'Real Housewives of New York' star Jenna Lyons says her teeth, hair, and eyelashes are all fake due to a genetic disorder
"Real Housewives of New York" star Jenna Lyons has revealed that she has artificial hair, teeth, and eyelashes.
Appearing on "The View," she detailed her experience living with incontinentia pigmenti.
The genetic condition is rare, estimated to affect fewer than 5,000 people in the US.
Jenna Lyons has opened up about her rare genetic disorder, revealing that she has artificial hair, teeth, and eyelashes.
Appearing on "The View" Wednesday, the "Real Housewives of New York City" star detailed her experience living with incontinentia pigmenti.
"Basically what it means is that all my teeth are fake," she said.
When complimented on how good they look by hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, Lyons added that she "paid a lot of money for them."
"My hair is also fake. I can take it off," she said. "It's like a hat. It's not a wig."
"My eyelashes are fake. I have no eyebrows," she continued. "And I also have scars all over my skin."
Incontinentia pigmenti, also known as Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome, typically affects the skin, teeth, hair, nails, eyes, and central nervous system.
Skin changes are the most common symptom of the condition, often presenting either from birth or infancy and evolving over time in stages. Inflammation, redness, and a blistering rash typically appear first, followed by wart-like skin growths. The growths become swirled grey or brown patches in childhood and then swirled light patches in adulthood.
Other symptoms can include fewer or smaller teeth than normal, eye abnormalities, stroke-like episodes in the first few months of life, and pitting or ridging of the nails.
The Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center estimates that fewer than 5,000 people in the US have the disease.
While there is no cure for incontinentia pigmenti, there are various treatments for the different symptoms. For example, children with the condition should start seeing a dentist regularly from the age of six months to check whether they are missing teeth.
Lyons said the condition inspired he to get into fashion
The 55-year-old reality star said that growing up with the condition made her "really conscious" of herself, but that it also inspired her to pursue the career she did.
"It's one of the reasons I went into fashion," the former J. Crew president and creative director said. "I wanted to look better. I was constantly trying to find ways to fit in."
More recently, her condition has also motivated to start Lyons own line of cruelty-free and natural-looking fake eyelashes, Love Seen.
"When I was doing a lot of red carpets, I kept trying to find eyelashes that looked good and they were just huge on me. I couldn't wear them," she said.
Lyons said that the idea came to her when she was getting ready to appear on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and realized "she's got presence and I look like a wet rat" without lashes.
"I remember talking to my makeup artist Troi Ollivierre and I was going on Oprah's show actually, and Oprah walked into the green room," she recalled. "He looked at me and he looked at her and he's like, 'Get back in that chair. We're gonna put some lashes on you and get some extensions.'"
She added: "I couldn't find what I wanted so I created a line of lashes that aren't as over-the-top."
Lyons previously told Fast Company she was bullied mercilessly as a child because of her condition.
"It's amazing how cruel kids can be and super judgmental and really just downright mean," she told the publication in 2013.
"I searched for ways to make things more beautiful and surrounded myself with beautiful things because I didn't feel that in myself," she said. "I felt a huge drive to make clothes that everybody could have because I felt ostracized by that world of beauty and fashion."
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