Meet Tanesha Brown. Brown, a 32-year-old mother of three and makeup artist from Los Angeles, has vitiligo, a disease that causes the loss of pigmentation in the skin. Brown, who struggled with self-acceptance and self-esteem growing up, hopes that sharing her story will inspire others.

“I just wanted to be myself and people made that difficult for me – to be just who I was,” says Brown.

“As a kid people would call me a Dalmatian and a zebra.”

“I would never stare people in their face and I spent a lot of time over make-up and hiding behind the make-up.”

Brown share selfies and messages of inspiration on her Instagram page, Vitiligo Queen.
She frequently shares images of other people of color with Vitiligo, whom she calls her “Vitiligo Family.”

The social media maven even switched careers, from being a police officer to becoming a makeup artist, as a way to use her skills to help other women feel confident.

“I think makeup allows me to extend my message because I tell people about my experience of living through that time where I used make-up to cover up. But now I just wear it because I love it,” says Brown.

“So I experiment with it and I show other people how to experiment with it so they can also feel comfortable, regardless of what they’re wearing it for.”

Brown also volunteers with the American Cancer society and gives free makeup tutorials to cancer patients.

“I’m really happy to be who I am right now,” she adds.