Introducing the Girl with the Red Face

Hi I’m Alexis Minnaar

Ever since I was two years old I have lived with a condition called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. This condition causes the proteins which regulate cell proliferation (the process whereby cells divide and late die) to be out of balance. In other words, my cells reproduce faster than they can die off – thus causing these Angiofibromas on my face. The redness of is simply due to the amount of blood vessels in the face Due to the speed at which they grow Angiofibromas are exceptionally difficult to remove or treat.

As a child I was horribly bullied for the way I look. It was difficult to explain to people (family or friends) that it is just something I was born with. At one stage in my childhood, kids in my pre-school physically assaulted me for being “ugly”. During my teenage years, life became even more challenging. As women this world puts us under this delusion that perfection exists. I spent a lot of time plastering myself in make-up, in order to fit into this false ideology. When my efforts failed, so did my confidence.  

Even my parents were affected. They aimed to make life easier, only to be judged and criticized for not being able to “cure me” of my red face. Eventually, I was sent for LAZER therapy at fourteen. Unfortunately, I was under the impression it would remove the angiofibromas completely (this however is not possible). After one, six-month treatment and a second two-month chemical peal treatment (both of which had a very little effect on the colour of my face) I decided in was never going to be accepted into society with open arms. The treatments were challenging for me emotionally, as my one desire was to fit into a society - which is judgmental and cruel to those who are different became a far away dream. At the end I still felt like an outcast.

It took four years of deep self-reflection, for me to realize that – the way you look does not define who you are. It doesn’t determine who your friends are or will be in the future. Yes, people often discriminate but being different isn’t a curse it’s a gift. You have the ability to break the ice, without needing to say anything. You meet many, many interesting people, if you are not afraid of sharing your true self with them - who you are and what your story is.

At the end of the day, this bold truth stands; while we are teenagers, we are fighting to find our own voices, in a world telling us how we should feel. We long to be the same, so that we belong. However, as we grow older we long to be different, so our voices are heard in a world where everybody has an opinion.

I have been seeing Chantal for the past five years. So, when she offered me an opportunity to work with her on this Case Study, I just had to say yes. I’m interested to see how technology has changed in the past twelve years and eager to see the results which will come from this experiment. Technology like this, could give women with skin conditions (such as myself) the outward confidence they desire, to take on the world.