Psoriasis is a painful, sometimes embarrassing and often misunderstood skin condition that affects 125 million people worldwide. Reports show that 50 percent of people show discriminatory behavior to those with psoriasis, often mistakenly thinking that it is contagious or caused by poor hygiene.

The Dutch Association for Dermatology and Venereology (NVDV) wanted to change this and instead create an understanding of the condition and empathy for its sufferers. NVDV asked us to create a campaign that would raise awareness of psoriasis amongst the general public, highlight the social impacts of living with the condition, help counter common misconceptions, and break taboos to get people talking.

The beauty industry spends billions of dollars every year on ‘improving’ people’s looks, including their skin. We highjacked the high-end beauty aesthetic to create a surprising and news-worthy campaign, designed to improve the public’s empathy instead, of their looks…

We created ‘Experiasis’: a beautifully packaged, custom-made ‘beauty brand’ with a twist, to launch across all channels on World Psoriasis Day. When applied to the skin, the latex-based, colored make-up solution imitated the color and feel of psoriasis on the skin, giving people a vivid, first-hand experience of living with the condition.