A woman with the same skin condition as model Winnie Harlow says her vitiligo is often mistaken for dodgy fake tan and she feels like ‘an animal at the zoo’ when people point and stare. Eva Smith developed the autoimmune disorder at three years old when patches began appearing on her knees and neck.
After receiving UV radiotherapy twice a week at the hospital for a year, the 20-year-old said her condition completely vanished by the age of seven. But after four years of being vitiligo-free, Eva discovered new marks appearing on her body that she said may have been caused by teenage stress.
Now the aesthetician’s face, neck and hands are covered in milky-white clusters but says she embraces her spots and often goes make-up-free despite the stares and comments she receives. Eva says the most common remark she hears is people questioning whether she is wearing patchy fake tan and admits the strange looks are far worse when travelling abroad.
Eva said: “The fake tan comments are probably the most common one. When I haven’t been on holiday and don’t have a tan, people assume that I have done my fake tan really badly or think I haven’t washed off the fake tan properly.
Eva Smith has vitiligo (Kennedy News and Media)
“I run my own business so I meet a lot of people and I have had a few clients ask if my fake tan has gone wrong. It happens a bit too often. The comments don’t make me feel bad about myself but it makes me feel awkward because I don’t want them to think that they have offended me.
“When people say things like this I just explain to them that I have an autoimmune disease and I can’t help it. I get the most stares and funny looks when travelling abroad.
“I don’t know if it’s because there’s not as much awareness in other countries but sometimes it can feel like being an animal at the zoo. People stare at me for so long and their heads move with my every movement.
“I notice people point me out to their friends and family to take a look. It can sometimes feel very uncomfortable when you know all eyes are on you and you have to carry on as normal.”
Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigment and often turn a milky-white colour due to the melanocyte cells in the skin being attacked or destroyed. As well as the fake tan comments, Eva said kids have asked if she can wash off her spots and others have questioned whether it is contagious.
Eva, who owns her own aesthetics business, said: “I’ve had kids ask me if I have paint on my hands or whether I can wash it [the vitiligo] off. None of these comments make me feel uncomfortable though and I just laugh them off because I genuinely find them funny as I know kids don’t understand.
“A few people have also been a bit wary about my vitiligo and want to know if it is contagious and whether they can come close to me or not.”
Since having vitiligo for the first time, Eva says there is definitely more awareness about the skin disorder in the UK and says she loves seeing models such as Winnie Harlow with the same condition as her in the media. Eva said: “I absolutely love it because people ask me if I have the same condition as Winnie Harlow.
Eva Smith has vitiligo (Kennedy News and Media)
“It makes such a big difference having someone like that with the same disorder as you. It makes me feel more comfortable and makes people aware of it. I would one hundred percent say Winnie Harlow is a role model to me.”
Eva says she enjoys wearing makeup but does not use this to hide the patches and often removes foundation from her spots on her face to embrace them in her everyday look. And whilst further UV radiotherapy is available to Eva, she said she would not have this treatment done again as it increases her risk of skin cancer.
Eva said: “When I’m not tanned now, I tend to do my makeup all over, but this is because I like doing my makeup, not to cover up my vitiligo. When I’m tanned I do my makeup and then remove it from my patches as you can see my vitiligo more clearly when I’m tanned.
“I love having my patches on show. I do find when I put makeup over them too, it sometimes brings out the fake tan comments more as it brings attention to them. My big thing is not covering it up.
“When I was younger, we went through a whole process of getting special ‘camouflage’ makeup made for me, which is like a super thick foundation that matches your skin tone. You would put this over the patches so it would blend into the rest of your skin.
“I think I used it once or twice but it seemed too much of a fuss so now I don’t use it. I’m definitely embracing it. The more you go through UV radiation treatment the more at risk you are to skin cancer and things like that. I’m in a place now where I really enjoy having it.
Eva Smith has vitiligo (Kennedy News and Media)
“I think because I have had it [vitiligo] since I was so little, I can’t imagine myself without it. It would be weird if I didn’t have it.”
Eva has now created a TikTok page to raise awareness of her vitiligo and show people, especially younger kids with the same condition, that the disorder is normal and should be accepted. Eva said: “I was really lucky at school and never experienced any bullying or teasing or had anyone be nasty, but I definitely had people staring and giving me funny looks.
“As a kid, it was more my parents being self-conscious for me and being protective. I didn’t think anything of it [my vitiligo] but I know my mum was wary of what people were going to say and think, which is why I think I had treatment as they wanted to do everything they could to get rid of it which is fine.
Eva Smith has vitiligo (Kennedy News and Media)
“I worry now that if kids have treatment at a young age and try to get rid of it, it will make them think that they shouldn’t have it [vitiligo]. Getting rid of it so young doesn’t give you a chance to be comfortable with it and promotes that it is wrong and not normal and at the end of the day it is just your skin.
“I am big on embracing my vitiligo and that is why I created my TikTok. I have lots of people in my comments that have been able to relate to my content. I think it is still about raising as much awareness as possible. Whilst people speak about vitiligo more than they did when I was younger, we still need to speak more about it.”
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