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Skincare For Redness: The Causes and What To Do

Redness can make you feel like one of the ladies from Pride and Prejudice, and not Elizabeth but maybe one of her less charming sisters. Finding out which skincare to use for redness ain’t easy, because redness isn’t cut and dry. It’s really more of an umbrella term for all of the different causes for red to appear on the skin.

The causes of skin redness

With so many causes of redness in the skin, it’s possible that more than one thing is contributing to that post-exercise flush even when you haven’t been pumping it.

Sensitised skin
Using the wrong skincare products could be damaging your barrier, making your skin red. We find that many will experience additional redness because of products that include fragrances (synthetic AND essential oils) or drying alcohols (SD alcohol, denatured alcohol or alcohol denat.) which can cause damage to already wonky protective barriers.

Over-exfoliating is another core culprit of skin sensitisation. Follow the instructions of your acid-based cleanser or toner, and listen to your skin itself. If it starts to feel tight, red or itchy, give it a rest for a few days. Scrubs, grits and exfoliating gloves are a surefire route to redness in our books, so just… Bin them.

Genetics
Although we try not to blame our heritage often when it comes to skin, redness is often something you inherit from those who gave you life. Genetics can define the thickness of the skin, how much your capillaries and blood vessels dilate, and how you regulate temperature.

Thinner, paler skin will allow your blood to show through easier (okay, kind of gross, but true) and if you and the fam run hotter and are prone to redness, you’re going to see heat-related redness more frequently. It’s simply logical.

Medical skin concerns
Of course, there’s also rosacea, the medical condition characterised by redness and flushing that recurs or remains. We aren’t doctors, but we know from speaking with doctors that skincare can be beneficial in addition to the medical treatment of rosacea, and that certain things should be avoided for those with rosacea.

Skincare for redness and what to avoid

When it comes to genetics… There’s not a lot you can do except for generally take care of your skin so that it doesn’t become angry at you and appear even redder. We wouldn’t promise you that Skingredients could fix your genetics, because that’s a lie. The Core 4, being PreProbiotic Cleanse, Skin Veg, Skin Protein and Skin Shield SPF, will keep your skin healthy and happy though.

What you’re really trying to do when it comes to “compromised” skin, meaning skin where the stratum corneum (protective barrier) isn’t behaving as it should, is to feed the barrier, normalise the skin and help to fix any problems that having a wonky barrier has caused. This goes for those who have damaged their barrier themselves and for those suffering from medical skin conditions.

We find that a specific set of ingredients assist with redness the most…

Prebiotics and probiotics
Probiotics balance the skin’s colony of bacteria, the living creatures that keep your skin calm, cool, collected and protected, and prebiotic ingredients such as oligosaccharides are skin-soothing ingredients that work to bring down inflammation. Redness is basically the physical manifestation of inflammation (except in the case of genetic redness).

skincare for redness

Get these through PreProbiotic Cleanse!

Soothing plant extracts
Plants and natural extracts can do more than you think, and there’s a reason they’ve been used the world over for thousands of years.

Ingredients like liquorice root extract, cucumber extract, green tea extract and aloe vera extract are natural born soothers with anti-inflammatory qualities.

skincare for redness

Get ‘em onto you with the super hydrating Skin Veg Pre-Serum!

Vitamin A and vitamin C
The two most important skin vitamins for redness are without a doubt vitamin C and vitamin A. Vitamin C provides the skin with antioxidant protection to stop it from becoming inflamed by external stressors such as UVA and pollution, and vitamin A works over time to re-educate the skin to take care of itself better.

vitamin a for redness

Skin Protein introduces vitamin A to your skin in a much more sensitive skin friendly manner than a retinol does!

Zinc oxide (as your SPF)
Zinc oxide is the bomb.com because it works as a non-chemical SPF while actively soothing the skin. The hoomans that we speak with daily tell us that chemical sunscreens can irritate their sensitive skin and actually bring on more redness, so let’s get physical.

skincare for redness

Skin Shield SPF 50 PA+++ is your skin’s shield, pure and simple.

Good fats
Ceramides are a skin-native fat that make up the glue that keeps dead skin cells stuck together, forming that stratum corneum, the barrier we need to keep irritants out and hydration in.

When we add more to the skin, it performs better and is less prone to irritation, and the same goes for other omega-rich good fats such as grapeseed oil and shea butter glycerides.

redness skincare

Skin Good Fats is a night cream and daily barrier balm that eases the daily skin annoyances that can lead to redness in the first place.

(Bonus: patented anti-itch ingredient)
What in the name of all that is nerdie is an avenanthramide? Well, they’re a compound found in oats that are clinically-proven to calm itches, act as potent antioxidants and soothe inflammation. Skin Good Fats contains DragoCalm, a patented avenanthramide ingredient!

Skincare for redness and your lifestyle

If you know us at all, you’ll know that we believe in looking after your skin from the inside out. We have found that many of our Nerd Network clients find probiotics, vitamin C and vitamin A particularly helpful when it comes to their diet – whether they get them in through food or through supplements. We’ve actually mirrored the ingredients you need on the inside for your outsides with the Skingredients range!

Take care of yourself, don’t sunbathe, try to reduce stress (look, we’re guilty of stress too – Nerd HQ is not always zen) and stick to your regime filled with skincare for redness. Most importantly, redness is normal and most people have it somewhere on their face or body, especially those of us who are a tad pasty.

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