ONE THING I LOVE ABOUT MYSELF
One thing I’ve always loved about myself is my hair! Ever since I was 11 years old, I hated my body, but I loved my long, bum-length hair. It was something I genuinely loved, I even received compliments from random people and once a lady noticed that I had cut it! In 2019 I experimented by cutting it shoulder length, donating the lengths and dying my then short hair blue, and that sparked my second hair love, my mermaid blue hair! As it grew out, I dyed it different shades of blue and experimented with styles, which was so fun! I continue that now but instead of shades of blue it's shades of brown, and I think I’ve finally found my perfect shade of brown, so this love is a creative project!
THE LAST TREND I FOLLOWED OR UNFOLLOWED
The last trend I followed that’s still on my mind was bows! I’ve seen it everywhere now, bow’s on tops, as hair accessories, earrings, you name it! I think it’s super cute and I have a few bow pieces in my wardrobe! I also love to try makeup trends to see what colours or techniques I like on myself, as long as they aren't changing who I am!
SOMETHING I USED TO STRUGGLE WITH
I used to struggle with my body image so much more than I do now. And while I’m still on the journey of unconditioning my brain from restricting beauty standards towards self-acceptance, I do feel like I’ve made some progress! Becoming a model put me out of my comfort zone when it came to trying new styles, looks and even colours, which has now helped shape not only my sense of fashion but also the way in which I view my body. Don’t get me wrong, I still have periods where I struggle with my body image but overall it is improving.
BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU THIS YEAR
The best thing that happened this year so far definitely has to be getting engaged to my now fiancé Ryan! He completely surprised me with the proposal on our 3rd anniversary which felt so surreal! While I did have a hand in choosing my ring in August 2024 I did NOT expect him to have ordered it yet or have been planning the proposal!
ONE PIECE OF ADVICE I’D GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF.
One piece of advice I’d give my younger self is to not focus on body weight and size and to just HAVE FUN! I feel like I missed out on a lot of things because I was afraid it would make me look silly, fat, or silly because I was fat when in reality life moves on, you won’t see a lot of the people you knew when you were younger but you do remember how you felt in that time of your life, so have fun!
PICK ONE:
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MONEY
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FAME
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FREEDOM
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OTHER ______ JOY
I feel like none of these can exist on their own! So I’m going to choose JOY because joy creates fulfilment and happiness in life and that’s what we remember when we look back on our lives. The joys of the little things like watching my seedlings grow, eating good food, or the sun on my face in summer! And the joys of the big things like getting engaged, watching my puppies and future children grow up, laughing with family and friends or hitting those dream career milestones! Without joy, life wouldn’t be as colourful!
A SECRET NO ONE KNOWS, YET….
Haha this is a good one but also hard... maybe that Ryan and I have been thinking of eloping, just the two of us? We’ve come to learn that weddings are SO expensive and we’d love to get married soon, also Ryan wants to have a baby NOW, so the idea has been floated around but I’ve also always wanted a semi-traditional wedding with our close friends and family, it would be such a fun day/party to design and I’m not ready to have a baby just yet, so Ryan will have to wait a little longer!
THE ODDEST/FUNNIEST COMMENT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT ME
I have soo many odd comments people have said about me, especially online so let me give you a few!
- “I thought someone had thrown something at you” - because the vitiligo on my face kind of looks like a splatter pattern? This was also in person at my retail job.
- “Are you black or white?” - as if they are the only two races in the world?
- “You need to lose a few hundred kilos” - because if I lost one hundred kilos I would basically cease to exist, just shows the lack of knowledge people have when it comes to weight. It's annoying but it made me laugh, because if you don't laugh you cry right?!
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“Nell you look like an elf” - this was a high school friend before I was a model and it made us laugh because it was so random, I’m assuming she meant a mythical elf and I’ll take it as a compliment!
THE STRANGEST THING I OWN
Is having a custom full-body mannequin of myself a strange thing to own?! Because if so, it would be that! Ryan made it by having me scanned and 3D printed in parts which he then put together, filled and sanded! His mum called me one day as she couldn't reach him, my response to her asking if he was home was “Yeah, he's outside sanding my bum” haha. We have it for a business idea we had, which we’d love to bring to life in the next few years, but in the meantime, I’m going to use it as a dress mannequin for my sewing projects!
YOU’RE A “VITILIGO MODEL”. WHY NOT JUST BE A “MODEL”?
This is a good question because I feel like there are so many layers as to why! I’ll start by saying I do refer to myself as “a model” when I’m asked what my job is, especially in person but I’m also aware my IG bio does say “Vitiligo Model” and that is for two reasons. The first is that I was running out of characters, so I had to condense and combine things, and I really wanted to mention that I have Vitiligo in my bio. The second is because it’s what sets me apart from a lot of other models. Vitiligo makes me unique and different and I don't think we celebrate that enough as a society! So in doing so I am embracing what makes me special but also what makes me, me! Now another layer to this is sometimes I don’t feel like I can call myself just “a model” because I’m not thin enough or don’t look like a traditional model and while I know that this is an outdated mindset it’s what I’ve grown up with and it still plays on my mind. Generally, people still have the idea that models are tall and thin with clear skin and I am none of those, so I don't feel like I fit the mould, even though I’m trying to break said mould.
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