Model Melanie Gaydos embraces her unique beauty, takes on the fashion industry

How one model refuses to allow a disease to steal her self-confidence

No one can ever tell Melanie Gaydos she is not beautiful. In fact, the 27-year-old model embraces her appearance with such comfort and confidence that she successfully taken on the fashion industry, despite her diagnosis of a rare genetic disease.  

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Top model Melanie Gaydos was born with the rare disease ectodermal dysplasia, a genetic disorder that affects the growth of nails, cartilage, small bones and pores, The Daily Mail reported.

She also has a bilateral cleft palette and alopecia which inhibits hair growth, leaving her bald. Ingrown eyelashes during her childhood damaged her corneas, resulting in partial blindness.

Put aside your pity, Gaydos knows, sees and embraces her beauty no matter what people think and say about it. In an interview with Yahoo! Style, Melanie said she even stopped wearing dental implants because they were making her uncomfortable.

At the age of 26, she got her first set of false teeth during an appearance on   the medical talk show The Doctors, but stopped wearing them after eight months despite claims they would have been "life-changing."

"People are more comfortable when I have teeth in my mouth. But I'm not," said Melanie, explaining she's perfectly happy the way she is.

Her first passion was fine arts and she studied at the New York Pratt Institute. There, she began doing self-portraits that led her to discover her own unique beauty. She was able to whole-heartedly appreciate herself that way. Her then-boyfriend encouraged her to model, helping her understand that her looks were unique.

Following a time where she accepted unique modelling stints, she was cast by famous Spanish photographer Eugenio Recuenco -after mailing him a fan letter- for a music video with the German band Rammstein.

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