Got Rosacea and on the Hunt For a Perfect Moisturiser? We Asked the Pros Which Are Best

Finding a new moisturiser [1] seems like a pretty easy endeavour to embark on, right? After all, we use a moisturiser to do one thing: hydrate our skin. But if you have a rosacea [2], it can make any skin-care buying decision (even the simplest ones) that little bit harder.

When it comes to finding the right moisturiser for rosacea, it needs to be hydrating enough to rid the dry, sensitive, and sometimes stinging feeling, but not too thick that it causes the pustules seen in some types of rosacea. There is a fine balance between the two, which can be tricky to master.

But fear not: to help answer all of our questions, we asked the experts to break down everything you need to know when choosing a moisturiser for rosacea-prone skin. It's always a good idea to get a professional diagnosis of rosacea [3] from an expert who can prescribe any additional treatments to keep your condition manageable, but if you're looking for some top line advice on finding a moisturiser, you've come to the right place.

What Is Rosacea?

Rosacea is a chronic skin inflammatory condition affecting approximately 1 in 10 people in the UK [4], with common symptoms including, redness (often affecting the forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin), bumps and pustules, broken capillaries, flushing, a feeling of burning, facial swelling caused by inflammation, and a feeling of dryness in the skin. In darker skin tones, rosacea causes acne-like breakouts, burning or stinging when applying skin-care products, and dusky patches of skin, as well as an overall dryness in texture. Typically, there are a number of common rosacea triggers to look out for, which include alcohol, extremes of temperature, sun exposure, spicy foods, exercise, and psychological factors like stress.

All of this can make rosacea-prone skin super sensitive and finding skin-care products, especially a trusty moisturiser, a tricky task.

Choosing a Moisturiser For Rosacea-Prone Skin

When it comes to skin-care for rosacea in general (which you can read much more about here [5]), your mantra should be less is more. "Having rosacea can make skin feel dry, which, for some people, leads to over moisturising and aggravating inflammation," Alia Ahmed, psychodermatologist [6] and consultant for the NHS and GetHarley [7] told POPSUGAR. All of the experts we spoke to also agreed that looking for gentle, non-irritating products is the key.

"You will need ingredients that help repair your skin barrier", explained. Dr. Lauren Hamilton aesthetic doctor and founder of Victor & Garth [8], "Ingredients such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid will rehydrate your skin whilst ceramides will lock in the moisture and help restore your skin barrier function."

It's also good to look out for moisturisers that are non-comedogenic, meaning they've been formulated not to clog your pores, according to Dr. Sonia Khorana [9], a GP (with a special interest in dermatology) and cosmetic doctor in the West Midlands. It's for this reason that Dr. Amiee Vyas [10], aesthetic doctor, consultant for GetHarley [11], and co-founder of the Black Skin Advisory Board [12], said that "gels and lotions are preferred" if you have rosacea. In addition to looking out for these ingredients, some people may want to look out for anti-redness products to help calm the flushing.

Ingredients to Potentially Avoid in a Moisturiser For Rosacea

Most people won't find ingredients, such as fragrance [13], irritating so don't need to worry about that, however, people with rosacea might find that fragrance in skin-care products can aggravate their skin a little. For that reason, the experts recommend avoiding it in your routine — or at least until you've ruled those ingredients out as potential triggers. In addition to this, Dr. Vyas advised to avoid using overly heavy creams "as these can occlude (block) the skin and cause papules and pustules", particularly if you have papulopustular rosacea [14].

The bottom line when it comes to moisturisers for rosacea is to look out for light lotions vs heavy creams and keep an eye out for ingredients that help to restore the skin barrier function — which has been compromised by the rosacea — and won't irritate your skin any further.