Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
Tearing up the beauty rule book, vitiligo model Angela Selvarajah shares her brave journey on breaking taboos
Personifying victory over adversity, UK born Law graduate Angela Selvarajah is possibly the first Brit
Sri Lankan vitiligo model. Following in the footsteps of Canadian vitiligo model Winnie Harlow who has graced the covers of major fashion magazines and become a spokesperson for those with vitiligo, Angela is using her position to inspire confidence in those like her. From being taken to Sri Lanka to get her married off as no one in the UK would marry her due to her vitiligo according to her relatives’ belief, Angela’s resilient nature helped her to return to London where she now works as a full time manager at two mental health services while having signed up with a UK based model agency where she works as a vitiligo model. Happily married and a mother of a son, Angela’s story is one of immense bravery and courage. Bold and beautiful, Angela has no qualms about tearing up the pages from the beauty rule book and breaking taboos.
How old were you when you were first diagnosed with vitiligo?
I developed eczema and psoriasis from a young age which often flared up especially around the back of my neck and scalp. Around the age of 14 when plaiting my hair, my mum noticed a white patch at the back of my neck from where the psoriasis had started healing. At first we didn’t think anything much of it but then soon I noticed that
I started getting small white spots on other areas of my body. My dad had vitiligo as-well which started not so long before I noticed my first patch.
What sort of medical treatments did you pursue to contain or cure vitiligo?
I was told by my doctor that there wasn’t much that could be done and that there is no cure. However he prescribed steroid creams and tablets to try and see if there would be any possible re-pigmentation. My parents took me to see various homeopathic/ Ayurvedic doctors - ones that travelled down from India every few months who charged £400 for a bulk supply of little tablets and even to herbalists in Sri Lanka over the summer holidays, who recommended that
I stay in a country where I can expose myself to the sun for a long period of time.
I also tried Chinese herbal medicine but to no avail. My GP referred me to the hospital to receive PUVA and phototherapy.
