This week, from 13th-19th May, has been all about raising awareness of mental health. The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 is Body Image – an extremely relevant topic for those of us who have vitiligo, a condition that affects the skin and creates areas of depigmentation. Skin diseases like vitiligo can affect peoples’ everyday lives, mental health and confidence.

We recently caught up with some friends of Vitiliglow™, all of whom live with vitiligo – or as Nike has said, “Vitiligo’s got to live with me!”
 
Nike
Polly Gotschi, founder of Vitiliglow™, has vitiligo, and her sons do, too! One of Polly’s sons, Nike, explains about his experience of living with vitiligo.

“When you get something that’s going to affect your looks, it does have an effect on you, but I just look at it like this: I’ve not got to live with vitiligo – vitiligo’s got to live with me! I’m not going to let it affect me or change what I do. I’ve embraced it.”
 

Joti
Joti, a close friend of Vitiliglow™, kindly shared her experience of living with vitiligo and how it affects her everyday life. “I have been testing the waters by going out with and without make up, and I’ll tell my daughter that I’m a bit conscious of how I feel sometimes and that I’m going to apply a little bit of makeup, and she’ll tell me not to do it! She says, ‘If people look, they’ll look.’”
 
Joti continues, “I’m trying to get her to be confident with her own body but also, as she gets older, to know what to say if children say to her at the school gate, ‘What’s that on your mummy’s hand?’ I want her to be in a position where she can respond and say ‘Look, this is what my mum’s got, she can’t change it, she’s still my mum, she does what other mums do, and the colour doesn’t define who she is.’”
 
Polly
Founder of Vitiliglow™, Polly, explains how she feels about her son, Nike, having vitiligo too. “I feel terrible that he might have inherited it from me because it can be hereditary... but then there are a lot of worse things he could’ve got from me!”

Body Image matters, and it’s important that we all practise self-care and self-love, and boost our self-esteem if we need to. Take some time this Mental Health Awareness Week to focus on yourself, and remember that help and support is always available.
 
Best wishes,
Polly x

​Well, this is a rare occurrence isn’t it? The United Kingdom. Bank Holiday weekend. Mediterranean heatwave.  Being safe in the sun is so important for people with Vitiligo – your depigmented skin is really sensitive so it’s so important to take good care of your skin before you apply Vitiliglow™. 
 
Although Vitiliglow™  contains SPF 30, I think it’s really important to keep your skin protected and to use a good quality sunscreen as well. You can apply this under your Vitiliglow – just put the product on top of the sunscreen and carry on topping up throughout the day.
 
You can find out more about how I protect my skin in the sun here.
 
Vitiliglow™  is sweat-proof (it holds up well on hot days) so if you do get a bit warm, you can have the confidence that your product won’t rub-off while you enjoy the sunshine.  I do still wear a hat and try to sit in the shade when I can. But it’s great to know that I can wear shorts and tops because my patches are well covered and Vitiliglow™  will hold up under the heat.
 
If you’re out and about during this Easter heatwave and you’re enjoying using Vitiliglow™ , then we’d love to hear from you! Send us a photo to info@vitiliglow.co.uk or send via one of our social media channels. We love to see your great results using Vitiliglow™ ​!

​I’m excited to say that our new shade chart is now on the Vitiliglow™ website! We’ve had lots of customers enquiring about the shades, and I hope that this new chart will help you when deciding on which shade is best for you. It shows a clear distinction between each of the 11 shades, allowing you to compare the shades against your skin and find your perfect match!

When choosing a shade, the first-step is to decide the tone of your surface skin (light, medium, tan, dark, ebony). The second step is to look at your skin's colour underneath the surface  and decide whether the undertone is Cool (pink, red or bluish) or Warm (yellow, peachy, or golden). Whatever your skin tone, there’s a bottle of Vitiliglow™ for everyone! Our range of 11 shades come in 30ml or 100ml bottles.

If you haven’t heard, we’ve also improved the Vitiliglow™ formula! We’ve had great feedback about the new formula, as it’s even more water resistant, rub-proof and sweat-proof than ever before. This is all down to an increase in the formula’s pigment levels, which gives fantastic coverage over depigmented areas of skin. The new formula takes a little longer to dry than previously, but this means you’ve got more time to work with it and blend it on larger or more awkwardly placed patches of depigmentation. And a little goes a long way!

I’m delighted that we're able to offer some brilliant bundle deals of Vitiliglow™, which are all available on our online shop. If you regularly use Vitiliglow™, the bundle deals are a great way to get value for money and stock up on both Vitiliglow™ and the Prep/Remover Product, which helps you apply and remove the Vitiliglow™ formula.

​There are a lot of different shade combination options with the Bundle Deals, so click on the drop-down menu on the online shop page to choose your desired shade(s).

​Remember that we ship worldwide, so wherever you are in the world, you can use Vitiliglow™.

Here’s an updated list of our 11 NEW shades:

• Light - warm and cool
• Medium - warm and cool
• Dark - warm and cool
• Ebony - warm and cool
• Tan - light, medium and dark

 
The Vitiliglow™ formula has been improved, so it's more water resistant, rub-proof and sweat-proof than ever before. The improved formula has also seen an increase in the formula pigment levels, which means that Vitiliglow™ gives fantastic, effective coverage over any areas of depigmented skin. A little really goes a long way!

I’m so excited about our new shades and improved formula. Our Bundle Deals will allow you to stock up on your favourite shades, too.
 
We'd love to hear back from you so please leave a review on the website or on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.
 
Best wishes,
Polly
Founder of Vitiliglow​™