A woman born without the full use of her arms and hands has achieved her dream of becoming a make-up artist by learning to practice her craft using her mouth instead.
Jessica Ruiz, 26, a Philadelphia-based make-up artist, was born with a congenital defect called arthrogryposis that means it is impossible for her to lift her arms towards her - or anyone else's - face. Obviously, this is more than a slight hinderance in her line of work.
The young lady's passion for cosmetics began as a teenager when she began putting on make-up to feel more confident in the face of middle school bullies. It was no easy task, but Jessica eventually taught herself by dipping her head downwards within reach of her left hand to apply it.
'The girls that were calling me names, their view of me actually changed,' Jessica explained in an interview with Yahoo. 'They said, "Wow, you look really beautiful".
'The bullies would not stop, but their view of me changed. My view of myself changed as well, to be able to take that little bit of eyeliner and mascara and boost my confidence,' she added.
She became so talented at her application that a friend eventually asked for her help in crafting a look for graduation. She agreed, but had no idea how she was actually going to be able to pull it off.
'I didn’t have to do foundation, just eyes and lips. So I just put the brushes in my mouth and dipped them in and applied,' she said. That turned out to be the first of many make-up for hire jobs as Jessica received so much praise for her work that she decided to look into make-up as a career prospect.
When the time came, Jessica tried and failed to get into several make-up schools. Some told her that her method of application was unsanitary, while others told her that the models wouldn't work with an artist who needed to work with her face so closely to theirs.
One school, she said, even shredded the application right in front of her and asked her sister to apply instead.
The process was 'heart-wrenching', but she wasn't willing to give up. Eventually, she turned to YouTube for her make-up education, learning applications and practicing on her little sister.
She worked plenty of free jobs, doing everything from glam looks to special effects, working proms sweet 16 parties and the like, but slowly, she built up enough work to quit her retail job and professionally enter the make-up field.
Then last month, Jessica proved all the naysayers wrong when she landed her first big fashion show after contacting Dawane Cromwell, the founder of Philadelphia Small Business Fashion Week.
He was hesitant at first, but hired her after viewing her portfolio on Instagram. 'She's very good,' he told Philly.com.
There, she worked alongside other artists who'd had the opportunity to study at beauty school, but she was holding her own. Though not everyone she worked with was welcoming of her particularly intimate technique.
'A few were very rude. It was, "Oh, you’re not going to get close to my face",' she said.
But following that milestone, Jessica is more determined than ever to grow in her career and though some of the clients booking her do so specifically because of her unique method of application, she explained: 'There are other people who really truly see this as equal and equivalent. The only difference is in the way that I apply makeup.'
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