The history of Paris's Eiffel Tower is, in many sense, a history of pure theft. Although it's named after Gustav Eiffel, and he gets all the credit for it, it was really only his company that designed it, not him exactly. In fact, none of the iconic tower - which was built for the 1889 World's Fair - came from the brain of Eiffel, but actually Maurice Koechlin and ?mile Nouguier, two engineers who worked for him. He just bought the patent rights from them, in effect stealing their glory.
But before you start feeling sorry for those two, we should probably let you know that even they weren't immune to a little light theft. Their designs for the Eiffel Tower were in fact liberally borrowed from another structure, the Latting Observatory, built in New York City some 30 years prior. What we're trying to say with all this is that if someone really did just lift up the tower with a crane and steal it, it would really only be poetic justice.
They may be beautiful, rich and famous, but celebrities are human too, and that means they're just as prone to getting sick as the rest of us. And just like us, some celebs even live with chronic conditions that can take a toll on their day-to-day lives. But eczema – also referred to as dermatitis – is a common dry skin condition. Symptoms include dry, itchy, red and scaly skin. In more extreme cases, the skin can crust and bleed. According to the National Eczema Association, 1 in 10 individuals will develop eczema in their lifetime. And given these statistics, it’s hardly a surprise there are a few celebrities out there who have eczema too.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, 37, suffered from eczema in her teens. Kate was bullied heavily whilst attending Downe House girls’ boarding school, according to the Duchess’s friend Jessica Hay. According Hay, Middleton’s bullies made fun of her eczema. ‘It didn’t help that she was so tall and self-conscious about her eczema,’ Hay told CelebNow. Studies have shown children with moderate and extreme atopic dermatitis are more likely to suffer from conditions like anxiety and low self-esteem, which has a knock-on effect on their school work and ability to make friends.
Although Brad Pitt, 55, has not spoken about the issue himself, his co-star Cate Blanchett disclosed that Pitt was suffering from eczema during filming of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. In an interview with Scotland’s Daily Record, the actress said, ‘We went through three weeks of make-up tests and he was covered in eczema from it all.’ Blanchett sweetly loaned Pitt her skin cream to deal with the dermatitis, that had developed due to the use of prosthetic makeup worn during filming. Prosthetic make-up isn’t the hugest concern for us non-Hollywood folk, nevertheless, what is a concern, is how makeup can trigger eczema flair up. Unless makeup brushes are constantly washed (let’s be real, they’re not), they become a breeding ground for bacteria. This can lead to clogged pores and irritated sensitive skin.
Adele, 31, stated that her eczema flared up when she became a new mom. During a press conference in 2013 after her Golden Globe win for Best Original Song for the Bond film Sykfall, the singer said: ‘I am exhausted. That’s how [motherhood] changed me. I have eczema from boiling bottles.’ Research carried out by the BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal) has revealed that contact dermatitis has the potential to have ‘detrimental’ impact and in the worst case scenarios can even threaten some sufferers ability to work.