We continue to admire people who do not conform to traditional beauty standards but have the appearance characteristics we see in them. We have previously published the story of model Toni Rybkina, who lives with Sturge-Weber syndrome (port wine stain on her face), and introduced you to beauty journalist Anna Chelnova, who discovered vitiligo at the age of 20. And Adela told us about life with alopecia.
Today we would like to introduce you to a girl named Vika, who has been living with psoriasis, a chronic disease that results in redness and flaking of the skin, since the age of five. Despite this, Vika works as a model and talks about life with its unique features on her blog. We talked to him about people’s reactions to psoriasis, their childhoods, and their attitudes towards photo retouching.
About the first points
I was diagnosed with psoriasis when I was five years old. Spots appeared first on the head and face, then on the body.
When the parents saw the spots, they thought it was chickenpox. Therefore, at first they were covered in bright green.
However, when they realized that it was not chickenpox, they sent me to the skin and venereal disease clinic for treatment. They gave me serum and injections, but none of them helped. Doctors said my psoriasis was caused by genetics and stress. Also, my relatives on my father’s side also had psoriasis.
From a conscious age, I began to use hormonal drugs. They quickly relieved inflammation and peeling, but were addictive. That’s why I don’t recommend anyone to use it. For myself, I realized that vacationing at sea benefits me the most. Psoriasis becomes less noticeable and hardly bothers you. Therefore, it is my dream to live in a warm country all year round.
About living with psoriasis
Sometimes psoriasis greatly affects life. Especially psychologically. It’s hard to think about anything else when you’re constantly having thoughts that psoriasis disgusts people. But at such moments, I try not to close myself either inside or outside. On the contrary, I wear revealing clothes and struggle with my desire to hide things from others.
For many people, psoriasis is a concern, and it is not always a pleasant condition. The most ridiculous situations arose in childhood because children are very straightforward. As an adult there was less unpleasantness, but it still happened. For example, in modelling. I came to try on a wedding dress once. We tried everything silently, argued, but then they did not contact me. There were cases when my offer was rejected after learning about psoriasis. For this reason, I am now reporting my features immediately so that there will be no misunderstandings in the future.
I was ashamed of myself at school and university. On physical education day, I wore a sports uniform under my normal clothes to avoid changing clothes in front of everyone.
I was comfortable hiding my quirk. If someone noticed spots in visible places, I said it was allergies. After a while I realized this was making me even more stressed.
About photo retouching
During my last years at university, I forbade myself from being ashamed of myself.
I would constantly retouch my skin in photos. But at some point I decided to give it up.
If the concept of attracting someone else’s brand requires this, I am not against it. But I still prefer companies that are body positive and do not exclude individual characteristics.
In general, psoriasis always looks different. During regression periods, the spots become lighter, flatter and do not peel off. And if I don’t get enough sleep for a long time or don’t drink enough fluids, a flare-up begins.
About modeling
I came to modeling completely naturally. I loved posing and was pretty good at it.
At first I created my own shots or collaborated on the terms of TFP (Time for Prints, an agreement in which the model does not pay for the shoot and the photographer does not pay for the model’s work). – Premium. to organise.). Then they started inviting me to commercial shoots or make-up and hair shoots.
One day, a medical company invited me to a photo shoot for psoriasis. I took an impressive amount for this shoot and it took less than half an hour. Then I was happy and grateful that psoriasis helped me even while modeling.
Communication with photographers, compliments – all this helped me relax. For myself, I realized that the main thing is not to shut yourself down, but to go into your fear and do what you want. Even if there are many internal contradictions.
Sometimes people define what we see as a flaw in ourselves as a feature that stands out, helps to be remembered, and motivates others.
It seems to me that any complexes can be overcome by doing what you love and receiving feedback from like-minded people.
Source: People Talk
I’m Roger Gritton, and I’ve been writing for the The Fashion Vibes for over 5 years now. My specialty is beauty news; I’m passionate about covering the latest trends, products, and innovations in the industry. In my time there, I’ve become known as an authority on all things beauty-related.
I love discovering new experts to interview, researching up-and-coming ingredients and techniques that are making their way onto our beauty shelves and highlighting people who are making a difference in the world of cosmetics. My work has appeared not only on The Fashion Vibes, but also several other publications including the New York Times Magazine, Allure Magazine and Refinery29.
