How Blue Lipstick Helps Me Cope With Rosacea

Well I bet that’s a contender for the weirdest blog title you’ve read today! There are many ways I keep control of my rosacea: changing my diet, adapting my lifestyle, carefully selecting my skincare. But day to day I have had to learn how to cope with the way that rosacea affects me mentally. So I decided to share with you how blue lipstick helps me cope with rosacea… stick with me, it will all become clear!

I’ve spoken a lot about my rosacea on this blog and on social media. If you haven’t experienced something similar it’s hard to explain the repercussions. But it’s something I’ve struggled with for 12 years and not only has it affected my confidence, my opportunities at work, my relationships with others, but it also forms a large part of my experiences day to day. From the moment I wake up, when I look in the mirror to find out if today will be a Good Skin Day or a Bad Skin day, I am thinking about my rosacea. It dictates how much make up I wear… whether I can bear to take photos that day (which is pretty frustrating and limiting when reviewing make up and skincare is your job!)… whether every conversation with another person that day will be accompanied by the voice at the back of my mind saying ‘they’re staring at your skin, is your foundation okay? They’re probably wondering why the hell anyone listens to your advice on make up…’ Sometimes it makes me feel so upset and low that I can’t leave the house.

This photo was hard to take and is even harder to post. Every single time I take a photo of my bare skin I am still shocked, because this is not how I picture myself. When I imagine my face, I think of the girl on the right: happy, comfortable, wearing an amazing lipstick that screams confidence. So when I see the girl on the left, it's jarring. And it makes me upset. But I absolutely love seeing photos like these from other people. It shows that make up can be transformative and beautiful, but it's also so so much more than that. Wearing make up makes me feel stronger and helps me to be myself. To others this may sound silly or vain but to me it's a necessity. It gives me control over something I cannot change and that is so powerful. One of my missions this year is to try to pare back my make up in an attempt to feel more comfortable in my skin. But it's a slow process and one I'm really struggling with to be honest. I'd love to be more confident about the way I look, but for now I'm just trying to be a little kinder to myself. #talontedlexrosacea

A post shared by Lex – Rosacea/Skincare/Beauty (@talontedlex) on Feb 1, 2017 at 9:20am PST

Make up is a lifeline for me. It gives me confidence, it makes me look the way that I feel on the inside, it helps me to blend in… but, more often, make up helps me to stand out and for once it’s not because of my skin, for once I get to choose why I stand out.

This mostly takes the form of weird and wonderful make up: anything bright, obnoxious or eye-catching and I’m allllll over it! So much so that I started a series called #UnwearableLex on instagram to document all of my favourite looks. Make up is – above all things – fun for me. It’s a quick and easy way to play about with the way you look, with trends, and to reinvent yourself, only to wash it all off at the end of the day. And when I’m wearing a garish lipstick, I find it easier to argue with that negative voice at the back of my mind: ‘that person’s staring at your rosacea, I knew we should have stayed at home today’, ‘umm actually I think it’s more likely that they’re gawking at our neon blue lipstick, shush!’

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNnFYZdgFFx/

Whenever I post a picture of my bolder make up choices, someone will always say ‘I could never pull this off’ which I understand, some of these are pretty intense! But if you worry about your skin, or have something you’d rather distract from (who doesn’t!?) then I really recommend going a bit bolder with your make up choices to draw the eye to parts of you that you’d rather emphasise. Love your eyes? Find out the colours that make them pop and introduce them into your routine. Are your lips your best feature? There’s a pink or red for everyone (I promise!).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSTPJgdDL_K/

You don’t even need to go out of the house, just wear it for you at first. It takes a while to get used to seeing yourself with a very different look, so don’t be put off if at first you think it’s a bit much. Alternatively, you could start small and work up. For example, the Revlon Just Bitten balm stains are fool-proof in their application, give a lovely colour, stain the lips, and are a great gateway product to help you build up to a bright lipstick.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT4gu8HDoWZ/

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that it has perhaps inspired you to try something new when it comes to your make up. Have a look through the #UnwearableLex hashtag on#UnwearableLex (don’t forget to follow me while you’re there!) and let me know your favourite look, or any suggestions for brands I should try next!

Looking for some next steps?

• Follow me on INSTAGRAM for lots of rosacea updates.
• Get more information on rosacea and my journey so far in my ROSACEA FAQ POST.
• Join my private rosacea FACEBOOK GROUP.
• And – exciting news! – I’ve just launched some digital downloads to help you get to grips with your rosacea: grab the Rosacea Trigger Checklist and the Rosacea Flare Up Diary.

Lex