Unlocking the Mystery of Tightness: A Guide for Rosacea and Sensitive Skin

If you’ve ever found your face feeling tight after showering or if your face feels tight some or most of the time, then you have dehydrated skin. For example, your skin is lacking in water.

That tight uncomfortable feeling is what I first noticed in my own skin, years before I was diagnosed with rosacea (mine was rosacea subtype 1 sometimes known as ETR rosacea).

The good news is that dehydration is a temporary condition of the skin that can be helped simply by:

Adding water to the skin and then
Keeping water in the skin

Dehydrated skin is often fine, has a close texture ( i.e. small pores ) redness, and lacks water and lipids. By lipids I mean oils and fatty acids – the scientific name for your skins natural oils is sebum.

Finca Skin Organics Calming Serum 1 is a lightweight formula that soothes dry, irritated skin and reduces the appearance of redness. If your face feels tight and uncomfortable, it is often because your skin is lacking in natural oils.

When I used to go for a facial, the beautician often commented on how my skin ‘’drank’’ the cleanser. My skin was so dehydrated, that the cleanser just got ‘’sucked’’ up by my thirsty, dry as the desert, skin.

What Causes Tight, Dehydrated Skin in Rosacea

Dehydrated skin can be caused by a number of factors:

Environmental factors - Humidity, Cold, winter, wind, pollution, UV rays, etc.; ( see our blog on humidity and the one thing that will make a big difference if you have rosacea or facial redness ) – We've previously discussed how to deal with dry air when you have rosacea, be sure to check it out here.

Cosmetic products that are too aggressive, detergent, stripping or drying and remove the natural oils (sebum) on your skin. Remember to always perform a patch test before trying new products, and consult with a dermatologist for personalized advice. By adhering to these guidelines, you can help keep rosacea symptoms in check while ensuring your skin remains healthy and radiant.

Sebum’s job is to stop water loss across the skin…The water loss ( or TEWL) is what is causing your face to feel tight and quite often red and sore.

External factors such as tobacco or alcohol; - alcohol is notoriously dehydrating to the skin. You can check out our blog here, which discusses rosacea and alcohol.

Certain medical treatments eg anti-acne or anti-cholesterol medications.

So in summary, the aim, is to reduce water evaporation or TEWL, by maintaining a sufficient amount of water in the epidermis and repairing the impaired skin barrier.

The skin barrier protects the skin from external stress and reduces water loss. When the upper layer of the epidermis does not have a good balance of water and lipids, it can no longer effectively fulfil its barrier function and becomes uncomfortable to varying degrees, as explained above.

Effective Ways to Combat Dehydrated Skin in Rosacea

Stay hydrated by drinking at least 1.5 litres of water per day (unless your doctor tells you otherwise).
Try to maintain a healthy indoor atmosphere by avoiding overheated or air conditioned rooms that accelerate evaporation ie. Loss of humidity.

I know I keep banging on about it, but I have seen the difference that ( low humidity ) dry air has on my rosacea. It sends my rosacea absolutely nuts. So when the heating goes on in your house, do what I do, put wet towels on the radiators. Its the best thing ever!! You will feel the difference in your skin and you will see the difference in your skin.. Tightness reduced and redness reduced. All in the one simple move. (See our blog on rosacea and humidity)

Also, it is always important to choose non-aggressive cleansing and skincare products. Oil cleansing might be a better alternative than what you are currently using or ive seen some online bloggers just use plain water (or micellar water if you live in an area of hard water)
Serums and Moisturizers make the skin softer and more pliable by increasing its hydration, primarily by decreasing evaporation of water from the surface of the skin. So use a good serum followed by a moisturizer with ingredients like hyaluronic acid & jojoba oil. Hyaluronic because it helps to bind water to the skin and jojoba because has a high amount of ceramides, it helps your skin stay soft and smooth. Ceramides cover skin cells and help with hydration.

The Finca Skin Organics Calming Serum 1 serum is always applied to your face when its wet. Use warm water to wet your face as it helps with the absorption of the serum and also the hyaluronic acid in the serum binds with the water, further helping hydration levels in the skin upper layers.

Then add your moisturizer. This will seal in the water and oils of the serum. And that’s what we are always trying to do for dehydrated and dry skin. We are trying to trap water, and when we do that, the skin as a barrier works better and we don’t have tight feeling skin and redness is reduced.

The Finca Moisturising Balm is designed to soothe and hydrate your skin while providing natural UV protection. Our unique formula helps to lock in moisture and reduce trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), while reinforcing your skin's natural protective layer.

All Finca Skin Organics products are made using a minimal, plant-based ingredients list and formulated by me, a rosacea sufferer.

The Finca Skin Organics range has undergone a Harley Street clinical study. After using our products, 87% felt the appearance of their skin significantly improved.

View the entire range of Finca products here or find out what subtype your skin is .

When in doubt, always refer to your doctor or dermatologist as the condition differs for everyone. It’s always best to talk to your dermatologist first and work out your treatment plan together.

If you have any queries regarding your rosacea or how to use our products get in contact with us, we'd love to hear from you.

Take care!
With love from Ireland,
Finola