Noni – Eczema (FWDS)
A customer, turned Yours Only friend. Meet your FWDS Noni, who lives with eczema on a daily basis.
Picture this. We sell CLEAN + COAT to a customer who works two streets over. It takes two days to get to her when really she could walk up the road to pick it up to save the postage and time. So, Noni DM’d us one day and came and picked up her order from our office. After meeting with our founder Ash, they instantly became friends, exchanging health stories and lots of things in common. Six months later, Noni is the face of the Yours Only campaign. Yep, that’s how we work. Our brand is centered around our customers because after all, it’s the community that makes us who we are.
We sat down and asked Noni about her experience with her dramatic skin, and well, she’s a true inspiration.
What is your current job?
I work as the digital campaigns coordinator for an Australian fashion brand. I make sure all elements of our digital campaigns come together; from organic socials, eDMs & website content, plus community management.
My passions are all wildly different from each other, but a common thread in everything I do, whether it’s work, musical projects or any volunteering, is to connect people well and build healthy relationships.
Tell us your skin and health story.
I was born with eczema and come from Indonesia, where the heat, humidity & pollution made it worse. I remember as a young child crying in front of the fan, cooling myself down because my whole neck and arms would be flared up. We moved as a family to Perth when I was 10 and my eczema evolved, moving to my face mostly and my back, and in high school, I would have bouts caused by random things like fish and chips one day, to SPF the next.
These face flare-ups were unpredictable, painful and I would be so embarrassed to go to school because one, I had to keep applying Sorbolene cream every 2 minutes just to move my mouth because it was so dry, and two, it was itchy as hell.
“It wasn’t until my late teens that I started to see a GP and be prescribed topical steroids, which I still have to use now when the flare ups are intense. They do help manage the symptoms, but I try to maintain other aspects of my health so my skin can regulate from inside.”
Where’s your skin at right now?
It’s pretty good! I had a stint of what I call 2020 acne but that’s healed. My face is sensitive and I have to be very selective with the products I use, but I have a great routine now. I have tough months (cycles) and good ones, like everyone. My mental health and stress plays a huge aspect so I exercise and see a therapist to offset some of this. Usually, the eczema is under control during summer because I love swimming at the beach and I can get some sun, but living in Melbourne these past 4 years, plus lockdowns, has made that part tricky!
Has your dramatic skin made you a better person? How?
I think it’s just made me more compassionate and understanding. Though the rest of my health and body functions well, thankfully, the skin is the largest organ and it’s what’s visible. Lots of unlearning of negative self-image had to be done through to my 20s and in return, it gave me amazing perspective and gratitude towards living with my body.
Most dramatic skin moment?
Possibly when I first moved to Perth and had a heat rash so bad, that my entire face went puffy, scaly and sort of deformed. I was so scared of looking at it in the mirror or touching my skin, because it was so bumpy & unrecognisable. It was like an out-of-body experience at 10 years old haha!
What do you love most about your skin?
The colour firstly, and its resilience after all this time. I’m grateful to have such dark skin and truthfully got away with very minimal sunburn growing up in Australia!
What affirmations would you choose to help other dramatic skin friends?
I’m still 100% me through my flare-ups
It’s temporary & my body always heals
Perfection is cruel; patience in the process is better
I’m more than the sum of my parts
What’s your current skincare routine?
Face:
AM – Cleanse with Yours Only CLEAN (shop here), Mario Badescu mist, The Ordinary HA serum, Glow Recipe Gel moisturiser, La Roche Posay Anthelios SPF50
PM – 1st cleanse with Ordinary Squalane, 2nd cleanse with CLEAN or Dermalogica Clean Start (breakout clearing), Mario Badescu mist, The Ordinary HA serum, prescription acne cream, Yours Only COAT (shop here). For any particularly bad eczema breakouts on my face, I have to use a topical steroid, but they’re getting less often!
Body:
AM – Wash with Yours Only CLEAN, hydrate with Frank Body In-shower lotion
PM – Wash with Yours Only CLEAN, moisturise with Yours Only COAT, sometimes steroids on my back
