A woman was utterly surprised when her Uber driver offered her an unsolicited tip on how to care for her remarkable skin.
Celebrating her striking beauty, the fashion icon, famously known as the “Queen of the Dark,” responded with laughter, dismissing his remarks with ease.
Read on to discover what the Uber driver said and how she transformed the situation into a learning opportunity!
Having spent her early years in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, Nyakim Gatwech envisioned America as a “heaven on earth.”
However, upon arriving in Buffalo at the age of 14, Gatwech found herself often alone, crying over the harsh judgments she faced due to her deeply pigmented skin.
Based in Minnesota and originally from South Sudan, the model endured years of bullying for her radiant dark complexion, with comments like, “You don’t take showers. That’s why your skin is dirty,” or, “Smile so we can see you, Nyakim. We can’t see you.”
“In class, for example, the teacher would ask a question and say, ‘Oh, Nyakim, can you answer that?’ A kid would say, ‘Who are you talking to? We can’t see her. She’s not here.’ The whole class would start laughing, and I would just cry,” the now 31-year-old woman shares with Cosmopolitan.
As a young girl desperate to fit in, it was tough when random men would bet on whether she was wearing leggings or if her skin was genuinely that dark.
“At one point, I did consider [bleaching my skin]. When I came to America from a refugee camp in Africa [at age 14], I lived in Buffalo, New York. I would cry myself to sleep after being bullied [about my skin],” she says. “There are so many beautiful dark-skinned Sudanese women who bleach their skin.”
Gatwech revealed that her own sister was among those who bleached their skin. “My own sister did it. But when I told her I wanted to [after living in America for a few months], she told me no. ‘I’m not going to let my daughter do it, or you, nobody.’”
Queen of the Dark
Now hailed as the Queen of the Dark, this woman – who has faced discrimination from designers, makeup artists, and even fellow models – feels empowered by overcoming negativity.
Gatwech’s confidence and profound love for her deep chocolatey skin are supported by her 962,000 loyal Instagram followers.
“My chocolate is elegant. So is what I represent… A nation of warriors,” she writes in one post.
Fans are captivated by her striking beauty.
“Omgggggg I love your skin and melanin,” one fan comments, while another says, “love your beautiful skin tone so much! God makes beautiful creations such as you to remind us of His magnificence!”
Responding to the overwhelming support, Gatwech states, “I grew to learn to love myself… Now, I am not bothered by it [the negativity]. I accept my skin, I love myself, and I’m not insecure about my skin anymore. I don’t think I’m ugly anymore. I have confidence in myself.”
‘Stupidest questions’
A few years ago, Gatwech recounts an encounter with an Uber driver who asked if she’d ever consider bleaching her unique skin.
“He said, ‘Wow, you’re dark,’” Gatwech tells Cosmopolitan about her conversation with the driver. “I just laughed. I wanted to know why he thought I should. He said because life would be easier for me. It would be easier for me to be in a relationship, or guys would be more attracted to me if I was lighter. If I was going to a job interview, I would get the job opportunities because I’m lighter. I just said, ‘[Even if] being lighter would make my life easier, I’d rather take the [hard] road.’”
She adds, “I’m accustomed to people asking the most absurd questions about my skin.”
Gatwech then shared her story on Instagram, accompanied by a stunning photo of herself with three other dark-skinned Sudanese women.
She wrote, “A nation with people so dark you won’t believe your eyes… skin so rich and teeth so bright. Gosh, how I love my country, my people, and everything that comes with it.”
She detailed her encounter with the Uber driver: “[SIC] I was asked by my Uber driver the other day, he said, ‘Don’t take this offensively, but if you were given 10 thousand dollars, would you bleach your skin for that amount?’ I couldn’t even respond; I started laughing so hard. Then he said, ‘So that’s a no?’ and I was like, ‘Hell to the f*cking yeah, that’s a no. Why on earth would I ever bleach this beautiful melanin God blessed me with?’ Then he asked, ‘So you see it as a blessing?’”
Her followers quickly responded with praise and support.
“I guess he didn’t get the memo… black is beautiful,” one fan commented.
“I love you for loving you,” shared another. A third added, “Why would we ever want to mess up something so beautiful?”
When asked by Yahoo Beauty what advice she would give to young black girls facing similar challenges, she said, “You are beautiful, you are unique, and there are people who love you just the way you are. They say the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice. Embrace your darkness!”
Simon Cowell Fans Concerned By His Appearance As They ‘Don’t Recognize Him’
Simon Cowell alarmed followers with an appearance on social media that some couldn’t even identify him.
Well is a well-known English TV personality, entrepreneur, and record executive who is most recognized for her roles as judges on talent competitions on television, including America’s Got Talent, Pop Idol, and The X Factor.
In addition, his constantly shifting appearance has some followers wondering if he’s had plastic surgery.
The rumor gained more traction after a video featuring the media mogul went viral.
When it comes to his history of cosmetic surgery, Cowell has always been very open about it.
In a 2018 interview with The Sun, he acknowledged having had a procedure known as a “21st century facelift.”
The AGT judge disclosed that he had a Silhouette Soft Lift at the office of Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh, a cosmetic surgeon.
A thread lift procedure called a Silhouette Soft Lift tightens and corrects the neck, brows, jawline, and midface.
“There’s lots of things you can do now,” Cowell stated in a conversation with The Sun. You’re not limited to using Botox and fillers on your face.
He continued, alluding to an incident where fans saw his bruises and reportedly swollen eyes. “I probably did have a little too much a couple of years ago,” he said.
The media mogul stated he made the decision to discontinue injectables because he had “gone a bit too far” in an interview with the journal from 2022.
“I saw a picture of myself from ‘before’ the other day, and I didn’t recognize it as me at all,” he recalled.His son Eric was going crazy. It had to end. My face is completely free of filler now. None at all.
However, Cowell just stirred up suspicions about cosmetic surgery once more.
Everything began when a since-deleted video was posted to Britain’s Got Talent’s X, formerly Twitter, account.
In the widely circulated video, Cowell exhorts viewers to apply for the well-liked ITV program, saying, “I always say on this show, two or three minutes can change your life.” It has, too. And perhaps it will be you this time.I look forward to meeting you, so please audition soon for the upcoming season.
Fans, however, were commenting about Cowell’s supposedly altered look in the video for a very other reason.
One viewer commented, “That doesn’t look like him at all,” in response to the video.
One more person asked, “What’s he done to his face?”
A third admirer posed the same question: “Is that Simon Cowell? What has become of his face?
Very hard to believe that’s even him,” said another person.
Others responded in the comments, speculating that Cowell’s altered appearance might have been caused by a motorbike accident in August 2020, which necessitated the insertion of a metal rod in his back for stability, according to The Independent.
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