I finally found a skincare regime that produces results and
doesn’t aggravate my rosacea and skin sensitivity. If you suffer from rosacea
and/or sensitive skin you’ll know what I mean – virtually every product makes
things worse by way of additional redness and break outs. But the products I’ll
describe below have had a calming effect on my skin, helped with the
inflammation and did not break me out in the slightest. I’m chuffed to the
point that I want to write to the companies never to discontinue them!
What initially drew me to this range were the claims of
anti-inflammatory properties in the products. I’ve never heard of Dragon’s Blood
but according to Rodial it is an anti-inflamatory agent that reduces redness. I
got the Hyaluronic Mask, Scultping Gel, Hyaluronic Moisturiser and Hyaluronic Tonic
and I have to say that the moisturiser, mask and tonic are excellent. Ironically,
the sculpting gel which contains the most concentrated amount of Dragon’s Blood
(and is the most expensive) didn’t work for me at all. But the other three
products are very worthwhile in my opinion.
The moisturiser has an SPF15 and medium consistency. I think
part of the reason it made my skin looked calmer is because it is really white
pigmented (probably because of the SPF) and that helps to diffuse the redness
on my face. The tonic was a big surprise in the sense that it’s very gentle and
does calm my skin after the ordeal of cleansing (seriously, my face looks like
a beetroot when I towel dry it after washing). It has a pleasant rose aroma and
doesn’t irritate me at all. The mask is gel-like and has a very nice
texture that absorbs easily. If you decide to leave it on, instead of wiping it
away, make sure not to use too much because it tends to roll up in flakes. All
these products contain hyaluronic acid which is a great bonus for those of us
concerned with aging issues, but it’s the calming properties that made me go
back and re-purchase the moisturiser, mask and tonic. I have tried so many
redness targeted products and none were as good as these. The redness does
return during the day mind you, but I found that over the past 3 and a half
months that I’ve been using these products, my skin is somewhat calmer and I
have less flare ups. Until a better
rosacea treatment comes along, the Dragon’s Blood range is my holy grail!
This cleanser was out of stock of a long time because of a
lack of ingredients, according to a few sales associates that I’ve spoken to
(yes, I went to a gazillion stockists trying to hunt this down) and I was very
upset because it’s my absolutely favourite cleanser. But thankfully now it’s
back on the shelves and kudos to REN for not compromising their quality and
deciding to wait to cultivate the proper ingredients. I must have repurchased
it about 5 times now and I swear by it. It is a clay based cleanser, targeted
to blemish-prone skins. If you are looking for a moisturizing cleanser it might
not be the one for you, but as I have oily skin it doesn’t strip it off moisture and does
a great job of keeping it clean and fresh feeling.
This is a treatment gel for localised skin problems that
promises to repair and soothe scarred or post-surgical skins. It also doubles as
a make-up primer. I’m on my second bottle now because the first one went by in
less than 3 weeks as I made the mistake of applying it all over my face. I call
it a mistake because it’s a pricy product (and only 30 ml per bottle) so it’s
not viable, for me at least, to use it all over the face, although if I had
that luxury I definitely would. It has a very light texture that disappears on
the skin, so a moisturizer on top is necessary for those with dryer skins. I
had 3 huge marks (courtesy of a bad break-out that I suffered last year) that
refused to leave months after the spots had cleared and they have become slightly
smaller recently. Maybe it’s because it was their time to heal (as I get older
it takes longer and longer for blemishes to clear and some are so stubborn that
stay for months!) but as they have been there for almost a year now I’d like to
think that it was the HealGel that prompted their shirking. They are still very
visible but I really do think they have shrunk somewhat.
The reason I’m using this scrub is because it is
enzyme-based, meaning that the dead tissue is sloughed off by virtue of
enzymatic break down and not mechanical abrasion by beads. I always steered
clear of scrubs due to my rosacea (I learned the hard way after a peeling
session that left me looking like a pizza!) but this scrub doesn’t aggravate
the redness and is very gentle.
If you have rosacea issues, I highly recommend the Rodial
range, and if you do use it please let me know what you think. I’ll continue
with this regime but I want to find a way to incorporate anti-aging products as
well. Please share any recommendations that you might have about gentle
anti-aging serums, I would love to know!
