Nara Smith Reflects on Life Before Severe Eczema That Led to Hair Loss

5 July 2025

Nara Smith shares throwback photo. Credit : Nara Smith/Instagram; Daniele Venturelli/Getty

At just 23, influencer and lifestyle creator Nara Smith has long captivated audiences with her polished cooking videos and graceful family life, but behind her serene facade lies a deeply personal journey marked by health challenges she is now bravely sharing with followers. On July 3, she posted a throwback photo on Instagram Stories featuring her with her husband, Lucky Blue Smith, her signature curls cascading over her shoulders. The caption read simply that this was her hair before the onset of severe scalp eczema, a revelation that has cast a new light on her public persona and the quiet resilience hiding beneath her aesthetic narrative.

The skin condition began subtly after the birth of her second child, manifesting as a small dry patch. But it did not stay small for long. Nara describes in a December Instagram confession how, within a short span, the eczema spread aggressively from her scalp to her hands, arms, back, and face. The flare-ups grew increasingly debilitating, accompanied by intense pain and fatigue. Some days she could barely stand, much less tend to her three young children, Rumble Honey, Slim Easy, and Whimsy Lou.

Her health challenges accelerated rapidly. The eczema triggered excruciating flares so severe that her eyes swelled shut and her hands lost function. During her worst episode, she recalls waking up unable to eat, gripped by a paralyzing fear of making her condition worse. Hair loss became a troubling symptom as clumps fell out in the shower. For two years she clung to hope, experimenting with natural remedies including a strict diet of homemade meals, elimination of processed foods, steroid creams even month after month of confounding symptoms and dead ends.

Seeking answers beyond U.S. dermatology options, she traveled to Germany, where a breakthrough awaited. She was diagnosed with lupus, a serious autoimmune condition that offered coherence to her perplexing symptoms. Suddenly her experiences from purple, cold-feeling hands to relentless fatigue and oozing sores became part of a broader medical narrative. While the diagnosis brought relief, it also introduced profound uncertainty. She was no longer battling eczema alone; she was contending with a systemic disorder that would require lifelong management .

The lupus diagnosis prompted a reevaluation of her lifestyle and priorities. She leaned into her culinary passion with renewed purpose, adapting recipes and sharing them in her celebrated ASMR-style TikTok cooking videos. Encouraging others to cook from scratch, she channeled her healing journey into a platform rooted in nourishment, resilience, and authenticity. The diaries of her transformation resonated with fans, many of whom saw pieces of their own struggles in her story.

Nara’s openness about the emotional impact of her flare-ups is striking. She described sinking into depression when the infection overtook her body, triggering anxiety and isolation. The overwhelming weight of watching her appearance and energy deteriorate was a burden she shared candidly. Her message to viewers was clear: physical ailments can ripple into the mind and spirit, and seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a step toward reclaiming life .

Today, as she awaits her fourth child with Lucky, Nara’s Instagram continues to intertwine health updates, home cooking tutorials, and glimpses of family life. Her recent throwback image is more than nostalgia, it is a testament to transformation, speaking to how illness can reshape identity in unexpected ways. She wrote, "My hair before getting severe eczema," a simple caption that carries weight far beyond its brevity.

Her journey also touches on broader conversations about women’s health, autoimmune disorders, and the intersections of motherhood and identity. She highlights how chronic illness often thrives in silence, especially among young mothers expected to manage households with ease. Her story confronts these unspoken realities, offering validation and hope. By naming her diagnosis and displaying unfiltered images of her body, she dismantles stigmas and opens the door to supportive discourse .

Through shared experience sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes healing Nara’s platform continues to evolve. It is no longer just about recipes or aesthetically pleasing interiors but about the complexity of life behind the camera. Her honesty provides emotional kinship to anyone navigating unpredictable health terrain while fulfilling personal and familial responsibilities.

As she steps into another chapter with a growing family, her message lingers: healing is seldom linear but when vulnerability meets community, it creates space for powerful transformation. Her new baby is not just another child in her brood, it is a living testament to her survival, renewed health, and unwavering belief in the possibility of rebirth.