Dealing with Facial Redness

May 25, 2012

Sarah S.

Hi all,
I have general redness (not Rosacea) in my face that makes applying foundation difficult. I'm careful not to over-exfoliate and I even use a green primer to "correct" it (currently MakeUpForever's HD Primer--really makes no difference IMO). Regardless of how I apply my foundation (brush, sponge, fingers), how much blending I do, or what I use to set the foundation, the redness shows through underneath the makeup. It makes foundation obvious on top of my skin and results in my face looking chalky/cakey. Can anyone recommend tricks/products/etc that I should look into to help deal with this?
Thanks!

May 27, 2012

Kat G.

what foundation do you use? with my clients who usually have a lot of redness, we used to spend hours mixing and matching green and yellow primers with little to no avail. But good old clinique redness solution foundation is what usually solves the problem. The coverage it pretty good. I know it's not a hyped up make up line, but im thankful it exists because it saves me a lot of time. Sample it at a counter or a Sephora, maybe it's all you need.
Goodluck.

May 31, 2012

Ness N.

I have the same problem,and still looking for different options...

Jun 20, 2012

Kenya F.

Calamile lotion at night time will ease the redness, and smooth scarring. In England the lotion is like £2, which is amazing for all that it does xx

Jun 22, 2012

Katie P.

Hey Sarah! I have a redness thread under skincare because I'm also dealing with facial redness due to being on Accutane and some lovely ladies had some great product suggestions and tips as well - I would take a look! I'm thinking of trying a couple of the recommendations :]! I would definitely test the products and get samples before you buy if you can! I noticed the sample primers I tried did absolutely nothing. I also talked to my dermatologist and she suggested some over the counter products: Aquanil Skin Cleanser and DML External Lotion but I have yet to fully test them! I think they are more gentle products to help with calming the skin. Good luck to you!!!

Jun 23, 2012

Diana S.

Try using a cover stick :)

Jun 23, 2012

Catey P.

Oats! Oats! Oats!

Oats are naturally anti-inflammatory, which is why little kids with chicken pox take oatmeal baths. It's also why eating oats is great for your cardiovascular system.

Try mixing oats with anything you like- honey, olive oil, egg whites- and applying it like a mask. I've noticed a dramatic decrease in redness since I incorporated oats into my skincare routine.

Jun 23, 2012

Mary P.

invest in a really good concealer and apply it before you put on your foundation.

Jun 25, 2012

Thea N.

Here is a recipe that should reduce redness and acne. Hope it helps!

2 tablespoons of mashed bananas, 3 teaspoons of yogurt, 2 tablespoons of papaya (or papaya facial), 3 pieces of graded cucumbers, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of heated honey. Mix ingredients together and stir until a paste-like cream is consistent. Apply to an already clean face, neck, and chest. Leave for 20 minutes and then rinse with warm water. Dab with warm, wet wash cloth. 

Jun 26, 2012

Rachel K.

i have serious red cheek issues (up until lately, i'd never even think of wearing blush at any point in any way). i might try the oats idea but some recipe-type stuff is only temporary and does nothing (washing my face only increases redness everywhere). i am neutral toned with red cheeks, so this is an even bigger issue when selecting foundation.
my absolute best tip is to apply foundation the way you apply it; despite loving top of the line, mac brushes for my eyes, i personally like to use my fingers for foundation and when i feel like spending the extra time, a beauty blender. next, i apply two layers onto the parts of my cheeks that are red; for me they are kind of shaped like parallelograms that are narrow at the apples of my cheeks, and angle out towards my jaw bone, widening at the bottom (i know; against the definition of a parallelogram). so, i apply the first layer by just getting a bit of foundation on a finger and placing it on the middle of each red zone. then i take two fingers and dab, dab, dab like with a sponge and do this softly and rapidly to really blend the foundation on without removing any coverage. i do this to the other cheek, and then repeat as necessary. i hope that you'll see this technique instantly works as it does for me; i even started wearing blush now, and have dared try red lipstick now that it doesn't bring out the redness in my face.
all this being said, i do recommend trying to do something anti-redness at every stage of the game to see what helps you. what i mean is to try and make sure every step of product use is targeted towards anti-redness. to me, the cleansers and moisturizers are a big gimmick because the cool, 'soothing' sensation only makes me redder. using a cold washcloth to constrict blood vessels is only temporary and actually, it makes me redder.
anyways, i digress and ramble, but the redness is a huge annoyance to me because i otherwise have a great complexion and skin in general. i may try a chamomile lotion, as one person suggested, because that sounds like something that might actually reduce redness.