at about the age of 14, i started to notice that i was blushing a lot, and at other times my cheeks would get rosy red for no apparent reason. shortly after, i started to get a few little bumps on my arms and chest. by age 15, my face was flaring red ALL of the time and the bumps practically covered my arms, back, and chest area. people started to make comments about how my face was red all of the time, and at first it didnt bother me because it didnt look that bad, but once it started to get worse i became really self conscious about it (to the point where i would skip school for weeks at a time and refuse to go out in public.) this lasted for 2 years until i was 17, and i finally decided i had enough and wanted to do something about it. i visited a dermatologist, and she prescribed me 5 different medications, klaron, locoid lipocream, ziana, and plexion for my face and salex for the bumps on my arms and chest. within the first week i used them i began to see results, and after about a month you could hardly see any redness in my face at all (unless i was outside in the heat for awhile or exerting myself). i was so happy with the way i looked, and i was able to go out in public for once feeling confident about my looks. however, this was during the summertime when kp doesnt seem as bad. in the first week of october, on the first day it got down to about 50 degrees, i noticed my face looked alot redder than usual. i figured it was just a bad day or something, and just wrote it off. however, the next day the redness returned again, and it only kept getting worse as it got colder. this has been going on for about 2 weeks, and it is really destroying my self confidence because only a couple weeks ago my face was practically cleared up, and now it looks worse than ever. i am terrified because it is only october, and if my face looks bad now i can only imagine how much worse it will look when it gets even colder. so my question is, does anyone else have the problem of their redness flaring up in the winter?? if so, what do you do to help it?? also, ive heard that keeping a humidifier in your bedroom helps keep your skin moisturized, thus reducing the redness and dryness. has anyone else tried using a humidifer and did it help?? any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I've had the same problem. Although the redness for me is always present, when October rolls around I have many bouts of uncomfortable flushing. But it does seem to "stablize" before winter rolls around. Of course if I spend much time outside in the cold I will flush, but it seems my face adjusts to the heat being on inside instead of the AC. Thats what I've always thought caused the flare ups in October--the heat inside. Also the dryness. But I take great care to moisturizer.

I think humidity has a huge effect on KP. That is why it looks more red in the winter. It is dry. Having the heat on inside just makes the dry air more hungry for moisture and it sucks it out of your face. I found that using a humidifier did help a little, but it didn't make my skin as good as it is in the summer. Even if I am inside where the humidifier is most of the day. When I turned up the humidifier more it didn't help any more than when the humidifier was on low. If you use a humidifier, make sure you clean it frequently or you can get sick.

Further evidence for the humidity link is that my skin always looks better on muggy days or when it rains. Also, when I was in Japan, skin looked the best it has ever looked in my life. It is much much more humid in Japan than in America during the summer.

I found that using "Rosewater & Glycerin" moisturizer really saves my skin from the dryness of winter. It is made by Heritage Products, and I think can be found in health food stores. It's pretty cheap; only 3.99 for a 4 oz bottle.