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Feeling different can be isolating, but Danielle embraced her difference and now she's encouraging others to do the same
My mum Julie picked up the razor and said: ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes,’ I replied.
I’d been diagnosed with alopecia at two, after Mum found a bald patch at the top of my scalp.
Now, aged six, I only had a few strands of hair left, so I’d decided to shave my head.
I didn’t regret it either. Sometimes I’d wear a wig, but I preferred a cap, or nothing at all.
Everyone at school was fine. But strangers always stared, and I hated it.
‘Just smile back at them,’ Mum said.
It worked because it forced them to smile at me. Turning their stares into something positive.
When I started secondary school, I felt confident enough to go in bald.
But when my eyelashes and eyebrows fell out at 14, I felt self-conscious again for the first time in years.
I wanted to hide it with make-up, but I couldn’t find much guidance online.
So, I started experimenting with eyeliner and strip eyelashes.
But what started as an attempt to disguise my hair loss quickly turned into a creative means of expressing myself. I loved trying out different styles, colours, and products.
At 18, I began posting my efforts on Instagram and even started filming my own make-up tutorials.
Before long, I was getting messages from others with alopecia, praising me for posting photos of myself without a wig. Some even said I’d really helped them.
Knowing I could give others struggling with hair loss the help I’d lacked when I’d first started using make-up felt amazing.
I am proud of who I am and how I look, and I want others with hair loss to know that while they are not alone, they are beautiful.
From Danielle Gilbert, 23, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne