The Budget Fashionista

Alright—I need your advice! My facial skin tends to be uneven and reddish in areas, especially across the cheeks and nose. Anyone have budget-friendly products, remedies, or treatments to help this? Foundation is fine, but I’d love to not HAVE to wear it all the time . . .

once you find out let me know!
I like Juice Organics Green Apple Peel, so head to the beauty section of Marshalls fairly frequently and your bound to find one or two sometime.
Try mixing foundation with moisturizer, equal parts and just apply like moisturizer. Thats the most I really know… Try True Match’s foundation for that. Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer and Hard Candys Hint Tint moisturizer are other possible options.

I have the same problem with redness.  After some trial and error I finally went with Revlon’s Color Stay Oil-Free Foundation.  I still have to use my Benefit Playstick concealer FIRST to cover my nasal area which is where I have my redness but the ColorStay foundation does STAY even when I have a cold.  I also got Benefit’s You’re Bluffing which is good for spotting any isolated spots you might have but is not meant to be used on larger areas of your face.

Previous to the Revlon I had been using Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer and it just wasn’t evening out the redness.

I’ve never tried True Match, so I’ll give it a go . . . and maybe the Benefits You’re Bluffing (is it budget-friendly?) . . . I’m really hoping for something, however, that will do more than cover up . . . maybe it’s just a dream, but thanks for the advice so far!

I have the same problem with redness. I also have mild eczema on my chin that I treat with 1% hydrocortisone cream. I recently read that some doctors use it on their blemishes. I figured, sure why not? I applied a small amount to my usual chin area, lower cheeks, and the red spot that was quickly getting brighter on my nose. The next morning the spot was much less noticeable and my cheeks were less red too. I’ve been using the hydrocortisone for about a week and a half on my cheeks. I definitely think it has evened my skin tone. I use Aveeno by the way.

You’re Bluffing is $22.00 which isn’t EXACTLY budget-y but it was superior to the Neutrogena stick I used. 

Has anyone noticed that ALL foundations now promise to even out your skin tone?  We are either using too many skin care products that may be making our skin MORE sensitive or this is just hype.  I think probably that you have to experiment and may even have to blend several products to get it right.  There are the tinted moisturizers which are nice but they don’t really even out your skin tone unless perhaps you already have perfect skin.  However you can layer them and they are probably easier to do that with than heavier foundations which once you put them on aren’t easy to get OFF.

This shouldn’t be so complicated but it IS!  Good luck, Angela.

You are so right! It shouldn’t be this hard! Tinted moisturizers do just that; tint my skin and moisturize. It doesn’t even my skin tone at all. Heavy liquid foundation looks like I got into the paint cans in my art room plus ruins my skin after a few days. It’s a constant treasure hunt for me.

Here is tip that has been recently suggested on another blog...create your OWN tinted moisturizer by blending your foundation with your moisturizer...this might help with the color matching and without over-drying your skin

I’ve been using olay total effects for more than a year now and all I can say is: it’s the best! I don’t have any plans of switching to another product anytime soon!

Angela - 30 January 2008 11:47 AM

Alright—I need your advice! My facial skin tends to be uneven and reddish in areas, especially across the cheeks and nose. Anyone have budget-friendly products, remedies, or treatments to help this? Foundation is fine, but I’d love to not HAVE to wear it all the time . . .

This starts to happen in the late 30’s early 40s and by 50 it is a problem for a lot of women.

several things

don’t use cortisone to treat anything but a short term excema, it thins the collagen under the skin, and leads to worsening redness after a while. I will definitely bring on wrinkles faster as will anything that destroys collagen like sunlight and smoking.

Check with a dr that it isn’t rosacea. Easier said than done esp if you live in Canada where the derms are all booked up or gone private.

If you suspect rosacea, then treat your skin with extreme care. This gets worse faster as you age. Don’t use glycolic acid peels and don’t exfoliate as this makes it worse. Use stuff with salicylic acids for a gentler exfoliant and to deal with the redness, inflammation and any blocked pores.

2 books to help whether it is rosacea or just age related sun damage are Paula Begouns latest Don’t Go to the Cosmetics counterwithout me, and also Dr Leslie Baumann’s the Skin Type Solution

Avoid any more sun damage, try the OLAY product line either the regenerist or the new line both of which target sun damage thru niacin.

The Aveeno redness relief line is also a good option,

I’ve used both with limited success.

There are no miracles off the counters, but you can stop damage from going further by using sunscreen religiously, the UVA AND UVB kind, as well as a foundation that blocks both A and B types.

a tip, it it doesn’t say uva, uvb blocking it isn’t. If it just says sunscreen it is onlly blocking one of them.

I look stuff up in Paula’s book to make sure, then I buy based on my budget and what is in my locale. That is how I got my system to work for me.

And use foundation. Just be sure to cleanse gently but thoroughly to let your skin breathe overnight. Use a non sunscreen moisturizer at night, I like the olay one with salicylic acid (beta hydroxy)

Some other stuff, eat veggies lots!--especially the deep yellow and green ones for Vit A and antioxidents, don’t smoke, stay out of the sun between 10 am and 3 pm, wear a sunscreen moisturizer every day whether the sun is shining or not, whether you are indoors or not, and wear a good foundation with both SPFs.
Revlon mkes a good one in their age defy line, and I like Clinique’s Repair wear, but that one needs thinning out as you apply it.

I also take extra Vit C and I think the glucosamine I take for my joints actually is helping my skin avoid wrinkles.

I was going to suggest the same thing as Overtaken: check with your doctor. It might be something that requires medication.