Facial hair is nothing to be ashamed about, and vlogger Nova Galaxia is showing us why.
In a powerful essay for Graceless, Nova opened up about her decision to stop shaving her facial hair. She has an endocrine disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, otherwise known as PCOS, a side effect of which is growing hair all over her body.
She spent years being embarassed of her condition, feeling like she needed to shave it to be accepted. Now, she’s decided to say, “F your beauty standards,” and embrace her facial hair.
“After 14 years of shaving every single day, avoiding sleepovers as a teen, panicking if I forgot my razor when I went out of town, dreading if I ever ended up in the hospital where I’d be unable to shave, and not allowing my partner to touch my face, I put the razor down,” she wrote of her decision to ditch her razor last fall. “Jump forward two and a half months, and here I am, fully bearded, at least two inches of growth. Hair all over my chest, breasts, and stomach. I went from living a daily nightmare to being incredibly in love with my hair in just that short amount of time. I no longer recoil in fear when my partner reaches out to touch my cheek. My confidence has spiked, and with it came some much-needed self-love.”
Now, Nova has a YouTube Channel called "Bearded Babe" in which she shares beauty tutorials for women with facial hair. Considering more than 5 million women are affected by PCOS in the United States, it's no wonder her videos have begun to gain an audience. "I went public from the first day. I posted daily photos of the growth, made videos, shared my story everywhere," she wrote, noting how quickly she gained attention from hundreds of women dealing with the same thing. "I suddenly became the personal therapist and motivator for quite literally hundreds of women out of the blue, and it’s been emotionally exhausting. It’s made me furious. Why is this such a common issue that is kept secret to the point of damaging so many women’s lives?"
Whatever you decide to do with your body hair is 100% up to you; Nova's decision to make her journey public is an extension of that. She — and women like her — are a necessary reminder that there's nothing wrong with hair; it's how society treats it that needs to change.
Related: Daisy Ridley Posts Inspiring Instagram About Living With THIS Painful Disorder
Check this out:
