YOUR BLOGS: “Christmas, to put it mildly, is a fairly big event in our household these days as I have three children and last year I got married for a second time to a man who has four children.

I love it though, all the kids together, but the only thing that has ruined my Christmases for the last few years is my skin, which flares this brilliant shade of red that even makes Santa’s hat look dull in comparison. I am cured with rosacea, which I had dignosed in 2007 and which was bought on, so my doctor told me, by an early menopause in my mid 40’s.

Since developing rosacea my skin really hates winter, the cold outside coupled with central heating inside, plus a healthy dollop of Christmas stress just makes my skin go crazy. Sometimes around Christmas time my cheeks get so red and sore they actually crack open. It’s not only painful but looks dreadful. My skin used to be so bad I would never let my husband-to-be ever see with without make up on, not even when I went to bed at night!

I have always had a very high colour in my cheeks since I was a young woman but five years ago the redness got much worse and then my cheeks, chin and nose became covered in these horrid little bumpy pussy spots.

I would not say it ruined my social life, although it did undermine my confidence, especially as I was starting a new relationship. I could see that people did obviously notice, but most would try to be kind. However my middle daughter would often call me spotty, children are always very honest. But I am not a fusser so I just put up with it and soldiered on. My new partner said he loved me no matter what state my skin was in, but I could not help but think everything would have been perfect if only my skin would clear up. 

It was my early menopause that bought my skin to my GP’s attention. I was seeing her more often due to my menopausal symptoms and she noticed my skin, which at times was so bad it was hard for her not to notice.

I told her my skin had been getting worse and worse since my menopausal symptoms had started and she immediately diagnosed me with rosacea and put me on a course of antibiotics.

They worked brilliantly and I was delighted when my skin cleared up after a few weeks. I thought to myself, well at least that’s one problem solved! What I didn’t know back then was that rosacea is a far trickier skin problem than that. Even my menopausal problems all got sorted out in the end, but my skin just went from bad to worse. About a month after I finished the six-week course of antibiotics my rosacea came back with a vengeance.  It may sound ridiculous but  I felt my skin was trying to ruin my new relationship.

I went back to my doctor and she prescribed me more antibiotics. This was a pattern that eventually saw me taking several courses of antibiotics every year. I was also taking medications for my menopause and felt like I was being stuffed full of pills. Also the antibiotics upset my tummy and made me feel sick.  

I fell into the habit of taking a course of them before any important social event or holiday and Christmas was a major event on the annual diary. I would begin taking the antibiotics in November so that by the time Christmas arrived my skin would be clear as I was sick of seeing myself in family Christmas photos looking like Rudolf!

However last year I’d had enough of taking pills. I was feeling sicker on the antibiotics and so even though I’d have clear skin for Christmas, I was often feeling rather unwell which meant I could not enjoy the food and celebrations as much as I wanted to. So last year, after I got married, with my husband’s encouragement I decided to take the bold step of giving up antibiotics for good and look for an alterative. It was very hard as I’d become reliant on the antibiotics and it was going to be my first Christmas as a newly married lady and I wanted to look my best for my new family photos.

I tried a gel prescribed to me by my GP, but she said even if it worked it would end up not working as once I got used to it, the it would no longer be effective, which proved to be correct. In desperation to find a cure that was not in a pill I also tried Dr Organic Royal Jelly Skin Whitening Cream in a vain hope that it would reduce the redness. It did nothing at all. I also tried a Neil’s Yard remedy Star Flower Cleansing Milk, which was OK as it didn’t sting but my skin remained blotchy, red and spotty.

It was by sheer luck that I found KALME skincare, which contains capers of all the bizarre things, after reading about it in a Sunday newspaper. A British actress had tried it for her rosacea and said it worked wonders for her skin. I ordered some that day and within two weeks my skin started to improve. I have not had a flare up of spots since and my redness is about half. I have not taken antibiotics for almost a year.

I am beyond delighted with the results and I feel like a new person having not taken antibiotics for so long. I am so much more confident now and I can’t wait for this Christmas as I am 100% confident that my skin will be clear and calm, even with a full house of children and it’s all than sot this wonderful caper cream. I always recommend it to anyone who will listen.

I’m so  looking forward to getting dressed up for Christmas parties this year and not having to worry about whether my skin is going to clash with my dress or whether I’ll be the only one in the photos looking like I drank all the mulled wine to myself!”

With Kind thanks to Pamela Daniel, Gloucestershire, Guest Blogger

Kalme is Available from www.skinshop.co.uk

Image copyright and courtesy  to beauty bets.com