WOW facial founder and CEO, Claire Williams shares her personal experience with rosacea:
Rosacea is a chronic and often misunderstood skin condition that can cause redness, visible blood vessels, and small bumps on the skin. Like many others, my journey with rosacea started with oily skin, PCOS, and the use of contraceptive pills which eventually led to redness and irritation. In this article, I share my experience with rosacea, how it made me feel, and the tips and recommendations that helped me manage my symptoms.
My Personal Rosacea Story
I first noticed some redness on my cheeks and chin back in 2013 when I was trying to get pregnant. To manage my acne, I was prescribed the PCOS insulite system which helped calm my acne but left me with red and irritable skin. Later, in 2016, a skin therapist and a nurse confirmed that I had rosacea. My skin would feel irritated, sore, and oily, leading to painful spots. I felt self-conscious about my skin, so I used makeup to even out my skin tone. After eight years of managing my rosacea, I'm sharing my best tips and recommendations for others suffering too:
Focus on improving your skin barrier
For me, improving my skin barrier was vital to managing my rosacea flare-ups. By simply using a gentle cleanser, soothing serums, and creams that focus on rebuilding skin barrier function, I have been able to really take control of my symptoms.
Use quality products
I started using 'pHformula' products that specifically catered to chronic redness - their SOS cream worked wonders for my condition. At this time, I also began to develop the WOW facial protocol with a hand-selected team of experts, designed to improve acne and rosacea among other skin issues.
Try Botolium Toxin A via the WOW fusion device
For me, the biggest game-changer for managing my rosacea was introducing the use of botulinum toxin type A in the WOW fusion microneedling device. It helped calm the redness, reduce oiliness and nourished my skin at the same time. I usually mix it with the R-Vit solution and HA Factor 1, creating a powerful cocktail for combatting rosacea. The WOW fusion device can be used as a stand-alone treatment, or as part of a full WOW facial which is a carefully curated sequence of six personalised stages of advanced skin treatments carried out over 75-minutes working synergistically as the ultimate transformative skin treatment that not only gives immediate results, but continues to improve the skin's look and feel over time.
Normalise your skin texture
Textured skin is normal. By normalisng your skin's texture, redness, pigmentation, or other skin issues, we build our confidence and, believe it or not, our mental health can have a big impact on our skin, particularly the stress hormone cortisol. Changes in cortisol levels within the body heighten skin sensitivity and reactivity, and elevated cortisol levels prompt increased sebum production from the skin's sebaceous glands. Try wearing less makeup and getting comfortable with your skin's imperfections. This will improve your relationship with your skin and inspire you to take better care of your skin too.
Upgrade your skincare routine
We recently launched a new Intradermology range of skincare products - I personally use the products suitable for rosacea every day, which are the Lactic Wash, PEP-UP serum and the Synergy 6 SPF 50. This simplistic routine contributes to my having calm, smooth skin. I recently did an Instagram Live to demonstrate my Intradermology routine, and, I did it makeup-free to show my rosacea-prone skin looks unfiltered.
Having journeyed to better skin myself using these products, and knowing both the WOW fusion and WOW facial treatments, and products, alongside our new Intradermology range give people better, healthy skin is ultimately what gives me confidence in business.
Experience the transformative power of WOW facial with your nearest WOW facial professional by clicking ‘Find a provider’ from our main menu and following the steps.
Author: Claire
Category: Professional, Skincare, WOW Journal