Red cheeks be gone!

Do you have red cheeks? They can be quite annoying sometimes, especially the days when you look like you are wearing tabasco sauce on your cheeks. Not to worry here are a few tips that might solve the problem.

1. Firstly, make sure it is not a serious medical issue. For things like severe rosacea etc, you might need to see a dermatologist.
2. Use products which are designed for sensitive skin as part of your skin care routine. These will usually have no fragrance/colouring or other known irritants.
3. Make sure you are not allergic to any product before you use it, You can always try it on an inconspicuous area (behind the ears for example) before using it on your face.
4. Do not forget your sunscreen. UV rays are known culprits when it comes to redness and inflammation of the skin.
   
5. Try a soothing cream. This is my favourite instant redness relief technique. I use the artistry soothing cream because I love the how consistent and moisturising it is but you can use any other soothing cream. Soothing creams have calming ingredients like lavender and chamomile and they usually tone down the redness.
6. Use a tinted moisturiser underneath your foundation or on its own. Tinted moisturisers are exactly what they say- tinted and therefore they hide the redness. I use Jane Iredale's tinted moisturiser. As well as being tinted to tone down the redness, it has a calming effect too due to the algae extract in it.
7. Use a medium-high coverage foundation. This is guaranteed to town down some of the redness even if it is just a bit. I love 4-in-1 mineral foundations (foundation, concealer, SPF and powder). They are very effective at toning down redness because of their added concealing and SPF properties, and are also less likely to irritate the skin as they are mineral based. You can get one of these from Bare Minerals, Jane Iredale, Pur Minerals etc. I love the Jane Iredale one because it is pressed and hence no mess and it has the highest SPF(20).
8. Consider colour correction. The best colour for concealing redness is green. Boots No.7 colour calming base is the only green moisturiser/cream I've come across. It is the equivalent of using a tinted moisturiser as a primer for your make-up except that this is tinted green and is specially designed to antagonise redness. I have not tried this method before. The other option (also suitable for red spots) is to use a green based concealer/colour corrector before/after your foundation to hide any remaining redness. You can get colour correctors from most make-up brands. Ben Nye and Graftobian have some very good colour wheels.
   

I think most men would not fancy being caught with a foundation in their bathroom. If you don't mind that, there are products that have been designed for men. Jane Iredale has one such product. If you do mind however, you can just stick with a soothing cream or a tinted moisturiser.

Hopefully by the time you have done all this, the redness would have been killed!
Remember that this is only a temporary measure and if you are looking for a long term solution, a dermatologist might be a better option.

Stay beautiful...