One beauty expert donated her time and skills to a makeup workshop to help those living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Bonnie Gillies, better known as Bonnie G or @ozbeautyexpert to her almost 50,000 Instagram followers and 10,000 Facebook fans, hosted a charity version of her popular Beauty With Bonnie workshop at the Hughenden Boutique Hotel.
The workshop guests who were invited to take part were some of the top fundraisers for the Kiss Goodbye to MS campaign, which last year raised $2.5 million dollars for MS research.
Bonnie said she started her involvement with the charity after having her own MS scare.
“I have extended family, family friends and girls I went to school with all living with MS,” she said.
“My husband has a family member who died from it. But what really made me want to help was my own MS scare about seven years ago.”
Bonnie said she had a numb patch on her back for about six months, which prompted her visit to the doctor.
“The doctors thought it was MS,” she said.
“I was the right age and showing the symptoms. I had small children, a career, a home and it was a great time in my life. I could only imagine what it would be like to be diagnosed with MS in the prime of my life, but for a while there it was a possibility for me.”
Bonnie said beauty brands ModelCo, Bioderma and 1000 Hour had been extremely generous in donating product for the event.
Emma Giunti, a mother of two living with MS, said the event was a great way to reward those who had raised funds for the charity.
“It’s my greatest pleasure to do something fun, glamorous and worthwhile, although we all know that multiple sclerosis is not fun and it’s never glamorous,” she said.
“But having events like this is worth heaps.”
Emma was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago after returning home from a honeymoon in Europe and trying for children.
“One day I woke with blurry vision in one of my eyes,” she said.
“I went to my GP, who said, ‘Best case scenario you could have something wrong with your eyes, or, worse case scenario, you could have multiple sclerosis’.
“I didn’t even know how to spell multiple sclerosis, let alone know what it was.”
Emma said she had been living extremely well with MS for the past 10 years and was blessed to be able to have two beautiful daughters.
“But just six months ago, slowly, very, very slowly, I started limping. Then I realised my left arm wasn’t swinging when I was walking. The MS fatigue also started.”
Although there hasn’t been any significant change in her MRI scan results, Emma said living with MS meant you never know what the future may hold.
“We never know what is around the corner, good news, bad news – good lucky or bad lucky,” she said.
“We don’t want to just ‘wait and see’ – the only way we can do this is to find out more about MS, through research.”
Donate or find out more about Kiss Goodbye to MS on their website.
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