It has taken Balinda years to come to terms with not only his reality, but the questions and second looks that come with Vitiligo, the skin disorder he now wears with pride.
When the team together with photoshoot and cover Creative Director Lyn Atwine first saw Balinda’s uniqueness via Instagram, she knew he was cover quality. From the patterns on his beautiful body to the peculiar features of his face, “I wanted to highlight his beautiful skin, highlight his eyes, his cheek bones and his entire uniqueness” she tells me. And for that to happen, a pop of color and a splash of eye liner would come into play.
It doesn’t matter how good the idea is. If the people around you don’t see the vision, it won’t get done the way you want to.
Lynn Atwiine
Lyn says the experience of working with Balinda was “Seamless, he is very intuitive, he gets the mood and is very positively open minded. I was excited about each and every look. To tell his story and the stigma it entails, we wanted to give it the respect that it deserves.
Reaching out to the muse, Balinda says “It was so amazing for me covering Satisfashion. I was nervous at first but the welcome given to me made me feel nice and I soon became myself. From the make up team, photography and the director Lyn, everyone was warm and loving. I was happy to share the message of the need to love one another with Satisfashion.”
Talking to Satisfashion, the rare beauty went on to denote the anxiety that surrounded his early experience. “I was so angry, It was so painful! Over time, the pain turned to evil. I’m grateful that I had a few people in my circle, who understood what I was going through. These kept me sane.”
“Nasty.” That’s the word he uses to describe what he went through, “People feared that I would spread ‘my disease’ to them or their children if for example, I shared a cloth or got close to them. Did I know if it was contagious? No! I didn’t because I couldn’t muster any energy to learn about vitiligo. I was stressed and angry”
The team we worked with was the best. From the make up (Tianah Artistry ) to photography (Century Media ). I took away being confident in my self, my work and my ideas. There have been times when I come up with an idea and because someone has takes about it I freak out and back out about it.
You should love yourself. If you are proud of who you are, it won’t matter what you look like as long as you are happy. Love yourself even more because if you do, you’ll be able to love other people. We have so many angry people living among us – all they need is love!
Balinda Musti for @satisfashionug
When it comes to eye liner, Lyn is delighted that men are becoming experimental with fashion, beauty and make up in general. She however excitably anticipates how men will play around and even incorporate make up in their daily style. “Makeup is meant to just highlight the features and some men have really nice features, beautiful eyes —so I think it could be a trend. And I would love seeing subtle shadow or eye liners. It’s really edgy, and classic. A lot of men are still quite conservative but I think it could be a trend if they lean into it more”
Read the whole SATISFASHION APRIL ISSUE HERE.
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