Before 19-year-old Cassandra Bankson filmed this video, she cried. And after she filmed it, she waited four months before she posted it on on YouTube and another five months before she read any comments. That’s how terrified she was of showing the world her face – and her acne.
But she shouldn’t have been so scared. The 10-minute clip where she shows the makeup routine she’s perfected to coverup her severe acne and give the impression of “flawless” skin has gone viral.
It’s notched up more than 7.8 million views.
Take a look:
So why are so many people watching it?
We put it down to the vulnerability and authenticity that’s conveyed by Cassandra. At the beginning she says: “This is probably the most nerve-wracking thing I could possibly do because it is my biggest insecurity…” And yet she does it anyway. It’s brave. And it’s a far cry from the airbrushed models you see on the pages of magazines.
“I thought the comments would be just as cruel as they were in school,” she said in interviews after the video went viral. “I thought for one girl or one guy it would be worth it but I didn’t want to see the negativity. But I came back and I was overwhelmed by positivity.
“I got my first pimple in the third grade and it progressively got worse, I had to work out how to deal with it.
‘The sad part is it’s a lot better than it used to be. I mean it’s still all over my chest, all over my back, it’s everywhere and you can see it goes down my neck, it’s all to the side, it even got on my ear. It’s gotten a lot better but it’s still really, really bad. It’s my biggest insecurity.
“I filmed the video last November but it took me a month to post it, I thought I was going to get the same hate I got at school over my skin” she said.
Judging by the number of views it has received, it’s what people want to see.
