How To Get Rid Of Red Skin On Face

Let me guess: You typed into Google, “how to get rid of red skin on face,” and you’ve landed on my page. Well, my friend, I have some great news for you—you’ve come to the perfect spot. There are a lot of things I love about my Irish roots, but my constantly red skin is not one of them. I’ve been diagnosed with rosacea by a handful of board-certified dermatologists over the years. I also deal with occasional eczema, dermatitis, and hormonal acne every month, too. 

Sometimes I will look in the mirror and admire my rosy cheeks. But more often than not, my face looks redder than I would like. Considering I’ve been working as a beauty editor for the last 10-ish years, I’ve tried a ton of different things to get rid of the redness on my face. Below, I’m sharing all of my best tips and tricks to help reduce redness and not look like you’re blushing 24/7! I mean, SIGN ME UP, amiright?  

How To Get Rid Of Red Skin On Face

If you want to figure out how to get rid of red skin on face, you first need to figure out what kind of red skin you are dealing with. For example, you could be dealing with acne, eczema, dermatitis, or even all three. Or maybe you have rosacea and deal with rosy cheeks a lot. Figuring out what is causing the redness is important in figuring out how to get rid of red skin on face. 

In this post, we will dive into what causes skin redness on the face. I’ll also go over tools I like to use to reduce redness when things get crazy. 

What Causes Skin Redness On Face?

Unfortunately, there are a ton of different causes of skin redness on the face. These can be grouped into different categories including:

Lifestyle-related causes:

• Heat and temperature changes – Hot weather, steamy showers, saunas, or even walking from freezing cold into a warm room can all make your face flush almost instantly.
• Exercise or increased heart rate – If your face turns red after a workout (raises hand), that’s totally normal. It’s just increased blood flow and should subside. 
• Spicy foods and alcohol – Both can dilate blood vessels, which is why you might notice redness after a margarita or a plate of spicy noodles.
• Emotions and stress – Ever get red when you’re embarrassed, anxious, or overwhelmed? That’s your nervous system at work.
• Sun exposure – Too much sun damage can irritate the skin and cause redness, even if you don’t technically have a full-on sunburn.

Skin conditions:

• Rosacea – A chronic condition that causes persistent redness, flushing, visible blood vessels, and sometimes acne-like bumps.
• Acne – Inflammation from breakouts can leave skin looking red and feel irritated, even after the pimple itself is gone.
• Eczema – Often shows up as red, itchy, inflamed patches, especially if your skin is very dry or sensitive.
• Contact dermatitis – Basically a reaction to something your skin doesn’t like, such as skincare products, makeup, fragrance, or even laundry detergent.
• Psoriasis – Can cause red, scaly patches on the face, especially around the hairline, eyebrows, or nose.
• Seborrheic dermatitis – Redness paired with flaky or greasy scales, commonly around the nose, brows, and scalp.

Skincare or product-related causes:

• Over-exfoliation – Using too many acids, retinoids, or scrubs can seriously mess with your skin barrier and lead to chronic redness.
• Strong active ingredients – Retinol, vitamin C, benzoyl peroxide, and exfoliating acids are great… until they’re not. Skin irritation is very common.
• Fragrance and essential oils – These are some of the biggest triggers for redness, especially for sensitive or reactive skin.
• Harsh cleansers or wrong pH – If your face feels tight after washing, your cleanser might be stripping your skin and causing inflammation.

Medical causes:

• Allergic reactions – This could be from food, medication, or something you applied to your skin.
• Hormonal changes – Perimenopause, menopause, pregnancy, and even birth control changes can trigger flushing and sensitivity.
• Blood vessel sensitivity – Some people just have more reactive or visible capillaries in the face.
• Infections – Bacterial, fungal, or viral infections can all show up as redness.
• Autoimmune conditions – Certain conditions, like lupus, can cause distinct facial rashes and persistent redness.

How To Get Rid Of Redness On Face

For general redness or rosacea:

Red light mask

The hype is actually real when it comes to red light masks—trust. I have the Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro and use it all the time. Yes, it is expensive as hell. And yes, it was gifted to me by the brand, but I would purchase it again. I use it often, and I am always SHOOK by how much it reduces redness in my skin. 

I love that it is a hard mask that stays put on your face. Personally, I’m not a fan of the masks that are flat and “contour” to your face. They don’t contour to my face and they always end up falling off and are a pain to get on. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think the Shark CryoGlow LED Face Mask is also a great option. Even better, it’s a little less expensive than the Dr. Dennis Gross pick. 

Ice roller

If you can’t afford a fancy red light mask, ice is your next best option. This is a cheap and easy way to reduce general redness on your skin. I just purchased this ice cube roller massager and love using it when my redness is getting out of control. Make sure you put a towel underneath your face before using this. Otherwise, the water will drip and get your clothes wet without one. 

For acne:

Meditation

I’m honestly still in shock about how much meditation has changed my skin. For so many years, I’ve been trying to figure out why I was always breaking out on my chin with hormonal acne. I tried quitting dairy, quitting gluten, drinking more water, taking a million different supplements, and a bunch of other stuff that never really helped. 

Once I started doing kundalini breathwork through Benshen most days of the week, my hormonal acne almost completely disappeared. It took about a month or two for me to notice that I wasn’t getting any hormonal breakouts. Once I did notice, I couldn’t help but attribute it to my breathwork practice. I now know that my hormonal acne was caused by stress, and coming to that realization has changed my life in so many ways.  

Fiber supplement

I’ve talked about this before in my how to deal with acne problems at 30 blog post, but I’m a believer that hormones trapped in your stool can wreak havoc on your skin. Your poop is an incredibly crucial way for your body to dispose of hormones (and many other things) from your body. If you’re backed up and not eliminating regularly, the fluctuating hormones in your stool are going to recirculate into your body and bloodstream, and could potentially cause you to break out with hormonal acne. 

That’s why I love to take a fiber supplement daily to keep things moving. My favorites are Bellway Sugar-Free Psyllium Husk Fiber Supplement Powder and Dr. Christopher’s Original Formulas Lower Bowel Formula Capsules. I also find that when I am backed up, my eczema starts to flare and my skin looks a lot more red than usual. I do think that a fiber supplement can help reduce general redness and eczema as well. 

Spironolactone

If you’re struggling with hormonal acne, you might want to consider asking your dermatologist about spironolactone. I have been on and off of this medication for years, and while I don’t think that it has completely cleared my skin (mainly because I stay on a really low dose), I do think that it’s helped. If your acne is causing the redness on your skin, I would consider adding this to your skincare regimen. 

For dermatitis:

Zero therapy 

If you’ve never heard of zero therapy before, let me explain. This is a skincare regimen where you wash your face only with soap, and then do nothing else. No serums, no moisturizers, no nothing. About a month ago, I just tried this concept for the first time. I’m shocked by how well it works. I had a patch of perioral dermatitis under my nose and next to my mouth. I washed my face with the Dr. Ancient Sulfur Soap Bar in the morning and at night. And I didn’t add anything else to my skincare routine for about two weeks. Considering I work as a beauty editor and live and die by my skincare routine, this was very difficult for me. 

My dermatitis cleared up after two weeks, and then I started to add my simple Vanicream lotion onto my skin. I was pretty surprised by how, despite the fact that it was super cold and the air was super dry in NYC, my skin didn’t really feel like it needed moisturizer as much as I thought it would. I barely wore makeup during these two weeks, and I specifically chose a two-week time period where I wouldn’t be going to many events, so that I could avoid wearing makeup as much as possible. 

And even though I’ve dealt with dermatitis for years, I had never tried zero therapy before because I thought it was BS. Well, I was wrong and I encourage you to try it out if you are wondering how to get rid of red skin on face if it’s caused by perioral dermatitis. 

Gentle skincare

Having a gentle skincare routine is really important when getting rid of red skin on the face due to perioral dermatitis. Using too many acids or harsh products will definitely just inflame your skin and make your dermatitis worse. 

Check out my blog post about best anti-aging skin care products for 30s for more specific product recommendations!