My Very Unattractive Cold Weather Red-Nose

“Rudolph the red-nosed Fran, had a very shiny nose ….”

Yep that’s me, Rudolph. I always remember getting a bright red nose in cold weather but NEVER this bad. I guess travelling from such beautiful warm weather in Australia, Fiji and Hawaii and then shocking my body into freezing weather in Vancouver has given my skin that lovely extra ‘glow’. Or rather, a bright fire-engine-red nose.

It’s important to note that I have not been blessed with one of those cute little button noses that girls should have. Instead I have a particularly prominent and sharp nose that I guess you could call more ‘large’ than ‘petite’. So this red nose problem that I’ve developed in Vancouver is particularly annoying because it is just so damn obvious.

Why some of us get a red nose in the cold

When we’re out in very cold weather, the freezing temperature causes the blood vessels to our extremities to conserve. This actually makes our noses white. The redness happens when we go back inside and our body starts to warm up. These blood vessels stop doing their conserving thing, which results in a sudden rush of blood to the extremities. This results in induced redness, dryness and sensitivity. And of course, a red nose.

Now I’ve been doing a bit of research on this topic because I’m sick of walking around a city full of beautiful people looking like I’ve constantly got the flu. I’m especially hesitant to talk about what I blog about when my skin is looking so blotchy. Because I don’t just suffer from a red nose, oh no, I also suffer from red cheeks and a red chin. Very attractive.

Unfortunately there’s not a lot I can do. I’m hoping that after a couple of weeks of cold weather my body will be used to it and the redness will die down. Fortunately the weather is also getting warmer so hopefully it won’t be a problem for too much longer. Nevertheless, I did find a few tips that I may take up while I still have this problem:

• Wear a scarf fashionably wrapped around your face. I’m a bit hesitant to do this one because I’m worried that I’ll look like a complete loser. I have to think what’s worse, a scarf around the lower half of my face or a bright red nose? This would be awesome when everyone else thinks it’s cold …but I’ve seen some Vancouver locals wearing shorts and t-shirts so I guess I’m kind of on my own here.

• Wear a sunscreen. Apparently the sun can aggravate the condition so it’s best to wear a light sunscreen or a moisturizer that contains an SPF in the morning. Just make sure you use a good sunblock that’s non-comedogenic so you don’t break out.

• Wear mineral makeup. I love mineral makeup and it does wonders at hiding redness, but unfortunately it’s not goint to work miracles on the fire-engine-red color that my nose turns in the cold. It will however reduce the severity of the redness so it’s definitely better than nothing. I haven’t been wearing any makeup to allow my skin to adapt to the climate change, but I’ll start doing it again as soon as I think my skin can handle it.

Hurry up summer!!

Fran