Amba Smith only wanted to buy makeup. She was 24 years old and had a simple routine: walk into her local Boots, pick up a couple of toiletries, and leave.
An employee looked at her and asked whether she was on her way to a Halloween party, and if that was why she was wearing “a burn victim mask”. Amba was speechless for a few seconds, then said no. The woman insisted: it was an Easter party now, and those pink and purple marks were badly done makeup. Amba has lived with Sturge-Weber syndrome since she was 12 weeks old, a birthmark that has meant surgeries, glaucoma, and years of learning to simply say “it’s a birthmark” without offering any further explanation.
She left the store with her head down, walked past her own car because she did not want to look up, and when she finally arrived, she was trembling. Boots has already apologized and launched an investigation. Amba only asks that no one else should have to go through this in an adult setting.
