Anti-redness care

In this article, we're going to talk about skin prone to redness, whatever the cause - irritation, inflammation, vascular inflammation - whether it's part of a real pathology such as acne or rosacea, or the result of simple irritation caused by winter temperatures or cosmetic products, because one thing links them all: an alteration in the cutaneous barrier. So the origins are different, but the basis of skincare techniques remains the same: cleanse, moisturize, treat and protect.

Effective serums:

For serums, we look for two ingredients: azelaic acid for inflammatory redness, such as pustular rosacea or acne, and tranexamic acid for vascular redness, particularly in the case of vascular rosacea.

Tranexamic acid:

When you look in the classic rosacea guides, there's no mention of tranexamic acid, yet it seems to me that this active ingredient should have some potential on redness of vascular origin, so I did some research and was confirmed in my intuition.

This scientific article tells us that tranexamic acid improves rosacea by regulating immune dysfunction and new vessel formation, and this other study, this time clinical, also shows the efficacy of tranexamic acid in vascular rosacea. Even so, the number of scientific articles is not enormous, and it's more a matter of presumption than of well-established fact.

Azelaic acid:

The other ingredient is azelaic acid, which is effective on redness of inflammatory origin, as in rosacea and acne, but is also effective in improving brown spots caused by the sun.

Anti-redness creams

I've selected either "anti-redness" creams or two creams with a minimalist composition to minimize the risk of allergy.

For severely damaged skin, don't neglect repair balms like eucérin's Aquaphor balm, which contains occlusives such as kerosene, glycerine and pantheon, and is a sos skin care product for highly irritated skin.

For sensitive skins who want to use a minimum of ingredients in their cosmetics, Laroche posay's rosaliac anti rougeurs intense may be of interest. It contains ambophenol, a plant extract rich in anti-oxidants.

Causes of redness :

Skin redness can occur as a result of completely different problems.

Skin inflammation caused by acne or rosacea, or irritation caused by allergy, eczema or a bad reaction to cosmetic ingredients, but also redness resulting from dilated vessels, often as part of vascular rosacea.

Allergy :

In cosmetics, allergies can be caused by a wide range of ingredients, including preservatives, perfumes, plant essences such as lavender, thyme, mint, eucalyptus and, of course, sunscreens. As soon as you have a bad reaction to a cosmetic product, you should keep the list of ingredients, as this will enable you to cross-check this list with a new one in the future, should you have a bad reaction to another product.

Irritation :

Redness can also occur as part of sensitized skin, in which case there is no real allergy, but rather an irritation caused by cosmetic products, often because you've overdone them or used too many of them. cleansing care If you find yourself in this situation, the solution is simple: simplify your skincare routine, temporarily stop using irritating active ingredients and focus on soothing products.

Rosacea :

Rosacea is a chronic, inflammatory disease with a series of cutaneous manifestations that correspond to the 4 types of rosacea. The first type I'm going to talk about is the vascular form, which can be characterized by flushing at the start, which corresponds to vasomotor flushes.

Redness can become permanent, with the formation of fine, red vessels characteristic of couperose. The second form of rosacea is papulopustular rosacea, which resembles acne. The inflammatory component is significant in this form, which is often aggravated by a parasite called Demodex. There are also hypertrophic forms, known as phyma, and ocular forms.

What all these forms have in common is that they are often associated with skin manifestations such as itching, burning or tingling.

The origins of rosacea remain a mystery, but there is clearly a genetic predisposition, with an increased frequency of the disease in fair-skinned people; there is also a vascular source, with hyper-reactivity of the vessels; demodex infection is an aggravating factor in papulo-pustular forms; and of course, as always, exposure to UV rays is an aggravating factor.

How to treat redness:

Skin redness can therefore have very different origins, but what they have in common is a dysfunction of the epidermal barrier.

An interesting approach to treating redness, whatever its cause, is to adopt a soothing skincare routine that strengthens the skin barrier and incorporates active ingredients that are effective in reducing redness. This is the area where I've done the most research to bring you scientifically-proven advice.

Nevertheless, the simple act of adopting a facial care adapted without any real active ingredient can significantly reduce redness, according to this study published in April 2021.

So cleansing, moisturizing and protecting are the basics, and they work.

So I'm going to show you some interesting products to adopt for an effective skincare routine for redness. In the second part of the video, I'll talk more specifically about lifestyle habits and effective medical treatments for rosacea.

Redness care routine

And we start with cleaning.

My recommendations include washing with lukewarm water, and especially not hot water, as this induces vasodilatation, leading to facial erythema. Granular cleansers should also be avoided at all costs, as they cause skin trauma.

Although cleansing the skin is an important step in skincare, surfactants in cleansers can weaken the epidermal barrier function by degrading corneocyte keratin and the lipids that form the cement between cells.

Since patients prone to redness have an altered skin barrier, they are more sensitive to irritating surfactants such as sulfates and to the hydrogen ions contained in soaps.

Among the cleansers I can recommend:

Among cleansing oils, we have iunik's calendula complete cleansing oil, which will easily remove your sunscreen or make-up. It contains very few ingredients, including calendula extract, canola, jojoba, macadamia and sunflower oils, and is fragrance-free. In short, it's the perfect cleansing oil for skin prone to redness.

hada labo's rotto gokujun cleansing oil, which also removes stubborn sun creams and make-up, contains olive oil and hyaluronic acid. Excellent value for money, I particularly recommend it for people with dry, sensitive skin.

Foaming gel crealine by Bioderma is highly effective, yet gentle. Its composition includes Glyceryl oleate for hydration and Coco-glucoside, a non-ionic surfactant, and Sodium cocoamphoacetate, a derivative of coconut oil, as cleansing agents. These two active ingredients are among the least irritating, which is why sensitive skin prone to redness can use it.

And the last is the Laroche Posay dermo-cleansing fluid which is in fact a cleansing milk, is ideal for people with irritated skin, as it is particularly gentle. It contains only 8 ingredients, including glycerine, with few cleansing agents. This is an advantage for people with sensitized skin prone to redness.

Exfoliation:

When it comes to exfoliation, I wouldn't recommend AHAs, glycolic acid, lactic acid, etc.

I'd steer you more towards a salicylic acid with an 1% dosage like Paula's choice Calm 1% BHA Exfoliant which will provide gentle exfoliation for sensitive skin, this type of product is great if you have pore problems, or papulo pustular rosacea.

If, however, you wish to use an exfoliating acid with a view to anti-aging care I suggest you turn to PHA "lactobionic acid and gluconolactone".

On the other hand, if your redness is caused by acne, these products won't suit you because they're not powerful enough. I'd recommend a product with 2% salicylic acid instead.

Moisturizing: an essential step:

This step is essential for strengthening the skin barrier.

My first piece of advice is to avoid ingredients likely to cause irritation, such as perfumes, but also high concentrations of urea and essential oils, which can cause irritation.

Among the moisturizers we can recommend.

In lotions, COSRX's advanced Snail Mucin power essence contains 96% snail mucin and allantoin, which is interesting for its moisturizing, repairing and soothing properties.

Among moisturizers, if you have irritated skin, you can simply use classic moisturizers containing soothing ingredients such as panthenol, niacinamide, licorice root or Centella asiatica. If you just have sensitized skin, you can simply use the classic soothing creams I often talk about, but today we're going to focus on creams labeled anti-redness from French parapharmacies.

Sun protection :

Daily sun protection is an important part of rosacea management. Sun exposure is a common trigger of acute rosacea flare-ups, and the damage created by UV rays can also contribute to the emergence of rosacea. Acute ultraviolet light can aggravate rosacea by stimulating the production of pro-inflammatory peptides and reducing the skin's antioxidant reserves.

However, finding a well-tolerated sunscreen can be difficult for rosacea patients.

Mineral sunscreens can be interesting for rosacea sufferers, as can creams containing silicone.

SkinCeuticals MINERAL RADIANCE UV DEFENSE SPF 50 may be a good option for those who prefer mineral protection.

For those who prefer sunscreens with organic filters, I advise you to avoid irritating filters suspected of being endocrine disruptors, such as oxybenzone, enzacamene, octinoxate, octocrylene and homosalate.

For skin that needs extra moisture, SVR's cicavit spf 50 + is ideal. Normally, with this cream, there's no need to use a moisturizer. moisturizer. This cream is not really whitening, but it is brighter than its predecessors. The filters it contains are UVINUL A PLUS, ISCOTRIZINOL, TINOSORBS, UVINUL T150.

Aloe soothing sun cream SPF 50+ PA+++ is a sun cream SPF 50 PA 3+ with a moisturizing and soothing action thanks to aloe vera and glycerin. It also contains silicones, but personally this is not a problem, and it does not whiten despite the presence of titanium dioxide. Ideal for dry, normal and combination skins.

Lifestyle habits :

As for lifestyle habits, you should avoid spicy food, very hot drinks and alcohol, especially if you have flushes triggered by any of these three elements.

Medical treatments :

Pustolo-papular forms generally respond well to local medical treatments, while vascular forms rely more on laser treatments.

For vascular rosacea :

YAG laser treatment reduces redness and signs of vascular rosacea, such as the small red vessels known as telangiectasias. Laser treatments are effective on rosacea and reduce, but of course do not prevent, rosacea recurrences. 

As for medical treatments, there are many, and your dermatologist will be able to advise you.

Another treatment for patients with diffuse redness, but no clearly visible vessels, is brimonidine gel, a vaso-constrictive treatment that reduces redness. One problem is that the skin of rosacea sufferers is very sensitive, and the application of this treatment can itself create redness.

For papulopustular rosacea:

Ihere are various medications available, as well as photo-modulation treatment. Already mentioned in my video on acne, this treatment will reduce inflammation and decrease the number of papules and pustules after 8 weeks. Please note that you must stop any retinoid treatment if you undergo this treatment.

Concerning medications, number 1 is doxycycline, an antibiotic with an anti-inflammatory action, which is why it's so useful. If you're taking this medication, you should stop applying retinoids and be aware that it's a photosensitizing treatment, so you'll need to step up your sun protection.

Number 2 is metronidazole cream, which acts on demodex as an anti-parasitic agent.

Number 3 is ivermitine, which is also an anti-parasitic that acts on demodex.

Lastly, adapalene or tretinoin can also improve papulopustular forms of rosacea, but are generally poorly tolerated due to side effects.

Visit anti-redness care for sensitive skin

Medical reference:

Zhang H, Tang K, Wang Y, Fang R, Sun Q. Rosacea Treatment: Review and Update. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2021 Feb;11(1):13-24. doi: 10.1007/s13555-020-00461-0. Epub 2020 Nov 10. PMID: 33170491; PMCID: PMC7858727.

Li Y, Xie H, Deng Z, Wang B, Tang Y, Zhao Z, Yuan X, Zuo Z, Xu S, Zhang Y, Li J. Tranexamic acid ameliorates rosacea symptoms through regulating immune response and angiogenesis. Int Immunopharmacol. 2019 Feb;67:326-334. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2018.12.031. Epub 2018 Dec 19. PMID: 30578968.

A total of 382 participants were included in clinical studies which showed the AR formulations significantly improved facial redness associated with winter xerosis on sensitive skin patient.