Body Painting Hope for Psoriasis Sufferers

To honor World Psoriasis Day three psoriatic disease bloggers agreed to have their bodies colorfully painted by Natalie Fletcher. Natalie, who won the first season of the Game Show Network's reality body painting show Skin Wars, knows first-hand the daily struggles of these bloggers and the other 125 million psoriasis suffers around the world. She also lives with the skin condition. So when it came time to create her amazing art, Natalie relied on Mehron's Paradise Makeup AQ. "It's my favorite and I feel it's the most gentle on the skin," said Natalie. "I even had my assistant mix all of my airbrush paint with Paradise." The bloggers were a bit nervous about whether they would have an adverse reaction to the paint, but Natalie reassured them that it was body safe and something she uses on her own psoriatic skin. They couldn't believe the product didn't irritate their psoriasis.

Natalie teamed up with Novartis to illustrate the stories of the three bloggers. Prior to her sessions, she had a phone conversation with each "model" to learn about their experience living with psoriasis so she could create the perfect designs for them. "It was such an incredible and emotional experience," said Natalie. "And all three of the models loved being body painted!"

Novartis has worked to shine a spotlight on the disease through its Clear About Psoriasis survey, which revealed the experiences of 8,300 global patients living with psoriasis. The company previously worked with Natalie to bring some of these amazing stories to life through an inspirational body painting series that depicted quotes from the survey. You can learn more about the project and the stories of the bloggers at www.psoriasis.org.