Ask Merle! Rosacea

4 min read

So, you may have noticed that there was a chance to ‘Ask Merle‘ on the 5pm Health and Beauty Facebook page last month. This will be a regular thing, every month, so if you have any beauty questions you want answered, then please do look out for the Ask Merle FB post, and get asking!

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This month’s question came from Marisa, from Glasgow, who asked: “I’m looking for new foundation, but there is so much to consider, I’m in need of some help.  I have Rosacea and whilst my skin is pretty much smooth and in good condition, I suffer from the trademark redness and thread veins so require decent coverage. Also, my skin is pretty sensitive and I feel a stingy sensation with a lot of the products I try on my face so it’s really difficult to find something that works. The final thing that every woman wants is a nice light feeling with my foundation so my face doesn’t feel caked in make-up, but also whilst getting decent coverage! Tricky!

So, firstly, what is Rosacea? Rosacea is actually a very common skin condition, particularly in fair-skinned people, so us Scots are very susceptible to it. It begins with episodes of flushing – when the skin turns red, and  progresses with other symptoms which can include burning and stinging sensations, permanent redness, blood vessels in the skin becoming visible, and little spots can also occur.

The first thing to think about when looking for a foundation if you have Rosacea, is not actually the foundation! Think one step before, and address a primer. A green-toned primer will even out the red tones in your skin,and means you can  then really try any foundation you like. I asked Boots No7 Consultant Debbie Booth for her opinion, and recommendations.

With mild rosacea I would recommend using green colour primer,” Debbie agreed. “No7 have a hypoallergenic one called Colour Calming Primer (£10.50), and this is particularly good for people that have sensitive skin. The trick with this is less is more, and with rosacea I would recommend gently patting any product onto the skin as rubbing only aggravates the redness.”

Boots Match Made service

“Concealer would be next so what you would need to do is match it to your normal skin tone and not where the redness occurs. I would highly recommend using a concealer brush as this will provide enough product onto the skin and leave it looking smoother and more natural. No7 now has a match made service on concealers so we have a large selection of colour shades to match our foundations and again being hypoallergenic it’s great for those with sensitive skin.
“Foundation would be a personal choice but I would recommend at least a medium coverage for this type of skin problem and remember depending where you suffer from the redness just apply the foundation where you need it, which generally is the centre of the face. Again, I highly recommend using a brush as before like with the concealer brush you are going to get a much smoother natural finish and remember no rubbing just gentle patting!

 Smashbox have a huge range of primers – their Photo Finish Colour Correcting Adjust Primer (£25) is their green-toned one, perfect for helping with redness in the skin. And Clinique launched a range of superprimers recently. Try their Superprimer Colour Corrects Redness (£20), which will help correct red tones in the skin.

Rosacea primers

The best way to find the right foundation for you is to go to a counter, and ask to be matched. Boots have a Match Made Service on foundations and concealers, and have an excellent range, for all skin types. Bobbi Brown have an excellent range of foundations, in a vast colour scale – go and ask at counter for the best advice.

You can also address the problem of rosacea at source with tailored skincare. Clinique have a great Redness Solutions range, which includes a foundation – Redness Solutions Makeup SPF15 gives moderate coverage and addresses red tones in skin.

Clinique Redness solutions

Try using Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream (£37) and Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser (£17), as well as a Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base (£17) to treat the problem at source. And Clinique’s products are hypoallergenic, and should be suitable for sensitive skins.