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    Skip to main content

    Severe Psoriasis


    Out in the Open

    Severe Psoriasis

    Confident on Camera

    Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario on October 15, 2021

    Video Transcript

    CREW: Perfect. Good. That's it.

    SUBJECT: My name is Ivy Smith. And I'm a full-time model and actress. I've been acting all my life. So being a model and actress is very, very competitive. A lot of people want to do what I do. They think they can be an overnight sensation or get rich quick. Not that. It's very difficult.

    When I found out I had psoriasis, I didn't know what it was. I had it after my second child. And I thought they were just flakes. I had it for over a year. And then it just got worse. I finally looked it up. I realized it was psoriasis. I was very embarrassed, scared. I didn't know what it was-- ashamed. And I wanted to hide my elbows. When it appeared on my face, I kind of wanted to hide that area.

    I was worried about psoriasis affecting my career. But I just said, forget it. I'm just going to do it anyways. Because what would I have to lose. Life is short.

    CREW: Beautiful. Let your eyes go to the floor. Right there, right there. That's it. Perfect. One more time.

    SUBJECT: In the beginning, my self-esteem was very low. But now that I know I can get these jobs and I fought through it and I can work around it, then my self-esteem went up.

    CREW: Looking at me again. Perfect.

    SUBJECT: So when it gets bad, it flares up. It aggressively flares up the back of my head, back of my ears, in my ears, my neck, my elbows, and sometimes on my face. So if I have a flare-up, I don't cancel. The show must go on. But I'm clear today. So I'm happy about that.

    Makeup does sometimes irritate my skin, especially where the breakouts are. So when I have a flare-up, I just try to moisturize it. I try not to cover it up. I mean, of course, during shoots, I have to wear makeup because the client wants that. And it looks better on shoots and on print.

    And I have to let the makeup artist know that I have a flare-up. So it's better to educate them because the first thing they'll think is, OK, is it contagious? Do I want to touch her? Or what is that? And I want them to know that it's not contagious and they could still work on my face and hair and it's OK.

    So flare-ups come out when I'm stressed out. So the way I try to relieve stress, I exercise when I have time. I can definitely tell, after I workout, it makes me feel a lot better. I feel a difference, both mentally and physically. Anything car related-- if I can talk about cars-- that's stressful relieving to me. Going to car events, driving my car is stress relieving.

    I like working on cars. And I can do minor things. Like I can do brakes, do an oil change. I have done an oil change in my attire and just went to a shoot and just washed my hands. I think you could still be beautiful with psoriasis. You could be beautiful with anything. Just embrace it because you're beautiful. You're you. It's just something that you have. It's just a little speed bump you can just drive over and just move forward.

    EXPLORE MORE

    Caring for Patches of Itchy, Scaly Skin

    Treatments That Work

    A Whole-Body Approach

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