This Egyptian woman with vitiligo using social media to challenge beauty stereotypes

Logina Salah is an Egyptian skin-positive influencer, vlogger, licensed makeup artist and above all, a vitiligo advocate.

Logina Salah is a ‘superwoman’ having embraced her vitiligo spots and now, inspiring the fellow vitiligo women community to wear their skin imperfection with pride.

A well known social media star among the vitiligo community, she has created a safe space for many on social media as they look up to her for positive influence and confidence.

Vitiligo acceptance is the best possible treatment, says Logina

During the initial days of getting vitiligo, she was quite insecure about her looks and doubtful if the society would accept her with it? In desperation to avoid social discrimination, she would cover the spots with makeup and look ‘normal’. But, deep in her heart, she was not happy with this compromise.

“I knew very well that it is not the long term solution. Gradually the frustration of living ‘two lives’ reached the breaking point and I decided not to hide behind the makeup anymore. Having spent so many years in the beauty industry, I do apply makeup sometimes because I love it, but not out of insecurity. I am beautiful with and without makeup.”

Logina loves makeup and experimenting with it, but she doesn’t see makeup as a cover-up or a cure. For her standing out and embracing her natural skin is what’s unique and makes her stand out from the rest.

Read more: A Bollywood movie showcasing Vitiligo in the positive light

Vitiligo and the importance of self acceptance

Many of the people with vitiligo complain that “True beauty lies within” is just a quote and no one believes in it. They are not lying; they are saying exactly what they feel.

The awkward stares on the streets, the unwanted questions or the judging faces sometimes drag them to the corner as outcasts. It makes them feel that the people around them giving too much attention to the outside appearance.

But the real question is- deep down, do they believe that a beautiful heart and soul are more worthy than the looks?

If so, it should be reflected in their actions. They should walk the talk.

Otherwise, it’s a bit harsh to expect others to believe in something you doubt about.

Living with a condition that affects your appearance is frustrating sometimes. Though it is not harmful to you or the people around, still the psychological impact cannot be neglected.

So there is a general consensus among the vitiligo community that making peace with vitiligo is important to find happiness in life.

You will see almost every single person with vitiligo advocating normalization of the skin patches. But, very few of them actually embrace and accept vitiligo as something normal in their lives because the path towards self-love and acceptance is a difficult one.

So whether you are taking a treatment or not, Logina is definitely a source of inspiration that motivates you to feel confident and blend in with the society at your own terms.

Vitiligo turned her to makeup at a very young age

At the tender age of 13, the white spots suddenly popped up on her face and hands from nowhere. Her schoolmates and friends at the sports club started avoiding her fearing that vitiligo might be contagious. Not to blame them as they simply followed their parents instructions. Unfortunately, vitiligo is such a misunderstood skin condition.

“As a young teenager, I just wanted the community to accept me as normal and offer me equal opportunities and chances. So I started using makeup to cover my vitiligo and that’s how I got inclined to makeup from early teenage. In the process of understanding color theory and mixing colors to match my skin color, I developed interest in beauty and makeup. Although I did my major in commerce, but I decided to become a certified makeup artist and enter the beauty industry.”

Being a makeup artist with ‘imperfect’ skin

There is a stereotype about makeup and beauty artists that they should be good looking with a flawless skin. So, it was not that easy for her to blend in.

“At the beginning of my career, I felt as if I was not welcomed in the industry and certainly my uneven skin tone the reason for it. Sometimes, people would make comments hinting that I didn’t fit in to become a beauty professional. Due to those incidences, I did lose a good chunk of my confidence.”

She would not allow wedding photographers to click photos during makeup sessions with brides as she was not comfortable with her appearance.

Later, she changed her mind when one of her friends convinced her to embrace vitiligo and allow photographers to take photos as she is uniquely beautiful.

Acting on this idea transformed her life for good and she hasn’t looked back since then.

A social media celebrity

Hailing from a conservative Islamic country with a lower level of vitiligo awareness and acceptance, Logina’s journey of self empowerment would have been more challenging than those of the vitiligo superwomen living in the developed liberal countries.

She experienced that communicating with people and explaining to them about the condition was the most difficult part. So, she has decided to become a skin-positive content creator by choice.

“I wish to bring smile on people’s face and help them perceive beauty from a different perspective.”

Logina is among the most popular vitiligo-positive influencers on Instagram with 1.6 million followers.

She regularly posts on Instagram displaying her bare-faced natural beauty and inspiring others to accept their ‘flaws’ with confidence.

And on her YouTube channel (with more than 100k subscribers), Logina, the makeup artist and beauty educator, share tips and ideas not just to look beautiful outside but also to nurture self confidence and strength and feel beautiful from inside.

Acknowledging her positive influence towards body positivity movement, many of the fashion magazines have featured her on their covers. The famous fashion and entertainment magazine, cosmopolitan had nominated her for People’s Choice Awards 2021 in the ‘Middle East Social Media Star’ category.

A mother and a social media star, Logina Salah aspires to become an international beauty educator, launching her own makeup line and a motivational public speaker.

Her advice

Being a professional makeup artist, she could have continued concealing vitiligo from the people. But, she chose not to and rather be comfortable in her own skin without bothering about others.

“It was a 24*7 internal struggle as I was leading a double life: one without makeup, and one with makeup. Finally, I gathered the courage to be myself and it has been such a liberating experience.

We all must realize there is no single definition or standard of beauty. Everyone is beautiful in own ways irrespective of skin color or body shape.”

As a mother and a body-skin normative influencer, Logina believes and advocates for the sense of individuality and embracing differences with open arms.

She visualizes a close-to-perfect world where people looking different from others can quite easily mix up and explore life without any discrimination. She believes that the recent evolution in the beauty industry will make it more inclusive to accommodate the uniquely different people.