Ash Soto was diagnosed with vitiligo when she was 12. As her vitiligo started spreading, she began to feel ashamed of her skin, especially after a little girl asked her if she had showered in bleach. Now the 21-year-old not only isn’t ashamed, but she embraces her skin.

In her late teens, Soto decided she wouldn’t let her skin hold her back anymore, so she started setting herself daily challenges like walking in public without a long sleeve shirt. Eventually, the challenges led to Soto turning her body into beautiful art. “I never realized how beautiful my vitiligo was until I traced it with a black marker, it really helps to bring out the different colors of my skin,” Soto said to Daily Mail. Now, she has made her body look like so many different art pieces, including Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and she’s not stopping! “Now what others would perceive as an imperfection I have made into something more beautiful and made it more accepted than before.”

More info: Instagram (h/t)

Ash Soto was diagnosed with vitiligo when she was 12 years old

It’s a rare skin disease which causes pigment loss, leaving large white patches all over body

During Ash’s teen years vitiligo spreaded the most and the bullying began

After a little girl asked Ash if she had showered in bleach, Ash felt too ashamed of her skin and decided to never show any of it in public

“I was so shocked that someone said that to me that I cried and cried, I didn’t want to have the condition any more,” Soto said

However, in her late teens, Ash made herself do these little challenges, such as walking outside with a short-sleeved shirt

But it wasn’t until she started doing body art that she learned to love her skin condition

She started by drawing around the white patches and saw that it looked like a world map

“I never realised how beautiful my vitiligo was until I traced it with a black marker, it really helps to bring out the different colours of my skin”

“I will continue creating different pieces of art with my skin and hope it inspires others in the process”

“Now what others would perceive as an imperfection I have made into something more beautiful and made it more accepted than before”

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