Raelle Brown is a powerful voice for many – for women of color, for women with eczema, and for anyone in need of a role model with strength and confidence. As a video producer in the Philadelphia area, Raelle uses her communication skills and deep empathy to help others through her popular Instagram account @wokewithinskin and her blog. How does she prepare herself to perform at her best every morning, even when dealing with a severe skin rash? Here, she shares her strategies, both from a health/beauty and emotional perspective.
Planning for all eventualities is crucial for Raelle. „Due to my eczema, I have two different morning ritual plans,“ she says. „My first plan is for the worst times – when I have a flare-up. On days when I’m actively dealing with my eczema, I can’t rely on being able to do everything in the morning – it might be too uncomfortable to go through my usual cleansing and prepping routine. My solution is to do as much as possible the night before in case my skin is truly irritated the next day. I don’t shower when I have a flare-up because it would make my skin too dry. Instead, I fill a bath with Epsom salts and soak for about 20 minutes.“ Epsom salts exfoliate the skin and contain magnesium, a natural moisturizer. They are also „very accessible to everyone because they are so affordable,“ she says.
Additional moisturization is her next essential step. „After getting out of the bath, I like to use natural butters – especially jojoba is my top choice,“ explains Raelle. „I know many people use things like Vaseline because they assume it’s moisturizing, but it’s a chemical, and it’s much more reassuring to use products without chemicals. Then I use body oil all over, again a natural formula.“
Next, she adjusts her beauty routine. „When I have a flare-up, I only apply lipstick as makeup – the cleanest kind I can find,“ says Raelle. „I don’t have just one brand I like, but I find that fruit-based formulas work best to keep my skin soft and calm. I try never to wear foundation because I think it’s important with eczema to let the skin breathe as much as possible. I wouldn’t wear it during a flare-up – trying to ‚cover‘ it up just makes it more uncomfortable.“
Then there are what Raelle calls her „maintenance mornings.“ „When I don’t have an active flare-up, I might wake up and decide to shower and then apply my moisturizer and oil,“ she says. „Or I might choose to skip the shower altogether and let my skin cool off for a day in addition to moisturizing. Cooling off is a really good preventive measure you can take sometimes. If I need to wear a little makeup for any reason, like to take photos for my blog or something, then I’ll apply a little makeup. But again, all natural products.“
That’s what Raelle does for her body – and then there’s what she does to prepare herself psychologically for the day. „I think it’s so helpful to just feel the support of the community. It makes a big difference in what you convey to the world outwardly, but also in how you feel inside,“ she reflects. „So I go on social media and get support there. It’s just a great help to communicate with other people who are going through the same thing as me, dealing with eczema. It has helped me process so many things in such a therapeutic way.“
To center herself, Raelle also does breathing exercises. „Just deep breathing, conscious breathing, being calm – when you can’t do anything else to prepare for the day, that’s so important,“ she says. „In fact, everything you can do to stay calm is important – with eczema, calmness is your superpower. Not only for dealing with or preventing flare-ups. I think especially for women of color, you have to be aware of how the outside world will perceive you. It really helps to stay calm and be internally conscious, because our skin color is already judged, and then you have eczema on top of that. Instead of being seen as unattractive, you have to be an inspiration. You have to know that you are beautiful! Your perspective is the one that matters.“
As Raelle recounts, these simple actions have strengthened and supported her for years. „When I was at rock bottom and dealing with the external effects of eczema, I had to learn to go beyond the surface,“ she says. „I had to find other answers. Finding other people like me has motivated me. Now I know how to give back that support to others, and doing that – through Instagram, through my blog, just by talking to them – is the most important thing I do every morning and every day.“