Fun & Famous

FLAWLESS ON SOCIAL

I secretly cut off the flap on the left, the circle under my eye performs a disappearing act with a little filter and immediately adds some sunless blonde. Well, that works. And boom, you throw that on Instagram.

I confess, because only my vacation photos sometimes go filterless online. Except for Alicia Keys a very high percentage is intensely guilty of this little deception. Oh well, it is what it is. I know very well that after a night of GTs you look like you've slept for three minutes and your face wrinkles more than a silk blouse (or is it just mine?). But there is something I pay extra attention to in those little photos: my skin condition. I don't hide it, but when it's out of sight, I feel just a tad more comfortable.

As a seven-year-old girl, I got psoriasis. Not a full-body case, but visible enough to have to endure nasty comments. My scalp, elbows, knees, and hands were (and are) the prey of that overactive cell division. And that's just how it is, no major struggles otherwise. But my eye always sees that in a photo. The upper room focuses on that scaly spot and does a supernatural superzoom. Even if the rest looks perfectly fine, I see it.

“Boom, post that psoriasis.”

And I'm not alone, as research from Bio-Oil shows. For about 49 percent of Dutch women, skin issues affect their self-confidence. Are you under thirty (and more beautiful than ever, because you are!)? Then even 71 bizarre percent. But do you know what works according to the ladies and gentlemen researchers? Being a little less flawless on social media. Taking pure nature selfies (leave that makeup in your bag), letting a few square centimeters of stretch marks on your hips and those flakes run free. That gives 41 percent of us ladies more self-confidence. To hell with perfection and showing your imperfections to the world. Boom, post that psoriasis.

Maybe it’s true. When Kim Kardashian showed her psoriasis, I was almost standing with a ‘free your psoriasis’ banner on the Dam. Especially because the Kardashian family usually knocks us over with UFO-like shiny skin and a heap of beauty. I'm still a bit in doubt if I want that. But if you see a sculpted post on Insta with a scaly elbow appearing soon, you'll know why. My veiled attempt at anti-flawlessness on social. If I can help half the female population with that, what on earth am I waiting for?!