#DontJudgeMeChallenge inspires Buckhead hairstylist
The hashtag #DontJudgeChallenge has taken off on social media this summer.
For the challenge, users post photos or videos of themselves without make up, or show physical features often the targets of body shaming.
One Buckhead hairstylist used the challenge to reveal a secret she has been hiding for seven years.
“I told no-one because it’s kind of embarrassing,” Felicia Flores said.
Flores is a hairstylist in the heart of Buckhead. She is the last person you might suspect of holding a secret.
A painful admission she recently shared with the world through her #DontJudgeChallenge video.
Flores has alopecia, an autoimmune disease in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body.
“One minute you have hair and then all of a sudden you don’t have hair anymore,” she explained.
She spent years hiding in shame.
“I wore the wig religiously.” “We are living in a society where hair is everything,” she explained. “For women, hair is their crown and glory.”
With a bit of encouragement from her daughter Camryn and her friend Kaylin, Flores decided to post her video revealing to the world that she has alopecia and that being bald is beautiful.
The 37-year-old received an outpouring of support, from family, friends and complete strangers.
“Your video is so inspiring and you have so much courage,” one Facebook user wrote.
Humbled by the experience, Flores says speaking out opened the door to a new life.
“Now I enjoy activities that I love to do like swimming, roller coasters, all sorts of stuff I never took part in.” Flores explained.
The same freedom she hopes will inspire others.
“Life is too short not to be yourself,” she said.
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