My Favorite Products So Far

[Guest guest]

OK,

I've been " lurking " in shadows of this group for quite some time.

I've leaned so much from all of you, so I figure it's time I offered a

few pointers back. I'm still trying many of the products/methods

offered by Dr. Nase and the group, but I'd like to make a few

quick observations about my experiences thus far. And I'd also

like to recommend HIGHLY a product that I've not yet seen

discussed in this group.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

My rosacea is primarily the red, face, neck and ears flushing type

with very little acne (I think I had enough of that to last a lifetime

during my teens). I first noticed the " lingering redness " around

my nose and cheeks about 8 years ago when I turned 30. At first

it only appeared after I worked out heavily and dissappeared

within 30 minutes. I have never been kind to my skin. I treated the

entire facial area with Vanoxide (a STERIOD acne medication)

daily for years and years + sun + alcohol + tanning beds, etc, etc.

But I managed to avoid any serious issues until about 3 years

ago when I noticed the redness had moved beyond the center of

my face and was becoming semi-permanent. I also noticed a

few broken veins (telangectasia) on my cheeks, but they didn't

bother me nearly as bad as the daily " sunburned " look. I begin to

get comments ALL the time, like " man, did you get some sun or

what? " It really began to get me down. I almost developed a

phobia around it. In fact, to this day I still have a debate with

myself every time I get near a mirror as to whether or not I should

look in it or not (hint: grocery store mirrors are the WORST).

Well, a few years ago I finally found the strength (or desperation)

to walk into a dermatologists office and face the problem.

Diagnosis: cea. Believe it or not, it was a relief to at least

know what it was. Unfortunately, finding a " cure " has not been so

easy. I tried many different things that many different

dermatologists recommended, but didn't start seeing any real

improvement until I found this group.

To keep this message to a reasonable length, I'll skip straight to

the things that have worked the best for me so far.

BEST PRODUCTS

#1 - CLARINS MOISTURIZING TINT. This is the VERY best

product I have found to date, for a number of different reasons I'll

explain. I have not seen this product discussed on this board, so

I'll go into a little detail. Clarins Moisturizing Tint was actually the

first thing I found that actually helped my face before i discovered

this group. About two years ago I was desperate for anything that

would help hide the redness WITHOUT looking like makeup. I

finally decided to make an appointment with a cosmetologist at

the local Foley's (department store). I was so paranoid about

standing out in the store trying on " makeup " that I asked her if we

could do it in the back room. She was very accomidating, and let

me go through almost every product in the store that could help

mask the redness. Funny thing (in retrospect) ...at one point

while I was trying out products, this kind of nice but very fey male

employee comes bursting into the back room, sees me trying on

these products, and shouts " Oh, I just LOVE it when men use

makeup. " I thought I would die. Since then I've become a LOT

less embarassed about the whole thing. Anyway....through the

process of trying all these things on I found this CLARINS

product. I bought it for it's ability to cover without looking like

makeup, but have since found that it does much more than that.

1) it has a #6 sunscreen. Not enough to use by itself for daily

cover, but great for evenings, or in a pinch 2) It CALMS my face

like nothing else (except maybe Zinco...but more on that in a

minute). I am extremely dedicated to working out. I lift weights

about 5 days a week for 45 minutes, followed by about an hour of

cardio (eliptical trainer, treadmill, running, step aerobics). This is

NOT something I am willing to give up because of my rosacea In

fact, eating right: complex NOT processed carbs, low saturate fat

and almost no sugar, and working out both seem to help my

roscea. BUT, after I work out and shower my face is a MESS,

generally bright red all over, but ALWAYS in the center of my face,

nose, cheeks, etc. I now keep a tube of Clarins Moisturinzing Tint

in my car. As soon as I get out of the shower at the gym, I make a

B-line for my car where can apply it without feeling self

conscious (I've gotten to where I can even do it while

driving...scary isn't it?) Within minutes the redness calms down,

plus the tint makes it so you almost can't tell I had a flare at all. I

use this product EVERY day. Not only is it great for covering

redness and calming flares, but it also moisturizes my face as

well as anything I've tried. I does not make me break out in the

least. Plus, I've found that if I use a light coating of this after the

Zinco in the morning, it makes my face look less shiny. I don't

remember all the ingredients, but it's all super gentle, natural

and high-quality. I know that Titanium Dioxide is the chemical

sunscreen. It's not cheap (about $30 a tube). But it lasts a long

time and is worth every penny. I don't know what I would do if they

took this product off the market. NOTHING else I've tried comes

close to it in terms of covering red without looking like makeup.

and I've tried a lot of other products (CityBlock didn't come close).

There are several different shades, but I've found the BISQUE

works perfect for my skin (medium light skin) You can find it at

any upscale department store, but I now order it online through

Cosmetic Mall, usually in large enough quantities to eliminate

the shipping charge. Here is the web address:

http://www.cosmeticmall.com/cosmeticmall/frame.asp?Mode=5

0

OK, I guess this message is sort of going on and on, so I'll do a

quick rundown of my routine and the products that work best for

me.

Morning

1) Shave with Panasonic Electric Wet/Dry Razor (irritates slightly,

but still better than any shaving gel and razor combo).

2) Shower - Hot water, but keep it off face. Then turn water on

almost cold and wash with Zia Cleanser. Great stuff. Not overly

expensive. And travels to the gym in these cool little, refillable

sized bottles.

3) Pat face dry with cotton towl.

4) Apply Zinco (1/2 tinted, 1/2 untinted...another great tip from the

group) The tinted alone is too shiny. The untinted alone makes

me look like a cadaver...creepy. Together they work great. Mix it in

the palm of my hand. Hint: (just learned this) Less is more. Don't

slather your face. Light coats works just as well and look LESS

like makeup.

4) Clarins Moisturizing Tint (I like this stuff. Can you tell?) I dot

this around face then blend it in. I takes almost ALL of the shine

out of the zinco and covers the red even further.

5) Wait a second then press Kleenex against face. This takes

out the last bit of shine. I swear it looks like my own skin (I have

an issue with looking like I'm wearing makeup...can you tell?)

The Zinco & Clarins have done amazing things for my skin. I still

plan on getting Photoderm, but some days I wonder whether I

really need it. Other days (like all of us) are worse.

DURING THE DAY

I don't generally do anything, but I keep the Clarins Moisturinzing

Tint in my car. If I'm having a bad day (flair-wise) I'll rub in a little

more of the Clarins. It almost always does the trick. I know I'm

building this product up, but it really has helped me SO much.

ARRIVE AT GYM

I used to try to wash my face before i worked out so I wouldn't get

" makeup " on the white gym towels. But I found that washing

always made the gym-related flaring worse. Plus, I've found that

if I leave the morning's topicals on, it actually helps my face stay

calm during my workout. Now, I generally just jump right into my

gym routine. Once I work up a sweat, I'll wipe my face off with

tissue from the big dispensers they have scattered around the

gym. The color comes off on the tissues and I quickly toss these

into the trash. After that, I can use the white gym towels without

worrying that I'm going to leave them looking like Tammy Faye.

POST-WORKOUT SHOWER

Clarins in the car. Already discussed this.

AT NIGHT

I'm still working on this part. I've gone through a BUNCH of

different stuff, but the verdict is still out on what works best. I

really am beginning to think that my skin looks best with

NOTHING else applied at night beside the Clarins I already put

on after the gym. Here's the lowdown on a few other products:

ceaCare Facial Gel. My skin likes this stuff a lot. It seems to

help calm the redness and be helping to heal the broken

capillaries. It has a slight greenish tint to it that also helps keep

the redness down. I've experiemented with applying this first

thing in the morning and wearing it during the day under the

other topicals, but not positive it helps yet. My face tends to be

oily, and this keeps it more " mat-finish. "

ceaCare Moisturizer. Ditto, except this adds more

moisture/shine than Facial Gel. When I wear this at night the

slight wrinkles around my eyes look better in the morning.

And Finally - A Few Things That Didn't Work For Me

Noritate - Feels nice, does nothing for redness

ceaCare Serum - WAY expensive and doesn't seem any

better for my face than the Gel and Moisturizer.

ceaCare Stronium Lotion. Big bust. And I had such high

hopes for this product. I think it actually made my face redder. But

the company was really nice about it. Gave me my money back.

And ordered some more Facial Gel.

LOTS of other products didn't work or made the problem worse,

but I can't think of them all right now, and I've gone on FAR long

enough. Hope this helps. Drop me a note if you have any

questions.

Kent