Rosacea Regimen: Philosophy Purity wash and Mario Badescu Control Cream

So if you read my first post, you already know I have rosacea.  For anyone who isn't familiar, rosacea is a disorder of the skin prominent in light-skinned people of Irish-Celtic and Western European origin.  It is characterized by sudden dilation of capillaries along with heat (flushing), redness, and sometimes pustules and papules.  Due to the flushing of the facial skin, the sebaceous glands are stimulated and follicles irritated which causes red papules and pustules on the chin, cheek, and nose areas.  Trigger factors include anything from exercise, hot or spicy foods and beverages, alcohol consumption, skin care products, sun exposure, extreme warms or cold temperatures, to emotional stress.  This sudden flushing of blood to the face triggers a release of a biochemical in the skin called VFG, or Vascular Growth Factor which triggers the growth of new blood vessels, especially in the skin.  This further increases the chance of flushing making this skin disorder self-perpetuating. 


I don't know if it was coincidental timing for me, but my rosacea was triggered after I gave birth to my first child.  It probably had something to do with the extreme levels of hormones after pregnancy.  So I've been struggling with it for nearly 7 years now.  It started out as mild redness on my cheeks.  Then I started getting the bumps below the skin, which make my skin look rough and uneven.  It has evolved into pustules all over my cheeks and around my nostrils.  It's hard to treat, because I feel like I need to wash my face a lot to get rid of the pustules and oiliness.  But then my skin gets dried out, and the sebaceous glands produce even more oil to try to protect my enraged skin.  I have a very oily T zone while my cheeks and nostril areas are dry and flaky.  My face is actually hot to the touch, and the skin has become thick and bumpy.

I tried the pulsed dye laser treatment (PDL), as my dermatologist said this would be the only effective way to get relief from the condition.  This after I tried the usual course of antibiotics, pills, and creams with none of them helping at all.  The PDL treatment cost $1300 to do my entire face.  I was expecting to go in and get one treatment and have it be all better.  But I had to go back every month for the PDL for a little over a year before it was entirely gone.  It was explained to me that the laser cauterizes the small blood vessels under the skin that grew as a result of the VFG release.  The treatment itself was pretty horrible.  I had to wear special goggles, since the laser is so bright.  Since it's a pulse, it does a spot, stops, does a spot, stops, etc.  Every time it pulsed, it felt like someone was snapping me on the face with a rubber band as hard as possible.  It was almost impossible not to flinch while he worked the delicate area just below my eye skin.  The PDL caused bruising and swelling for a couple days afterwards.  It sort of looked like I got the crap beat out of me, which was even more embarrassing than the rosacea.  Finally, the redness was gone, along with most of the pustules.  But 18 months later, it's back and worse than ever.  It's frustrating.  I'm not sure what triggers it, because the list of triggers seems to be just about anything and everything.  I rarely drink alcohol, because that is probably my worst trigger.  That and spicy food and hot beverages.  And when I exercise and start sweating, guess what?  Flare up.

So a friend told me about a product made by Mario Badescu called Control Cream.  It's especially for the treatment of rosacea, and it contains Peru Balsam, which is a soothing botanical ingredient.  Ulta carries the entire line of Mario Badescu products, and I had heard great things about their acne line, so I figured I'd give it a try.

When I went to Ulta, I didn't wear makeup so the skin care lady could see what I'm dealing with.  She asked what I was washing with.  When I told her the orange Neutrogena salicylic acid wash, she about had a heart attack.  She said that stuff is way too drying for rosacea and suggested I try the Philosophy Purity daily cleanser.  It's made with all natural ingredients, plus it's made right here in Phoenix.

The MB Control Cream is $30 for a one ounce jar.  The Philosophy Purity wash is $20 for an 8 ounce bottle.  A little goes a long way with both of these items.

Here is the scary/brave part for me:  pictures of my skin with no makeup on.  I'm doing this to show you the severity of what I'm going through and to also see day by day progress with this skincare regimen.

These two pictures are each cheek before trying the MB and Philosophy products:

Day 1 of using the new products.  Sorry about the different lighting.  You can't really tell a difference.  I've learned to take pictures in the same spot at the same time of day to be able to adequately compare:

Day 2:  slightly less redness and congestion.  I've noticed the pustules aren't as numerous.

It's been about a week now that I've been using the Control Cream:

So far, the results are exceeding my expectations.  To see visible results on only the second day of treatment is great!  I'll keep posting pictures as the days go by.  I'm hopeful that these products are going to work.  I don't expect perfection, but I'll just be happy to have some relief from the embarrassing redness and pustules.

In a future post, I'll discuss my foundation/concealer routine that works best for me for maximum redness coverage.