'Top Model' CariDee English shows off psoriasis, tackles beauty myth

Each year, women spend nearly $7 billion on beauty products in the U.S. According to the YWCA's Beauty at any Cost study, if women used the $100 normally spent monthly on beauty products and applied it to a college fund, they could cover in-state tuition at a public institution within five years. While the beauty myth still plagues the U.S., some celebrities are doing their part to educate the public that beauty is more than skin deep.

We first learned about CariDee English's revealing photo shoot where she showed 70 percent of her body covered in psoriasis from our friends at Stylelist. Winner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 7, English has battled with the chronic skin disease since age 5. We caught up with English to hear about her personal battle with psoriasis and what she's doing to change the public's perspective on beauty.

Money College: What was your reaction when you first found you had psoriasis?

CariDee English: I was about 5 years old and I was driving in my mom's car. I remember specifically looking at my leg and I saw that something there. I asked my mom what it was and she knew all too well exactly what had started to manifest on my body -- she had psoriasis, too. The moment I hit 12, it flared up really badly and it never let up since.