Newcastle influencer with alopecia challenges beauty standards

Danielle Gilbert, known as Dani G on the social media apps Instagram and TikTok uses the platforms to showcase her love for makeup, all while communicating self-acceptance to her followers.

The 24-year old started to develop alopecia from 18-months-old when a bald patch appeared on her head and it became clear that her hair line was unusually high.

Dani's mother took her to see a GP and was told it was baby alopecia, however, the problem persisted.

Dani struggled after losing her eyelashes aged 14/15 but found that her love of makeup made her feel more confident (Image: Dani G)

Read more: First female RNLI crew in North East make history

At two-and-a-half years old Dani saw a dermatologist and was diagnosed with alopecia areata.

Dani said: “Over the years it just developed and got worse and worse. At first it was alopecia areata which is the “patchy” form of alopecia. At around six, that’s when I shaved my hair because all the patches were joining into one and by the time I was seven or eight I had alopecia totalis, which is complete hair loss on the scalp but I still had eyelashes and eyebrows and body hair.”

By the age of 14 or 15, Dani lost her eyelashes and eyebrows and turned to makeup to disguise missing brows and experimenting with false lashes.

At this time, Dani was diagnosed with alopecia universalis, meaning complete loss of hair.

Dani and her brother at school (Image: Dani G)

Read more: Trial of student accused of murdering fellow undergraduate expected in mid-March

It was during these teenage years that Dani, like most youngsters, felt more conscious of her appearance and said she thought people looked at her as if she were ill.

The social media star said she was never bullied for her condition, but instead it was self-acceptance that she found so difficult.

Dani said: “I had to get creative and people always complimented me on my makeup, and it was a few years later I started my makeup page and so I took the plunge and posted tutorials.

“It attracted a lot of attention and I noticed I was getting a lot of people with alopecia following me and looking for advice so although it started on the makeup front it really excelled with helping people with alopecia and I think people could see how open I was about it because it’s not often you see a woman with no hair posting about beauty and makeup.”

It was Dani’s Instagram account that first gained popularity, and when TikTok took off in a  big way, her account “blew up,” gaining her 187K followers on Instagram and 613K followers on TikTok.

Dani continued: “I get people saying my content helps them, and when it comes to wigs, if someone loses their hair later in life, finding the right wig for them can be quite overwhelming and how to start doing their make up so it’s helped people and they’ve taken inspiration from my videos so they can deal with their alopecia better.”

Dani hopes to help other suffering with alopecia to know that they're not alone (Image: Dani G)

Dani is spreading positivity and redefining beauty standards to her followers (Image: Dani G)

Dani also offers offers advice for women navigating the task of finding the right wig for them (Image: Dani G)

Dani has been overwhelmed by the positive response to her social media content (Image: Dani G)

Read next:

• North East cat charity predicts bright future after celebrating record year
• Metrocentre shoplifter grabbed police officer's Taser and pointed it at him
• Calls made for pub owners to demolish venue after devastating fire

If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to The Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here.