Katie Lowes is known for her role in the hit television show, Scandal, but what fans may not know is that the actress is living with psoriasis. Lowes chatted with Stylish to talk about her battle with the autoimmune disease, and how it has affected her life.
“I was 28 years old, I was engaged to my then boyfriend, now husband [actor Adam Shapiro], and we were planning our wedding, which can be a stressful occasion,” Lowes, 35, tells Stylish. “I also booked Scandal, which was the biggest job I had ever booked and it was kind of a big break for me, and all eyes were on me in Hollywood. The combination of those things really caused my symptoms to come out for the first time and also grow.”
In fact, her psoriasis symptoms — typically, dry, itchy patches that can appear anywhere on your skin and flake — became so severe she cancelled her engagement-photo shoot. After that, “I said to myself, ‘Wow, this has gotten too far. Whatever denial I’m in, I’m actually canceling important, momentous life occasions due to something that’s going on with me, and I need to really get a handle on it.'”
That’s when she did her research, discovered she had psoriasis and changed her whole lifestyle. “It’s a lot about water and weather,” she explains. “Am I traveling somewhere that’s humid, or am I traveling somewhere that’s dry? Am I going to workout and do a hard sweat today or something lighter, like pilates? It’s also about stress and diet for me. If I’m on vacation and eating pizza 500 times a day, that can cause a flare up.”
Another thing she revamped? Her beauty bag. “For sure, I changed my skincare and beauty routine. I use all-natural beauty products and products for sensitive skin, because it is a little bit about the products you use.” A few of her faves? EO Botanical Body Oil in French Lavender ($6, amazon.com), Original Sprout Scrumptious Baby Cream ($29, dermstore.com) and Crystal Essence Natural Mineral Roll-On Deodorant ($5, jet.com).
And now, she’s partnering up with the National Psoriasis Foundation to help create awareness. “I feel like there’s so much embarrassment and shame surrounding disease,” Lowes tells Stylish of the condition that Kim Kardashian and LeAnn Rimes also battle. “It’s something we don’t talk about, and I’m just like, ‘Well, here I am. I’m an actress in Hollywood, and I’m on TV, and people look at me, yes, and I have it.'” She collaborated with the foundation on psoriasisinsidestory.com, which, she says, “is about that inside monologue that goes on in your head about that shame and embarrassment, how you feel terrible and like you’re not good enough. With the website you can talk to other people who are going through it, see what helps them and realize you are not alone.”
