These photos put your ‘workout hair, don’t care’ and no-makeup selfies to shame in the bravery category, ladies. It’s one thing to go bare-faced for the day, it’s another to tell the world you need to take a razor to it regularly.
Tina-Marie Beznec, the blogger behind Fight Against Fat, shared photos and video of her face-shaving routine to open the door for conversation about what it’s really like to live with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The genetic, hormonal disorder can cause “depression, anxiety, infertility, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, bloating, abdominal pains, acne, cysts, [and] increased risk of cancer,” Beznec says. It’s an incurable but treatable condition from which as many as 1 in 10 women suffer.
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One of the least glamorous parts of PCOS is the excess hair, caused by increased levels of testosterone. “A lot of woman including myself have to deal with facial hair. Do you know how UNFEMININE this can make a woman feel?!?,” Beznec wrote in a Facebook post. “I’ve always been super self conscious about it, but really just have to put this out there because I want create more awareness around this syndrome and how much it can impact someone’s life especially if they don’t know they have it.”
>> Read more: Should You Shave Your Face?
Beznec’s message also urges others to think before labeling another person as ‘lazy and unhealthy.’ “When you see someone who is overweight, has bald patches, or a woman who has facial hair DO NOT JUDGE,” she wrote.
PCOS is also accompanied by weight gain, which led Beznec to start meal prepping and working out. She’s lost over 80 pounds with these healthy habits and documents all her progress on Fight Against Fat! She also shares the honest struggles of living with PCOS.
