Wearing makeup has always been in the middle of debates for people who love it and the people who can’t seem to understand why. Social media tends to have a field day with funny posts about women who wear makeup to alter their appearance… but no one ever talks about the women who have no choice but to…just ask makeup artist, Shalom Nchom.
20-year-old Shalom, a Nigerian native, began her journey into the world of makeup at the age of 13 just four years after experiencing a horrible accident. At the tender age of 9 , Shalom was burned throughout her body when frying oil fell on her at her mother’s shop back in Nigeria. You can watch the touching story below:
In the video, she recalls her skin peeling and being in excruciating pain. In the end she says she experienced burns on her face, ears, head, shoulders as well as hair loss. Her trauma extended throughout her life as she also experienced how life changed quickly for her.
“People began to stare at me, or look at me in a nasty way,” she said. “One of my neighbors, we used to play together, came in my house and when he saw me ran away crying like a little girl, screaming.” She also spoke on being bullied in middle school and how she had suicidal thoughts.
Luckily for her, an aunt who lived in America at the time was able to get her and her family U.S. visas in order to have reconstructive surgery. She says that it was when she met other burn victims with worse cases than her own, that she started to look at life differently.
“You have to be grateful for what you have, because you never know what someone else may be going through,” she says. I met a lot of people that got burned, basically kind of the same condition as me but their condition was really worse than mine and I’m just like ‘wow I had it so good and I was just being ungrateful.'”
Shalom now lives in Maryland and looks to be happier than ever! Her story is truly inspiring and we can’t wait to stock up on some makeup tips from her as well!
TSR STAFF: Debra Oh! @The_Ebony_Issue on IG!
