Rosacea

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that results in reddening of the skin on the face, particularly on the cheeks, nose chin or forehead. Its not clear what the cause of rosacea is but there is probably a hereditary component since it is experienced mostly by fair skinned people of Celtic descent. Rosacea is usually diagnosed after the age of 30. It also occurs more in women than men, but comedian W.C. Fields was probably Rosacea’s most famous victim with his recognizable red nose. Some types of rosacea can produce small pus filled pustules like acne. More severe cases can lead to a thickening of the skin especially that of the nose.

Signs of rosacea include flushing, persistent redness, bumps and pimples and visible blood capillaries. Rosacea can also cause eye irritation, burning or stinging of the skin, dry skin, swelling or edema. The redness in rosacea occurs from enlarged and broken capillaries on the face. Normal skin will ‘flush’ giving the cheeks a pink blush, but in rosacea this response is hyperactive and often the capillaries themselves are visible.

The flushing or redness can be triggered by a number of things. The National Rosacea Society says the majority of victims report the following as triggers for rosacea symptoms:

Sun exposure

           Emotional stress

           Heat

           Wind

           Exercise

           Alcohol consumption

           Hot baths

           Cold weather

           Spicy foods.

By noting what triggers your rosacea you can learn to decrease the symptoms to a certain degree. Learning stress reduction techniques is also useful.

How to calm rosacea?

There is no cure for rosacea, but there are things to help control it. Stay away from skin irritants. Many acne products can be irritating to the skin such as salicylic acid, tea tree oil and alcohol.  Other ingredients to avoid include glycolic acid often found in peels or antiaging creams. Test a new cosmetic on your neck before using it on your face. Its important to use calming products that have antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Green tea has been used in several studies and has been found to reduce the redness of rosacea.

When washing your face use gentle surfactants and don’t use abrasives for exfoliation. Use a gentle milky or creamy cleanser. Rinse with lukewarm water, not hot or cold. Stinging is more likely to occur on damp skin, so wait a few minutes after cleansing before applying moisturizer or makeup to the skin.

A moisturizer is a must to help with burning, itching and irritation associated with rosacea.

Using a sunscreen is important since sun exposure is the number one trigger reported by rosacea patients. More importantly, stay out of the sun or use a wide brimmed hat during the middle of the day.

For more information see www.rosacea.org

For a moisturizer we recommend Springtide Antiaging Face Cream from Colorado Aromatics. It contains green tea extract, calendula and botanical oils.

Moisturizers linked to Skin Cancer?

I just came across this alarming news; 4 separate lotions were tested in mice and found to increase the occurrence and growth of skin cancer following exposure to UV light. The moisturizers used and their ingredients (as well as I could find) are:

Dermabase - water, petrolatum, mineral oil, cetostearyl alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium laurel sulfate, isopropyl palmitate, imidazolidinyl urea, methylparaben and propylparaben.

Dermovan is a wholesale product used as a base or vehicle for other ingredients by compounding pharmacists. It apparently has not been available since 2006 but contains water, glyceryl stearate and stearamidoethyl diethylamine, glycerin, mineral oil, cetyl esters, cetyl alcohol, butylparaben, methylparaben, and propylparaben.

Eucerin (original) – Water, Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

Vanicream - Water Purified, White Petrolatum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 20, Sorbitol Solution, Propylene Glycol, Simethicone, Glyceryl Monostearate, Polyethylene Glycol Monostearate, Sorbic Acid, BHT

All four creams are emollients that are recommended by dermatologists for dry, rough, scaly and itchy skins.


The initial purpose of this study was to investigate if caffeine added to a skin cream could inhibit the formation of cancer after UV exposure. Preliminary evidence has found that this is true. These four creams were chosen as the bases to add caffeine to and were undergoing testing to confirm that they were suitable as negative controls. The research however suggested they were not negative controls but actually increased the growth of two types of non-melanoma skin cancer in mice. Dermovan had the highest results.

Because of these results the researchers asked Johnson & Johnson to make a custom blend to test. The ingredients of this blend were: purified water, propylene glycol, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, polysorbate 20, isopropyl myristate, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, benzoic acid, glycerin, and sodium hydroxide. Although this cream did not show evidence of increasing skin cancer in mice more human research on this and other moisturizers will certainly be required.

It is difficult to pinpoint a possible ingredient in these creams that may be at the root of promoting skin cancer. Looking at the ingredients list however one can see that petrolatum (mineral oil) is found in the creams contributing to skin cancer but not in the custom blend that tested negative. According to the National Toxicology Program, mineral oil is related to skin cancer in mice at least.
Sodium lauryl sulphate found in at least one of the creams is considered an irritant by some. There are several other ingredients found in these products that would never find their way into creams and lotions made by Sagescript Institute. Possibly ingredients that are not tumorigenic by themselves can act synergistically with UV light to be more tumorigenic. It is of course too early to relate these results to humans though but you can be sure that more testing will be done in this area. In the meantime keep in mind that certain herbs have been found to decrease skin damage caused by UV light including green and black tea, rosemary and raspberry seed oil.

Yao-Ping Lu, You-Rong Lou, Jian-Guo Xie, Qingyun Peng, Weichung J Shih, Yong Lin and Allan H Conney. Tumorigenic Effect of Some Commonly Used Moisturizing Creams when Applied Topically to UVB-Pretreated High-Risk Mice. Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication 14 August 2008; doi: 10.1038/jid.2008.241