Rowland says she realized she had the condition after her son was born; now she and both her boys discuss it openly
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Kelly-Rowland-Lilys-EBGLYSS-060326-cd9fcc7663064f7ca9df5f27720480f5.jpg "Kelly Rowland for Lilly's EBGLYSS")
Credit: Lilly USA, LLC.
For Kelly Rowland, health is a family affair.
The Destiny's Child star, 45, was diagnosed with eczema in 2014, which she realized she had after welcoming her first son, Titan Jewell, now 11. When her son Noah John, 5, was also diagnosed with the condition, she realized that many people probably shared the same experience, and wanted to be open about it so others could be too.
"When it comes to eczema, we just realized there wasn't a lot of conversation about it," she says of her decision to partner with Eli Lilly and their eczema drug, Ebglyss. "I didn't know, all this time — I thought it was a rash. I think that sometimes we'll self-diagnose and we won't ask the questions. Sometimes we won't advocate for ourselves."
Credit: Lilly USA, LLC.
Rowland says her eczema has taken away from being present during major moments in her career, causing her to wear special stockings to try to prevent her from scratching and lots of makeup to cover up redness on her body and face. One time in particular, she had a flare-up on her eyelid, and though her makeup artist tried to hide it, it just aggravated it more.
"I'm speaking to someone and I'm thinking that they're looking at that and they're not looking at me, which affects my confidence," she says. "I could barely look at them in the eye, because my confidence was low. … It just kind of robs you of the very essence of you being you, and comfortable in your skin."
The singer has used her own experience to help her kids understand how to handle flare-ups. Her youngest son, Noah Jon, 5, has a severe version of the condition caused by the environment. She has him wash his hands and face after being outside to help prevent skin irritation.
"We sometimes get calls from his school because his can be so severe and it's something in the air," Rowland says. "If he goes outside and if he's starting to scratch, he says, 'I'm not going out there,' Because he'll know. So he's very much so aware of his surroundings and of his body."
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Though eczema can make it difficult to be present in both her personal and professional life, Rowland says she works hard to stay in the moment.
"In my personal life, the phone goes down. That's a big one for me," she says. "And then staying focused in my professional life, what I do excites me, so I'm in it. When I'm in it, I'm in it."
Songwriting is a great passion for her, and watching her songs come together like "pieces of a puzzle" has been particularly rewarding.
"It's still mind-blowing to this day," she says. "At first, you're like, oh boy, there's nothing there. But then when it just starts to take on a life of its own, you're like, 'Wow, I get to do this. I was chosen to do this, to be a part of this.'"