You may not recognise Ashley VanPevenage from the below video but you’ll certainly recognize her from this vicious meme.
VanPevenage is a 20-year-old college student from Tacoma, Washington.
Last January, a friend of hers who runs a makeup Instagram account called @MakeupByDreigh posted this photo of VanPevenage. “I was having this allergic reaction to benzoyl,” VanPevenage told BuzzFeed News. “I knew I needed help to cover my acne.”
A few days later a college Twitter account robbed the picture and captured it I don’t understand how people can do this and I can’t figure out how to conceal a single pimple on my face.”
This meme is what transpired and over the last few months it has travelled the globe, through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It has been shared hundreds of thousands of times and its reach is impossible to determine.
I don’t understand how people can do this and I can’t figure out how to conceal a single pimple on my face pic.twitter.com/5SxuZAWCMZ
— Typical Girl (@SoDamnTrue) February 10, 2015
Negativity trolled the comments and soon VanPevenage found herself riddled with anxiety, afraid to leave the house without her hair and makeup done to perfection. She has just released a video detailing the effect of the meme on her life and how she has over come it.
“I realized peoples opinions don’t matter to me and they shouldn’t matter to anyone. Everyone should feel beautiful in their natural skin” she says.
Serious kudos.
