how i fixed my
By Asia Milia Ware, beauty editor at the Cut who also writes the column “Why Is Your Skin So Good.” She has covered fashion and beauty for eight years with bylines in InStyle, Teen Vogue, Paper, and Essence.
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Photo: Lia Bagdoshvili
In 2021, influencer Lia Bagdoshvili moved from Georgia to Germany and immediately noticed her skin start to flare up. Her skin would turn red and burn. “Whenever bumps and flare-ups came, I’d say, ‘Yep, I did it, it’s my fault,’” Bagdoshvili said. She believed that trying so many skin-care products was causing these flare-ups so she started using fewer products in hopes that a “less is more” approach to skin care would help her, but it didn’t.
“The biggest mistake I made was trying to self-diagnose,” she says. It took her almost a year to seek out help from a professional. When she would post content with flushed cheeks, her comments section would fill up with questions like, “Is everything okay?” It took a few years before Bagdoshvili started to open up and share her skin-care journey with rosacea. “You expect a teenager to have bumps and everyone says when you get older, it’ll go away, but I wasn’t a teenager anymore. I was older and I was like, What if it doesn’t go away?”
Because she lives in Germany, she spent a lot less money than she would have in the United States trying to figure out the root of her skin concerns. Here’s how Bagdoshvili got a diagnosis and how she’s maintaining it now.
First, she went to a doctor and was prescribed Ivermectin
After a year of constant flare-ups and no signs of improvement, Bagdoshvili visited a doctor’s office. Her doctor told her she had rosacea. The cream she was prescribed was Soolantra, a prescription medication (equivalent to Ivermectin) that treats rosacea with its anti-inflammatory properties. Her doctor also recommended using La Roche Posay’s Rosaliac line, formulated to reduce redness in the skin, ideal for rosacea patients.
Verdict: It worked until it didn’t.
Price: Free, because of insurance
She added a soothing cream and sunscreen to protect her skin barrier
A month into the routine, she started experiencing dry patches because she was still using harsh exfoliants, specifically the Ordinary’s peeling solution, dubbed as “the blood serum” on TikTok, an AHA and BHA peel that is said to reveal “a brighter complexion.” With her skin condition, that was way too much exfoliation. That landed her back to the doctor’s office and also back at the pharmacy where she got a La Roche Posay sunscreen and its Cicaplast Balm B5, a soothing cream.
Verdict: She learned that she would really have to leave viral products alone and find a simple routine that worked for her.
Price: $148
Photo: Lia Bagdoshvili
Then, she changed her eating habits to avoid spicy foods and alcohol
Through trial and error, she found out how much her diet could’ve been triggering her flare-ups, too. “I was eating tomatoes everyday and having flare-ups every other day,” she said after finding out through research that they could trigger rosacea. Everyday became a learning session for her. She started drinking iced matcha because it helped with her skin’s inflammation. She spends a lot of her time looking through her comments on her videos, seeing what works for other people who have rosacea. Just a few weeks ago, she completely changed her diet to cleaner, noninflammatory foods like Greek yogurt with fruit and dark chocolate every morning and so far she’s been having fewer flare-ups than she’s used to. “For some people, dairy and chocolate can actuallybetriggers, but it works well for me.”
Verdict: Food impacts rosacea a lot.
Now, how she’s currently maintaining:
Now, Bagdoshvili is maintaining her skin, but rosacea flare-ups are unpredictable. “[I have] to be mindful because everything from emotions to work can trigger my rosacea. If you are stressed, if you’re excited or happy, you may get a flare-up. When I’m reading a book, I sometimes get red.” She considers her current routine simple. She still uses her prescribed Soolantra cream and she’s leaving the TikTok products alone now. Flare-ups still come, but lately this is how she’s maintaining her skin.
She only washes her face with dermatologist-approved cleansers. La Roche Posay is one because it’s sensitive skin-friendly and keeps her skin soothed without triggering any breakouts.
$9
Cetaphil’s redness-relief cleaner is another go-to. The gentle formula soothes skin redness and leaves the skin feeling soft despite any dryness that may be occurring.
The one active ingredient she uses, in addition to Soolantra is azelaic acid, a chemical known to treat severe acne and rosacea. It’s both anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. There are a few azelaic acid products that Bagdoshvili switches between. One is Anua’s redness soothing serum with 10% azelaic acid and hyaluronic acid.
The other product she loves is Paula’s Choice azelaic acid booster for redness relief, it also has 10 percent azelaic acid. It’s also made with salicylic acid and licorice-root extract to soothe redness.
$18
She loves using a toner to hydrate her skin barrier. Currently, she’s using Beauty of Joseon rice milky toner, which she swears replenishes her skin daily.
The moisturizer she started using after learning about her diagnosis is still the one she uses: La Roche-Posay’s B5 Soothing Balm.
For sunscreen, she uses one of the most beloved sunscreens, Beauty of Joseon’s daily relief. The formula is made for sensitive skin; it doesn’t irritate her skin or leave a white cast, only a glowy finish.
CurrentBody Skin LED Light Therapy Mask Series 2
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From her research, she found out that laser treatments and red-light therapy could be beneficial for soothing her rosacea and reducing her redness. She hasn’t tried a laser yet, but six weeks ago she started using CurrentBody’s LED mask. It’s too soon for her to give a review and say if it’s effectively working, but so far she’s been using it daily in her routine directly after cleansing.
Verdict: Along with taking care of her gut health, this is how she’s successfully managing.
Price: $528
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- how i fixed my
- beauty
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- skin
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