Getting to know you
Hi 👋,
I’m Natalie, and I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or EDS. I have always been interested in skincare and makeup but recently I decided to write up my journey as a 1 in 5,000 with a rare genetic disorder that affects my collagen.
I won’t be talking about the medical aspects because there are lots of very qualified people to do that.
I will be focusing on what we need to do differently as people with a specific issue to make the best decisions for our skincare, and how to use makeup to help us feel better about ourselves.
The challenges with EDS skin are manyfold and can include keloid, paper white or stretch scarring, lack of melatonin and extreme paleness, dark circles under the eyes, red staining around the eyes and mouth, bruising and bleeding even in the top layer of the skin, eczema and dryness, transparent skin, fat loss on the face from an early age and bags and sags from skin that is loose on our faces and bodies.
Some of these things start at birth, and although we rarely suffer with the type of lines and wrinkles that most face from their 30s onwards other aspects of EDS mean we are not good candidates for surgery. So that mid-life face lift, a little nip and tuck that many would expect to be able to turn to is completely off the table for most of us.
Acne is something we don’t appear to struggle with either. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I have searched through some of the biggest acne communities on line and have yet to find anyone outside of teen years who has EDS and acne. But again, the cure for that condition is using products that would be a major issue to people with EDS in terms of irritation.
All of these things come as a mixed bag of blessings and curses that if we start to deal with them in our youth we can prevent them becoming worse as we age and save ourselves a huge headache later.