The ESK blog
Anti-aging & Rosacea - Can you have both?
19 April 2022
Dr Ginni Mansberg
If you’re one of the 5% women or the 4% of men who suffer from rosacea, finding the right skincare can be an absolute nightmare. Rosacea skin is notoriously sensitive which means you can react to even the mildest skincare ingredients. If you have experienced the burning and stinging from a rosacea flare, you might have sworn off skincare for good. And who’d blame you?
But having rosacea doesn’t protect you from all the fun effects of skin aging like wrinkles and fine lines, dull skin and pigmentation. So can you have your cake and eat it too? Can you combat ageing and still fight off rosacea as well?
YES you can!!
Here are my top tips for people who want the best of all worlds;
Before we dive in...
1. Go for a gentle cleanser.
Studies show that excessive cleansing can cause rosacea flare ups. The problems come from cleansing more than once a day, using foaming cleansers, using a cleansing tool more than four times/week, exfoliating activity and cleansing treatments in beauty salons confer the biggest risk for people with rosacea. It looks like a combination of mechanical damage and chemical irritation to the skin are compounded by changes to the skin’s natural pH.
Our Calming Cleanser is a non-foaming, coconut sugar-based formula with a gentle pH of 4.5-5, making it ideal for sensitive skin types, including those with eczema and rosacea. This creamy cleanser effectively removes impurities while preserving the skin’s natural hydration and pH balance. Its non-soap formula minimises irritation and dryness, providing a soothing cleanse without disrupting the skin barrier. Designed for sensitive skin, Calming Cleanser avoids harsh ingredients like astringents, camphor, and menthol, which can trigger irritation. Gentle yet thorough, it supports a healthy microbiome and barrier, leaving skin calm, soft, and ready for the next step in your routine. Featuring; A creamy soap-free cleanser for skin that needs a gentle, silky wash.
Calming Cleanse
2. Choose a gentle broad-based sunscreen.
The sun’s UV rays are implicated in all those hated signs of skin ageing like dullness, fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation but they contribute to rosacea, too. The sun can cause inflammation in rosacea a sufferers, as well as those little dilated blood vessels called telangiectasia and be a major cause of flare ups. Physical (or inorganic sunscreens) not only offer broad spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays but are also the least irritating for rosacea skin. If you’ve tried a zinc based sun screen and hated the slimy ghost like appearance they leave, check out ESK’s Zinc Shade- no ghosting or slime, the most matte sunscreen around!
Zinc Shade is a lightweight matte day cream and primer. Its non-greasy, matte finish allows for smooth application and works well under makeup. We spent countless iterations perfecting this lightweight, non-greasy formula to avoid the typical white cast and thick feel of zinc products. The results? A matte finish that works beautifully under makeup. With well tolerated matte finish, it's also well suited to irritable and blemish and bump prone skin. With SPF 15 it also provides broad-spectrum sun protection against UVA and UVB rays. Key features: Lightweight, matte formula suitable for daily use Smooth application with minimal white cast Broad-spectrum UV protection Tested SPF 15 with enhanced UVA coverage Usage: Apply evenly to all exposed areas of skin before sun exposure. Reapply as needed throughout the day.
Zinc Shade
3. Switch to Retinal.
The biggest anti-ageing blockbuster of them all, vitamin A has long been a no-no for rosacea sufferers! Prescription tretinoin can be super irritating and so can retinol, which doesn’t have conclusive evidence to support it as an anti-aging product anyway. But RETINAL – the most effective and least irritating form of vitamin A is both super well tolerated by people with rosacea and effective at fighting BOTH ageing AND rosacea! Winner!
The game-changing night cream developed in partnership with Selma Blair - combines our most potent hero ingredients to effectively and gently tackle the most common skin concerns – in one product. Tackling the signs of aging skin including fine lines, skin elasticity, impaired barrier function, hydration, dullness and uneven skin tone. it is our most powerful product yet and yet it’s still ridiculously well tolerated. Wake up to skin that's supple, smoother, and softer. For the most irritable of skin, Ultimate A may be a better option, particularly when starting to use Retinal based products
Ultimate A Gold
Ultimate A Gold: the most effective and gentle ingredients that evidence based cosmeceutical skincare has to offer, in one revolutionary formula.
*Ultimate A Gold (Retinal) may transfer onto white or light-coloured fabrics. For best results, we recommend using darker clothing or surfaces to avoid visible marks.
4. Embrace Niacinamide.
There’s emerging evidence that niacinamide has anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well as improving skin barrier function and it’s increasingly being used in the treatment of rosacea. Which is awesome because it’s an awesome anti-ageing ingredient, improving skin barrier function, reducing fine lines and wrinkles, improving skin quality and combatting pigmentation.
5. Get your ceramide and hyaluronic acid glow on.
There’s a growing body of evidence that ingredients that improve your skin barrier and moisturize your skin like ceramides and hyaluronic acid help with rosacea skin. Well, that is awesome given that these very same ingredients can increase the skin’s hydration. And there’s some early evidence they might help in the fight against wrinkles, too.
So there you have it! And who doesn’t love a win: win? You can beat back your rosacea and your aging at the same time!
Repair +
Repair + is a moisturiser formulated to support skin hydration and barrier function. Its combination of niacinamide, panthenol, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides is designed to help maintain skin moisture, strengthen the barrier function of the skin, reduce the appearance of redness, and support overall skin texture.
Key Features:
- Ingredients to support hydration and skin barrier function
- Formulations to help reduce the appearance of redness and visible skin irritation
- Scent-free, paraben-free, and sulphate-free
- Super effective but gentle enough for daily use
Shop ESK's Rosacea Kit
Rosacea Skincare Kit - Anti Redness
With evidence-based ingredients to help hydrate, calm and support the skin barrier. This kit includes:
- a soap-free, emollient-rich cleanser that gently removes impurities.
- A matte, Zinc based day cream with broad-spectrum sun protection, to gently help shield from UV rays—a common skin trigger;
- Moisturisers with skin barrier builders like ceramides, panthenol and niacinamide, (all in our Repair +) help reduce water loss and strengthen the skin barrier;
Finally, our Ultimate A Gold (retinal) night cream with Retinal, the most gentle and effective form of Vitamin A and PHAs to gently hydrated and exfoliate. Thoughtfully designed for calm, clear, and comfortable skin.
Key Features:
- Formulations to support skin hydration and barrier function.
- Ingredients to help manage the appearance of redness.
- Gentle, non-irritating formulations suitable for irritable skin, moody or sensitive skin.
We've swapped Ultimate A with the new Ultimate A Gold. If you prefer Ultimate A, you can build your own kit here.
*Ultimate A Gold (Retinal) may transfer onto white or light-coloured fabrics. For best results, we recommend using darker clothing or surfaces to avoid visible marks.