Sophia Ridlington, 22, was diagnosed with the skin condition psoriasis in her late teens

A BRAVE young woman has revealed the scaly skin that she has hidden underneath her perfect make-up.

Sophia Ridlington, 22, from Lincolnshire, was diagnosed with psoriasis a skin condition that causes red, flaky, crusty patches of skin covered with silvery scales in her late teens.

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The skin condition affects her entire face and body causing a scaly texture.

The psoriasis can make her skin crack and cause excruciating pain, along with the anxiety of others commenting on her looks.

Sophia has only recently learned to embrace her skin, and has set up her own beauty business to share her passion for make-up products with others.

In one photograph she has shared on her Instagram page, Sophia can be seen with half of her face bare and the other covered in make-up.

Sophia, a bartender, said: Looking at my face covered in red itchy sores was horrendous.

It affects me from head to toe but Ive only really cared about my face as thats what everyone sees.

My skin often cracks and bleeds which causes me so much pain but now Ive learnt how to cover my face properly, I love doing my make-up and it gives me something to focus on.

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I decided to cover half my face in make-up and leave the other half bare as I want people to see how different I look.

When I have all my make-up on its hard to tell theres anything wrong.

I decided to start sharing my pictures online over summer last year and now Ive started it as a business.

Im hoping make-up brands will start allowing me to experiment with their products so I can share new tips online.

Sophia isnt the only member of her family to be diagnosed with psoriasis so she always had an understanding of the condition.

She added: Everyone on my dads side of the family has psoriasis too so they were able to help when I received my diagnosis.

My skin gets incredibly scaly and I have been prescribed steroid cream which clears my skin but its only temporary, unfortunately the psoriasis is permanent and can come back at any time.

Sophias passion for makeup and special effects has now grown into beauty business.

The condition causes red and crusty patches with silvery scales to flare-up on the skin.

They normally appear on the elbows, knees, scalp, and lower back, but can crop up anywhere on the body.

The patches can sometimes be itchy or sore.

Roughly 2% of the population are affected by psoriasis and and the number is roughly split equally between men and women.

Its severity varies from person to person and for some people it is merely a small irritation.

In more serious cases it can have a crushing impact on a sufferers life.

She said: Its difficult wearing make-up all of the time because it irritates my skin but Ive spent so much time doing it that its become a huge hobby.

I have worked as a make-up artist doing special effects before and I love doing make up because Ive always spent so much time on it.

I studied make up and special effects in Grimsby which encouraged me to set up my business.

Sophia has now learned to embrace her skin, even though a lot of her family are ashamed of having the condition.

She said: My family are embarrassed of having psoriasis but I have learnt to embrace it.

A lot of people ask why I wear a lot of make-up but I have shared photos before on social media to show the difference in my face.

I beg any girls who have psoriasis and cover it up with make-up to moisturise your face properly before you transform yourself.

I hope to encourage people in a similar positon to be comfortable with their psoriasis.

Ive already received so much support on social media and people in a similar position always ask me how I cope through it.

It is widely considered that psoriasis has no cure, although in 2016 ateenager who lived in agony with severe psoriasis was cured thanks to cancer drugs.

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