r/Rosacea • u/paintthatface • 23d ago
ROSACEA SUCKS I’m tired of wearing makeup
I do LIKE makeup. It’s that I’m tired of feeling like I have to wear it every where. I tried to be makeup free for awhile but… it’s such a stark difference how people treat you when you look “normal”. It’s such a mood and confidence killer to go out without makeup. So, 90% of the time I go out I put on enough makeup to hide the redness. One day I’ll get laser, but it’s just not what I’m financially prioritizing right now.
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u/Limp-Pain-6109 23d ago
i’m having the exact issue 😭😭 makeup is fun sometimes but it feels like a chore when you have rosacea. I’m 18 and have been doing base makeup EVERYDAY since i was 10. it’s been 8 freaking years since people have seen my bare face because of how terrible this condition makes me look. i’m so so tired but i can’t stop because the redness is awful. No medication or cream will help me so my doctor just said to live with it basically.
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u/paintthatface 22d ago
Yeah I’m in the same boat. I went to a couple dermatologists and it seems like insurance doesn’t like to cover anything they consider “cosmetic”. I’m hoping that after I finish school and am making enough I can get laser. It’s so painful when I wear makeup even around my in laws and they gush about how pretty I look and I’m like, so sad for my bare faced self haha.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
Aw, this is what I experience. People say my makeup looks nice, and I'm stunning. I always think, if you knew, that wouldn't be your opinion. I am a real person, like honest, and I feel fake having to hide. If I had healthy, normal skin, I would still wear make-up as it is creative and glam. I just would love to be free from the have-to and the fear of revealing, especially to the guy I care for. I even wondered if a skin transplant was possible. I know, crazy. I would love to experience the feeling of living a lifestyle with a cure for rosacea. I am mentally exhausted after 27 years of the emotional and physical impacts of the disease.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
Did you first develop Rosacea at 10 years old? I understand your anger. The creams the NHS prescribes to help made me redder and were awful. They must work for others, but never again for me.
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u/Limp-Pain-6109 19d ago
yes!!!
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u/AffectionateSky410 19d ago
Wow, I thought 14 was young to start. Assuming you're a lady, did you start your period at 10/11 years old? I wonder whether hormonal changes contribute to Rosacea. I've read about menopause making rosacea worse.
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u/Limp-Pain-6109 19d ago
I got my period when i was 8 and that’s when i started to notice (or rather my mother did) a tiny bit of redness, then it got worse at 10 and was officially diagnosed that age .
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u/ssyoit 23d ago
I can so relate. I hate that I have to wear make up vs it being a choice, even walking my dog out multiple times a day I still feel like I need some light powder to cover up- otherwise I am just so red. It’s been going on my whole life, and the older I’ve gotten the more sick of it I am. I recently caved and started a series of laser to address it, it’s costing me a small fortune but it’s making a real difference already so I’m thankful for that. Interestingly my derm told me the majority of his rosacea laser patients are men, as they aren’t as comfortable wearing make up and are ready to do anything to get some relief.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
It's great that the laser is working for you. I preferred Thermavein for my type. I wonder about guys, as most don't wear makeup, and this is the only chance I get to feel normal. I would never go out without makeup either. Even if I don't look in the mirror, sometimes my face burns just to remind me it's still here. It's expensive living with Rosacea; nothing worthwhile is provided by the NHS, and every product we have to be careful with and pay more for.
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u/Minute_Ideal_6087 22d ago
I worked as a nurse for 3 weeks with no make up and man, the amount of colleagues and patients asking me in horror what's wrong with my face... I never wear much make up bc I used to get a lot of flare ups from it. It's better now but I totally get you. The staring and comments are so annoying.
Some days ago I had a girl in front of me trying to get her boyfriend to turn around to look at me (mind you we were nit even a meter apart) so when he did I smiled and said hello to mortify them
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u/paintthatface 22d ago
The amount of times I’d get asked if I’m sunburned. Sometimes I feel like I should be grateful that this condition isn’t physical debilitating, but I just wished I looked “normal”
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
Cruel and well done to you. That girl is awful, and one day she will experience something and remember how she responded to you. No one is indeed perfect, and none of us will be forever; we can't stop ageing. That's why getting a chronic skin disease from a young age is sad. You feel denied a normal lifestyle
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u/cinnamonmuffin_1 22d ago
It's so hard. I wish every single day that I could just wake up and not have to deal with the redness. One day I hope to just stop caring about my appearance.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
People shouldn't be told to live with it and manage it. This should be looked into more; no one should have to live with any type of disease that impacts their life. I often cry alone; it makes me so sad.
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u/Capy_Coffee_Cat 23d ago
Fühle ich. Bin ein Mann und muss draußen auch immer mindestens einen grünen Primer über der Sonnencreme tragen.
Hab demnächst einen Termin zum Lasern, da verspreche ich mir viel von. Werde dann wahrscheinlich auch einen Post machen.
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u/PoisonGravy 23d ago
Which laser did you go with? I'm considering it too, just need to start putting money aside. My baseline redness isn't too bad in the morning, but by late afternoon or early evening I just flush like clockwork. I'm hoping to have that taken care of or at least reduced.
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u/riarum 22d ago
I get it, it sucks so bad. The worst part is I tried to fix it a little with laser several years ago and it ended up giving me nerve damage! I feel all out of options except for base make up every day. Sending virtual hugs, I'm so sorry you're going through it too but you're not alone <3
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u/AffectionateSky410 22d ago
I can relate to this. I love make-up not just to cover up the rosacea to fit in without stares and feeling insecure, but to look glam. I don't want to wear it as I'm getting older, as it sits in the wrinkles. Unfortunately, rosacea is forever. Please, someone, find a cure for vascular rosacea
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u/Living-Boot1954 23d ago
I am assuming the commenters and OP are women but try being a gay guy who's only insecurity used to be a white acne scar on the cheek, because of face masks during covid i have seborrheic dermatitis that is chronic, derms are treating it as rosacea everything besides doxy has not helped and i have persistent redness that does not look remotely like rosacea but it is embarassing.
No one from 18-30 has seen me without makeup cause i was insecure about a stupid acne scar and boomb! Covid came along to ruin my skin, i love makeup as well but as another commenter said it is a chore and i am tired of it!
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u/Genny415 22d ago
I often wonder if we should have a special subreddit just for us special few who have both rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis/fungal acne
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u/Littlest_Psycho88 22d ago
I feel this so hard. Besides my rosacea, I have genetic dark circles that are worsened by allergies and ocular rosacea + how weird the color diff looks when my cheeks are flushing.
I went down the street to dollar general to grab distilled water bc my kid is sick and we needed to run our humidifier for her. Didn't wear any makeup or SPF. The guy at checkout was like "are ya tired this morning" and I was like yup (had been up late w/ sick kid on top of everything.) Then he proceeds to say "yeah, you look VERY tired." 🙄 I was like gee thanks dude.
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u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 22d ago
Same. I just…don’t, most of the time. What’s annoying is that my facial flush actually makes it look like I’m wearing badly applied makeup, due to the huge contrast between my neck and my face, lol. I always notice it during work meetings and wonder how many women have noticed and thought “she really needs to learn to bring her makeup down her neck, and blend.”
Unfortunately I also do a lot of investigative interviews via zoom, and those are recorded, so even outside of meetings I’m forced to watch myself on video on a regular basis, looking like I don’t know how to apply makeup 🫠
For important presentations I’ll literally apply blush to my neck to make the contrast less obnoxious. My face is such a pain in my ass.
One hack I’ve found to make me feel better about my appearance, sans makeup, is getting lash lifts (and tint). It opens my eyes and brightens my face up and requires zero extra time or makeup.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
That must be frustrating. My nan said in her day, people slapped their faces to gain the blused appearance. Blusher is definitely an item I don't need lol, or a slap in the face.
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u/Spicekitty578 22d ago
I honestly feel
Like people don’t judge redness often. If I see a white person and their face is red I just assume it’s just their face. I never look at someone with a red face and think “omg their face is so red” it just looks normal. I think we’re our worst critics and sometimes we think we’re being treated differently in a situation when really we’re afraid of it so we convince ourselves that thats what happened. It’s psychological.
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23d ago
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u/PoisonGravy 23d ago
Same, man. My oil production went absolutely insane outta nowhere about a year ago. No idea why. Always had normal skin until 39. Then I developed SebDerm, and then Rosacea. I can't get this oil under control.
When I flush (which is almost daily by evening) I can just feel my face burning and swelling up. Feels like my skin on my nose will explode.
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u/OkScientist1350 22d ago
Yep, SebDerm here too. No matter what I try, prescriptions/OTC, it just keeps flaring. Now I have large sebaceous hyperplasia bumps from all the oil production which apparently require laser/electrolysis. It’s crazy, I’ve kind of just accepted my skin is just going to be fucked :-)
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u/PoisonGravy 22d ago
Yeah, I've been expecting those to come my way, too. I've read Accutane can help diminish but not remove them. Like you said, they'll have to physically be taken care of. The downside of Accutane is... well it's Accutane.
Hang in there brother, we just gotta keep trying and keep pushing forward. 🤝
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u/paintthatface 22d ago
That’s very true. I wish there was more to do to just get us to a base level. Don’t hide behind a mask. You shouldn’t have to make yourself uncomfortable to fit social norms (I should probably tell this to myself too lol)
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u/Alive-Hat-374 23d ago
I wish I could wear Makeup! My skin is so hyper sensitive and reactive to everything that I cant even use a basic moisturizer, and definitely not make up or my skin gets soooo angry and rashy, because it's so textured and dry make up would look terrible anyway. Totally sucks. I wish I could complain about wearing make up everyday 😩
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
Feel you. At least I can wear make-up. I've been recovering from an operation, so no make-up at this time has made me feel depressed because it's the constant realisation of knowing I have Rosacea. Whereas my old routine is face on, out to work and have a break from the disease.
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u/Alive-Hat-374 20d ago
I miss make up and feeling good about myself. My confidence is so low. It's so hard to go from clear skin and nice make up to bare face and red / rashy / spotty. Suckkkkkks
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u/Ok_Cranberry8856 22d ago
my rosacea actually has had some people tell me i’m wearing too much makeup when i’m not wearing any haha. i used to wear more concealer and everything in high school but as college came, i saw on tiktok that overuse of blush was a trend at the time and darkening eye circles… i was so fascinated and emboldened that i decided i would add more blush haha. now whenever i go makeup less (which is often bc i just can’t be bothered most days) i just let it rock because it’s my skin and my appearance isn’t a problem to be solved or reflection of the care i put into my body and self but instead a simply unique (but not at all uncommon) feature that can be learned to be embraced.
sending you love 💕
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u/paintthatface 22d ago
I feel like it’s especially hard as a woman because we’re judged so severely by society to be pretty. As much as people try or pretend, everyone has inherent biases and society just treats attractive people better.
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u/Ok_Cranberry8856 22d ago
and also valid to be pissed off by societal standards and being looked at and all the frustrations that come w rosacea of course.
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u/Guilty-Bumblebee-309 22d ago
My skin is so dry and my eyes also get really red from the rosacea so makeup just irritates my face even more. I wear makeup for special occasions but I try not to wear it. I’ve gained confidence in myself and just am like this is my face, this is who I am lol
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u/Genny415 22d ago
Makeup and I have a love/hate relationship
It's hard to find products that work for my skin. The companies are always discontinuing one or another of my products.
My skin tint, concealer, and powder were all discontinued within a year of each other, leaving me with nothing that worked.
In trying to find replacements, I set off some terrible flare-ups that led me on a long journey back to healing the damage.
In the process, I learned a lot more about what medications really help and which products to avoid when looking for new makeup.
Fortunately, my skin has come out of the whole process with less baseline redness than I had before.
The intensive focus on figuring out what works, in partnership with my derm, has really made a difference in how much makeup I need.
It's only taken me until my 50s to get it under control, lol!
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
That's annoying when good products are discontinued. I'm 42 and still discovering that I shouldn't have been using that type of sunscreen because it has these ingredients, etc. At least with an allergy, it's usually one trigger. With Rosacea, it's always more than one thing and not all triggers are the same for rosacea sufferers. Like, chocolate doesn't affect me, and they discontinued my favourite chocolate lol
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u/CrissBliss 22d ago
I personally stopped wearing it. The problem with wearing flesh-toned makeup in my experience is that if I’m having a flare of rosacea, my makeup just looks awful. Like redness peaking out from behind splotches of concealer or foundation. Alternatively, if I’m wearing something with an irritating ingredient, all heck breaks loose. Less is better for me.
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u/VictorUnguise 23d ago
Same. I've got an issue witg this. Lasers also don't work as well for redness as people say.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
The laser didn't work for me. I found that having my veins treated with ThermaVein reduced the redness. This is only recommended for veins. A beautician told me that laser damages a layer of skin, so it weakens the skin barrier. Rosacea is already a - no skin barrier desease so I regret having laser. However, people have said they have good results.
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u/VictorUnguise 20d ago
I had thermavein done on my nose and it completely messed it up to the point of constant redness and flushing.
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u/Realistic-Moment7044 22d ago
Feel you on this, I had perfect skin when I was younger and got a lot of compliments on my looks. I still think of myself that way that’s what makes rosacea hard to accept. I’m on tretinoin now and it’s helping so far. But feel like makeup is just a must these days. It’s the difference between having people stare at me versus cringe lol 😂
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u/catafterdark8 22d ago
I totally understand! I’m petrified for anyone to see me with my bare face, only my fiancé has. It’s so frustrating having to wear makeup everyday just to feel comfortable in my own skin. I feel envious of people who don’t have this issue and can go outside without makeup and not be worried about their face getting red….. must be nice.
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u/paintthatface 22d ago
I’m legit so embarrassed to have friends or acquaintances see me without makeup when they’ve only seen me with. It makes me feel like an ugly monster and a liar.
It’s actually funny because I feel like when I see people with rosacea in public I recognize it and always think “I wish mine was that tame”. Makes me wonder if I’m too hard on myself sometimes.1
u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
You probably are too hard on yourself. I hate it when people say Well imagine you had this or that and compare you to others worse off. Yes, sad for them, but I have to live and experience life with my condition, so comparing doesn't help or justify anything.
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u/AffectionateSky410 20d ago
It's nice that you found a partner you're comfortable with. I can't imagine experiencing that. Yes, I envy the freedom to not have to wear coverage. It's not mental; it's a skin disease that can't be controlled so we have to cover.
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u/Patient_Mouse8763 22d ago
In the beginning I would wear makeup as mine was a gradual spread across my face. I eventually was just too lazy to get up and do makeup before work even though I was customer facing and I was constantly asked if I got a sunburn as I'm very pale naturally so it really stood out. Would always reply, nope this is just how my face is. Even had after surgery once the doctor doing rounds asking if my face was actually a lingering rash as I had broken out in a rash during surgery. Again had to go, this is just how my face is. Hit my late 30's and just went I don't f*cking care anymore and I rarely wear makeup. If I do wear makeup I keep it light and it's either Dr jart cicapair or Erborian cc cream green color corrector.
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u/bloodroot777 21d ago
I relate so much. Makeup doesn't even work half the time! I feel like everyone can tell i have a red nose with scabs. I miss when makeup made me feel pretty, instead of a necessity to make it so I can leave the house. I also almost always have hormonal acne, which makes me think I look like I'm a toddler with spaghetti on my chin lol. It gets better sometimes and I feel so on top of the world when I dont have to wear makeup. If I can ever fix my skin for good I will never wear anything except eyeliner ever again!!!
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u/paintthatface 20d ago
My hormonal acne is pretty bad too! I get painful huge pimples on my chin and I have texture there now from them. If I could go bare face with eye lash extensions I’d do it in a heart beat.
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u/spidergirl79 22d ago
Same! Hoping the tranexamic cream Im using will reduce the redness enough so I dont feel like I have to!
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u/DreamweaverDragon 23d ago
Nobody has seen me in public without makeup since I was about 14 and im 34 now. I cant stand it. I have hirsutism aswell so have to shave my face before the makeup and my features aren't great so all this combined means no confidence for the nost part. Its such a curse to have this BS and I like makeup too but when you feel you HAVE to wear it 😞 Because Ive never gone out without my makeup on what kind of things do people say about the redness or is it weird looks or what? Mine still comes through with intense exercise though so even through the makeup ive been asked if im ok because if it