This woman has gone viral for proudly showing off skin condition she hid for years on social media
Sophia Chen has decided to embrace her psoriasis, and document it.
The 20-year-old developed the skin condition - which causes red, flaky, crusty patches of skin - on her chest aged 16, and she initially believed that it was just a bug bite, or an acne flareup.
However, it eventually spread all over Sophia's body and face, and she was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis, which left her feeling "exhausted and lost" as she looked for a cure. Despite seeking counsel from five different dermatologists, and trying a number of steroid creams, her skin condition never improved, leaving her self esteem in tatters.
"I became so discouraged. I'd never had acne, I always had perfect skin, so I felt the need to cover it up," she told The Daily Mail.
'I cried almost every day, which really broke my mother's heart. At the time, I had no confidence and some days I didn't even want to go to school because of it," Sophia stated. "Every morning before school, I would wake up at six am to strategically cover up my spots. I never went a day without makeup, even if I was only playing football. It took a lot of concealer, foundation, and powder to cover the spots and make it last throughout a long day of school and sport. It was tiring and excessive, but I wouldn't step out of the house without it."
Now, she's stopped covering up her skin after receiving a flood of compliments from people who find her skin "cool".
"My roommate loved how unique it was and she told me that I looked like a cheetah," she continued to the publication. "Also, at the time, Winnie Harlow, the model with vitiligo, was becoming extremely popular and my skin looked similar to hers. Some people would say 'do you have vitiligo? That's so cool, your skin is beautiful'. The more I heard it, the more I started to believe it."