Star Jasmine on her 10-year psoriasis battle
Top Boy star Jasmine Jobson tells Amy Packer about her decade-long skin battle – and how a £3.49 cream finally fixed it
BAFTA nominee Jasmine Jobson has revealed she has had more than pre-audition jitters to worry about during her acting career.
The 25-year-old, best known for playing Jaq in the 2019 Netflix hit Top Boy, admits she used to be “covered head to toe in psoriasis” – a skin disorder that causes cells to multiply up to 10 times faster than normal.
Jasmine said: “I’m very aware that because I’m an actress, my condition may cause issues. It’s always on the back of my mind when I enter an audition room.
“There were a few jobs where my skin was a problem. I was asked to cover up either by dressing completely from head to toe in long sleeves and trousers or using tattoo make-up or another form of concealer.”
However, she added: “Why can’t I show my skin? We pride ourselves in showing real life and being so raw on screen so what’s wrong with the rawness of my skin? It represents so many people who suffer, like me.”
Jasmine was 16 when she first developed psoriasis.
She said: “One little patch appeared on my arm, like a little spot, and I didn’t think anything of it. But the next day I had loads of them all over my arm.
“I spent years being misdiagnosed. Different doctors kept telling me I had ringworm, which made me feel really dirty. I knew that wasn’t the problem as I have family members who suffer from psoriasis. It took two years for doctors to listen to me.”
Psoriasis is an immune condition which speeds up the body’s natural skin replacement process, taking just a few days to replace skin cells – a turnover that usually takes up to a month. It causes raised “plaques” on the skin which can be itchy, flaky, scaly and red on Caucasian skin and darker on those with a darker skin tone.
Unfortunately, even the correct diagnosis didn’t solve the problem for Jasmine, who recently starred alongside Ben Whishaw in movie thriller Surge.
She said: “I can’t use steroid creams. They’re not good for my skin and burn the whole top layer off. It used to turn the areas where I applied it really dark – like I had bruising or scar tissue.”
Its appearance in red-carpet shots raised questions among her fans and the actress, who has almost 80,000 followers on Instagram, found people asking if she was self-harming or in an abusive relationship.
But one of her followers suggested she try a cream – Farmologie Pink Grapefruit Moisturiser by Childs Farms – which combines colloidal oatmeal, oat oil and moisturising agents to soothe and hydrate.
Jasmine said: “I have been using Farmologie for three months and I saw a difference in three days.”
She was so thrilled with the effect of the £3.49 lotion, she has become a brand ambassador.
Jasmine added: “The psoriasis has calmed down by about 50 per cent and the big patches have cleared up. I still have a few smaller areas but these have separated, making it easier to control.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say it has changed my life.”
Farmologie is available in Boots and at farmologie.co.uk