Paris Walker, a 33-year-young licensed cosmetologist from Wichita, Kansas, loved hair since she was in pre-kindergarten. She knew that was what she wanted to do her whole life. Today, Paris is a salon owner and has been working for 14 years. She loves changing a women’s confidence one head at a time, helping people feel beautiful inside and out. Paris loves giving a new confidence to cancer patients that have lost all their hair. She loves to restore their damaged and abused hair. Paris feels it is her vitiligo that kept her grounded and made her want to help people that no one wanted to help.
Paris was in elementary school when she noticed her first vitiligo patch. “I believe I was in the 3rd grade, maybe 8 years old. I was old enough to know that I was uncomfortable with others knowing that I had it. It started on my knees and stayed there for years. High school is when it spread to my face and as an adult, it went to my neck,” recalls Paris.
Having vitiligo wasn’t something that Paris would let anyone know. She hid it with camouflage makeup. “Once, my cousin told his friends that he had sprayed my knees white. Everyone laughed. That was the last time I wore shorts without covering my spots with makeup. I was so embarrassed. From that day forward nobody would see my vitiligo. Not even family. I chose to hide and blend in the best I knew how. I taught myself how to sleep so my makeup wouldn’t come off at night; if it did I was the first one to fix it. When I dated someone I knew how to position myself so they wouldn’t notice it. Even if I told someone I had it, I never let them see it.”
One day, Paris chose to come out of hiding. It took her 30 years to come out. Before she came out from wearing makeup, she made a video: “I watched the playback just to see what others would be looking at when I talked and moved around. As I watched myself and listened to myself, it was therapy for me and ministers to my soul. I posted it on Facebook and it had a tremendous response. I never knew SO MANY people struggled with vitiligo and my video had helped so many. From that day forward, I documented my journey coming out from hiding with vitiligo. I started to see so many videos just like mine and the similarities we all had in common blew me away.”
Eventually, Paris gained godly confidence and decided that nothing was wrong with her. She shares, “I listened to music all day when I came out of makeup. Kierra Sheard’s Flaws and Jasmine Sullivan’s Masterpiece were 2 songs that really spoke to me and allowed me to be Free. Both of those songs brought me to tears, helped me conquer my fears. I wouldn’t have felt safe to be me if I hadn’t heard the message in those songs. They are definitely a part of my journey.”
But coming out of the makeup was an emotional rollercoaster every minute for Paris. She would get confident one minute then the next she would second-guess herself. 33-year-old pours her heart out, “Around my support group I was free. But, going out in public gave me anxiety and I refused to make eye contact with anyone. They would just stare and I couldn’t handle it. But I knew if I put that makeup back on and hide it, I would be disappointed in myself. I would be back in hiding and the work I had already done and the little ways I had come would all be for nothing.”
Paris loves Instagram because that is where she found the vitiligo community. “I looked at so many beautiful people that put swag and personality with their vitiligo. Instagram showed me ways to enhance my beauty and self-image. Vitiligo has matured me in ways I never imagined. I am grateful for the lessons it has taught me. I have learned to love myself on another level. I am free from the opinions of people.”
Today, Paris is totally okay with her vitiligo and she explains why, “Vitiligo is not who I am, it’s what I have. I feel it is what makes me unique and as of now I am not really concerned about having it. Today, I am not interested in treatment. I feel people prey on others misfortune and take their money just to sell them nothing. Yes, I used to look for cures. I looked for things to eat that may help. New habits to try that may help. But nothing gets rid of it. I’m Ok with where I am in life. I will gladly represent the vitiligo community well and does my part in making it look good.”
When we asked Paris to leave us with a message for fellow vitiligo fighters, she indeed had something empowering to share, “Confidence is the key. If they see you are insecure with it, people will look at you like crazy. The more confident you are, the fewer people would notice it. They would see your personality.”
We hope lots of youngsters with vitiligo get benefited by this message. We are honored to have Paris Walker featured among all Vitiligo Crusaders.
