Famous People Who Pick Their Skin

When celebrities talk about skin picking, their platform brings much-needed awareness for excoriation disorder and other Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs). Many of these influential figures have come out with their struggle, helping to shed stigma and reaching many who still suffer in silence and shame.

Celebrities

Tulisa Contostavlos

As the first celebrity to speak out about her skin picking, X-Factor host and member of the UK hip-hop group N-Dubz, Tulisa Contostavlos shares in her 2012 memoir, Honest: My Story So Far:

“Picking my face was my way of zoning out, and I would go into the bathroom and pick at my skin for hours,” she says. “It got so bad that eventually I was tearing into my face with nail clippers and tweezers. At times, I caused an absolute catastrophe on my face, leaving gaping, weeping holes that must have looked horrendous. I did this almost every day for three years.”

– Tulisa Contostavlos

After her personal assistant found her picking in the bathroom, she was taken to see a hynotherapist. She immediately picked her face after, and has since managed to get it under control. When referring to her recovery Tulisa has said, “Let’s hope it stays this way“.

Tallulah Willis

After her first viral Instagram post opening up about her dermatillomania, actress Tallulah Willis has shared a few shout-outs to the dermatillomania community since. Also known for being one of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ daughters, Tallulah has been making waves by raising awareness for mental health and compulsive skin picking.

When talking to C Magazine about her Instagram platform and opening up about her struggles, Tallulah shares:

I struggle with adult acne and have had this sort of massive turmoil with my skin for the past six years, and an element of OCD, which I’m diagnosed with, is this skin-picking. It’s this sort of obsessive … It’s a control element. It’s a way to sort of cope with anxiety, depression. And during the quarantine, I started posting about my skin-picking. I was just kind of doing it as a, “Hey, I’m doing this, and this is what it is.” And I had an influx of people just saying: “Thank you for creating visibility on this,” “Me too, I also do this,” “Thank you for talking about this,” “I didn’t know anyone else did this.” And so those are the moments that I think it can be a really beautiful thing.

– Tallulah Willis

Busy Philipps

Actress and activist Busy Philipps has shared how meditating twice a day for 20 minutes helps with her face picking, and has opened up about criticisms she has received about her skin.

Rosie O’Donnell

On New Year’s Eve in 2020, comedian Rosie O’Donnell asked if anyone else on TikTok is spending the night how she was: picking. She shares that she has seen a mental health professional who mentioned it, and she doesn’t do it as much anymore.

Brandi Glanville

The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills star, Brandi Glanville has received lots of criticism for her appearance over the years. She has spoken out about having psoriasis and melasma, along with burns on her face from laser treatment.

In her 2013 New York Times bestseller, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders, Glanville admits that she developed skin picking after her divorce. In it, she shares:

I’d relapse so bad into my skin picking addiction that I’d wake up the next morning with my face looking like a pepperoni pizza.

– Brandi Glanville

Tavi Gevinson

American actress, writer, and magazine editor Tavi Gevinson opened up in her 2019 New York Magazine interview about skin picking and describes how she started, describing its aftermath:

“Once I realize what I have done, I examine my reflection and feel like a stupid feral animal. I hate that my face so easily betrays my anxiety, that whether I go bare or wear cakey makeup, I am wearing my psychology for all to see. The self-loathing leads to more picking, and the cycle continues.”

– Tavi Gevinson

Jojo Siwa

After cutting off her signature ponytail in 2022, Joelle “Jojo” Siwa shared on Tiktok that she developed a stress rash on the side of her head during her time on the reality show, Dance Moms, that eventually led to a bald spot behind her ear. After confused fans asked if it was caused by high ponytails, she clarified that she picked at the rash often, damaging hair follicles that have started growing back for the first time in eight years.

“I would pick at it all day long, and I damaged every single hair follicle that has ever been right there. So now I’m carrying her love with me right there.”

– Jojo Siwa

Scarlett Johansson

Award-winning actress Scarlett Johansson was interviewed by The Cut in 2022 and shared how skin picking affected her as a teenager. When asked if she has any beauty regrets, she shares:

I wish I didn’t pick my skin so much when I was younger, I could’ve avoided so much scarring and drama. It [sic] really hard for me to get over that compulsive need to touch my face a lot or pick my skin. Finally, my sister told me to throw away the magnifying mirror. She said, “Nobody is looking at your pores that closely, and it’s a liability.” It was the simplest advice but really true for me especially because I can get compulsive about my skin.

– Scarlett Johansson

In May of 2023 she spoke with British Vogue about how she suffered with severe acne as a teenager. Regarding her skin picking, she shares:

[One day] I instinctively turned to moisturiser because I had nowhere else to go. My skin started healing itself and then I stopped picking at my face and staring into my pores, and just let my skin really reset itself.

– Scarlett Johansson

While Johansson’s sister gave her great advice in removing her mirror, managing a compulsive condition often requires more cognitive and behavioral changes than utilizing one technique. In having acne she may have been more triggered to pick, but her explanation that she “can get” compulsive about her skin instead of fully relating to it and the casual implication behind stopping in her last quote points to her skin picking not being diagnosable, but certainly a behavior she may still be drawn to.

Public Figures

Natasha Negovanlis

Canadian Screen Award winning actress Natasha Negovanlis discloses how her OCD manifested in skin picking in 2015, sharing that she often wears pants and long tee-shirts to hide it.

Renee Rouleau

As a celebrity esthetician, Renee Rouleau has brought awareness to dermatillomania through her practice and from personal experience. With Marie Claire calling her “the most passionate skin practitioner we know“, she confessed in her blog that she is a former picker who gave it up as her 2001 New Year’s Resolution.

Chynna Greene

Emmy award-winning journalist and reporter for FOX 13, Chynna Greene shared an inspiring video on TikTok about how she chased her dream despite having dermatillomania.

@chynna_greene

It’s amazing what a little bit of confidence & makeup can do.

♬ Lost Souls – lizok

Alyssa Coscarelli

In 2019, fashion influencer Alyssa Coscarelli penned a piece about her anxiety and the pressure to look perfect. She also shared:

Elizabeth Hayt

Author of I’m No Saint: A Nasty Little Memoir of Love and Leaving, Elizabeth Hayt wrote the opt-ed The Pick-It Line for Elle Magazine about skin treatments and her battle with both dermatillomania and chronic nail-biting.

Colleen Ballinger

Known for her online personality Miranda Sings on Youtube, Colleen Ballinger made a video in 2020 addressing her experiences with dermatillomania., where she attributes hyperactivity as a cause of her condition.

Nicole Brown

Ex-wife to football player O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of her murder during the “trial of the century” then found legally liable for her death in civil court, Nicole Brown’s skin picking was discussed during one of Simpson’s taped depositions:

Q: You caused all those marks on her face that you see in these pictures, didn’t you?

A: Some of them may have just been her picking her face, but if there’s bruises and stuff, I’m certainly responsible for them, yes.

– OJ Simpson w/ interviewer

While abuse isn’t exclusively linked to excoriation disorder, domestic violence often creates and intensifies mental health concerns, as it likely did for Ms. Brown during her tumultuous marriage.

If your skin picking is negatively impacting your life, you are not alone. Whether you have 10 followers or 10 million, your voice is important in educating others and empowering people around the world.

Check out the free documentary Scars of Shame and Angela’s memoir FOREVER MARKED: A Dermatillomania Diary. Learn about her upcoming recovery book EMBRACING DERMATILLOMANIA: Through Pain & Recovery. Follow Angela on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.