In today’s podcast episode I am talking to Lex Gillies, also known online as TalontedLex. She is a Northerner living in London with her husband Aaron. She spends her days either working on Pinterest (as a freelance Pinterest manager, coach, and consultant) or on her blog where she talks about beauty, rosacea, and skin positivity.
Lex is is at the forefront of the Skin Positivity movement in the UK. She has had the skin condition rosacea for many years.
In this episode we first talk about what rosacea is and how she’s worked to manage the condition. Plus she shares the difficulties in accepting a lifelong condition such as this.
She shares her advice for people struggling with their wellbeing following a diagnosis.
We also go into detail about what the term ‘skin positivity’ means along with the some of the prejudices and discrimination people with visible skin conditions face.
We chat about the importance of representation of skin conditions in both mainstream media and social media. Despite the NHS suggesting that 1 in 10 people in the UK suffer with rosacea there is very little visibility in the public sphere. And when there is it is often with negative connotations.
Lex tells us about the recent issue she had with Instagram banning her from promoting a photo on her account as, in their words, it was ‘undesirable’.
We go on to talk about advice Lex would give to those wanting to share their natural skin online.
Lex shares her self-care practice and advice for living a good life and what it truly means for her.
Plus, we talk about the joys of having uncool hobbies.
This interview was so much fun to record. Lex has so many interesting things to say and you can clearly hear how passionate she is about skin positivity.
This episode is a bit longer than usual and it did feel like we could sit down and natter for hours! There are so great nuggets of wisdom, plus some really interesting insights into what it’s like to live with such a visible skin condition.
LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- #UndesirablesofInstagram blog post/explanation
- ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain
- Sophie Harris Taylor – photographer of Epidermis series
- NHS on Rosacea
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Previously on The Good Life Unravelled … Episode #007 – Sara Tasker