Yahoo Lifestyle 
Woman celebrates alopecia in beautiful engagement shoot
A woman has shared stunning photos from her engagement shoot, celebrating her diagnosis.
Makenzee Meaux learned she had alopecia when she was 8-years-old.
The waitress and student says losing her hair “killed” her confidence while she was bullied at school.
As a result, she did what she could to conceal her baldness for 15 years - until now.
In a photoshoot celebrating her engagement, Makenzee took a leap in celebrating who she really was, by removing her wig.
“I decided it was time to stop hiding,” she wrote in a post shared on the Facebook page Love What Matters.
“It was time to embrace my true self.”
Alopecia is a condition that causes all hair follicles on the scalp and body to stop growing. In some cases, the body fights the autoimmune disease and hair begins to grow back on its own - but there is no known cure.
“As you can imagine for a young girl, this is a huge confidence killer,” Makenzee continued.
“I lost all hope that I could ever feel beautiful again. Until I met Bryan.”
The pair met five years ago at high school.
“I have never felt more confident or more beautiful than I do with him by my side,” she wrote.
“He has helped me be brave and realise that hair is not what makes you beautiful and is not what makes people love you, it is truly all about what’s on the inside.
“He has shown me that the people who love you do not care whether or not you have hair, and the ones who do are not worth your time or your love.
“So this is me, the true me.”
The post has seen more than 34,000 likes since shared being shared last week, with many thanking her for inspiring bravery.
“I just showed this to my nine-year-old daughter with alopecia and she said to tell you that you are so beautiful,” wrote an onlooker.
“I will show my little gal this as soon as I can,” commented another.
Many others with alopecia universalis followed by sharing pictures of their bare scalps, furthering the bride-to-be’s message of resilience and self-love.
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