Getting the Red Out
No, we’re not talking about eye drops! The red we’re referring to here is the redness of the chronic skin condition rosacea. It appears to be more common in women than men and often presents itself in middle age or later. Although we don’t know the cause, rosacea is an inflammatory condition characterized by dilated capillaries on the skin’s surface. Symptoms can include easy blushing and flushing, as well as skin thickening, pimples, and persistent redness, mostly on the forehead, nose, cheekbones and chin.
To help diminish the effects of rosacea, we recommend you follow an anti-inflammatory diet which contains essential fatty acids and supplement with flax and borage oils. Also, make sure you keep your skin very clean – do not wash with just water. Use a gentle but thorough cleanser with alpha lipoic acid like our Nutritive Cleanser morning and evening. Also talk to your dermatologist about additional treatments that can help.
Hello. I have been a user of your prducts for years (glycerin soap wash and/or Lancome’s Exfoliance(now discontinued…followed by Serum Prep, Neuropeptide Contour, either Amine Complex Face Treatment or Evening Facial Emollient and thenwith Advanced Face Firming Activator in the mornings, only. Previously I had had monthly glycolic acid peels and used a combination of Biomedic and Skinceutic (for the Vitamin C which Biomedic hadn’t managed to stabilized at the time.)
I then went through a metabolic disorer of some sort for 3yrs, rapid weight gain and loss (approx 93-150 lbs; loss due to no eating changes on my part; gain attributable to my eating a lot until I reached 120 and then being unable to stop the gain when returning to my normal diet.) It was determined that a life long over-exposure to xeno-estrogens ( had always cared fo the family’s pools; rode horses and sprayed fly spray on as many as six a day – and myself, if OFF wasn’t handy and paid to have my horses boarded in barns where insecticide was released automatically into the barn’s air; lived less than 150 yards from one Country Club and 1/8 mile from another – in a neighborhood of “competitive lawn maintenance.” I had also been married to a French Chef who didn’t belive in microwaves, so when the time came to take care of my Mother, I had had a microwave installed and failed to realize that the fumes from non-microwave approved plastics are xenogenic. Unfortunately the Chinese restaurant down the street had sturdy take out dishes, albeit unapproved; they didn’t warp in the microwave and I learned to cook using them, inhaling those gases every time I opened the door. I later learned that the liquid part of nearly all liquid soaps, including shampoos and dish washing soap is a petroleum by-product, which is naturally sweet smelling – and also a xenoestrogen. I was very sick. It appeared and was diagnosed as depression from time to time. I am certain that at times I was depressed, by the uncertainty of what was wrong with me, the weight swings, total lack of energy, and drug side effects. The long and short of it was that I began to have sensitivities to Z. Bigatti products and most fragrances during this period.
A nurse a Memorial Sloan Kettering noticed that I had long hair and had kept a diary. The applications of golf course chemicals, boro special weed spraying, and nearly simultaneous applications of yard treatments, plus my handling of chlorine in the summer months, coincided with the times that I was literally almost unable to move.
My hormones were eventually brought into line; low thyroid and adrenal fatigue were diagnosed; and I started on natural hormone replacement therapy.
At which point I became unable to tolerate your products and the symptoms of rosacea began to be evident. Now I am able to tolerate only clear gylcerin soap, and Dermalogica’s Ultracalming Cleanser, Daily Microfoliant (2-3x week,) sometimes their Soothing Protection Spray, (but not if my skin is irritated from the elements) and a product called Barrier Repair. Also their Total Eye Care. I am also using Finacea, with good results.
I can wear Blisslabs Skintwin, another discontinued product, which is a tinted foundation, but I have to blend it with a moisturizer and gel blushes. Almay’s eyeshadows do not bother me. I really have never found a mascara I liked which wasn’t waterproof and now I can’t tolerate those, as occular rosacea has been confirmed as well.
However, I would like to see products that get the results of your Neuropeptide Contour and Face Firming Activator as well as a skin lightening (age spots caused by sun exposure) topical treatment which won’t irritate my skin. No luck on that front yet. I can get away with using Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisturizing Lotion, and discontinued Almay Kinetin Skincare products.
I have read that the rights to an advanced version of Kinetin have been sold and will becoming into production perhaps this fall.
I never used these Almay Kinetin products myself, they belonged to my Mother – who chose to shop for the products after they were discontinued. They are non-irritating, but do nothing to speak of for my skin. I shall probably try the new Kinetin products when they are introduced.
Do you make a firming, tightening, and/or lifting product that will work on my skin? It is relatively firm, my only complaints other than this d**m rosacea are crows feet and small wrinkles around the corners of my mouth, which I can live with. I do wonder if your Deep Wrinkle Serum might help the crow’s feet…no signs of Rosacea there as yet. I have to wonder, though, as Rosacea is a vascular and reactionary disorder, if applying a product which might not irritate one part of my face might just trigger a flare elsewhere on my face.
I am 58. I have found that extracts of fruits containing acids and fumaric acid are about all my skin can tolerate and little to no alcohols, and then only evey so often.
I avoid eat no inflamatory foods, a mediterranean diet, so to speak, including sardines and salmon quite every other day. For the life of me I cannot understand what possibly could be inflammatory about spinach. I miss it. And I take all the supplements I have been prescribed, and which you sell, including probiotics.
Can you provide me with any help? Using the products I am, I havenot been able to achieve the glow (which might actually be irritation, I suppose) or fullness/firmness/resiliancy that my skin used to have.
I just returned from a trip to the Outer Hebrides, in Scotland, where I saw what this condition will do to one’s skin if not properly attended to and I intend to do everything I can to keep it under control.
Thank you,
Pamela Lawson
Dear Pamela – We recommend you try Cold Plasma. This product addresses the 10 most visible signs of aging, including redness, wrinkles and loss of radiance and firmness. Since your skin sounds very sensitive, we do recommend you talk to your doctor first before adding anything to your regimen to reduce the risk of skin irritation.
I am wondering if Pamela is strict with dairy products? Dr. Madalene Heng has found that most of her patients with rosacea are dairy intolerant, while a smaller number of others are suffering from gall bladder disease, or other infections. while healing the gut she told me to avoid fish, iodine, orange juice, nuts, and other things i did not expect. goat and sheep dairy she okayed, but cow dairy, no matter raw, or yogurt she said steer clear of!! She also suggested taking zinc. I would like to see Dr. Perricone and Dr. Heng compare notes. She also has a product using curcumin to help heal the skin.
It’s always best to check with your primary physician. Dr. Perricone does advocate goat and sheep products as well. That form of dairy seems to be better assimilated in adults. He also is a big proponent of adding curcumin from turmeric and also zinc from various sources into your diet to help skin clear (the Clear Skin Prescription goes into great detail).