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Different selves: A few women felt that their real selves were ‘hidden’ behind their appearance
feature. In one case, covering the feature could recover the ‘real self’ (‘I am sometimes like two
different people—one with my make-up on, but another when I have no make-up on [acne]).
Another woman felt that her heavy glasses ‘hides the real me and I cannot do much about it’,
while another thought that her appearance did not reflect her true personality.
Mourning for former selves: A couple of participants saw their current state as temporary and
wanted their unblemished former selves back (‘My weight and if I ever will be slim again’; ‘when
will I go back to the way I used to look [male, vitiligo])
Complexity: Other women described complex relations between appearance and emotions. One
described how her weight bothered her if she felt low generally, and another related bulimia to
psoriasis via the stress produced by having an eating disorder.
Disrupted biographies: Many participants wrote about difficulties with achieving their full
potential in life due to appearance issues.
Work: Some women felt that their appearance reduced their confidence and prevented them
working their level of capability: ‘only ever worked at clerical level’ [issues with nose/
complexion]; ‘ruined my counselling career’ [nervous squint/ eczema]; ‘prevented me getting or
going for jobs’ [facial rash]; ‘I'm sure my boss would be pleased if my eyes are straightened’.
Relationships: Several women thought their appearance made them less attractive and
therefore unlikely to find a (new) partner. Especially one young woman connected her ‘plain
appearance’ to her inability to find a partner: ‘I would like to get married but I suspect I shall
never have the chance’ ‘my appearance has meant I have never had a sexual relationship or a
boyfriend’.
Pessimism: There were female participants who related the distress in their lives to their
appearance; feeling that they could never have the life they wanted: ‘I dream all the time about
what I want but I know it will never happen because of the way I look’ [issues with weight, nose,
hair, face, body, legs, breasts]; ‘if I looked different my life would have turned out better’ [oddshaped
legs]; ‘if I wasn’t feeling so bad about my feature I could do anything I wanted’ [round,
‘babyish’ face] ‘don’t feel I have reached my full potential in life’ [‘abnormal looking’ breasts].
One woman with a birthmark felt that people tended to take pity on those who were ‘different’,
not letting them have a fair chance at proving themselves.
Positive Outcome: Participants spoke of their past difficulties with adjusting to their appearance
or dealing with other people’s responses, which had been resolved positively: ‘I do not feel I
have let it [thin upper body, fat lower body] stop me from living a full life’; ‘I thought that no one
would ever marry me with my skin [psoriasis]’ ‘it has turned out OK with me getting a good job’
[male, cannot straighten knee] ‘My problem is so much better and has improved my life as
much. In the past I felt so bad about my appearance.’
Confidence: In addition to those who felt their potential in life was reduced due to their
appearance sapping their confidence, some said that their appearance reduced their confidence
or self-esteem in general. This could be related to internal feelings; ‘the way I feel in myself
[eczema]’; ‘acne … makes me feel bad about myself’. Other participants related their loss of
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