After a lifetime spent covering her face Diana finally feels comfortable revealing her birthmark
DIANA spent years hiding behind a mask of makeup, scared to face the world. Now, she’s finally comfortable revealing her face.
NEW love has finally given a woman the strength to face the world after years hiding behind a mask of make-up to cover a huge birthmark
Diana Caratozzolo, 34, from Adelaide, was born with Sturge-Webber syndrome which leaves sufferers with facial “port wine” birthmarks.
Diana’s mark covered more than a third of her face and as a result she was teased and bullied endlessly, being called “ugly” and made to feel like “a freak” that no one would ever love.
Embarrassed and ashamed of her disability that also gave her terrible seizures — she hid behind a mask of make-up in the hope that people wouldn’t see the beast that tormented her life.
For years she covered the stain to her skin with a gruelling 30-minute make-up routine, never telling anyone about what was hiding underneath.
But now for the first time she has found love and met her partner Adam, 32, who has helped her finally feel strong enough to brave the world without her mask on.
She said: “My birthmark has always controlled my life.
“As a kid, I was teased endlessly for it. I was called every name under the sun, from ‘ugly’ to ‘freak’ and people in the street would just stare at me like a zoo animal. It was awful.
“I wasn’t allowed to wear make-up in class so I had to walk around with this big red mark on my face.
“It was like having a flashing light on my head that let everyone know I was different.”
The birthmark which affects the majority of Sturge-Webber syndrome sufferers, runs from the top of Diana’s forehead and finishes halfway down her nose.
She said: “It made me a quiet kid that shied away from attention. My birthmark made me feel too ugly to be loved by anyone.”
To help her cope, Diana started practising with make-up and by the time she was 18, she’d perfected how to cover up her birthmark using a mix of heavy foundation and concealer.
She said: “It took a while to apply my ‘mask’ every day, but it was worth it to stop the gawping and comments in the street
“I’d never had any male attention in the past and never felt worthy of it. But now guys were looking at me.”
But even with her new face, dating was a still a battle for Diana.
She said: “I thought not having a birthmark would make my problems go away, but it just gave me new ones.
“I couldn’t relax around someone as I was constantly worried about whether my make-up was still on or if they could see what was hiding underneath.
“If I was on a date and it was a hot summers night, I’d have to run to the bathroom constantly to keep topping it up otherwise it would sweat off. I couldn’t stay over at a guy’s house without pre-planning it as I’d need my face-kit. It was a nightmare.
“Worst of all, I felt like a complete fraud as I always kept the guys in the dark. My relationships never seemed to work out because I was living a lie.”
By the time she met Adam at 32, she was exhausted from hiding her secret from the world.
She said: “On our first date I remember getting that butterfly feeling. But as I looked at him across the restaurant table, I was overcome with guilt imagining our fake life together, one where I hid my birthmark from him. I decided to tell him right then.
“I took a big gulp of wine and said: ‘I need to tell you something. I have a large birthmark on my face and if that’s going to be a problem for you, I understand.’
“But Adam took me completely by surprise. He just said ‘big deal’ and that was that. It was a huge relief. It was the first time I’d ever told a guy the truth.”
Still, it took almost a year of dating before Diana found the confidence to bear all to her new man. She said: “I was due to have laser treatment to help my birthmark fade and Adam said he wanted to come with me.
“I was terrified because I’d be completely stripped back, but I reluctantly agreed.
“After, the birthmark was red raw but Adam looked at me like I was a princess.
“He told me I was beautiful and encouraged me not to wear any make-up.”
The next day, the couple went to the shops, with Diana’s face completely naked for the first time in years.
She said: “There’s no way I would have left the house without make-up on before. But with Adam by my side, I wasn’t worried anymore.
“Now I rarely wear make-up. He’s given me the confidence to embrace my birthmark and love it as it’s a part of me.
“I’ve even started looking towards the future and we’ve talked about having kids. I never wanted to become a mum as I was always too scared I might pass on my birthmark to my child. But with Adam’s support, I’ve spoken to doctors, who said that wouldn’t happen as my condition isn’t passed on.
“Falling in love has changed my life and for the first time ever, I can look in the mirror and not be ashamed of my reflection.”
