Cassandra Bankson (born November 11, 1992) is an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, medical aesthetician, and online

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

personality Personality is any person's collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. These interrelated patterns are relatively stable, but can change over long time per ...

from

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She has been featured on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', ''The Doctors'', and ''The Anderson Cooper Show'', among other international television shows. She has been featured in magazines and websites including ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'', '' Seventeen'', '' Glamour'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', ''

In Touch Weekly ''In Touch Weekly'' is an American celebrity gossip magazine. The magazine is focused on celebrity news, fashion, beauty, relationships and lifestyle, and is geared towards a younger readership, billing itself as "fast and fun", along with maki ...

'', ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...

'', ''Cosmopolitan'', ''

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'', ''First for Women'', and the cover of ''Reveal Magazine'' and newspapers ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', and ''

Pleasanton Weekly The ''Pleasanton Weekly'' is a weekly newspaper published in Pleasanton, California, established in 2000. Owned by Embarcadero Media, the newspaper serves Pleasanton, California. Gina Channell was named the division president and Pleasanton Week ...

''.

Early life

Bankson was born to Jennifer and Richard Bankson in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She grew up in the affluent suburbs of the

San Francisco bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

and was raised in a predominantly Christian household. At age eight, Bankson developed a rather innocuous strain of

Acne vulgaris Acne ( ), also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, ...

, which later transformed into an aggressive strain of acne conglobata by the time she was fourteen. Eventually her severe skin condition had progressed to the extent that it engulfed her entire face and most of her body. Bankson's parents tried tirelessly to treat their daughter's acne by taking her to 16 different specialists across the United States and western Europe, which proved unsuccessful. Bankson was bullied relentlessly for her severe acne and eventually pulled out of school as a result. She later studied with a private tutor to complete her education. Along with her skin condition, she also has

uterus didelphys Uterus didelphys (; sometimes also ''uterus '') represents a uterine malformation where the uterus is present as a paired organ when the embryogenetic fusion of the Müllerian ducts fails to occur. As a result, there is a double uterus with two ...

, a condition wherein she possesses two

vagina In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

s, two

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...

es, and two

cervix The cervix (: cervices) or cervix uteri is a dynamic fibromuscular sexual organ of the female reproductive system that connects the vagina with the uterine cavity. The human female cervix has been documented anatomically since at least the time ...

es.

Career

Modeling

Bankson had been working with local professional photographers and model coach Charleston Pierce when she decided to submit professional shots to modeling agencies in San Francisco. Bankson attended auditions for ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'' in Blackhawk and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, but did not make it to the televised stages. Bankson has modeled for companies including ''Citizens of Humanity'', '' HP'', ''Davidson and Licht'', ''Farouk Hair Systems'', "Guess By Marciano" ''CHI'' (with Miss America Contestants and Abel Salazar), ''Biosilk'', Prada, ''Bebe'', along with appearing in other catalogs, magazines, local TV programmes, and runway shows. In April and May 2012, Bankson took part in appearances throughout ''

Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, offering nearly 340 brands alongside its own private label, the Sephora Collection. Its product range includes cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty t ...

'' stores in partnership with ''Hourglass Cosmetics''. On September 13, 2012, Bankson walked at the Boy Meets Girl runway show at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

YouTube

In 2010, Bankson began making videos on the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel "Diamondsandheels14" on topics such as makeup, fashion, and lifestyle. She has since re-branded to "Cassandra Bankson" with a focus on skincare that is both Cruelty Free and Vegan. The channel's most popular video, titled "Foundation Routine For Flawless Skin Acne Coverage", showing Bankson's bare skin and her secrets to cover her severe acne, gained international attention including that of Right This Minute, Good Morning America, "Anderson", The Today Show, The Insider, MSN, Fox News, and the front page of AOL, Yahoo, and MSN. After posting the video, she didn't look at the comments for four months, afraid of being bullied online. She posted the video hoping it would help "just one person". The video has since gained well over 21 million views. Bankson "made it her mission" to help others with makeup, confidence, acne, and skin conditions online. Her daily videos have also received international press and media attention She is a 'vlogger', and has also posted videos for men who suffer with acne. As of May, 2021, her YouTube channel has over 1.47 million subscribers and 178 million video views. Along with YouTube, Bankson has a large following on other social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. As of May 2021, she has over 230 thousand followers on Tiktok and 115 thousand followers on Instagram. Bankson's story and her popular YouTube video were featured in an episode of

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

's '' Karma's A B*tch''.

Career milestones

Bankson is an Amazon affiliate and hosts weekly livestreams on the platform. On February 18, 2021, Cassandra was a special guest on the #AskINKEYAskathon, a 4-hour virtual event hosted by skincare brand The Inkey List. This event was dedicated to educating and empowering attendees and answering their skincare questions. In June 2021, Cassandra served as a brand ambassador for The INKEY List in honor of Acne Awareness Month and led social media discussions about skincare, hosted a Q& A with brand founders, created original video content advising a select group of subscribers on their skincare journeys, and more. She has been named a “rising woman of power” by ''Forbes'' has had frequent guest appearances on ''The Today Show'' and has been featured as a 10-year beauty expert on ''Good Morning America''. She has also been dubbed a top TikTok skincare influencer by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine and appeared on a podcast with Dr. Anthony Yuon discussing TikTok skincare trends. In 2021, Cassandra sat down with notable women in business including Randi Zuckerberg and Melissa Rivers, where she discussed topics ranging from entrepreneurship to mental health struggles.

Humanitarian work

Bankson has taken her role as an advocate for human rights to the next level as a brand ambassador for Food For Life Global, a charity that provides school children with ethically sourced and nutritionally balanced meals in conjunction with hunger relief programs. She has also partnered with Prabh Aasra (Universal Disabled CareTaker Social Welfare Society), a home in Punjab with a core mission to give unconditional opportunity, treatment/rehabilitation and shelter to those that are struggling with different forms of illness as well as orphaned and abandoned children.

Personal life

Bankson is a plant based. On April 30, 2018, she

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as a lesbian on her YouTube channel. In her coming out story, she mentions "an obligation to be fully authentic."

References

External links

* on

General Information about Staphylococcus aureus
from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankson, Cassandra 1992 births Female models from California Living people Lesbian models LGBTQ bloggers American women video bloggers American make-up artists American LGBTQ models American lesbian writers American video bloggers YouTubers from California People with supernumerary body parts LGBTQ people from San Francisco 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people