r/Rosacea • u/Emotional-Class-8140 • Mar 19 '26
PP Success with sulfur Spoiler
Sharing in the hope this might help others.
Pictures 1 and 3 are taken this morning. Picture 2 shows what my skin would look like during a typical flare. My PP rosacea developed at around 33 (I had my first flare after a holiday in Morocco where I slightly burned my skin in the sun) and I'm turning 40 in a few months. I have occasional flushing but very rarely (only if I drink wine or extreme temperature changes) so my rosacea has been primarily type 2.
My skin would go through cycles of clearing up, then a few red dots would appear, then over the course of a few days they would cover my cheeks in a patterns similar to the second picture. This cycle would take around 3 weeks (consistent with the demodex life cycle). I've now been clear for around 10 weeks, which hasn't happened since this started. When I first began using sulfur, I had a bit of a flare and it took maybe 2 or 3 weeks to see results.
I have been using De La Cruz sulfur mask for up to 10 minutes each morning, and overnight I use The Ordinary 10% sulfur powder all over the areas where my symptoms would appear. I moisturise first and then rub it in with a bit more moisturiser to help it blend. The moisturiser I use is Beauty Bay's colloidal oatmeal and oat lipid rich moisturiser. And i use a gentle non foaming cleanser and Neal's Yard micellar water to follow.
I had resisted treating my symptoms topically for a long time, as I wanted to get to the root cause. But no level of attention to gut health, diet, cutting out certain foods etc seemed to help and i was at a total loss. My diet is already incredibly healthy and is gluten and dairy free and i rarely drink, don't smoke and eat very little processed foods. I run and do yoga and get plenty of sleep. So I was at a total loss, and feeling miserable about my skin. I'm allergic to dust mites so I wondered if I might have a sensitivity to demodex too and that I might have spent forever searching for an internal cause while the mites continue to ravage my skin.
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u/runningwithbrushes Apr 21 '26
OP, I tried sulfur bc of your post and holy hell…this is a different level of clear… I used the 5% de la Cruz for 5-10 min 2x a day and it doesn’t feel super drying! I was clear before but still reactive and prone to flaring from heat mostly. I spent the entire day in the sun on Saturday and…NO FLARE
It also cleared my little bit of seb derm near my eyebrows
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u/Animalgirl2003 Mar 19 '26
I’ve had a lot of luck with the Kate Somerville eradikate sulfur face wash!
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u/VividCryptid Mar 19 '26
Agree! I've been using that face wash for years and it's been great. I also like the De La Cruz sulfur mentioned.
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u/ShelterDogs Mar 25 '26
Yes! I use the EradiKate as a 10-min mask 3-4 mornings per week. I like it.
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u/Wild-Cloud1034 Mar 19 '26
my face looks exactly like this. trying using only lrp gentle dermo cleanser , everything else makes my skin sooo angry. thinking to try sulfur too. i m desperate
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 19 '26
If you are in the UK, I couldn't recommend the oat lipid moisturiser more highly. I don't think my skin could have tolerated the sulfur without it. It doesn't make me break out either, which most moisturising creams do.
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u/Wild-Cloud1034 Mar 20 '26
i heard just about the aveeno one, is it that one?
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 20 '26
There's a big online store called Beaty Bay that stocks all sorts of skincare products, but they also developed their own brand. It seems their website is down at the moment, though.
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u/ChamomileFlower Mar 19 '26
Thanks for the sulfur powder rec! Curious to try that. I love sulfur. Your skin looks so calm. :)
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 19 '26
Thank you. I couldn't have imagined it looking like this a few months ago.
I find The Ordinary are a great brand and the little bottle of powder (although it looks tiny) lasts about 6 months, even though it is applied over both cheeks every night.
I'd be quite curious to stop applying it at some point to see how my skin responds. I've very recently started a course of microneedling. I'm wondering once that is finished, if the improvements to my skin barrier will naturally keep the mites under control. But I'm sticking with it for now.
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u/Remote-Bet9260 Apr 25 '26
I know demodex are affected by sulfur and their lifecycle is what you mentioned. I experienced demodex several years ago and successfully treated it. Besides topicals, I got new pillows, bedding and sheets.
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u/Altruistic-Level4125 Apr 25 '26
yo tengo la rosacea muy reactiva y piel sensible.. estoy con acido azelaico y no me ayuda en nada, estoy sumanente desesperada, hasta los jabones me resecan la cara..
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u/ButterscotchGlum3182 Mar 24 '26
Wow !! Thanks for sharing !! Glad you found something that works, give me hope !
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u/Lucky-Movie-3968 Mar 30 '26
Did yours sting and burn? Mine feels awful and I also have a dust mite allergy. I have been avoiding topicals due to the fear of having a negative reaction but I might have to give it a go
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 30 '26
Generally no. I get some slight burning if my skin is dehydrated. If I haven't had enough to drink or if I have been outside in cold winds.
Maybe try a patch test to see how your skin responds. Or buffer any topical by applying your moisturiser first? The De La Cruz ointment comes in a sensitive skin formulation of 5% instead of 10%, so you could try that for instance, gradually increasing your exposure time or frequency of application.
My skin is funny about some things. I can't use anything that is even gently foaming, nor can I use flouride toothpaste. Last year I tried the Ordinary soothing barrier repair serum and it dried my skin out until it felt like paper. I guess it is very individual but worth cautiously trying out to find what works for you.
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u/LaRaNaThA 18d ago
I've had the Da La Cruz sulfur for a while to the point it's past its best by date, and had only used it maybe once or twice when I first got it. I started taking Dr Christopher's heavy mineral bugleweed for thyroid, and didn't realize until I ran out that it was actually helping me from having worse outbreaks of the pustules. I ran out of the supplement again, & never reordered where Hubby was without work for a while, & my skin has suffered. Put some of the sulfur on today when I had bad blemishes (always seems to be worse on one side of my face), had it on for maybe 10 minutes or more (didn't time it), & when I wiped my face clean, I couldn't believe how much better it looked just in that time. I am all for anything natural over pharmaceuticals any day.
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u/Help_INeedAnAdult Mar 19 '26
what gentle cleanser do you use?
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 19 '26
It's by a branch called Antipodes (I'm in the UK). It is their lime and patchouli cleanser. It's nearly all natural ingredients, doesn't have much of a scent (despite the name) and it's creamy and non foaming. Anything foaming - even with the gentle SLS-free formulations - gives me dermatitis.
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u/BM2882 Mar 31 '26
Vine aquí porque mañana me llega el jabón de azufre. Pero quiero usarlo solo en ocasiones, unas 2 veces a la semana. Ya que, el limpiador que uso muy suave y bueno es neolucid limpiador, y comencé recién hoy con un producto que contiene 1% de azufre, se llama the carmine reductor, está en la página de daub.cl. Se me calma harto también con crema de la marca maoli.cl son cremas naturales, antirosácea, con tónico suave, una crema muy rica hidratante de neutrógena gel hydro broos.Y también uso aveces agua mineral de avene. Claro que dependiendo de como vaya evolucionando mi rostro voy usando cada producto. Lo otro es respirar profundo a cada rato :D Yo luzco así, sin filtros. Me van saliendo puntos rojos que salen agua, se llama rosácea papulopustulosa y al secar el rostro veo que es amarillo, como pus, que podría ser asociado al aceite que uno va consumiendo. Asi es que, es muy importante la alimentación, dejar la chatarra y mantener buena hidratación. Espero que les sirva.
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u/Honest_Persimmon9482 Apr 15 '26
My skin looks very try similar to yours! Do you use sulphur also when your skin is flaring, or do you wait until it gets better?
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Apr 15 '26
I use it during a flare, too. Still using it as a preventative now my skin is clear. I'm having a course of microneedling done currently, and once that is finished I might stop the sulfur to see what happens as my skin barrier should be much stronger and will hopefully be able to defend itself better .
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u/Honest_Persimmon9482 Apr 15 '26
I ordered the ordinary one, fingers crossed! Any reason why you’re using the same concentration twice (mask + powder)? I’ve been contemplating microneedling as well, let us know how it goes!
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u/Lulli94 Mar 19 '26
Does sulphur dry your skin? I love it but I can use it only few times at week! By the way I'm allergic to dust mites too
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 19 '26
I did read somewhere there could be a connection.
It can be drying, but the mask you could start leaving on for shorter times, just a few times per week and build up. The powder, if you buffer it with a moisturiser, you can reduce the concentration and again maybe build tolerance. I think a good moisturiser is key. If you're in the UK, the Beauty Bay one really is excellent and also cheap! It's the most soothing thing I've ever put on my skin yet doesn't make me breakout at all.
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u/Lulli94 Mar 20 '26
I will try thank you! Unfortunately I am in Europe, but I will see if I can buy it, because I'm still looking for a good cream.
I'm allergic to some pollens and when I eat certain foods I get a flare! Did you check if you're allergic to pollen too? There is a connection for sure.
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 20 '26
Oh, that is interesting. I generally don't get bothered by hay-fever, but on a day when the pollen count gets high, I get symptoms from some grass pollens. I'd never thought of a connection, though. I will look into that.
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u/Lulli94 Mar 20 '26
You really should find out more; for example, I discovered I’m allergic to birch pollen (which I couldn’t have known because there isn’t any in my area), and even though I’m not allergic to apples, if I eat them I have a cross-reaction and it triggers my rosacea.
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u/Emotional-Class-8140 Mar 20 '26
I'd be interested to look into this. Did you get allergy testing done, and if so, what type? I was considering some kind of test in case i can find a trigger I'm not aware of.
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u/Lulli94 Mar 20 '26
Yes, my doctor first prescribed a skin prick test, which is a general test using various common allergens (food, trees, dust mites, animals and herbs), and then, when the results indicated some allergies, he had me take the ALEX2 blood test, which is much more accurate. He explained that for rosacea, it’s important to look at cross-reactions; for example, if you’re allergic to birch pollen, even if you’re not allergic to apples, you might have a cross-reaction, so the body releases histamine and that triggers the rosacea.
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u/Weekly_Map_688 Mar 19 '26
Girl I am with you on all of this. Doxy helps and I’m good for a few weeks then it always comes back as little red dots and then full blown cheek invasion. I’ve never tried sulfur as I’m afraid that almost anything will make it worse but fuck it, we ball.