Acne-scarred makeup expert continues to be a role model

May 6, 2015 10:32 GMT  ·  By
YouTube star Cassandra Bankson, who creates makeup tutorials to show how to cover up chronic acne
   YouTube star Cassandra Bankson, who creates makeup tutorials to show how to cover up chronic acne

In 2011, the world was acquainted with a then-19-year-old girl named Cassandra Bankson. Her face was covered in acne up to 90%, but she had faced her worst fear and had created video tutorials for other girls suffering from chronic acne, showing them how to apply makeup for that boost of confidence they needed so badly.

She became a YouTube sensation, with her makeup tutorials being watched and shared by millions, and praised by just as many. In 2012, Cassandra was signed to a modeling agency and voiced plans to continue to speak for “inner beauty.”

Just recently, Cassandra faced another huge fear, about which she writes in detail in a touching op-ed for MimiChatter: her uterus didelphys diagnosis.

Who am I?

In layman’s terms, Cassandra has a double set of reproductive organs and two vaginas. She explains in her piece that she only made the discovery “very recently,” at the end of last month, when she went in for tests because she had back pains. They turned out to be cramps from menstruation, which she sometimes experiences for 23 days a month.

Of course, she writes, she always knew she was “special” and not just because she suffered from terrible acne on her face, chest and back since she was still practically a kid. She’s always been “too much” of something, whether that was unpredictability, liveliness or mood swings.

Suddenly, she was “too much” of a woman too and that somehow made her feel like she wasn’t enough.

“You wouldn't think an internal condition like this could affect an outward body image, right? Wrong. I suppose I’ve always kept myself amused with my insecurities and navigating intellectual battlefields long before the diagnosis, but on dark evenings, when I was alone with my thoughts, there was no denying that this was another line item to add to the list of ‘not good enoughs’,” she writes.

From bullying to her severe acne and terrible insecurities, Cassandra has seen it all, but she still didn’t know how to react to the news that she was “twice the woman.” If that was the case, who was she really? Was she the same woman as before, or less of her because she was so much more?

I am twice the woman

Cassandra is no regular young woman, not because of the things she’d had to deal with in life but because of the attitude she approaches every potential obstacle.

In the aforementioned op-ed, she announces her intention of embracing her specialness, given by this rare condition. She chooses to look on the bright side and to ignore the downsides: she is healthy and she can be happy if she makes an effort towards it.

Therefore, she has no reason not to try.

Cassandra became a YouTube sensation not because of her makeup skills, though they’re definitely outstanding, but because of her positive attitude: she’s done hiding and she’s done letting her “flaws” define her. She uses them to let others know they’re not alone and to teach them ways to cope with them.

She has been named a role model because of this, and she doesn’t shy away from the responsibility that comes with it. Her most recent op-ed is proof that she continues to remain a worthy role model throughout it all.

“I’m a strong believer that the hardest thing in life to overcome is yourself, and this is an example of a territory which I am currently navigating. I’m learning to overcome life’s obstacles, love myself in every aspect, and take this opportunity as a chance to help educate others, not just about this condition, but further break open and inspect the stigma of how the world views women,” she writes.