I’m a Big Baby About Having Rosacea

Hi Rosy Friends!

It’s been a while, but if you’ve been keeping up with my latest videos on my Rosy JulieBC YouTube channel, you know that I haven’t disappeared. I’ve also started tinkering around as @RosyJulieBC on Instagram. Throughout that time, I’ve become quite the big baby about having rosacea…

By that, I mean that I’ve been incorporating a growing number of products meant for babies and toddlers into my life.  I’m not a parent, so I don’t regularly find myself walking/surfing through products meant for little ones.  However, every now and again I’ll come across a product or two as I shop and, despite the fact that they’re designed for teensy tots, they often work better for me than equivalent products designed for us grown-ups!

I recently released a video on the subject (below, in case you’re curious), but I thought it might be nice to dedicate an actual blog post to the topic, since I find it to be an interesting one, and I’ve really let posting slide over the last little bit.  I’m dedicated blogging regularly again (I know, I know, I keep saying that, but I swear I mean it every time haha).

The following are some of the products meant for little ones but that work for big babies with rosacea, like me!

Kids-sized reusable water bottle

Hydration is massively important to healthy skin, healthy digestion, and overall wellness.  To function properly, your body needs to get a certain amount of water through your food and through drinking it, of course.  In my ever-so-humble opinion, living a Rosy Lifestyle absolutely requires you to hydrate properly.

Since I’d prefer not to be a giant hypocrite, that means that I work hard to drink the right amount of water every day. When I head out the door, I need to take water with me. As a result, I have amassed a broad selection of different types of water bottles.  The main struggle with reusable water bottles is that you never really know how well one will work for you until you give it a try.  I have glass ones, stainless steel ones, BPA-free plastic ones, ones with citrus infusers, ones with a straw, ones with a small drinking opening, ones with a wide drinking opening…I’m pretty much the reason the reusable water bottle people are in business!

While the big ones and the heavy ones (glass!) are great for keeping around while I’m at home or in the car, it’s my kid-sized one that I love the most when I head out to walk dogs, go to outdoor festivals, or at any other time that I’ll need to carry it around. The one I have is Nalgene with a carabiner-style locking flip-cap and a small pour spout-style drinking opening. It’s easy to carry in a bag or attach to a strap.  It locks so it won’t accidentally open and spill, and its opening is small enough that I don’t pour it all over myself when I drink out of it.  I’ve never seen these options in water bottles made for adults. Plus it has a shark on it that says “chomp” and that’s just awesome! 😉 I got this one in clearance in the kids lunchbox section of a department store.

Kid-sized gel ice packs

Keeping cool in the summer can be very difficult, especially when it’s a million degrees outside, humid, and I’m trying to get to sleep despite regular anxiety attacks.

This may sound like a nightmare thing to do during the winter, but in the summer, I take kids’ first aid gel ice packs straight from the freezer and either wrap them in a tea towel or use them straight-up against the back of my neck and/or on the bottoms of my feet.  Sounds crazy, but the next time you’re very, very overheated, give it a try.  It cools you down really fast.

Since being overheated is a fast way to turn my cheeks tomato-red, keeping cool is very important.  I got my freezer packs (or in this case, “boo boo” packs) at the local dollar store.  Mine happen to be Hello Kitty themed, but I’m sure that the Strawberry Shortcake or Thomas the Tank Engine would work just as well (as would any other character or non-themed gel ice pack.  I’m 98% sure the theme doesn’t affect the coldness haha).

Baby food fruit puree pouches

Ever since I was a child young enough to be in the target market for most of these products, I’ve been at risk of hypoglycemia.  When I eat the wrong balance of foods or wait too long before eating, my blood sugar levels plummet.  It makes me emotional (hangry!), my hands shake, it spikes my anxiety, and can even cause me to faint. All those things are a rapid path to a rosacea flush – and are rather uncomfortable, too – so, naturally, I try to avoid them.

Over the last few years, those little baby food fruit and veggie puree pouches have become extremely popular.  I keep them on hand so I can toss one in my purse or bag in case I need a quick blood sugar boost. Since I’m not exactly a fan of the packaging garbage they create, I’ve recently found some reusable/refillable ones so I can simply make my own purees (easier than you think), fill the pouches, freeze them and then take them with me when I think I’ll need them.

Little Sleepy Head Bath Time and Skin Care

If you’ve been following my videos/blogs for a while, you’ll know that I’m always on the hunt for a new sunscreen.  In my opinion, sunscreens are the hardest skin care product to find because the vast majority of them cause my rosacea to flare.  They make me itchy, they sting and they make my skin red and pimply.

In my hunt for a product that wouldn’t do this (because it never hurts to have options!), I came across the Little Sleepy Head Daily Rehydrating Sunscreen.  It caught my eye because it’s safe for babies and toddlers with sensitive skin, as well as being free of “Paba, Parabens, Nano-particles, fragrances, or Phthalates,” non-irritating, water resistant, and non-comedogenic.  What really sold me on it was that it flat-out says that it’s “well received” by people with lupus, rosacea, acne and other skin conditions.  Holy cow!  A sunscreen that directly says that rosacea sufferers don’t often react to it!

Before I knew it, I was unpacking a box with the sunscreen as well as the brand’s entire line of bath time and skin care products! So here’s what I thought of treating my skin like a big baby with Little Sleepy Head‘s skin care line:

• Little Sleepy Head Daily Rehydrating Sunscreen – I’ve been using this on my face, neck, ears, and upper chest area since I first got it.  On hotter days when I was wearing short sleeves, I used it on my arms as well.  My skin has tolerated it extremely well.  It has no fragrance and is very easy to apply.  I can see how it would be quick to spread on the skin of a kid who is fussing because it was certainly easy for me to apply to myself – and boy can I be fussy! 😉  I liked that it did feel like it was moisturizing my skin, but even if I got sweaty and it ran into my eyes, it didn’t sting. I’d usually wash it off my face as soon as I came indoors again, but it never irritated any place that I applied it no matter how long I left it on. This was a definite find.
• Little Sleepy Head Gentle Hair and Body Wash – As much as this is meant to be used both as a shampoo and a body wash, I just used this as a body wash.  I have a huuuuge amount of hair and would likely go through the whole bottle in three showers if I shampooed with it.  That said, when using this as a body wash, a little bit goes a long way!  It’s a very soft product that lathers and spreads nicely.  It feels lovely on the skin and smells phenomenal.  I shower before bedtime, so the natural lavender and chamomile in the ingredients provided a beautifully soothing and relaxing bit of aromatherapy to help me combat my typical bouts of insomnia. It was also very effective at washing away the sunscreen, which I didn’t find was at all difficult to remove. As a side note, I know for certain that this product was not meant for this purpose, but in a pinch it also doubled wonderfully as a shaving gel!
• Little Sleepy Head Hydrating Baby Lotion – After using a baby bedtime bath product it only makes sense to moisturize with the matching lotion, right? This moisturizer also contains lavender and chamomile and has a very close (natural) scent to the body wash. Since it also contains oatmeal, aloe, and shea butter, even my super-sensitive, rash-prone skin tolerated this product very well.  I love that both this product and the body wash are in a pump bottle.  I find that super-convenient.  I haven’t run either of them out yet so I don’t know if the pump bottle lets you get the product right up to the end (some designs. are more effective than others in my experience) but if I run into any problems, I’ll be sure to update this blog post to let you know.

So there you have it.  I have rosacea, and I’m a big baby about it, too!

While I do still love my all-natural skin care for my face from unbelievably great quality brands like SBT Seabuckthorn, Face Addiction and even Celtic Complexion, among others (the list is always growing), I’m happy to add a kids line, Little Sleepy Head, to my sunscreen and sensitive skin care favourites.

What about you?  Have you found a baby and/or kids product that works better for you than the adult alternative?  If so, please share in the comments section below!