Choosing models for our campaigns is important to us. We think skin should look unchanged and unretouched, so we make a big effort to show how our products work on sensitive skin in all its forms.
One in two of us have sensitive skin. That can range from acne to rosacea, eczema to plain old itchy. Real, unretouched skin normalises what most of us actually look like. Which is exactly the point.
We caught up with Hellana, a model whose rosacea appeared just two years ago. With a career focused on appearance, we wanted to hear how she handles reactions, irritations and shoot-day skin emergencies.
Pai: How would you describe your skin?
Hellana: I've been quite lucky in terms of genetics because I do have quite good skin. I don't have 'perfect' skin, I do eat lots of sugar, but don't tend to get spots or outbreaks. In the last two years though, I have developed rosacea.
Pai: Did it come out of nowhere?
Hellana: Pretty much! I only get it when I eat certain things, like spicy food. Which is one of my favourite foods! Now if I eat something with lots of chilli in it, I will get redness around my cheeks. It comes on pretty quick. Also if I drink red wine. I used to think I was just flushed but now it's become so intense that people ask if I'm okay.
Pai: How does it make you feel?
Hellana: I become quite self conscious of it in the moment. It's okay if it's evening time in a restaurant because it's dark outside, but if it's during the day I feel like everyone's looking at me. I can feel the burning and the heat on my cheeks! It doesn't last and I know it's going to go away, but it still isn't the best. Also, when I go to the gym and I sweat a lot and get really hot, my face will be so red... beetroot red!
Pai: Did you ever think you'd develop a skin sensitivity?
Hellana: Well yes, my mum has it too, really badly. So I'm actually quite worried it's going to get worse! Growing up, because my mum has it I almost had a phobia about it. As it started to develop though, I'd go for facials and they'd tell me I had the onset of rosacea, so I knew it was coming!
Pai: Has it ever affected your work?
Hellana: Recently I did have a flare-up while I was on a shoot and I was really worried about it. There's not much you can do and obviously in my job it really matters how I look and how my skin looks. It got me thinking oh no if this keeps happening in the future, I'm not going to be able to model, what's going to happen to me? Actually though, all they had to do was put extra makeup on me to hide it! I feel like more and more people are coming forward and saying that they have skin concerns. It seems to be a lot more common than I realised.
Pai: Apart from avoiding too much chilli and wine, what else helps you manage your skin?
Hellana: I'm being much more careful about going in the sun. When I lived in Australia I used to surf for five hours straight, and no matter how much sunscreen I would use you're still in the sun, you know? I've noticed now that I'm in my early thirties I've started to get pigmentation spots from that prolonged sun exposure.
Pai: Can you tell us about your routine?
Hellana: I am quite religious about my rosacea skincare routine, especially now that I'm getting older. I'm interested in anti-redness, natural, organic skincare that is cruelty-free, as opposed to the cool thing that's on Instagram or that the bloggers are using. As I get older, the ingredients inside are so much more important to me than the pretty packaging on the outside!
For anyone dealing with rosacea like Hellana, our Rosehip Bioregenerate has become a cult favourite for calming reactive skin. The CO2 extraction we use preserves trans-retinoic acid and anti-inflammatory compounds that help reduce redness. It's the product we hear about most often when customers tell us their rosacea story.
If you're looking for more targeted help, our guide to using rosehip oil for rosacea breaks down exactly why this particular oil works so well for reactive skin conditions.
