How To Tell The Difference Between Rosacea And Perioral Dermatitis

Rosacea Skin

Often mistaken for the same thing, rosacea and perioral dermatitis share a lot of similar symptoms making them difficult to assess and treat. With this in mind, we’re here to help highlight the key differences between the two, ensuring that you can effectively tell them apart to successfully combat your skin worries with the right skincare for rosacea.

Often causing redness, the symptoms of rosacea and perioral dermatitis can be misdiagnosed, but the location of the redness, overall appearance and triggers can be giveaways on what type of skin condition you're experiencing.  

Spot The Difference

Perioral dermatitis tends to be triggered by topical steroids, cosmetic products, and even fluoride toothpaste. It causes the skin around your mouth and nose to become red, flaky, and scaly with small red bumps or pustules. Perioral dermatitis often needs treating with the help of a healthcare professional who will most likely prescribe topical or oral antibiotics.

As a general rule, rosacea typically affects your cheeks, nose, forehead, and chin, appearing as redness, flushing, visible blood vessels and sometimes as small red bumps and pustules. Often triggered by environmental or lifestyle factors, rosacea can flare up with alcohol, spicy food, sun exposure, and warmer temperatures, which can make it easy to narrow down the cause, prevent, and treat.

Our 5 Top Picks For Rosacea Treatment At Home

Omitting rosacea-triggering factors from your lifestyle is the first step in avoiding flare ups, but another way to reduce rosacea-induced redness is to simplify your skincare essentials, choosing gentle, fragrance-free products that soothe your skin and prevent further irritation. Here’s a roundup of the best creams for rosacea and out top redness-busting products.

lady applying cream to her face

iS Clinical Hydra Cool Serum

Enriched with antioxidants, essential botanicals and bio-nutrients, this specially formulated serum calms and comforts distressed skin, providing intensive hydration to soothe redness and irritation.

Perfect for instant and long-term relief, this hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5 and mushroom extract enriched serum rejuvenates the surface of your skin, restores your skin’s moisture levels and defends against sun damage, treating and preventing rosacea.

Jan Marini Rosalieve Redness Reducing Complex

Skin prone to redness and flushing? This soothing complex is your skincare saviour. Enriched with natural extracts, azelaic acid, oat extract, and green, white and red tea it visibly reduces flushing, restores comfort and minimises flare ups, protecting sensitive skin against environmental triggers.

Heliocare 360 A-R Emulsion

Sun exposure can cause rosacea flare-ups, so if you’re prone to redness and irritation, it’s essential to keep your skin safe from the sun's rays, preventing future outbreaks.

Specifically designed for redness-prone skin, this broad-spectrum sunscreen is infused with an innovative anti-redness system that reduces and prevents redness, restoring your skin barrier and soothing your skin.  

Silky smooth, this high-factor SPF also contains pigment, evening your skin and blurring imperfections, to minimise the symptoms of rosacea and boost your confidence.  

lady cleansing face

Decree Light Cleanser

Gentle and balancing, this effective, gently foaming morning cleanser removes overnight congestion and excess oil. Enriched with rose water, glycerin, and seaweed extract this light formula is perfect for sensitive, rosacea-prone skin, nourishing, hydrating and smoothing to leave your skin fresh and calm.  

Bioderma Sensibio Anti-Redness Moisturiser

Red skin and inflammation getting you down? Relieve rosacea flare-ups with this anti-redness moisturiser. Enriched with calming active ingredients, this daily use cream soothes skin discomfort, relieves inflammation, and reduces redness, boosting your skin's resilience to prevent future flare ups.

Unfragranced and non-comedogenic, the Bioderma Sensibio Anti-Redness Moisturiser is perfect for sensitive and acne-prone skin.

Shop The Post

iS Clinical Hydra Cool Serum 15mliS Clinical Hydra Cool Serum 15ml
iS Clinical Hydra Cool Serum 15ml

Helping to cool, calm and soothe dry and irritated skin, this serum is formulated with a unique combination of active ingredients to provide both instant and long-term results for compromised skin.

£64.00
Jan Marini RosaLieve Redness Reducing ComplexJan Marini RosaLieve Redness Reducing Complex
Jan Marini RosaLieve Redness Reducing Complex

This innovative face lotion provides relief to skin prone to flushing and redness.

£90.00
Heliocare 360 A-R EmulsionHeliocare 360 A-R Emulsion
Heliocare 360 A-R Emulsion

£26.40 £33.00 20% offsaving
Bioderma Sensibio Anti-Redness MoisturiserBioderma Sensibio Anti-Redness Moisturiser
Bioderma Sensibio Anti-Redness Moisturiser

£12.95 £18.50 30% offsaving

Feeling more confident in diagnosing and treating redness and skin flareups? Expand your skincare knowledge by learning about the Benefits Of Beauty Sleep: Snooze Your Way To healthier Skin.


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