dx

free skin care · Sat Jan 19, 2013 10:26 am

Hi there!

My main skin issue is also rosacea (although at my age, I am starting to be concerned about eye wrinkles and nasolabial sagging as well!) and I have tried many things over the years: antibiotics, homeopathy, IPL, topicals like finacea, rosacea-targeted skincare and taking vitakin K. I only saw minimal results in the case of the antibiotics but I couldn't take them indefinitely, so after 2 months I stopped. Also, I only did 3 sessions of IPL so I can't say if I would have seen results had I stuck with it.

A recent discovery of mine that calms my skin somewhat (though the effect is very short-lived and I do get flushes during the day) is the Rodial Dragon Blood range. I've used the toner, day cream, serum and mask and they all contain this anti-inflammatory ingredient called -you guessed it- dragon's blood. I was very hesitant about the toner but it turns out that the toner and the day cream are the products that worked the best for me. The mask doesn't absorb very easily and kind of peels off if I scratch my skin, and the serum (which is much more expensive in relation to the other products in the range) breaks me out. After I wash my face, I spritz the toner, leave it to get absorbed and then apply the cream. And all the wake up redness and the redness that resulted from the washing immediately diffuses. It may be partly due to the fact that the cream is very white pigmented (because of the SPF?) and maybe that whiteness covers some of the redness. So far it's one of the best anti-inflammatory mainstream ranges that I've used and the price isn't exorbitant either (around 35 pounds for the cream if I am not mistaken).

As for a home remedy that I recommend (especially for the summer months): I mix yogurt with an aspirin (not the coated kind) dissolved in a little water and leave them on my face like a mask. It provides a temporary relief!

I hope this helps, I'm also looking for an effective rosacea/broken veins treatment, so if anyone has any other advice to share, please do!

free skin care · Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:20 am

In my opinion after doing 7 or so IPL's is that the results are pretty min. at best, depending on the place or person who does it.
That's why I upped the ante and did the Excel V. Results wise, nothing has topped it and the price was comparable to an IPL.

free skin care · Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:49 am

I've read the thread you posted about this treatment and indeed it sounds very promising! I should look into it. Thank you for sharing your results with us!

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