In Cynthea Corfah’s junior year of high school, she won a pageant and moved on to the next level of competition: regionals. Though she was having an eczema flare, for her casual look, she wore a floral sundress that went a little past her knees but didn’t hide the small patches of dryness on her legs. She didn’t win.
Contestants were allowed to ask the judges for feedback to improve future performances. When Corfah requested pointers, she got only one note. “It was something like, ‘Needs to cover bruises better,’” she recalls.
“At first I thought, ‘What are they talking about?’” says Corfah. Looking back at it now, in her 30s, she says, “There was so much wrong with that judge’s comment. If he really thought I had bruises, he probably should’ve checked on my welfare.” In any case, the fact remains that the patches he noticed weren’t bruises, Corfah says, calling it “heartbreaking” to discover that her skin condition was the only reason she lost points. It felt like a “slap in the face” after she so vulnerably put herself out there, eczema and all.
The beginning of something bigger
While that pageant experience made Corfah more self-conscious, she didn’t let her eczema keep her out of the spotlight. After all, she has been navigating periodic eczema flares since infancy. One flare Corfah will never forget came in sixth grade, when the skin on her ankle got so inflamed that it started oozing liquid, which dried and caused her socks to stick to her legs by the end of the day. But she went to the doctor, got topical steroids that tamed her occasional flares, and moved on, she says.
Years later she took to social media to chronicle her experience trying to heal her eczema naturally through dietary and lifestyle changes like ditching dairy, decreasing stress, and avoiding allergens. Through those posts she caught the attention of the National Eczema Association. After sharing her story on the organization’s website, she began working with the group on larger projects, including creating marketing materials and moderating discussions for Black women at Eczema Expo, an annual gathering for people with the condition and their loved ones.
“The first Sister Circle I moderated was only slated for 30 minutes, but no one wanted to leave at the half-hour mark. We were so fired up talking to each other,” she says. “I realized I had to capture that energy more than once a year.”