A teen whose photograph has been circulated negatively on Twitter has hit back with the perfect response.
Nineteen-year-old Victoria Katei is a student currently double-majoring in biology and psychology. However, that's not where her talents end, because Katei is also a dab hand with a makeup brush.
Credit: Victoria Katei/Instagram
The Dallas student took to Twitter, sharing a before and after shot of herself with and without makeup.
The heartfelt post was captioned: "Me being cute vs. me being cute."
The caption continued: "Recently it seems like so many people have something to say about the way I look with or without make or about the fact that I don't post pictures without makeup. Accounts have been posting pictures of me with makeup versus no makeup telling me I'm a catfish and that I'm hideous. People in the comments telling me to kill myself because I'm lying about my looks. Telling me that no one will love me [because] I'm so ugly and have to wear makeup to cover my 'real face'."
She finished by saying: "Your hobbies, your passions, and your mind are what make you who you are and being uniquely you makes you beautiful. Makeup is a passion of mine and this is the platform I choose to express that and if you don't like that feel free to unfollow because I'm never going to apologize for being me."
The post received a lot of positive attention, with people showering Katei with praise for being so open. However, not all of the responses were nice.
Several people who shared the post on social media criticised the young student, blaming her use of makeup for why they have "trust issues".
One Insta user shared the photo, along with the caption: "This the reason I got trust issues smh:unamused: [shaking my head] for now on y'all females first date gonna be with me at a pool so I can see the real you."
However, Katei wasn't going to let the negativity get her down and instead hit back at her detractors with the perfect response.
"I look great both ways and I'll use makeup however I want," she typed.
"Oh and thanks for the followers you're getting me."
Katei told Buzzfeed News: "I wasn't too surprised to see it on Twitter which is why I quoted it and replied calmly."
She added: "The difference in lighting is what makes the difference look so drastic. One picture was midday in the natural light and the other was at night with the harsh yellow light of a lamp. If they would just take the time to look at my other pictures they would obviously see that."
Asked about the haters, she said: "It is so common to see a woman bringing down another woman to make her feel better or to make those around her feel better, when that's not what needs to be happening at all."
She added: "On the outside, it might seem like a harmless tweet but when it reaches the plethora of people that my tweet reached, all of those negative comments could really have a negative effect on somebody".
Advert
Words: Paddy Maddison
Topics: Viral, Instagram, World News, News, student