Rosacea Sucks & An (UNPAID) Review of Rodan + Fields SOOTHE

So.  This is what my face suddenly looked like one day last month:

I've always had a naturally redder complexion, but this was way redder and bumpier than anything I had ever experienced.  Also, the bumps weren't like acne bumps, they were more like a rash.  I tried eliminating a few things from my diet, thinking it was maybe an allergy, but nothing helped.  I was SO puzzled and frustrated cause it literally happened overnight and I had no idea what to do about it.

I did some Googling and saw that Rodan + Fields carried a line called "SOOTHE" that is intended for people dealing with redness.  Taken from their website, it is "clinically proven to reduce redness and irritation in as little as five minutes."  Plus there's millions of reviews (c/o, I might add) online that say it worked SO well to reduce redness and irritation.

I bought some immediately.  And let me tell ya....this stuff ain't cheap.  But I figured it would be worth the cost to try something specially formulated for what I was dealing with.

The regimen for Rodan + Fields SOOTHE is to use the face wash followed by a Sensitive Skin Treatment, and then a Moisture Replenishing Cream.  And finally, in the morning you're supposed to follow up with Step 4, which is a sunscreen.  This is the whole line here:

The upside of using this product is that it didn't ever burn or irritate my skin further; it does seem to be very gentle.  It also made my skin softer and made it appear a little healthier in the places it wasn't so red (which was mostly my cheeks).

But - I tried it for three weeks and the bottom line is that it didn't work at all for me.  My skin was just as red and bumpy when I stopped using it as when I started using it.  So based on that, I'm not sure I would recommend it for others dealing with redness.

Since the Rodan + Fields didn't work, I was fortunate enough to be going home to Illinois, which is where my best friend lives.  The really great thing is that my best friend is a Physician's Assistant, so if I'm home and I need a diagnosis for something (like an ear infection for Hadley or whatnot) I can usually have her call in a prescription.  She looked at my face and immediately said that it was probably Rosacea.

Rosacea, in case you didn't know, is one giant pain in the butt.  It tends to appear in your 30's and there's no cure for it.  It also seems to be triggered by certain things, like alcohol, temp changes or the sun.  It tends to flare up at different times, as well.  I have no clue what triggered mine.

So, point of the story is that Steph (best friend) saved the day by calling in a prescription for Metronidazole 0.75%.

Literally with one day my skin was clearing up.  After using it for two weeks, I'm happy to report a HUGE difference.  Here's a little side-by-side:

I'll be honest, I'm a little worried because the Metronidazole (as with any rosacea medication) tends to lose effectiveness after a while, but the good news is that I'm really only using it every other day, once a day, and it's still working well, so I suppose I could just increase my usage if it flares up again.   Or try a different prescription...but since we don't have prescription coverage (self employed health insurance FTW!) I'm not sure how viable of an option that is, as these scripts all tend to be pretty pricey.

If anyone else has any great tips and tricks to help deal with rosacea, send them my way!!  

And I should add about the Rodan + Fields: I realize that my facial redness was probably due to something entirely different than what it claims to help.  But my opinion is that redness is redness, and it really didn't do anything at all to help with mine, even after reading different accounts online of people with rosacea using it successfully.