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Face masks are the epitome of both self-care and skincare. They offer a simple and straightforward way to target your concerns. And when you have rosacea, face masks come in handy to instantly reduce redness, inflammation, and itchiness.
Hydrating and soothing face masks calm the skin, which makes them super helpful during rosacea flares. These include masks that contain hyaluronic acid and/or vitamin B5.
Additionally, face masks packed with anti-inflammatory goodies will also reduce redness and help with acne rosacea. These can include botanicals like aloe, allantoin, and chamomile.
On the flip side, common ingredients you should avoid in your face masks are astringents like alcohol and witch hazel, exfoliating acids like alpha and beta hydroxy acids, and highly fragrant essential oils.
How Do Face Masks Help with Rosacea?
Face masks help manage your rosacea symptoms when you need urgent care. They increase microcirculation to reduce the look of broken capillaries. They calm inflammation and prevent breakouts and comfort distressed skin and eliminate facial redness and itchiness.
But does that mean you should indulge in a face mask only when you’re experiencing flares? Absolutely not! Because redness is not the only skin concern you deal with when you have rosacea.
You may be dealing with dryness or oiliness. You may be dealing with enlarged pores or wrinkles. So just because you have rosacea, it doesn’t mean that a redness-reducing face mask is your only option.
As long as you’re being mindful of the ingredients, you can -and should- enjoy an exfoliating face mask or a brightening mask just as much as the next person. Because it’s all about targeting skin concerns without aggravating rosacea.
The Best Face Masks For Rosacea
From hydrating to soothing and from rinse-off to leave-on, below are the best face masks for people with rosacea.
1. First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask
Pros
Works instantly
Rich in soothing ingredients
Cons
None
If you have rosacea, you must’ve tried a DIY oatmeal mask at least once. Because it’s anti-inflammatory and relieves red and itchy skin instantly. Nothing’s better than an anti-inflammatory face mask for an inflammatory skin condition.
This is a creamy mask to soothe and hydrate the skin. Besides oatmeal, it also comes with additional skin-soothers like licorice root, feverfew, and green tea to put out that fire on rosacea skin.
Key Ingredients: Colloidal oatmeal, licorice extract, green tea extract
Key Benefits: Soothes skin, calms redness
Formula: Alcohol-free, fragrance-free
Size: 2 oz
Good To Know: Cruelty-free
2. Laneige Hypoallergenic Cica Sleeping Mask
Pros
Hypoallergenic
Incredibly moisturizing
Cons
Not fragrance-free
Just like oatmeal, Cica is something people with rosacea are too familiar with. Cica, also known as Centella Asiatica or Asiatic acid, is packed with antioxidants to promote healing and calm the skin. It also has antibacterial properties. This deeply nourishing Cica mask is perfect for soothing inflammation and redness on rosacea skin.
Plus, it contains anti-inflammatory tea tree leaf oil. And for a hydration boost, the Korean mask has vitamin B5, which is an amazing humectant that also soothes the skin. The leave-on mask can double as a night cream as well.
Key Ingredients: Centella Asiatica, vitamin B5, fermented forest yeast extract
Key Benefits: Calms skin overnight, moisturizes
Formula: Alcohol-free
Size: 2 oz
3. Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Skin Barrier Moisturizing Mask
Pros
Works instantly
Plumps dehydration lines
Cons
May be heavy for oily skin
You do not want to dry out your skin if you have rosacea. Dryness makes everything worse by increasing existing redness and sensitivity. That’s why a good moisturizer is essential for maintaining a healthy skin barrier.
And when you need a moisture boost, especially in colder months, a barrier-restoring face mask is everything. This sheet mask is packed with soothing allantoin, hydrating glycerin, vitamin B5, and barrier-improving ceramides to plump up the skin and eliminate tightness and dryness. It’s a super gentle, hydrating sheet mask for rosacea sufferers.
Key Ingredients: Ceramides, allantoin, vitamin B5
Key Benefits: Hydrates, plumps skin, restores skin barrier
Formula: Alcohol-free
Size: 1 mask
4. Renee Rouleau Bio Calm Repair Masque
Pros
Cooling gel depuffs
Made for sensitive skin
Cons
Pricey
This one utilizes amazing botanicals that are calming and soothing for the skin. It works great for rosacea as well as sensitive and sensitized skin. It’s going to be your new go-to during your rosacea flares.
The soothing blend of aloe, green tea, and comfrey leaf is formulated into a lightweight gel. The mask is cooling for the skin, which helps with inflammation and puffiness as well.
Key Ingredients: Green tea, aloe, hyaluronic acid
Key Benefits: Soothes rosacea and redness, hydrates, cools
Formula: Alcohol-free, fragrance-free
Size: 2 oz
Good To Know: Cruelty-free
5. Kiehl’s Calendula Petal-Infused Calming Mask
Pros
Gentle formula
Calms skin instantly
Comes in affordable mini size
Cons
None
This gives the refreshing feel of a sheet mask without the sheet. The jelly mask is formulated with calendula extract. It is anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial for the skin. Additionally, it has aloe to moisturize and chamomile to calm red and irritated skin. So overall, this one is like an instant rescue mask you can try when your skin needs to calm down.
On a side note, I love Kiehl’s face masks and comfortably use them on my rosacea skin. They have another formula, Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask, which is more creamy than this and moisturizes like no other.
Key Ingredients: Aloe, calendula extract
Key Benefits: Hydrates and calms
Formula: Fragrance-free, alcohol-free
Size: 3.4 oz
6. Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask Extreme Detoxifying Hydrator
Pros
Soothes redness immediately
Leaves skin plump and radiant
Cons
Expensive
This super refreshing face mask is made with cucumber, aloe, and chamomile to hydrate and reduce irritation on inflamed skin. But more importantly, the gel mask offers a gentle way of detoxifying the skin with papaya extract. It’s a natural exfoliant that helps soften and smooth out the skin texture.
You can try it as a rinse-off mask or a weekly leave-on treatment whenever your skin is extra parched. By the way, I can swear by every single mask by PTR. You can comfortably try any of them. They’re all gentle on the skin and they work. Below are my favorite ones if you need to target other skin concerns.
Key Ingredients: Cucumber, aloe, papaya extract, chamomile
Key Benefits: Hydrates, cools skin, calms irritation
Formula: Alcohol-free, fragrance-free
Size: 5 oz
7. Exuviance Anti-Pollution Renewal Mask
Pros
Contains gentle exfoliants
No visible peeling
Cons
Expensive
Contains fragrance
All skin types need some sort of exfoliation in their routine. And a 10-minute mask is a great way to squeeze exfoliation into your routine. Physical exfoliants can be too irritating for rosacea. But polyhydroxy acids (PHAs) make the best exfoliating face mask for rosacea. This one is made with 2 PHAs, lactobionic acid, and gluconolactone.
They exfoliate the top layer of the skin without causing irritation or a burning sensation. Besides reversing sun damage on rosacea skin, you can use this exfoliating PHA mask to increase radiance, reduce wrinkles on rosacea skin, and improve skin texture. PHAs also hydrate the skin and improve the skin barrier. The gel-textured mask also contains amino acids to enhance moisture as well as soothing cucumber and evening primrose oil.
Key Ingredients: Gluconolactone, lactobionic acid, amino acids, cucumber
Key Benefits: Gently exfoliates without peeling, softens skin
Formula: Alcohol-free, contains fragrance
Size: 1.7 oz
8. Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask
Pros
Instantly minimizes oil
Helps with acne rosacea
Easy to remove
Cons
None
Clay and charcoal are the best when it comes to detoxifying face masks. And this mask absorbs excess oil as well as dirt trapped inside the pores. It helps to unclog pores, purify the complexion, and balance the skin’s oil.
If you have acne-rosacea or oily skin or clogged pores, I can assure you that this is one of the few masks that won’t dry out your skin or aggravate your rosacea after rinsing. The combination of charcoal and clay balances the skin, clears it up, and minimizes the appearance of pores.
Key Ingredients: Charcoal, clay
Key Benefits: Mattifies skin, cleans and minimizes pores
Formula: Alcohol-free, fragrance-free
Size: 2.5 oz
Good To Know: Vegan
9. Caudalie Instant Detox Mask
Pros
Creamy formula
Easy to remove
Mess-free
Cons
Contains alcohol
And speaking of clay, this is another gentle clay mask you can safely use for rosacea. Unlike regular clay masks, this is super creamy. So when it dries down, it doesn’t feel hard, or heavy on the skin. And that’s important. Because when you want to rinse your mask off, it shouldn’t require too much effort.
That will cause too much rubbing, which will eventually irritate the skin and cause more redness. But this fragrance-free clay mask is as gentle as they come. It purifies the skin, reduces excess oil, and manages breakouts without causing redness. So if you have rosacea and acne, you’re going to love this one.
Key Ingredients: Clay, caffeine
Key Benefits: Detoxifies skin, softens skin texture, balances oil
Formula: Fragrance-free, contains alcohol
Size: 2.5 oz
Good To Know: Vegan
10. Fresh Rose Face Mask
Pros
Very hydrating
Smells amazing
Leaves skin luminous
Cons
Expensive
This one is going to be incredibly helpful for when your skin looks tired, or lackluster, or it’s just having one of those days. It’s the ultimate glow-boosting face mask for rosacea sufferers. It’s a gel mask that’s invisible. So it feels like a gel moisturizer.
The mask has actual rose petals in it. And it’s formulated with rose water, cucumber, green tea, and aloe -all that is calming for the skin! And it plumps the skin with hyaluronic acid. After rinsing, it leaves a nice dewiness on that skin. The scent, not surprisingly, is rosy. But it’s very faint and definitely not heavy.
Key Ingredients: Rosewater, cucumber, aloe, green tea
Key Benefits: Hydrates, freshens skin, plumps, calms
Formula: Alcohol-free
Size: 3.3 oz
This concludes our round-up of the best face masks for people with rosacea. I’ve added both treatment masks you can utilize to address specific concerns as well as calming masks you can use to get rid of redness. And for the latter, I swear by Kiehl’s Calendula Mask as well as FAB’s Oatmeal Mask, and every single face mask by Peter Thomas Roth.
FAQs
Read Next: The Best Tinted Moisturizers For Rosacea
