It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that celebs and influencers have perfect bodies, skin and hair at all times as we’re bombarded with ‘perfect’ photos on Instagram. However, ex-Love Islander Olivia Bowen has opened up this week about her struggles with psoriasis and reminded her followers that Instagram is not always what it seems.
Discover our latest podcast
Olivia initially took to Instagram to ask her followers for help sourcing a rental sun bed with UVB lights, which she says was the only thing that helped her previous full-body psoriasis flare-up when she was 17. Olivia then took the opportunity to educate her followers about the skin condition and share an important message about Instagram photos.
Sharing an unfiltered photo of her torso, she wrote:
It's like this over about 50% of my body now, it's actually now that bad right now in comparison to what I had at 17 - but its been spreading over my body everyday I wake up for the past week - which it'll continue to do until the patches are large around 3/5cm each and cover more like 85% of my body.
What is guttate psoriasis?
Olivia suffers from guttate psoriasis, a condition also known as eruptive psoriasis, which causes small sores to appear over the chest, arms, legs and scalp. Whilst it’s most common in children and teenagers, Olivia says that hers tends to flare up after she’s been ill or when she is stressed.
Olivia Bowen: ‘Take photographs on Instagram with a pinch of salt’
Sharing an important message about body image, Olivia continued:
My skin has been like this for a week or so now and you can't tell in my normal photo, so PLEASE this is a reminder to take photographs on Instagram with a pinch of salt. Lighting, angles - all diffuse skin blemishes. I really hope that seeing this makes you feel more accepted in your skin/body, because god knows when I was 17 and was covered in head to toe on my girls holiday - I could of used it.
