- [Voiceover] Dear BuzzFeed,
this is how I look with makeup
and this is how I look without makeup.
My name is Shalom.
I grew up in Nigeria where my family owns a fast food store.
When I was nine years old my sister and I fell asleep
under the table where my mother fries food we sold.
We were fast asleep when the hot oil above
suddenly fell pouring all over my face and body.
I remember screaming and crying
as my family poured water on us,
and my burning flesh falling on the ground.
I spent four months in the hospital.
My eyes couldn't open, and my fingers couldn't straighten.
When I returned to school I quickly realized
life after the incident wasn't what I thought it would be.
Kids would bully and stare at me.
Sometimes they even ran away because my face scared them.
They called me burned face, two face,
scarface and so on.
I felt like a living statue for people to come see.
Then I discovered makeup tutorials on YouTube.
I watched hours upon hours of videos
to learn how to do makeup and soon I was good,
and my classmates started asking me
to do their makeup for them.
But I still didn't feel happy.
Soon I started having suicide thoughts.
Eventually I came across Talia Joy,
a beautiful girl on YouTube fighting cancer
and like me she didn't have any hair.
I was amazed by her courage
to come on camera without a wig.
On June 17, 2014 I posted a photo of myself
without a wig on Instagram for the first time.
To my surprise people were positive and encouraging,
and said my photo inspired them to also be bold.
I felt like a load was taken off of my shoulders
because I was finally being honest
and not giving a crap what anyone has to say
about my appearance.
This lead to me wanting to share more with people,
because if Talia could do it, so could I.
And if I can, anyone can.
So I decided to start my own beauty channel
because I wanted to help other people like me,
not only to learn how to do makeup,
but to learn to love themself for who they truly are.
Makeup is not the reason why I'm happy,
it is something I enjoy doing.
I'm happy because I've learned to love myself.
I'm happy that I can be myself
and share my passion with the world.
As you can see this is how I look with makeup
and without makeup,
and I love both of the sides equally.