Cassandra Bankson (born November 11, 1992) is an American model, medical aesthetician, and online

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, mos ...

from

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. She has been featured on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', '' Today'', ''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 Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

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'', ''

Glamour Glamour may refer to: Arts Film * ''Glamour'' (1931 film), a British film * ''Glamour'' (1934 film), an American film * ''Glamour'' (2000 film), a Hungarian film Writing * ''Glamour'' (magazine), a magazine for women * ''The Glamour ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'', ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'', '' In Touch Weekly'', ''

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

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

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', '' The New York Post'', and ''

Pleasanton Weekly The ''Pleasanton Weekly'' is a weekly newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variet ...

''.

Early life

Bankson was born to Jennifer and Richard Bankson in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She grew up in the affluent suburbs of the

San Francisco bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

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 skin condition that occurs when dead skin cells and oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include blackheads or whiteheads, pimples, oily skin, and po ...

, which later transformed into an aggressive strain of

acne conglobata Acne conglobata is a highly inflammatory disease presenting with comedones, nodules, abscesses, and draining sinus tracts. This condition generally begins between the ages of 18 and 30. It usually persists for a very long time, and often until th ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, 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, a condition wherein she possesses two

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

s, two wombs, and two

cervix The cervix or cervix uteri (Latin, 'neck of the uterus') is the lower part of the uterus (womb) in the human female reproductive system. The cervix is usually 2 to 3 cm long (~1 inch) and roughly cylindrical in shape, which changes during ...

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'' in Blackhawk and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 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. Featuring nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, n ...

'' 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 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

YouTube

In 2010, Bankson began making videos on the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

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'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

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

. On April 30, 2018, she came out 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 Video bloggers Women video bloggers American make-up artists American women bloggers American bloggers YouTubers from California American lesbian writers People with supernumerary body parts LGBT people from California 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American LGBT people