It took years to accept skin condition, says actor Yami Gautam

Actor Yami Gautam had opened about dealing with Keratosis pilaris through a social media post also. (Image posted on Instagram by Yami Gautam)

Actor Yami Gautam, in an interview to newspaper Mid-day, which was published on Monday, opened up about dealing with a skin condition and how it affected her at work.

The actor has keratosis pilaris, a condition where small bumps appear on the skin. Gautam had spoken about it in a social media post in October.

“I recently shot for some images and just when they were about to go in for post-production [a common procedure] to conceal my skin-condition called Keratosis Pilaris, I thought, why don’t you embrace this fact and accept it enough to be okay with it,” the actor had said.

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A post shared by Yami Gautam Dhar (@yamigautam)

Gautam had added that she dealt with the condition for many years. “Finally, I decided to let go of all my fears and insecurities and found the courage to love and accept my ‘flaws’ wholeheartedly,” she said.  "I also found the courage to share my truth with you.”

In her interview to Mid-day the actor said writing the post was not difficult but liberating. However, she added that the time between learning about the condition and posting about it was challenging.

“When people saw me at shoot, they would talk about how it should be airbrushed or concealed,” Gautam told Mid-day. “That would affect me a lot. It took years to accept it and wear my confidence. I was overwhelmed to see the response to the post.”

The actor’s social media followers had praised her for speaking about her struggles.

Gautam has endorsed several beauty and skincare brands, including Hindustan Unilever Limited’s Fair & Lovely. The name of the brand, which was criticised for promoting lighter skin as ideal, was changed to Glow & Lovely in 2020.