One TikTok star gets candid about her psoriasis story... | LOOKFANTASTIC Blog

Question 1

What is psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition. It’s not a problem as such with my skin, it’s more a problem with my immune system. Basically my immune system thinks my normal body cells are almost the same as a viral cell, so it constantly attacks my normal body cells. That’s what causes my whole body to be constantly inflamed."

Question 2

How long ago were you diagnosed with psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"I first started getting psoriasis when I was 12 and it started on the back of my scalp. It wasn’t really that bad – it was just a little bit of redness, a little bit of dry skin. Then when I was 19 it all of a sudden decided to disappear from my scalp and then appear on my body. Since then, it’s continued to spread."

Question 3

Do you know what triggers your psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"Psoriasis triggers are different for everyone. Every single person that has psoriasis comes out in a different form. I’d say my trigger for my main flare-up was stress, but back when I was 12 I’ve no idea why it came out on my scalp."

Question 4

How do you celebrate your skin on its better days?

Accepted Answer

"I’d say when my skin’s looking its ‘best’ is when it doesn’t look as bright red and when it’s more flat to my skin, because when it’s really inflamed it’s raised to the touch. When it’s flat to my skin I can touch my skin and it doesn’t really feel like I’ve got anything there; it’s not dry, it’s not sore, it’s not really red. I celebrate by wearing clothes that show a bit more of my skin, I just feel a bit more confident."

Question 5

What do you do to feel better on your skin’s not-so-good days?

Accepted Answer

"The tougher days are tough. I’d say my main support system is Harry, I don’t know what I’d do without him being here to help me, it’d be so difficult feeling so alone with something that’s so physical. Our supporters and fans with the nice things they say, that's one of the main things that helped me realise it’s okay, it’s normal to feel sad but it’s okay. They help me so much with all the comments. Also, when my skin’s really painful, I moisturise a lot more, use aloe vera gel, have cold showers, stuff like that."

Question 6

What are your top tips for staying skin positive?

Accepted Answer

"I’d probably say the most important thing is to realise no matter what your skin looks like, or what you look like, it makes you individual, it makes you unique to any person in this world. Just to hold onto that feeling and embrace the fact that it makes you different – not in a bad way but in a good way – I think that’s what helps. The main thing that gets me through is knowing that it's going to make me a stronger and better person."

Question 7

What makes you feel empowered when it comes to your skin?

Accepted Answer

"When I post photos of my skin. Even if I wasn’t to receive any comments, I just think posting an image to the world where you’re promoting the fact that you don’t have to be perfect is important. I think there’s so many people online now where it’s just not real life. There’s so many body types out there and everyone’s so different but I feel like social media has narrowed it down to make people think there’s only one way to ‘look good’. When I post straight up how I look it makes me feel the most empowered, because it’s putting out a message that no one’s perfect, and there’s not a certain way you should look to feel perfect."

Question 8

How do you take care of your skin when it needs a pick-me-up?

Accepted Answer

"If I’m sat and I can feel my skin almost tearing, that’s what makes my mentality a lot worse because you can’t stop thinking about it. I need to constantly moisturise, 3 or 4 times a day. When I moisturise it means I’m not dry, which means my skin doesn’t hurt, which makes me feel a lot better. Also, I have a lot of warm baths with an oat solution. It really helps."

Question 9

How helpful is it to talk openly about psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"The reason I’m so open about it is so I can A) make people realise that you don’t have to look a certain way, and B) to spread awareness for this condition. I think there’s so much going on now in the modelling industry with plus size models, models with stretch marks – but you won’t see a model with psoriasis or redness on their skin. It’s so unspoken about, I think because it’s an inflammatory thing it’s not as ‘pleasing’ to look at. As savage as it sounds, I think the industry don’t pick people up who have this skin condition. So I think that being able to speak about it and just show people what it is, is the best thing to do on my platform. It’s educating people all the time."

Question 10

Is there anything you wish more people knew about psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"There’s a lot of things. I wish I knew more, I wish the whole world knew more. It’s a condition that no one genuinely knows how to cure. I wish the world knew there are other options rather than going to the NHS. There are other options rather than having to put your body through injections and tablets. There are a lot more naturally healing ways people can explore."

Question 11

How important is it to be honest and open about chronic skin conditions?

Accepted Answer

"It’s important to be honest because if you’re hiding something online, it’s only going to make it worse in real life. You’re just going to constantly hide from who you are, constantly be covering up in public, because you’re portraying this certain image online and you wouldn’t want people to look at you differently in real life. So I think the way you want to be seen in real life is how you should portray yourself online because at the end of the day, real life is more important than this ‘online world’."

Question 12

Has your condition taught you anything positive about yourself?

Accepted Answer

"As hard as it’s been, and as much of a hold its had on so many different things in my life, I would honestly say I’m so glad I have this skin condition and that I’ve been through what I’ve been through. It’s made me realise there’s no need to complain about small things in life, there’s no need to be upset about irrelevant things. It’s also taught me that people do have it worse. It kind of helps me balance and realise that you can spend more time helping other people rather than feeling sorry for yourself."

Question 13

Are there any over the counter products that help your psoriasis?

Accepted Answer

"My moisturiser that I use everyday, I literally buy 50 million tubs of it, is the Cetaphil Body Moisturiser. I use that religiously, 4 or 5 times a day. It always locks the moisture in. When I use different moisturisers, they’ll go on my skin and two minutes later it’s back to being dry again. But I use the Cetaphil one every single day."

Question 14

Can you tell us your favourite skin-positive quotes that have helped on your journey?

Accepted Answer

My number 1 quote that I always live by is: “Be real, not perfect.” That is Rosie Daniels in a quote!

One TikTok star gets candid about her psoriasis story…

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