I’ve had my grump on in the last couple of days. Actually, it’s still on. The world has seemingly fallen in on me, from all sides and angles, and I feel a bit overwhelmed and suffocated by it all. Like any typical female, the straw that broke the camel’s back was a breakout of spots on my chin that no make-up or cleansing routine seemed to help. It was like my face decided to show all the anger I was trying to keep in.
We all get these days.
My grump and I were clicking through YouTube, and in a Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon-type-way I found a video by a beautiful young woman called Cassandra Banks. Her flawless, glowing visage close to the camera promised to show me her greatest insecurity – her naked skin. Cut to her pretty face stripped of its make-up in all it’s bare, severe acne ridden show.
 “I feel really disgusting. This is probably the most nerve-wracking thing I could possibly do because it is my biggest insecurity. But this is my face,” she confesses.
If you’re used to wearing make-up, it can be difficult to let people see you without it. Women fumble through endless glossy magazine spreads looking for celebrities and movie stars “caught” without make-up, looking pale and normal, even a bit spotty – as if it’s something to be ashamed of, something that we hope nobody will find out about us. And yet the reason we look is so we can remember that we’re all human, that our grump and angry chin are experienced by women across the world, rich or poor, celebrity or ordinary.
Cassandra said she wanted to help other problem skin sufferers find ways of coping with and masking the embarassment and wrecked confidence. To do so, she was willing to do the one thing nobody with problem skin wanted to do – show it to us. Close up. On the internet.
Her candid honesty and genuine warmth coming across through the camera has gained her over 7.6 billion hits worldwide, appearance on national TV shows, and a committed following on her blog and YouTube channel. Her channel says “subscribe if you like being happy!” Here’s someone who has decided to get on with life in spite of her weaknessess and use them to her benefit and for the benefit of others. To be known as “the girl on the internet with really bad acne” isn’t the title most teenage girls would aspire to. But let’s hope they aspire to the same notions of honesty, self-sacrifice and empathy for others who are maybe having just as hard a time as you are.
More: visit Cassandra’s YouTube channel at Diamondsandheels14
So She Is 