Finca Skin Organics is the brainchild of Louth woman and rosacea sufferer Finola Fegan who, having tried every treatment on the market without success, created a plant-based serum to moisturise and soothe the skin.

“In my early 20s, I noticed that the skin on my face became very uncomfortable and tight. Every moisturiser I tried irritated it, and I developed red cheeks and nose, especially after coming in and out of the cold,” she says.

There was no such thing as Google at the time, so Finola had no idea about rosacea until she visited her doctor, who diagnosed her. She was prescribed with antibiotics, but they didn’t work. At her wits’ end, Finola decided to seek help elsewhere and visited her local health food shop.

“My skin was as dry as a bone. The redness I could have coped with, but the tightness in my skin I could not.

“The lady in the health food shop told me to try rosehip oil, so I gave it a go, and it started to ease the tightness. I carried it with me at all times after that,” she says.

Plant-based serum

It was then that Finola got the idea for her product Finca, a plant-based, clean formulated serum for people who suffer from rosacea.

“The rosehip oil was very light, so I started looking for heavier oils to blend it with, and that’s how I came up with the serum. It’s a blend of different plant oils,” she explains.

“Chemicals used in skincare products irritate the skin, so rosacea sufferers need to keep the number of ingredients in their skincare to a minimum. My goal is to create the cleanest plant-based skincare range on the market.”

The organic rosehip oil has the dual benefit of anti-ageing properties. Using the same ingredients, Finola has also developed a high-protection tinted sunscreen to reduce redness.

A lecturer in Dundalk IT, Finola grabbed the opportunity to become an entrepreneur after receiving an email to help start-up businesses.

“The Regional Development Centre in Dundalk IT helps start-ups, and they sent around an email one day asking for students with business ideas. I asked them ‘What about lecturers?’, and they said, ‘Yes, of course,” she recalls.

“I got through to the first stage, called the New Frontiers Programme. I spent six weeks studying the business and the proposal, after which I got through to stage two, where I received government funding to develop the brand.” Louth County Council also gave Finola funding to operate in a clean space.

Because rosacea typically affects Irish skin, there is a good market here for Finola’s skincare range, but there is also a big market further afield in places such as North America. The condition is three times more common in women, but men can suffer too.

Finola, whose father was a farmer, has developed a winter balm to soothe and protect the skin of male rosacea sufferers who are out in the elements, hail, rain, and snow.

“I developed a winter balm for men, and especially farmers, who are out in the weather every day and have no protection. The balm uses heavier ingredients to soothe the skin, and will be available to order online in a few weeks.

“I’m also looking into developing a product with a green tint for men to use, to help reduce the redness,” she says.

Finola has plenty of advice for fellow sufferers, all of which can be found on her website.

“The products you buy these days have so many man-made chemicals in them; you’d need a chemistry degree just to figure it all out.

“My advice would be to look at what you’re putting on your skin. Products should be clean-formulated and based on plant oils instead of man-made chemicals,” she says.

Finca should be used as part of your lifestyle as a whole, which means avoiding certain things such a spicy foods and red wine.

“Rosacea sufferers said the product eased the condition, and that it was the first time they didn’t get a flare up. However, it doesn’t work on its own. It’s only part of your whole lifestyle.

“Red wine really triggers it, as does spicy food, hot drinks, and UV rays. I wear a very high sun factor if I go on holidays, and a broad hat to cover my face. Another factor is stress, it causes redness,” she says.

The Finca Rosacea serum is priced at €28 and the Finca high protection SPF 30 tinted sunscreen (available in light to medium or medium to dark) is priced at €24.95. Both are available to order online at www.rosacea.ie