Woman with rare skin condition gets tattoo to respond to people’s stares

Meet Tiffany Posteraro, who after years of bullying has embraced her skin condition, called vitiligo, with a genius tattoo to stop people from staring.

Vitiligo is a condition caused by low melanin that produces pale patches on the skin.

Tiffany first noticed such patches on her knees when she was 7 years old.

“I showed my parents, but we just thought they must be scars or something,” she told the U.K.’s PA Real Life. “Over time, I got a few on my wrists, and then it spread around my whole kneecaps.”
“We had no idea what it was,” she said. “A dermatologist gave me some ointment, but it did nothing.”

It wasn't until Tiffany was 11 years old that she learned the name of her skin condition. “I was in a grocery store with my mum and a man pulled me aside and said, ‘You have vitiligo.’"

For the next 17 years, Tiffany covered up her body with clothing and thick makeup to avoid weird stares and mean comments from strangers.

“People would say, ‘Did you tan under a tree?’” she said. “I got called ‘cow,’ ‘Dalmatian,’ ‘ghost face,’ ‘burn victim.’"

“I got really dark spray tans and used industrial-strength foundation, the kind used to cover deep scars,” she said, adding, “I covered my legs and arms most of the time, even in the sweltering heat, and would avoid pool parties because it meant wearing a bikini.”

Now after years of bullying, Tiffany is done hiding. The 24-year-old decided to embrace her skin with a bold tattoo that reads "It's called vitiligo."

And she said the tattoo has given her newfound peace of mind
“I was sick of the stares. I just wanted to say, ‘Come on — ask me what it is,’” she said. “I wanted to share with people what it is because that way they would learn something, rather than stigmatizing.”
“Now people are like, ‘I love your tattoo.’ They ask questions about the condition and go away enlightened. They know I didn’t get burnt in a fire,” she said. “They know there’s a term for what I have. It’s very liberating.”