Bryony’s message of hope for those living with condition

A 21-year-old beauty therapist from Great Paxton is calling for more awareness of an incurable skin condition, following World Psoriasis Day on October 29.

Bryony Bateman, who has been blogging about her experience with psoriasis for four years, was diagnosed at just 18-years-old after a flare-up two years earlier.

The condition – which can start at any age – is caused by an overproduction of skin cells, leading to red, flaky patches of skin covered with silvery scales.

Rather than let it control her though, Bryony uses the likes of Instagram, YouTube and Twitter to document her symptoms and help others deal with the condition, from recommending products to giving fashion advice.

“I decided to start my blog dedicated to psoriasis when I had an anonymous message from a girl saying she wanted to drop out of school, quit her job and kill herself because she has psoriasis on her face, and she didn’t know how to cover it up,” she told The Hunts Post.

“She was asking how I cover mine up so I grabbed my phone and filmed myself doing my make-up and put it up on YouTube. She replied thanking me and said it gave her hope to carry on.”

Bryony, who has to take medication for her psoriasis, says being positive and avoiding stress is the key.

“I want people to take away that, yes, psoriasis isn’t great and it’s a lifelong auto immune illness, but because it is lifelong you need to find your own way of coping and own way of coming to terms with your illness.”

To see Bryony’s posts, follow @bryneenee on Instagram, or search Bryneenee on YouTube and Twitter.