You may have seen that I recently started a blog series called ‘How Do I Look?‘ It’s a series focused on skin positivity, on sharing the experiences and stories of those with skin conditions and visible differences. But Instagram are making it increasingly difficult to share these experiences.
EDIT 24/10/19: Read to the end of this post for an update on this issue.
I am really enjoying writing this new blog series, How Do I Look? I’m learning so much about different skin conditions and visible differences, and that’s completely down to the honesty and openness of the people I’m interviewing. I’ve been banging the skin positivity drum for a while, starting with my own experiences with rosacea, but every week I am going to be talking to a different inspirational and interesting person, sharing their story and experiences to help and support others.
Today’s interview is with Amara, who has eczema. Amara is a journalist and we first ‘met’ when she interviewed me for a piece on rosacea a few years ago, and we bonded over the lack of media representation of people with anything less than perfect skin. I love following her on instagram as she not only shares candid updates on her skin, as well as the emotional impact it has on her, but she also doesn’t let her skin dictate her amazing outfit choices.
Have you ever wondered why you can drink a glass of wine one week and your rosacea doesn’t react, but a week later you do the exact same thing and your skin flips out? I have spoken about the ‘bucket theory’ on my social pages before but thought it warranted its own post.
Welcome to another How Do I Look? interview! I am fascinated by skin, visible differences and how others view themselves. I have rosacea but I wanted to open the conversation about skin positivity and visible differences so I can cover (and educate myself about) many different topics. Every week I am going to be talking to an inspirational and interesting person in order to share their story and experiences to educate, help, and support others.
August is Psoriasis Action Month – the name changed from Psoriasis Awareness Month a few years ago and I LOVE it. I actually wrote a post about rejecting the word ‘awareness’ for this year’s Rosacea Awareness Month so maybe this is a sign of things to come for other conditions! I am so pleased to introduce you to the amazing Gemma Boak. I discovered her through Instagram (although weirdly we went to the same school and I was friends with her sister many moons ago… *starts humming ‘It’s A Small World After All’…) She is a former research scientist, with a speciality in Immunology, and a lifelong ‘Psoriasis warrior’. She blogs and podcasts about her psoriasis and gives amazing helpful, knowledgeable, but (most importantly) accessible information to her followers.
I was so late to the podcast bandwagon but now I am firmly on board and probably spend upwards of 35 hours a week listening to them. I work from home and find it very comforting to have voices chirping away in the background. I am always asked what my favourite podcasts are and find it hard to pick a small selection, so here is the ultimate list of all the podcasts in rotation on my phone. Obviously I don’t listen to every single episode of every podcast below, but tend to just check my app every morning to see what catches my eye.
Don’t forget to let me know your favourite podcasts in the comments below so I can check them out!
