A young girl affected by alopecia lights up when she sees a billboard ad featuring a model without hair
Alopecia is a disease that affects tens of millions of people across the world. Although it's not a disease that normally leads to any serious issues, losing all of one's hair isn't fun for anyone. Given men already suffer from hair loss, alopecia might somewhat affect their self-esteem, but it's nothing compared to how a woman (or girl, for that matter) feels when she loses all of her hair.
Perhaps Iylah Hanley knows this feeling better than anyone. Iylah started losing her hair when she was only 4 years old. While the rest of the girls her age wore ribbons or braided their hair, she was left only wishing that she could do the same. Her condition has made her feel different, and sometimes excluded, from everyone else as well.
via Nzherald
That is, until one day she ran across a billboard ad that made her feel like she as a person - a girl with no hair- mattered and was beautiful because of her difference. The billboard that Iylah saw was of a cosmetic model with no hair.
In that moment, Iylah felt like she was no longer alone... that someone was thinking of her and actually representing girls and women like her everywhere. Seeing how emotional Iylah became after seeing the ad, her mother decided to share Iylah's reaction with the world, on social media.
In Iylah's mother's social media post, she publicly thanked Goebel, the makeup brand that ran the ad, for representing "underrepresented" women like her daughter. She also mentioned that the billboard ad did wonders for Iylah's self-esteem. Before seeing the ad, Iylah never thought that someone like her - a girl with no hair - could ever be famous or do something as cool as being a model. But seeing Parris (that's the model's name) without any hair gave her the encouragement Iylah needed to realize she could be whoever she wanted and feel good about it.
It didn't take long for Parris to see Iylah's social media post. Moved by her words, Parris asked to meet Iylah and her mother in person. To make the occasion even more special, Parris asked a MAC makeup store to close up shop for the day so that she and Iylah could have the entire place to themselves. They spent the day chatting, trying on makeup, and just having fun together. Iylah and her mother were definitely grateful for Parris's kindess. At Iylah's age, it's important to make children feel accepted for who they are. If they learn their worth early on, a self-esteem boost can really make the difference!
