Burn survivor sends empowering message through make-up

Nchom was burnt in an oil frying incident when she was 9 years old

Shalom Ncho, a make-up artist from Nigeria, (now living in Maryland), has an important message for any one who struggles with insecurities.

The 20-year-old was burnt in an oil frying incident at her parents' store when she was just nine years old.

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“Life after the accident wasn’t what I thought it would be,” Nchom told BuzzFeed. “I was stared at by kids and older people whenever I stepped out. I felt like a living statue that people came to see. It pushed me to be rude towards anyone who stared at me. I cursed people out and cried on many occasions.”

Make-up not only made her feel more comfortable, but also curbed the bullying she experienced at school. In fact, she did her make-up so well that school mates began to ask her to do their make-up. Soon, she obliged and did people's make-up for a price of $5 to $25 per person.



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The hashtag #ThePowerOfMakeup became popular over the last year, when women all over Instagram and Facebook decided to post images of their faces half-covered in make-up.

Nchom recently joined the trend, but may be the most inspiring woman to do so. She recently posted a tutorial on YouTube where she does make-up on half her face and leaves the other half bare, to portray a strong message of loving yourself with and without make-up.

In the video, she explains "You should love yourself either way - makeu-p or no make-up."

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"I remember when I was in middle school, because of my scars I used to wear make-up and I actually didn't use foundation. I used concealer all over my face and it was caked on just to try to conceal my scar but even with that much make-up I still wasn't happy."

"You know, it's something that you should just love doing and at the time I thought it was gonna work, but it did not work. But now I can come on camera without make-up and show you guys how I do my make-up, you know. And some people might have negative stuff to say... but I don't really care because as of right now I love myself for who I am. I'm accepting of what had happened to me."



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"All I know is I love myself for who I am and makeup is not the reason why I'm happy. I'm happy because I love myself."

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Watch the full tutorial here: