My journey with rosacea started when I was in college. Like so many other students, I was not getting enough sleep, my diet was poor and I was using all the wrong skincare. I was using Rodan and Fields, which, for those who don’t know, makes really harsh skincare and I was using my Clarasonic twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening to remove my make-up. That’s what started to compromise my skin barrier initially.

When I started to notice a bit of redness in my skin, I decided to go to a dermatologist. They told me that I had rosacea and prescribed me a steroid cream and told me to just use gentle skincare products alongside. Firstly, I didn’t love using the steroid cream as it was so strong, but secondly, there was no real guidance or specific routine when it came to the products to use alongside, so I was really lost with where I should look.

When I moved to London, things went from bad to worse. I developed acne rosacea, which meant I had breakouts and redness at the same time. I tried multiple different brands, scoured department stores and would try product after product. I would try a full line of things and then that wouldn’t work so I’d switch to another full line of things and the cycle continued. I was getting so many mixed messages in terms of what I should be using.

Then, I reached my breaking point. I went and got a facial from the French skincare brand Biologique Recherche (the brand behind that iconic P50 lotion) and my face fully, fully, fully broke out because the products were just way too harsh for my already vulnerable skin. At that point, I really didn’t know what to do.

Finally, I found Pamela Marshall, a facialist and founder of Mortar and Milk skin clinic (listen to our episode of The Skinterview with Pam here) and that changed everything. She told me to scale back my routine and only use the most basic Exuviance products, which I soon fell in love with. She also got me on a probiotic to sort my gut out (the gut-skin connection is SO real) and soothe my inflammation and I started to keep track of triggers across my whole diet and lifestyle. I finally took control. And as a result, my rosacea finally got better.

It was this rollercoaster journey that spurred me on to go get my skincare qualifications and launch Lion/ne with Ksenia. I think my key message is that our skin is part of a way bigger ecosystem than what exists on our faces. My rosacea started due to a poor lifestyle and neglecting my routine; it took speaking to someone who looked at the issue as a whole that really made a difference. And that’s exactly why we do what we do now with our Holistic Skin Sessions: we review every factor of your lifestyle to uncover why your skin behaves the way it does and how to get it back on track.

Want a helping hand navigating your own skin journey with rosacea or any skin concerns for that matter, book a session with me or another Lion/ne Skin Mentor here.

For more skincare wisdom like this, check out our podcast The Skinterview. Each week, we interview a skincare expert on the topics that really matter, demystifying complex concepts, busting beauty myths and sharing honest reviews.