"I started to lose my hair at a very young age. By the end of 1st grade I was completely bald due to an autoimmune disorder called Alopecia. Losing my hair in a world where the “ideal” standards of beauty are extremely narrow made it difficult to fully accept myself and the way I looked. Society was constantly telling me that I looked like a boy, that I must have cancer & that I wasn’t as beautiful as other girls. Learning to completely love myself and find true self confidence was a long road, but I am very lucky to have reached a point where I can confidently say I would not want to have it any other way. I can not imagine my life without Alopecia and I am forever grateful that it gives me a platform to help others start accepting themselves for who they truly are. Awareness and speaking up is vital in order to break the stigma against hair loss. This was a big factor in why I decided to start my YouTube channel so that my message could reach more people. I am very excited to wear my A.W.A.R.E necklace because, to me, it represents making progress towards breaking the stereotypical ideal of beauty and teaching people that our uniqueness is what truly makes us beautiful. If there is a cause you’d like to raise awareness and show support for use the code “aware15” for 15% off!" @alison_mann
]]>“Don’t beat yourself down if things go bad for you. Alopecia got me to swag out even more than what I was before. Don’t let the opinions of others be what keep you happy, your opinion on how you view yourself matters” @chingchongstayswaggin
]]>"I have Alopecia Areata. That is an autoimmune disorder. When I was 8, I lost all of my hair. That was terrible for my family and me. Of course I made experiences with bullying. But in the last 8 years these experiences made me stronger. I think when I never got the disease, I would not be as confident as I am now. I am very thankful to my family, my friends and the organization @alopeciagesichter. All of them gave me so much energy to weather the difficult years. Now I am 17 years old and I am very proud of my bald and beautiful head. I hope I can help other people with telling my story. September is Alopecia Areata month so let's get it more #awareness and #acceptance. Thank you for reading!" @tina.shootings @tina.kl16 Photos by @_jb_pictures_
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