Makeup can do so much more than simply mask a budding pimple; it can bring out confidence and self-love. Don't believe us? Just watch YouTuber Marimar Quiroa.
Quiroa, 21, was born with a cystic hygroma — a fluid-filled growth in her neck and mouth that requires her to breathe through a tube and use sign language to communicate. Throughout the years, Quiroa has undergone several surgeries to reduce the size of the cyst. Then, two years ago, she started her own YouTube channel to inspire others to accept their individual beauty.
Since that time, Quiroa has amassed a following of over 100,000 subscribers and over six million video views. And she's received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback in the process. "People type their comments after they view my videos, and they say some really nice things," she said in a video posted on Barcroft TV, which you can watch below. "They tell me I'm beautiful and love my makeup."
Although Quiroa has fostered a truly positive and encouraging community on YouTube, she still deals with haters, both on- and offline. "People tell me I look like a monkey...that my mouth is wrong," she said in the video. "I see them staring. I either tell them to stop or just ignore them, but if people are staring at me, I stare right back. I refuse to look away until they stop staring."
Quiroa hopes to inspire other young women and men to pursue their passions regardless of societal expectations. She's currently enrolled in makeup school and is studying education in hopes that one day she can be a teacher for deaf children. Until then, Quiroa will keep posting beauty videos to her YouTube channel. "To me, beauty means to accept yourself for who you are," she said in the video."It doesn't matter if you have a different-looking face. Accept yourself for who you are." We're fully behind you, girl.
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