So much of my skin fell off I had to vacuum it up - I had given up hope

Nicole Carter, 24, from Lichfield, noticed a small, raised spot in her hairline on the back of her neck when she was 16 - but was 'in denial'

A woman who had to "scoop" and vacuum flakes of her skin off the floor due to severe psoriasis has finally found relief after discovering a "life-changing" skincare product through a Facebook ad. Nicole Carter, 24, an office worker from Lichfield, first noticed signs of psoriasis, a condition causing flaky patches of skin when she was 16, but initially she was "in denial".

It began as a "spot" in her hairline, but quickly spread across her scalp and down her neck, making her skin appear red and flaky. It later covered her stomach, back, forehead, legs, and ears.

At its worst, her skin would split, which Nicole described as feeling like someone squeezing lemon juice into a papercut. The condition caused flakes of skin to fall onto her shoulders and the floor, making her feel "gross".

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After trying various moisturisers, creams, ointments, and topical steroids, which only provided temporary relief, Nicole felt like giving up until her sister spotted an advert for a consumer trial with Oregon Skincare on Facebook. Within a week of using their products, Nicole noticed a significant improvement, and within two months her psoriasis had almost completely vanished.

Speaking about the impact of these "miracle" products, she told PA Real Life: "The skin wasn't pulling, it wasn't splitting, I wasn't flaking either. Honestly, I just felt happy and I didn't have to vacuum."

"I've definitely had more confidence, my mood has been boosted, and I've been wearing more short sleeves and open back tops. I even wore shorts this summer."

"Ultimately, I'm happier... I would say they're miracle products." Nicole first noticed a raised spot in her hairline on the back of her neck when she was just 16.

At the time, she brushed it off, but when she accidentally "knocked the head off that spot" while brushing her hair, it began to spread across her scalp and down her neck. Nicole was studying for her GCSEs at the time and admitted she was "stressed" and "self-conscious", and tried to conceal the affected areas by wearing her hair in a low ponytail.

"I was expecting it to clear up on its own, I didn't think it was anything serious," she confessed. Initially, Nicole assumed it was a rash or dry skin, so she purchased moisturisers to ease any discomfort, but these only offered temporary relief.

As the pain intensified and her skin "started splitting" a sensation she compared to someone squeezing lemon juice into a papercut she contemplated visiting her GP. "When it gets worse, you feel really constricted because the skin gets really tight," she explained.

"Then, if you stretch to the point where it splits, it stings and it takes a while for the skin to recover from that." Nicole described her skin as red, raised, and flaky, feeling tight and "tender". She said the condition worsened during school, leading to cruel remarks from her classmates.

They labelled her "disgusting" and mocked her for having dandruff, suggesting she should "get Head & Shoulders" products. Nicole admitted these comments made her feel "low".

"I was trying to hide it and I was conscious of my movement because any time I'd move, I'd have flakes dropping onto my shoulders," she explained. After trying ten topical solutions, she was referred to a dermatologist who recommended a steroid cream. Despite concerns about potential skin thinning and "more splitting", Nicole felt desperate enough to try anything.

The improvement was short-lived, however, and within a week, the psoriasis would reappear. "It made me reach the point of, why am I even using this? Eventually I did stop because it seemed pointless to me," Nicole said.

Her psoriasis continued to worsen over time, becoming "worse and more frequent", spreading to her stomach, back, neck, forehead, legs, and ears. Despite attempts to control it with moisturisers, Nicole suffered her "worst flare-up" earlier this year.

Moreover, she revealed that her skin began to flake excessively, to the extent where she could "scoop" up the flakes from the floor. She said: "It was honestly torture, I couldn't move freely without my skin pulling or splitting."

"I tried to just ignore it, but when I noticed all the flakes on the floor and I had to vacuum every day, it gets to you." Feeling like "nothing's working", Nicole admitted she attempted to "maintain her pain levels and get on with life" a task that proved far from simple.

She recalled an incident at work where a colleague sympathetically referred to her as "you poor thing", and another time she was questioned about the contagiousness of her condition. She said: "My manager at the time had served a patient with psoriasis, and as she was showing that person out, she touched a patch and asked me if it was contagious."

"After I reassured her it wasn't, she still went and washed her hands in front of me." Nicole, who also suffers from vitiligo, a long-term condition characterised by pale white patches on the skin, confessed she had "basically given up" hope of finding a remedy.

But then, Nicole's sister came across a Facebook ad for Oregon Skincare, which was seeking participants with psoriasis for a consumer trial. Desperate for relief, she began with their Intensive Serum and later switched to the Maintenance Cream. To her amazement, within a week of starting the regimen, she observed a noticeable improvement in her skin.

After deciding to continue paying for the products following a trial period, she described it as "one of the best decisions (she has) made" and her psoriasis was nearly gone within just two months. Nicole has expressed her intention to keep using these "miracle" solutions, including the company's shampoo and conditioner.

She can now move and stretch without discomfort and chooses clothes that don't conceal her skin. Sharing her words of encouragement with others, Nicole advised: "I'd say don't give up."

"There's something out there that will help you, you just might have to go digging for it."

For further details on Oregon Skincare, check out their website at skinshop.co.uk.