Cause & Prevention
Redness-prone and sensitised skin is a very common skin concern faced by many. Overly flushed cheeks and sensitivity can be difficult to manage and can even alter skin texture, leaving a rough and uneven complexion – less than ideal for make-up application.
Skin Deep
The skin’s upper layer has a natural protective barrier formed from lipids (oils) and skin cells. Skin cells are packed like bricks with lipids acting as their mortar. This structure helps to stop irritants and aggressors getting into the skin and also prevents water from escaping. This keeps the complexion healthy and hydrated. When the skin’s barrier is impaired, it allows irritants easy access to the sensitive nerve endings just below the skin’s surface, which can cause inflammation and redness.
Inflammation
Inflammation is the root cause of redness, often referred to as erythema. Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disorder (meaning the inflammation persists over time) that affects up to 10% of the adult population.
Inflammation can be caused by a number of factors. If you have sensitised skin, your inflammation and redness may be caused by lifestyle or environment. Harsh skin care products, over-exfoliation and excessive use of acids may be contributing to an impaired skin barrier, leaving you underprotected. In addition to this, other factors such as pollution, alcohol, smoking, dehydration, stress, hormones and weather changes may be having a big impact on your skin.
If you have sensitive skin, your inflammation may be genetic. Learn more about sensitive vs sensitised skin and how to treat it here.
The skin on our face has more blood vessels than on other areas of the body. Blood vessels on the face are wide and close to the surface, which is why they are easily affected by the environment and why redness is generally most apparent on the face. Broken blood capillaries and dilated blood vessels can impact on the skin’s redness levels.
The Medik8 Approach
Medik8 takes a comprehensive approach to tackling facial redness, not just masking the colour change, but also treating the root cause. Rebuilding the skin’s natural lipid barrier and helping to strengthen the blood vessels while also calming inflammation, our Redness solution helps to rebalance sensitised skin. Learn more about our approach to redness here.
1 N. S. Scheinfeld, Skinmed, 2006, 5(4), pp 191-194