- We are taking it all off,
and we are modeling without makeup.
(energetic music)
- I used makeup as a tool to hide part of me.
- I wore makeup everyday to cover
what I felt like was a flaw.
- Makeup is important to me
because I was bullied really really bad.
I was made fun of for all of the freckles I have.
So I tried to cover them up.
I even tried to sand paper them off in sixth grade.
- I didn't want people to see me
as natural as I was with my spots.
I started wearing makeup at age 12.
As soon as I got to middle school,
that is when people started to let me know
girl, you are different.
You look different.
I'm gonna treat you different, and you kind of ugly.
- I have a port-wine stain birthmark,
and it covers half of my face, head, ear, and neck.
And it's basically like a malformation
of the capillaries in the skin,
and I just wanted to be normal,
and people thought I was really scary.
- Growing up I was so confused because I was just covered
in all these brown little dots,
and I just wanted that beautiful clear perfect skin
that you see everywhere.
I just tried to be somebody that I thought
everyone wouldn't make fun of because it hurt so bad.
- I would love to see more people like me
with birthmarks on magazine covers.
- Now I get to bare everything
that I'm self-conscious about.
I think it will be very liberating.
- Vitiligo Queen is not playing with y'all.
She came to slay.
- So this is going away.
- I'm like breaking out so bad right now.
- Girl, you want me to take my eyeshadow off too?
Ooh.
- Acne, blemishes, it's all part of being human.
We all deal with it, and yet,
it's like we don't want anybody to know.
- It took me three hours to do my makeup.
- You sure we can't leave the eyebrows?
Like just the eyebrows? (laughs)
- It's like I'm making it rain makeup wipes.
- I feel naked and exposed.
- I feel good taking it off.
- All right y'all, I'm ready for my closeup.
(mellow electronic music)
After looking at the photographs,
I didn't know that I could be a superhero.
(laughs) I felt like a super model,
and it felt good to see myself professionally.
- The photos turned out really great.
I never in a million years would have thought
that I would be doing a photo shoot like this.
I feel very empowered and strong,
especially for my five-year-old self.
- Seeing them in these photos
and how they kind of added to me,
and they really popped against my skin
and brightened my eyes up,
it was really cool to see the freckles.
- So taking the shoot today without any makeup
and feeling almost completely naked,
it was kind of liberating.
- And even when you've come to a point
of acceptance and embracing you for who you are,
there's still an experience and challenge
that can make you stronger,
that can make you more comfortable.
- And we all come here with something.
It doesn't matter what it is.
We have to choose to be beautiful.
We have to choose to feel that beauty.
We have to make a choice to just say I accept me,
and if you don't, that's your problem.
But I'm not gonna not love me
because you have a problem with it.
If was on the cover of a magazine,
it would say Vitiligo Queen shows everyone
how to kiss her ego.
- Different is the new normal.
- I am fun (giggles).
And I'm confident.
And I think I might be pretty (chuckles)
and I've never let myself say that before.
(easygoing music)