Protect skin and prevent rosacea flare-ups with these soothing SPFs
Sun protection products can seem like boring necessities, but there are great formulas about even if your choices are narrowed by rosacea
April is Rosacea Awareness Month and perhaps the most useful tip for preventing a florid flare-up from skincare is to simplify your routine.
Gentle cleanser and broad-spectrum UV protection are daily essentials. All rosacea-prone skin needs the latter, even cases that also require professional help.
UV exposure can cause inflammation, redness, and vascular swelling. Sun protection products can seem like boring necessities, but there are great formulas about even if your choices are narrowed by rosacea. There’s no need to settle for a product that has a pasty cast or ruins your makeup just because it has “for rosacea-prone skin” on the label. Choosing an SPF you like instead of one you feel compelled to wear makes you more inclined to apply enough. If you don’t go for one of the ones featured here, keep an eye out for something similar: an alcohol and fragrance-free, broad-spectrum, and mineral-based SPF30 or higher with proven soothing ingredients like allantoin, liquorice, or niacinamide.
fincaskinorganics.com
Finca founder and Irish entrepreneur, Finola Fegan, has rosacea and understands that less is more. Her products combine plant-based ingredients with gentle preservatives. This mineral-based SPF has just seven ingredients and a sheer tint. Major ingredients include spring water, organic olive and jojoba oils and organic vegetable glycerine.
I must point out that organic substances are not established as superior cosmetic ingredients to synthetics, even if some studies show certain organic foods, for example, to be higher in nutrients. However, this formula’s broad-spectrum UV protection and lack of chemical sunscreen or fragrant ingredients make it a great choice for sensitive or rosacea-prone skin.
The tint comes in two shades, a biscuity light-medium and a bronzed medium-dark.
Ultra Violette founders, Ava Matthews and Bec Jefferd, went into sun care to create products that look good, feel nice, and in Ava’s words “don’t bore us to tears".
The Australian duo’s Lean Screen zinc-only sunscreen shields the skin from photo-ageing, rosacea-aggravating rays. Antioxidant kakadu plum helps to protect the skin against free radicals, while plant-based water-binder pentavitin attempts to keep it hydrated.
Lean Screen’s gentle, fragrance-free formula and matte finish make it an ideal choice for oily and rosacea-prone skin. It also comes with the nice reminder that mineral sunscreen ingredients are reef safe.
Hello Sunday’s name is inspired by the idea that while only the first day of the week is named for the sun, its rays affect skin every day (“every day’s a sun day”). If you have rosacea, you may keep notes or a skin diary to monitor your triggers. Sun exposure is one of the most common. This is the brand’s mineral formula, a normal-to-dry skin moisturiser with plant-based oils and waxes. The tint best suits fair skin.
Available in four shades including translucent, (Re) setting gives you peace of mind while protection your skin and perfecting your makeup. You can also use it on bare skin to create a matte finish.
The formula is non-cakey and almost a quarter zinc oxide. There can be few better products for topping up your protection without compromising a perfectly contoured face.
Women are more likely to be affected by rosacea, but men tend to show more severe symptoms. In an American National Rosacea Society survey of more than 2,000 patients, both men and women reported flare-ups on their chin, cheeks, and forehead, but men were more than twice as likely to have experienced rhinophyma, a subtype of rosacea that enlarges the nose. Symptoms include excess tissue and thickening of the skin. The combination can be mistaken for signs of alcohol abuse.
While all the products above may be worn by anyone with rosacea, it is a major shortcoming of the skincare industry that there isn’t as wide a variety of fragrance and alcohol-free broad-spectrum SPF products targeted at men, and still fewer that are mineral-based.
Then there are the unsightly cosmetic issues women can conceal with makeup, such as a very shiny or tinted finish. I am recommending this EltaMD SPF because of male dermatologists that have spoken (without sponsorship) about using it themselves. It’s fragrance- and alcohol-free and has a light texture.
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