Rosacea can be managed naturally through a holistic approach that addresses triggers, supports overall wellness, and recognises the connection between emotional wellbeing and skin health. Rather than simply managing symptoms, natural rosacea management involves understanding your individual patterns and creating sustainable approaches that work with your body’s healing capacity.

If you’re searching for ways on how to manage rosacea naturally, please know that there’s hope and solutions exist, even if finding them takes time and patience. When I first received my diagnosis, I had no idea that rosacea was more than just a surface skin condition. I thought it was simply something I had to live and cope with only through topical treatments.

I’m sharing my journey because I want others to have the insights I wish I’d had from the beginning and to understand that natural healing approaches can offer hope beyond just managing rosacea symptoms.

 

Key Takeaways

• Rosacea healing goes beyond topical treatments, it requires understanding connections between your skin, emotions, gut health, and overall wellness.

• Triggers are often cumulative rather than single causes. It’s usually a combination of factors occurring when you’re already stressed or tired, not just one specific food or situation.

• Natural management involves identifying your unique patterns, addressing internal factors like food sensitivities and gut health, and developing stress-awareness practices that fit your lifestyle.

• Conventional treatments often focus on symptom management. A holistic perspective explores root causes and works with your body’s healing capacity, offering possibilities beyond just “managing it.”

• Healing is rarely linear and looks different for everyone. If you’re feeling defeated or overwhelmed, know that you’re not alone, this approach values patience, self-compassion, and finding what actually works for you.

 

What Causes Rosacea to Flare Up

My Personal Rosacea Story

My rosacea story began during a particularly stressful period in my life. While juggling multiple life-changing events (all positive, but overwhelming nonetheless), I noticed unusual changes on my face. Rash-like marks appeared on my cheeks, accompanied by small pimples and more consistent redness. My skin fluctuated between dry and oily while becoming generally more irritated.

Initially, I thought these symptoms would disappear once life calmed down. But they persisted and worsened, with more frequent face flushing and my face becoming increasingly red, angry and uncomfortable.

After months of trying over-the-counter treatments with no success, I finally visited my GP.

The diagnosis? Rosacea.

While it was a relief to put a name to the condition, little did I know this was just the beginning of a longer journey toward understanding and managing my skin condition.

The Multi-Layered Nature of Rosacea Triggers

Like many people newly diagnosed with rosacea, I initially thought of it as just a skin problem requiring topical solutions. I hadn’t yet understood the complex interconnections between my skin and my overall wellbeing, both physical and emotional.

Through my journey, I’ve discovered that identifying and managing rosacea triggers is essential for natural healing. What I’ve learned is that triggers are rarely straightforward:

• They’re cumulative – Sometimes it’s not one specific food or situation but several elements occurring close together
• Context matters – Triggers have more impact when you’re already stressed or tired
• Individual patterns vary – What affects you might not affect someone else the same way

This may sound like a lot to cope with (it did for me at times), however I’ve discovered that looking at rosacea with this 3-D perspective made my journey easier.

When Rosacea First Appears

During my research phase, I discovered that rosacea is actually a form of acne. This revelation was eye-opening, as it was then that I found true hope, belief, and understanding that rosacea could be improved naturally and holistically.

My exploration wasn’t planned, I simply followed my instincts, taking one step at a time, which led me to understand the deeper connections between wellness and skin healing.

 

Why Conventional Rosacea Treatments Feel Limited

My Experience with Prescribed Treatments

My doctor prescribed an antibiotic cream and when I asked about a repeat prescription, she said “no you can only use that for a month”, it felt dismissive, as if that was all that could be done for me. Part of me was sceptical, but another part desperately wanted to believe that this was a quick fix. I understand that my GP was working within scope of what the system recommended and how the system worked, and completely respected any and all advice she was able to give me.

Unfortunately, the treatment brought its own challenges.

The Side Effects That Made Me Reconsider

Within days of starting the cream, I experienced dizziness and nausea. It seemed impossible that such a small amount of cream could cause these side effects, but I couldn’t ignore how I felt. After about a week, I decided to trust my instincts and discontinue the treatment after a lot of discuss and reflection on this decision.

Important: I do not recommend or endorse anyone to discontinue use of any prescribed creams or treatments without consulting and discussing with your healthcare provider.

My experience pushed me to explore natural skin healing alternatives and returning to holistic approaches which have guided me throughout my life.

Moving Beyond Symptom Management

What I discovered through this process was that conventional treatments often focus on managing just the symptoms rather than addressing the underlying causes.

What This Meant for My Journey

While these approaches can provide relief for some people, and they were one aspect of my journey, they didn’t feel like a complete solution for me. This realisation opened my mind to exploring what else might be contributing to my rosacea and whether there were ways to support my skin’s healing from the inside out as well as the outside in.

 

Natural Rosacea Remedies That Work

First Steps with Natural Skincare

My search for natural rosacea remedies began as a necessity, not a choice. I will be honest with you I was not (still not really) someone who has a complex or multi-layered skincare routine. I found even before rosacea that my sensitive skin was easily reactive to skincare products. I like to keep things simple, where possible.

After researching easily accessible natural skincare options, I decided to try Aloe Vera as a natural remedy. Finding a truly natural product proved challenging, as most options contained additives.

During this time, I received well-intentioned but misguided advice to use only water-based products and avoid oils. Looking back, I now know this was incorrect for rosacea-prone skin. This experience sparked my curiosity about skincare ingredients and set me on a path to becoming more informed about what I was putting on my sensitive skin. And little did I know later down the path that curiosity lead me to become a skincare formulator, more on that later in the post.

The Concealing Phase and What I Learned

For the next couple of years though, I relied on a daily ritual of concealing rather than healing. After a visit to a department store, I left with cosmetics, cleanser, and moisturiser labelled suitable for rosacea. While these products provided some psychological comfort, they didn’t address the underlying issue.

I resigned myself to thinking this was my new normal.

During this time, I maintained what I believed to be healthy lifestyle choices, whole foods, no caffeine, no alcohol. However, I now realise my emotional wellbeing was under significant stress, which likely impacted my skin although this is only knowledge I have gained with hindsight.

Discovering Holistic Therapies

Late 2018 marked a turning point in my journey. With less emotional and physical stress and a strong support system, I began exploring holistic approaches to health and natural ways to treat rosacea.

This turning point represented a meaningful reconnection with my holistic roots, an approach I’ve been drawn to throughout my life. I had previously trained in colour therapy years before developing rosacea and began pursuing aromatherapy and reflexology.

During this transformative period, I trained as a Clinical Aromatherapist and Reflexologist, learning to treat the body, mind, and soul as interconnected parts. This holistic approach opened my eyes to new possibilities in managing my rosacea and overall health and wellbeing.

 

Common Rosacea Triggers and Root Causes

My journey toward wellness wasn’t planned, I simply followed my instincts, taking one step at a time. What I discovered was that rosacea rarely has a single cause. Instead, it’s often multiple layers coming together, and understanding these connections opened up possibilities I hadn’t previously considered.

Food Sensitivities and Rosacea

My exploration of food sensitivities wasn’t initially driven by my rosacea but by troublesome fatigue I was experiencing. When testing revealed a gluten intolerance and dietary changes improved both my energy and my skin, I began seeing stronger connections between comprehensive wellness and skin healing.

This was a pivotal moment for me. I hadn’t expected that something affecting my energy levels would also influence my skin, but it makes sense when you consider how interconnected our body’s systems are. What we eat doesn’t just fuel us, it influences inflammation levels throughout our entire body, including our skin.

If you’re curious about exploring the food-rosacea connection further, I’ve written more extensively about specific foods that commonly trigger rosacea and what you can eat instead.

Gut Health Connections

After discovering the food sensitivity link, I began exploring probiotics to restore good bacteria in my gut, especially after realising that previous antibiotic use might have disrupted my gut health.

Looking back at when my rosacea first appeared, the previous year, I’d had three courses of antibiotics within six months for various common issues. At the time, I didn’t connect this to my skin at all. But as I learned more about the gut-skin connection, it became clear that my gut health needed support.

The gut-skin axis is fascinating, what happens in your digestive system can directly influence inflammation and immune responses that show up in your skin. For me, supporting my gut health became an essential part of my natural rosacea management approach.

Emotional Wellbeing and Skin Health

A visit to a homeopath introduced the idea that my rosacea might be a physical manifestation of suppressed emotions. This insight helped me become more expressive and find better balance in my life.

This was perhaps one of the most unexpected discoveries in my journey. I’d never considered that holding back emotions or not fully expressing myself could show up physically in my skin. But when I started paying attention to when my skin flared, I noticed patterns, often during times when I was holding things in or trying to appear composed when I wasn’t feeling that way inside.

I like to remember, where the mind goes, the body often follows. For many of us with rosacea, our emotional states and stress-levels can trigger rosacea which can be overlooked in traditional treatment plans.

 

Managing Rosacea Stress and Emotional Triggers

Understanding the Mind-Skin Connection

Throughout this process, I’ve explored mindfulness exercises, meditation, and psychology. Stress-aware rosacea management techniques became (and still are) an essential part of my daily routine. These have helped me develop a better relationship with rosacea and have been integral to my healing journey.

What I’ve come to understand is that stress and emotional states aren’t just abstract concepts which might affect your skin, they’re often significant triggers which show up physically, sometimes before we’ve even consciously registered what we’re feeling.

The fascinating thing? How quickly this happens. We might see our skin responding before our mind catches up to what’s actually happening emotionally.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a flare right now, having immediate support tools can help calm both your mind and skin in those challenging moments. I’ve also written more about how stress affects rosacea if you’d like to explore this connection further.

Mindfulness Practices for Rosacea

From my mindfulness practice, I’ve learned that our bodies are constantly communicating with us. Sometimes that nervous rosacea flush or stress-related flare is actually providing valuable information:

• Maybe it’s telling me I need to slow down
• Perhaps I need to take a breath
• Or acknowledge what I’m actually feeling instead of pushing through automatically

The practices that helped me:

I actively applied my holistic therapy training to support my wellbeing during this time. I used essential oils at strategic times throughout the day, particularly for evening relaxation. Colour therapy became invaluable, I would use specific colours to uplift, calm, or support my mood. I discovered that the colours I was naturally drawn to provided insight into my emotional state, allowing me to guide and adapt my environment to boost my mental wellbeing. I even created my own colour healing meditation for rosacea flare-up moments, which you can access too. Hand reflexology became a go-to for targeted support.

These weren’t rigid protocols I forced myself to follow but rather supportive practices I could turn to when I needed them.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet Approaches

Following a rosacea-friendly diet became crucial to my healing protocol. I focused on incorporating specific anti-inflammatory foods which could support healing from within, creating the internal environment needed for skin recovery.

The global events of 2020 gave me unexpected time for deep research. I dove into scientific papers with the aim to understand rosacea even more. While the multi-layered approach was showing promising results, my naturally curious nature pushed me to seek even deeper understanding. I’m inherently a solution-seeker who finds ways around problems to discover the path of best fit. With a ‘glass half full’ perspective, I continued researching and exploring, determined to find more comprehensive answers and better outcomes for my skin and overall wellbeing.

My Rosacea Skincare Journey

To round out my understanding, I pursued training in skincare formulation. This education deepened my knowledge of the skin’s structure and function, taught me which ingredients benefit different skin types and conditions, and helped me understand what skincare ingredients to use or avoid for sensitive and reactive skin. Combined with the anatomy and physiology knowledge from my aromatherapy and reflexology training, this gave me a more complete picture of the skin’s needs and challenges.

With this more comprehensive perspective, I began connecting the dots between internal wellness and skin health, understanding that what I put into my body was just as important as what I applied topically.

 

Finding the Right Support for Your Journey

Building Your Natural Rosacea Management Plan

This journey has taught me that everyone’s skin is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. However, with patience, persistence, and a holistic approach to skin healing, it’s possible to find a balance which works for you and improve rosacea symptoms and flare-ups.

The most effective natural approach to managing rosacea involves combining several elements:

• Identifying and understanding your unique trigger patterns
• Addressing internal wellness through dietary awareness and gut health support
• Developing practical stress management techniques which fit your lifestyle
• Creating a supportive emotional environment where healing can flourish

You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone

If you’re reading this and thinking “I wish I had someone who actually understands,” I want you to know: that’s exactly why I do this work.

After spending over a decade healing my own rosacea and training professionally in clinical aromatherapy, reflexology, and holistic therapies, I’ve learned something important: you don’t need another rigid protocol. You need someone who listens to your full story and helps you find what actually works for you.

Through 1:1 mentor sessions, you’ll:

• Finally feel heard by someone who’s walked this path themselves
• Uncover the deeper connections between your emotions, wellbeing, and skin
• Discover your unique patterns and triggers (not just generic advice)
• Develop practical strategies that fit your actual life
• Move from feeling defeated to feeling like yourself again

This isn’t about me handing you a plan to follow. It’s about me bringing my lived experience and professional training to support you whilst you stay in the driver’s seat. I’m the steady presence beside you as you navigate your own path forward.

Whether you’re struggling with rosacea or another chronic skin condition, know that a holistic approach, one which honours the connection between mind, body, and emotions, can open new possibilities you might not have considered before.

Remember, healing is rarely linear, and it often requires us to look beyond the surface to find lasting solutions. By addressing both the physical symptoms and their emotional foundations, you can develop a more harmonious relationship with your skin and discover your own path to feel comfortable in your skin again.

Discover More About 1:1 Mentor Sessions

Not quite ready for personalised support?

Start with my free Rosacea Connection Tracker a simple tool which helps you explore the connections between your skin, emotions, and wellbeing. Get the right questions to uncover what’s really happening for you.

 

FAQs

Can rosacea be cured naturally?

While there’s no definitive cure, many people significantly improve their rosacea through natural approaches that address root causes rather than just symptoms. This involves understanding your unique triggers, supporting gut health, managing stress, and creating sustainable lifestyle changes. The key is recognising that healing looks different for everyone and rarely follows a straight line.

What actually triggers rosacea flare-ups?

Triggers are rarely single causes, they’re usually cumulative. It might not be just that glass of wine or spicy meal, but those things combined with poor sleep, stress, or existing inflammation. Common triggers include certain foods, stress, gut imbalances, and suppressed emotions. Tracking your patterns helps identify what’s happening specifically for you, not just what affects others.

Why does my face flush when I’m stressed or anxious?

Your skin and nervous system are deeply connected. That flush or flare often appears before you’ve consciously registered stress, your body’s communicating something important. Understanding this mind-skin connection means you can develop stress-awareness practices that support both emotional wellbeing and skin health, rather than just treating surface symptoms.

Does gut health really affect your skin?

Yes, the gut-skin axis is a recognised connection in holistic health. Gut inflammation and imbalanced bacteria can trigger immune responses that manifest in your skin. Many people notice skin improvements after addressing food sensitivities, supporting gut bacteria with probiotics, or healing from previous antibiotic use that disrupted their digestive system.

What foods make rosacea worse?

This varies individually, but common culprits include gluten, dairy, alcohol, spicy foods, and histamine-rich foods. Rather than following generic elimination lists, tracking your own patterns reveals what specifically affects you. An anti-inflammatory diet rich in whole foods often supports healing, but understanding your body’s unique responses makes the biggest difference.

How long does it take to see improvement with natural rosacea approaches?

Healing timelines vary significantly between individuals. Some notice changes within weeks of addressing gut health or removing trigger foods, whilst others see gradual improvement over months. Natural healing rarely follows a linear path, there may be setbacks alongside progress. The holistic approach focuses on sustainable, long-term wellness rather than quick fixes.

 

Disclaimer

The information provided in this blog post is based on my personal experience and research. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your skin condition or health. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read in this blog post.