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1 year detailed summary, how I cleared my symptomatic rosacea, and healed my broken skin barrier (triggered by a sunburn)
Hi everyone. I promised myself that I would write a detailed blog about my entire experience with my weakened skin barrier damage (caused by a mild sunburn) which led to Rosacea. I had so much help from the reddit community and I hope this blog of my trial and errors will help someone out there. I was at the lowest of low and I scoured posts for hours a day to grasp at anything or anyone to help me. So I understand, I’ve been there, and it did feel like a never ending nightmare. Fair warning, this will be as detailed as possible, and as always YMMV My stats at the start of the issue 38 Female, 1 ½ years post partum, asian, Fitzpatrick 4. Live in Toronto - hot and cold seasons Normally combo acne/comedone/milia prone skin, oily T zone with dry sensitive cheeks. Prone to PIH Naturally sensitive to the sun, I can burn with certain sunscreens No known allergies I have a history of asymptomatic rosacea - when I Run my cheeks flush, I’ve always had a slight redness in middle third of my face, I have sensitive skin. Pre Skin Damage Routine AM Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser IS Clinical Vit C Pro Health Cetaphil PM moisturizer Elta MD UV clear (for everyday) LRP melt in cream on active days PM Cetaphil cleanser IS Clinical active serum Cetaphil PM lotion How my skin barrier damage started June 2024 I was on San Marini retinol for 3 months, and likely not realizing my skin barrier was weakening. Finally what tipped me over, I tried a skin brightener serum (with acids) and entire face turned red and itchy. 2 weeks later - kinda healing. I stupidly didn’t put enough sunscreen on, so within 2 hours I got a mild sunburn. No blistering, but face was red, itchy, tight, rough. Normal routine was now stinging. Purito cica dermide sleeping pack AM/PM was the only thing that didn’t sting and I lived on that While the sunburn healed. My skin was still noticeably dry, tight, orange peel like skin and painful flushing episodes would come often. Several months later, my condition wasn’t improving and I went to a derm because I was losing my mind lol. I was diagnosed with Rosacea Type 1 and 4 and possible eczema - which I later realized I didn't have. (I should also mention at this time I had just given birth to a baby so hormones are whacked, I was on birth control, and stress was high.) So after months of reading/scouring the net. I decided to drop the birth control as I believe It wasn’t helping my hormonal changes. Immediately went into stress reduction (I was fortunate enough to be able to cut back to part time work) and focused on healthy sleep. Guys I feel you if you are in this state. I was depressed, my mental state was an all time low, and sleep wasn’t great because the heat/pain from the rosacea kept me up at night. If I had to describe it, it felt like someone was stretching my face out all night. Finally around April of 2025. I had enough knowledge to make tweaks to my routine and this is what I found worked for me: Current routine AM Water wash, light towel pat dry Etude 5.5 toner Aestura 365 lotion Toccobo sunscreen PM Bioderma micellar water Cetaphil cleanser Etude 5.5 toner 15% azaleic acid Aestura 365 cream With this routine, within 2 weeks I noticed a 50% improvement in my symptoms. And as time went on it slowly improved to about 60-70% but I still had some flushing, and the nagging pain in my face that wouldn’t go away Finally after a suggestion from a 2nd dermatologist. She believed that though my skin barrier was damaged, it should have healed by now. Although visually I looked normal, she thought internally my capillaries may have been damaged/dilated after the sunburn trigger. So she suggested PDL laser (NOT IPL) I decided to go ahead and did 4 rounds of the laser procedure. Within the 1st round I noticed an immediate improvement to my symptoms. Most of the pain dissipated from my face. By the end of the 4 rounds I would say I was floating around 95% improved. After that I continued to be diligent in my skincare, and I would say 6 months later from my initial laser treatment, I’m completely back to normal. And now 1 year later I’m still in a good state. It was quite a journey. If you went through something similar to me, this post may possibly help you. Keep reading if you want all the deets as it is going to be lengthy.... Medications I’ve tried The below are all meds I’ve tried (In the order I was prescribed them by a derm). My thoughts of why it did or didn’t work. But don’t let my experience tell you if something is working for you or not. Everyone’s skin reacts in a different way. Protopic - after 3 applications I gave up. I was too hot warm and flushed. Looking back though my MD never warned me of the side effects so I thought I was getting worse and stopped, but now I realize that being hot and uncomfortable was normal for a lot of people the initial days of use. That being said at the time my mental stress was high and I couldn’t deal with the heat/pain and being unable to sleep and did not bother to try this again. Ivermectin - I use this only on cheeks and chin. 2 months in and I don’t notice any difference with it. I’ve read afterwards from other people to try it for 3 months before seeing results. But tbh this wasn’t my root cause Zoryve - this made me so dry. I didn’t realize what was causing my dryness at first (since I was testing other skin products at the time). And in my ignorance I couldn’t even fathom my “medication” was what was causing the dryness. But 2 weeks later I realized this intense dryness which literally felt like someone pinching and pulling my skin all day, was caused by zoryve! I gave this 2-3 weeks before tossing Azaleic acid 15% - I used this for about a month, every other night. I didn’t notice a reduction in my overall redness. I use it PM daily and I noticed for 5 minutes after my skin does have a nasty tingle, but then it goes away. While it did nothing for my rosacea, it helped reduce congestion in skin and also reduced my acne. Doxycycline - one of my Derms suggested a low dose of dox for 3 months (or shorter if it cleared quicker, you don’t have to do the full round). I didn’t want to try it because I was worried about it affecting my gut biofilm and also reading on the web, the literature shows the relapse % is quite high, so I didn’t think it was worth it for me. The 2nd derm I spoke to also thought doxy wouldn’t work for me especially because I didn’t have any pustules . Elidel - I was told by my derm elidel is not as strong as protopic. I had quite severe burning symptoms on my face initially and it physically made my face and neck very warm or was inducing some form of flush - to the point I even had a heat rash all along my collar bones the first 2 days! Can you believe it? Anyways I persevered with this poison in a bottle. The first night it woke me up several times from my sleep. I only started with 1 application a day until the burning symptoms dissipated (took about 2-3 days) and then afterwards when I felt more normal again, I started 2 times a day. I kept at it for 2 weeks then called it quits because it did nothing for me and it increased my eye pain/sensitivity. LED mask therapy - while not a medication, I did try and continue to use the LED mask to this day. While I don’t know how much it is actually helping me, I don’t see a difference in redness in the face. Now I just use it to help acne heal faster, and for improving fine lines. During my rosacea episodes, it did not make a difference. Resources The following are resources I thought were helpful in my journey to understanding my condition: Labmuffin - good place to start, she has great youtube videos talking about skin barrier and sunscreen usage. Dr Dray - she’s informative but pretty sciency Dr Shereene Idriss - similar to Dr Dray but less sciency and kinda gives you the what you need to know Dr. Sam Ellis - detailed and easy to understand youtube videos about skin problems wonderful website for information on malasseizia if your issue is fungal based simpleskincarescience.com A guide to cosmetic lasers and laser skin resurface - great information here if you need any laser treatments like i did https://www.reddit.com/r/30PlusSkinCare/comments/1hrl7vg/my_guide_to_cosmetic_lasers_and_laser_skin/ A comprehensive guide for eczema https://www.reddit.com/r/eczema/comments/1h2n57p/my_comprehensive_guide_to_eczema/ A comprehensive guide for hyperpigmentation https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/13wsdpz/misc_a_comprehensive_guide_to_hyperpigmentation/ A comprehensive guide for rosacea https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianBeauty/comments/8on1fe/science_rosacea_the_curse_of_the_celts_xpost/ Products I tried Aquaphor and Vaseline - while popular slugging techniques. They trapped heat for me, and worsened my flushes. By day 3 I started getting little red dots around my face. While not acne, likely the product was too thick/heavy for my skin type. Aveeno Calm and Restore serum + moisturizer - I’ve used 2 full jars. It is bland and soothing, and if you cannot find anything else, this will do. I didn’t enjoy the serum didn’t feel like it did anything for me. I would just repurchase the moisturizer on its own. Aveeno Calm cleanser - surprisingly I felt like this worsened the redness and heat in my skin. Decided not to use it after 2 tries. Avene Xeracalm - I’m not sure if its because of the mineral oil or primrose oil. But I tried this moisturizer twice. First application I felt irritated and had to wash off. Second time I tried to see how it would feel longer and when I washed it off my face was super irritated and raw. Avene Toleraine Baume - I used this for a few days briefly. It felt ok but nothing special Avene Cicalfate+ - I used this as a PM occlusive for 2 weeks. It was mildly moisturizing and thick, a slight white cast but way more elegant than LRP baume. Towards the end it was making my inflamed areas more raw/red. So it wasn’t for me. Bioderma Ato intensive baume - This was pretty thick stuff. Never felt like it sunk into my skin and stayed on the surface, wasn’t a huge fan and unelegant. Cerave PM - this has been my HG for years. I’ve used it for probably 10 years. I stopped because it wasn’t moisturizing enough after a weakened barrier. Cerave cream in a tub - since the PM version worked so well for me I thought I would try something thicker from the same line. By day 3 it started giving me little red spots around my face, like contact dermatitis. And then it gave me the WORST cystic pimple on my chin (And I’m not prone to cystic acne. so needless to say I was scared shitless to try cerave cream again. Cerave Healing Ointment - This was a Dr Dray recommendation. I didn’t have any problems using this as an occlusive. I use a thin layer and focus only on dry areas like cheek and chin instead of the entire face. The ingredients does not contain petrolatum which is why I think it works for me, and also as a bonus I use this as a cheap AM/PM lip balm Cetaphil Diaper Cream - After hearing about baby butt cream basting over social media and other sources, I decided to try it myself. I did this as an occlusive in the PM. The reason I decided on cetaphil was because it was a lower % of zinc (since I knew high % gave me congestion) and it also didn’t contain petrolatum which I was sensitive to. Similar results as the aquaphor. By the 3rd day I started to get my typical red white dots and I stopped using the product. De la cruz Sulfur Treatment in a tube - I tried this on a whim. I started with putting it as spot treatment on active acne - didn’t notice any improvement even after a week. So then I thought my skin could handle the product and tried a pea sized amount on my whole face. I think I left it on for about 7 min, probably shoulda done 3 min. I didn’t notice any improvement and instead it really irritated my skin, I was super dry that evening, and it worsened my redness for about 3 days after. Other people have had great success stories with it. I think it may be better suited for those with pustular rosacea. Element Hypochlorous Acid Spray - I used this AM and PM after my cleanse. I tried this for a month and didn’t notice any difference for me. But since I have a bottle now I keep it at work and I spray my medical mask before wearing it to help with congestion LRP cicaplast baume - It is thicker and whiter than Avene cicafalate. It also irritated my skin after a few days of use. PS I’ve learned zinc is just not my broken damage barrier friend, way too drying Skinceuticals Triple Lipid - When I was desperate, I was ready to pay anything, including a “top tier” expensive skin product to solve my issue. I thought that was what I was missing, “medical grade” ingredients in a 3:1:1 ratio. While this cream looked esthetically pleasing and felt good on application, I did notice a fragrance and was concerned about my sensitivity to parfum. I also noticed when cleansing my face afterwards my skin felt very tight/clean almost like I used a harsh cleanser and stripped my skin of all oils. Within 3 days of using this I started getting my regular red spots around my face. I ended up returning the product by day 4 and got a full refund from skinceuticals (I guess this is the only blessing of a large company). Skinfix Triple Lipid Peptide Cream and Serum- This was supposed to be the skinceuticals dupe. My skin surprisingly did better with this than skinceuticals. I specifically bought this because I felt like shea butter was helping with my hydration. This is a thick cream and leaves a light greasy look, but I can live with it. I started off with the moisturizer and then after a couple weeks added the serum to the mix. I finished the serum and 1 jar. But due to the price and that it didn’t improve anything, will not repurchase Vanicream in a tub - Used for 3 days. While I didn’t have any reactions, it kinda just sat on my skin, was extremely thick and pasty, and obvious white. I couldn’t use this in the daytime because it is VERY thick and not cosmetically elegant, nor does it sit well under sunscreen. But because its neutral and it didn’t give me any reactions, I may revisit it as a PM moisturizer later. Vanicream cleanser - while cheap and boring it makes my skin too squeaky clean, strips all the oils and irritated my skin after a matter of a couple days. Unfortunately not for me. Zeroid Richenic Cream Urea - well known line, I believe the sister brand to my beloved aestura line. I mistakenly decided to try this while my barrier wasn’t fully recovered. I left this on my skin for the PM and by the morning cheeks were so HOT and inflamed and irritated it woke me up and I had to wash it off. I think the urea may be too exfoliating for my condition. I heard this cream does wonders for dry skin types though but maybe not for damaged barriers. Sunscreens Beauty of Joseon Rice Probiotic Sunscreen - chemical - Consistency is medium. Dries 90% clear and white streaks throughout the day. Not shiny. No eye Stinging. Satin to touch. Pilling was intense. I finished the bottle but would not repurchase. Biore sunscreen - chemical - medium consistency. Goes on great, very elegant. But by the end of the week it did give me more congestion. Because of that I could not continue with it. Biore UV kids Pure Milk - physical - consistency is thin. Super greasy, probably the greasiest sunscreen I’ve tried. My skin looked reflective upon finishing, and because it’s so runny, to hit the ¼ tsp I was applying layer on layer which took too much time. It does dry mostly clear. No pilling or eye stinging. It didn’t feel drying compared to all zinc sunscreens. But I couldn’t deal with looking like a mirror lol. Dr G Green Mild up Sun+ - physical - thick and dried with a terrible white cast, I don’t think I could go into public with it lol. It very quickly just became a neck sunscreen haha. EltaMD UV Clear - physical - medium thickness. dried around 80% clear. Incredibly pilling. Couldn’t wear again. Instree Sunscreen - physical - Thick consistency. Dries 80% clear with an acceptable white cast. There is some kind of pore blending or concealer magic going on because the skin does look great with this. I found the zinc sunscreens to be the most drying out of all the sunscreens. LRP Anthelios dermo-kids sunscreen - hybrid with Titanium dioxide. Consistency is thick. Dries 90% clear with some streaking seen throughout the day. Looks very greasy and sticky to the touch (you’re practically a walking flytrap). I’ve used this for 10+ years now for heavy activity days such as hiking or water activities (it has good water resistance) when I don’t need to look presentable, and it keeps my paper thin tissue skin from burning. Warning it does cause minor eye stinging (I don’t recall the old formulation bothering my eyes, but the new one seems to). [HG] LRP Anthelios XL for face and body - chemical - medium consistency. Settles 90% clear. Less shiny than the dermo kids, but still sticky to touch. This caused crazy pilling for me by the end of the day plus eye stinging. I ended up returning the product. Skin Aqua UV Moisture Essence - chemical - Medium consistency - Settles clear but skin looks very glowy. No Eye stinging. Satin to touch. This was great for an everyday sunscreen as long as you are ok with the obvious glow. Even with the right amount of sunscreen on my face, I still felt like it didn’t give as adequate sun protection to my sunsenstive face vs the LRP Supergoop matte mineral - physical - Settled clear, but same thoughts as instree. I tested this when I was trying out physical sunscreens, but likely won’t go back to them due to my personal issues. Supergoop unseen - chemical - Settles completely clear. It looks like vaseline but has a medium consistency. No streaks, no pilling, no eye stinging, and cosmetically elegant. This was great but I couldn’t get over the vaseline feel/consistency on my face. Plus the price point was too high for me as a sunscreen. Would not repurchase Asian Beauty Products Aestura AtoBarrier 365 Lotion - Has a nice feel and texture when you put it on over your skin. I feel like this made a big difference in my hydration when I began using it. I’ve heard the ceramide ratio here is legit. It does have a tacky feel once it driesI have finished 4 bottles to date - 1 bottle lasts a long time CosRX snail mucin - while sticky and hydrating and you gotta get over leaving the film on your face. After 2 weeks of use I didn’t think the any noticeable improvement was worth the stickiness so I returned the product. Haba Lado Premium Lotion (Gold bottle) - thick and viscous. Mainly made up of various HA acid. I didn’t notice any extra hydration or soothing properties with this. I finished the bottle but likely will not repurhcase Instree yam root vegan milk cleanser - I wanted to switch to a pH friendly cleanser that was milky and gentler on the skin. Anyways this broke me out within 3 days, several tiny little bumps. It was the only new product in my routine, so I didn’t go back to it. Kose Softymo Speedy Cleansing Oil - tried this for 3 days. but by day 3 I began to notice my skin was getting extremely dry and orange peel texture and stopped the product. Lots of people love it though, likely the oil combination didn’t match with my skin type, I would try a different cleansing oil in the future Purito Cica Dermide Sleep Pack - I got this because it contained panthenol and squalane. It helped immensely in the beginning when I initially got my sunburn and my skin was dehydrated, cracked, peeling. I basically just exclusively used this and nothing else. BUT when my skin started to heal a bit and was no longer cracked (just dehydrated) I tried using this as I normally did or even as an occlusive and suddenly I started to develop congestion. Small breakouts or little red dots everywhere. Weird. Still couldn’t figure out why, except maybe during my cracked phase my skin was so dry and absorbing everything that it wasn’t able to produce any oil or react? And when my skin healed a little it began reacting like it normally did (god I hate my shitty skin lol). Did not repurchase Skin 1004 Madagascar Centella Probio Cica Intensive Ampoule - Thick serum, just as thick as the aveeno oat serum. It has more calming ingredients and has niacinamide. Personally it didn’t do anything for my moisturization/redness, and felt a little thick to my liking. FInished but would not repurchase. Oils There was a period I tried adding oils to help with moisturization/dryness. While they are great, I only used a couple drops. I usually pat it into only affected areas. Overall they didn’t cause any breakouts but if I used an excess or didn’t cleanse well I could begin to see congestion. I wouldn’t want to use oils long term, but they were great during the height of my irritation. Argan oil - I use about 2 drops of this in my AM. Its a lightweight oil, absorbs easy. I don’t think I saw a big increase in moisturization with it, used for 1 month. Castor oil - I use 1 drop in AM, 2 drops in PM. Thick sticky oil. I immediately noticed a difference within the first day of use. I used this for 2 months during my very dry period to help alleviate my symptoms I don’t use it in my current routine now because it is much too thick and it does cause congestion for me Squalane oil - similar to the argan oil, but felt less hydrating. Used for 2 weeks. Possible Causes - Things I tried to rule out my possible causes Yeast - a lot of people online talk about how a weakened skin barrier will be prone to inviting unwanted pests such as a yeast overgrowth. Even if your derm or MD doesn’t think it is yeast, yeast presents in many ways. I would recommend trying a ketaconazole prescription cream or Nizoral shampoo which has that ingredient in it if your skin isn’t too sensitive. Other people have also mentioned to spray diluted white vinegar on skin which also kills yeast. I tried ketaconazole on my face for 2 weeks and when I didn’t notice a difference, I stopped. Gut health - while focusing on my mental health and trying to cure my rosacea, I ate healthier, reduced my gluten dairy and sugars. I drank bone broth everyday. Made sure I had the proper nutrition and vitamins. I believe this helped during my healing process. Eastern Medicine - I did see a traditional chinese medicine doctor during this time. For about 2 months? And while I didn’t notice any difference for myself, it’s not a bad option for other people. I didn’t continue only because it does get $$ Allergy Skin patch testing - I did this at my derm office. The process itself is very uncomfortable. But any of the flagged chemicals I removed from my home products. Blood tests - I did this to try and rule out any possible vitamin deficiencies. Supposedly, for some people, as simple as vitamin D deficiency can cause a whole boat load of their skin issues Antihistamine - lots of people on reddit swear by a low histamine diet. You can google that. I tried 2 weeks of reactine or some kind of antihistamine at around 10 mg to see if it does anything. (It didn’t do anything for me). Hydration - this is pretty basic. But are you drinking enough water? I used to be unable to drink more than 1 L a day because too much water just made me feel queasy. During my insanity I was willing to try anything lol. So I really pushed for a week to drink more than a litre, and 2-3L a day. While it didn’t help my rosacea, it helped my gut health so now I just keep it in my routine. Some reddit users mentioned it helped their skin YMMV. Humidifier - I bought one and use it every night. It’s winter here and quite dry. While I didn’t notice a difference myself when using this, I still kept with it every night. Some users report a substantial difference or they sit with one at their desk while they work too. If you do decide to use it, really pay attention to their cleaning protocol. It's SO easy for these things to develop dirt and mold and then you’re breathing that stuff in! You have to clean it probably once a week, so it can be a hassle. Pillow cases and towels - I’ve always had a good habit of changing these frequently. I probably change my pillow case twice a week. Shower towels about 2-3 times a week. This is something interesting I read from reddit, some users report that their face towel was the culprit all along. So an easy quick check for this would be to buy brand NEW face towels and use it for a couple months to see if there's any noticeable difference. I would also recommend using a separate towel everyday (Dr Shereene Idriss gave me this idea) for a week before tossing into the wash. Or if you want to be absolutely certain some people buy disposable towels. You can test this theory out and if it doesn’t work go back to your regular routine. Doesn’t hurt to try right? Thank you for reading to the end. feel free to comment or DM if you have questions 😄 submitted by /u/MeanRiver335 to r/Rosacea [link] [comments]
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MeanRiver335 |
May 22, 2026 |