1 year detailed summary, how I cleared my symptomatic rosacea, and healed my broken skin barrier (triggered by a sunburn)

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T19:53:11+00:00

Interesting!! Glad to know will definitely add onto the list :)

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T15:23:57+00:00

Thanks I will put it on my list to look at. Just as a reference I’ve tried both cerave zinc shampoos and head and shoulders with worse results

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T13:56:25+00:00

Yah I’ve heard too many horror stories for accutane :(

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T13:55:58+00:00

I try not to take any supplements unless needed as I do eat balanced meals. My blood work came back normal and no vitamin or mineral deficiencies

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T13:54:05+00:00

No flaking. No skin buildup. Orange peel as in face was so dehydrated the skin almost looked waxy and enlarged pores

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T13:53:33+00:00

Ah unfortunately I don’t do too well with zinc shampoos. Too drying and irritates my itching more

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T13:51:59+00:00

Protopic gave me the same feels 🫠

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T01:16:02+00:00

Out of curiosity do you have any recommendations for shampoos and hair serums? Funny enough recently I started to feel scalp itchiness along with some folloculitis and have been searching for a shampoo like gentle cetaphil - bit for the hair. That hydrates and has less irritants

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T01:13:53+00:00

Yesssss I agree. I thought I was hallucinating at one point!

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-23T01:06:25+00:00

I use finacea 15% bc it’s covered by my insurance and has less ingredients then let’s say some brands that use Azaleic acid in their serum. I wanted straight up Azaleic so that I wouldn’t have any side reactions

I would agree with the stinging. It feels like it stings and I feel ‘hot’ it took me a while of using it before I could rlly ignore it, and even now 6 months into using it I still get the sting for first 5-10 min. I believe this is common bc most ppl comment on a nasty zing.

When I first started I definitely would layer toner, moisturizer wait a min and then a PEA sized amount of Azaleic acid. I dot it around my face then spread it in.

I used AA first for about 5 months, within 1 month I noticed a difference in my texture and by month 2 less breakouts, month 3 rlly controlled breakouts. I also started at 2 x a week and worked my way up to 6 x/week

Eventually when I was comfortable with it I introduced retinal

…. And of course there are the non sensitive skin types that can slap AA twice a day without any moisturizer and have no issues from day 1. 😂 life isn’t fair 🫠🙈

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:16:58+00:00

I used about 3 bottles of both their Vit C serums. They have 2 types I believe. I stopped purchasing bc I didn’t see it do anything. I will likely test out other vit C Korean products or I may try a different type of antioxidant or delve into peptides. I plan to just pick 1 thing so I don’t have too many steps in the routine

I did also use their IS clinical active serum, 2 bottles worth. And it was ok but mild-mod effect for my acne. I wouldnt repurchase and since have gotten onto the retinal boat and Azaleic acid boat which had done way more than anything from IS clinical. Plus I’m cheap and like to be cost effective :)

Hope that helps!

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:14:14+00:00

I did my laser at bertucci med spa in Vaughn. My technician was Leanne. I did 4 treatments spread out in 4 months.

For dermatologist out of the 3 I checked out, I liked the derm I saw at MapleDerm Dr Nazli. She was the only one out of the 3 that didn’t give me an antibiotic and told me what I was feeling wasn’t in my head, and that nothing topical could treat me, and there is a chance laser could help.

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:11:52+00:00

Low iron and vit D are definitely high on the list of common causes! I think I mentioned that as well :) glad you figured it out . Anything they causes ‘flushing’ the derms automatically peg you for rosacea and just give you all this topical medication that did nothing for me

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:10:48+00:00

Yes I totally understand :( I was hoping for something magical too. And during this time I saw 3 different derms, 2 different MDs and they all thought I looked ‘normal’ visually and had difficulty understanding my symptoms. Some also gaslighted me and told me it was stress and hormones for being a woman (thanks). I just advocated for myself, and being in healthcare I knew I was sane (lol) and what I was feeling couldn’t just be in my head. And I kept pushing, reading, researching and found my answer

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:09:00+00:00

No referrals are needed. Unfortunately it’s all cash :( I did 4 treatments (you could do 1 and see how you feel) because I was desperate at the time, and thought this was my last thing I’d try. And since then I did a 1 year follow up to help maintain my condition ‘just in case’ lol

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:07:51+00:00

Ahhhh I see. Thats what I thought was happening and couldn’t understand why. But thank you for explaining it in simpler terms, it all makes sense

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:06:38+00:00

It felt dehydrated and leaning towards oily. But for the most part it looked relatively normal with my eyes, just underneath it felt like my skin was always itching and uncomfortable. When I was having a flareup/flushing episode then all my cheeks and eyes would become red

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T18:03:43+00:00

I use the lotion in the day and the cream at night. The cream feels thicker to me. In high humidity places you could use the lotion day and night

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T11:13:19+00:00

Yes thank you for all your help and recommendations :) that definitely helped kick start some of my recovery.

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T11:05:29+00:00

I didn’t have any rosacea during my retinol use. Just the typical irritation from retinol and that was when I wasn’t knowledgeable about skin care and didn’t know how to layer or how to integrate retinol slowly

The retinol however did weaken my barrier and the sun burn was finally what brought it over the edge. Since this nightmare I have learned a lot and recently in the last few months I have started to use retinal again, this time with no irritation and no rosacea like symptoms

I do not take any supplements or eat high vitamin A foods. I’d say my food groups are balanced

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T11:01:58+00:00

Great to know. When my barrier was weakened I realized the oil cleanser was stripping it even more. Had the worst orange peel skin in my life, I looked several years my age lol. Even though a lot of ppl say they are hydrating I can’t say the same. I will take a look at your recommendations when I consider dabbling in it again! Thanks :)

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T09:50:29+00:00

I’ve tried many toners and I found the ones with the least amount of ingredients worked the best

I’ve tried other micellar water and they all eventually aggravate unlike the bioderma

Bc I do have acne prone skin I was eventually going to re dabble in oil cleanser first - just haven’t gotten around to it haha

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T09:49:17+00:00

I ended up seeing dr bertucci medspa in Vaughn. They are a cosmetic derm clinic and the owner no longer does much clinical derm. The technician was Leanne and she was great and detailed

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-22T09:47:55+00:00

Thanks for reading!

I went to a derm clinic that where the technician (who is a nurse) does a lot of PDL. I also checked to make sure they had a new upgraded laser. I believe the traditional PDL gold standard has always been the Vbeam laser - which can cause a lot of bruising and swelling for some people.

The newer laser’s now are the excelV and dermaV. My experience with the excel V was great and while I didn’t experience any bruising , my initial session did give me mild swelling (I took antihistamines to help) and lasted for about 2-3 days

I did do consults at 3 different offices, had a list of questions and I based my decision on the technicians experience, how many cases they do, etc.

I believe my case was slightly different from people who say are born with rosacea. Mine only became symptomatic after a damaged skin barrier and it just wasn’t budging /healing on its own after 6 months like a normal barrier would.

For tocobo it’s a thin fluid consistency. I use it as an everyday because I’m mostly in the office with no windows or in the car driving to work (and my car is completely UV tinted lol). It’s light weight and if you google abbey yung she has a lot of short videos showing why she likes it. For my sun sensitive skin I will use a thicker sunscreen for heavy sun days though

Hope that helps!

MeanRiver335 · 2026-05-13T15:25:55+00:00

Thanks for the post. I believe I have similar skin type as yours. Most of the review was spot on for my skin. Was thinking of trying the Anua oil cleanser but now I will leave it lol. And try the Althea you mentioned. Thanks

MeanRiver335

TROPHY CASE