Taking pride in covering her wide spread vitiligo spots with make up or clothing is not Tashana Sasha Ramdeholl\u2019s style. This young beauty from Guyana proudly wears her white patchy skin because the occurrence of vitiligo has made no difference to her as a person.<\/p>\n
So instead of surrendering to the society\u2019s orthodox beauty standards, she has decided to propagate the idea that beauty comes in all shades<\/a><\/strong> (skin colors) and a woman with vitiligo is as beautiful and normal as any other woman.<\/p>\n It all started when she was 18, with a small white spot on her face. That spot soon grew bigger and more spots were seen all over her body gradually spreading. She now has patches of white skin covering her whole body including face, hands and legs.<\/p>\n Tashana wasn\u2019t sure about the exact name and nature of her skin condition until her hairdresser noticed it because she was also dealing with vitiligo.<\/p>\n My hairdresser noticed a spot on my toe because the spots on face were covered with makeup. She told me confidently that its vitiligo and she is also having the same thing on her skin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To confirm, she visited a dermatologist and finally, she was officially diagnosed with vitiligo.<\/p>\n She took treatment for some time, but stopped because it was not giving any results, also the complexity of the treatment was a big turn off as well.<\/p>\n It was such a brave and life-changing decision as she decided to embrace her skin as it is instead of chasing a cure. It was something unthinkable and surprising to the society as outer appearance is given so much importance and her patchy skin was making her look different.<\/p>\n Since then, she has been redefining the meaning of being beautiful and creating space for people with skin \u2018flaws\u2019 to feel confident and beautiful.<\/p>\n Living with a chronic skin condition that affects a large area of the skin does have some consequences to deal with.<\/p>\n She loves the outdoors.<\/p>\n Even though she is adventurous and outgoing, she has to remain indoors. That\u2019s a bit disheartening sometimes as she can\u2019t remain under the sun for long. When travelling, she has to be extra cautious to avoid sunburn or other injuries to the skin.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t tolerate the Sunrays for more than 15 minutes and I would feel burning sensation and sometimes, would leave blisters on the skin if exposed to the sunlight for long.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n On the emotional front, her life is largely at peace as she rarely faces discrimination or indifferent behavior from people around.<\/p>\n Sometimes, small children would look at her with curious eyes, but that\u2019s not in the bad taste. They just want to know that why her skin doesn\u2019t have one complexion.<\/p>\n Also, she spends time researching and reading on the Internet about do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of living better with vitiligo.<\/p>\n She believes in walk the talk. Now that vitiligo has covered a large area of her skin, she does not camouflage the vitiligo spots anymore and wears them with confidence and grace<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nThe beginning\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Daily challenges of living with vitiligo<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Tashana is a proud and loud vitiligo acceptance advocate<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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