Growing up I looked different from those around me. I grew up in a suburb of Minnesota, and was surrounded by those with blonde hair and blue eyes. When my friends started wearing makeup and beauty products, I realized my eyes and hair were different from theirs and couldn’t use the same products or makeup techniques. Moreover, all the women in the media and around me looked completely different from me. How was I supposed to feel beautiful when I looked completely different from the standard of beauty?
Then puberty hit, and so did acne. Kids are not so nice in middle school, and the nicknames started. “Pizza Face”, “Chinese butthead” and the comments, “Why don’t you wash your face?” continued. I sheltered myself from others, because I felt people only saw the “different face with acne”.
I began researching for acne products. After going through tens of thousands of dollars of acne treatments, I realized many beauty products are ridiculously marked up (1,000%) and contain few ingredients that are conducive to our health.
It wasn’t until I happened to stumble upon a Youtuber who had similar skin type and story-I followed her regimen and products, and my skin finally cleared up.
Moreover, on Youtube, I found a community of women who looked like me-single eyelid and oily skin gals-and from sharing our tips and tricks, I became confident enough to muster out the courage to create my own videos to help others.
After graduation, I realized that making Youtube videos was just the beginning of empowering others. My mission is to empower women to feel beautiful, just the way they are, and to use products that are good for them. We should understand what we are putting on our skin so we can put our best face forward, to empower us to shine, just the way we are.
The way you look is only skin deep, but the way you feel about yourself can change the world.
