Jenna Lyons is sharing how her genetic disorder ultimately inspired her love of fashion.
The Real Housewives of New York City star, 55, opened up about her genetic disorder, incontinentia pigmenti, on The View Wednesday morning.
“All my teeth are fake. I paid a lot of money for them,” she joked. “My hair is also fake. I can take it off. It’s like a hat. It’s not a wig.”
She further explained, “My eyelashes are fake. I have no eyebrows, and I also have scars all over my skin.”
Incontinentia pigmenti — also known as Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome — affects the skin and other systems in the body over time. The symptoms include hair loss, small or missing teeth, eye abnormalities that can lead to vision loss and lined or pitted nails, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
“I was really conscious. It’s one of the reasons I went into fashion,” the former J. Crew president said. “I wanted to look better. I was constantly trying to find ways to fit in.”
Lyons then shared how she went on to create her own line of 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 explained.
“I remember talking to my makeup artist Troi Ollivierre and I was going on Oprah 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.’”
“Because she’s got a presence and I look like a wet rat,” Lyons jokingly added.
“I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I created a line of lashes that aren’t as over-the-top,” the fashion designer said.
Lyons previously opened up about her genetic condition in a 2012 interview with The Guardian. “It made me introverted, but it was also the reason I loved fashion, because it can change who you are and how you feel, and that can be magical,” she said.
