Actress Shares Stunning Photos Of Her Facial Birthmark To Inspire Others To Love Their “Flaws”
An actress with a facial birthmark has posed make-up free to encourage others to embrace their “flaws” [Photo: Caters News Agency]
If the popularity of photo-editing apps like Face Tune are proof of anything it’s that many of us are desperate to hide our flaws and imperfections. But one inspirational actress has decided to step away from the filters and put her facial birthmark center stage by posing completely make-up free.
Paige Billiot, 23, from Los Angeles, was born with a dark red mark, known as a port-wine stain, covering her left cheek. Growing up the actress and filmmaker was subjected to cruel bullying about her birthmark, which lead to her feeling self-conscious about her looks.
“When I was younger, the birthmark was hard for me to deal with,” she explains. “It was part of feeling vulnerable. I experienced a lot of verbal bullying and name calling. Sometimes it even got physical. We moved around a lot so I had to explain over and over again when a child asked what it was.”
The Flawless Affect Project sees Paige working with photographers to accentuate her birthmark in different ways [Photos: Instagram/flawless_affect]
It was a realisation that the taunts had a lot to do with a lack of understanding that became a turning point for Paige.
“I realised the bullying had lot to do with the unknown,” she explains. "In the end the moving helped. I got sick of answering the same questions and stood up in front of class and I introduced myself. After that stares stopped and it helped me accept it more.”
"Now it’s part of who I am, and I don’t see myself without it anymore,” she says.
Paige was born with a port wine stain mark covering her left cheek [Photo: Caters News Agency]
This new-found confidence in her looks inspired Paige to follow her dreams of being an actress, but it wasn’t without setbacks.
“From a young age I wanted to be in front of camera. Unfortunately, a lot of people have the same mentality of having the perfect face and the perfect body whereas my face was too different,” she explained.
"In the beginning it was hard to accept. But growing up made my skin pretty thick so I had the right mentality and because of the rejection, I started making my own movies.”
Overcoming prejudices in the industry inspired Paige to spread her positive message to others and last year she launched the Flawless Affect, a blog and Instagram project dedicated to reducing the stigma of so-called “flaws.”
For the project, she worked with photographers and artists to create photos that accentuated her birthmark in different ways. Now she hopes to encourage others to celebrate their own individuality.
"It’s 2016 and being different is the new normal,” she says. “I wanted to inspire other people. If I can be successful in this industry, nothing can stop them either. I am two faced, I have this giant thing on my face and I can be happy and content.”
The actress often poses make-up free to encourage others to embrace their individuality [Photo: Caters News Agency]
Paige hopes the success of the Flawless Affect project might help to redefine beauty and tackle stigmas in the fashion and beauty industry.
“It has been amazing - I’ve got a lot of feedback from girls of all ages,” she says. “They tell me their stories, they tell me how much they hide it and then tell me that this project has completely inspired them. I feel like I can help so many more and try to change their mind set to acceptance.”
"You must have the mentally that a flaw is flawless. It will still take a while, but it’s about perspective.”
What do you think of the project? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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