Armless girl teaches makeup with feet

As soon as her parents set up a studio inside the family’s simple one-room apartment in Bangkok for filming, 18-year-old Fai jumped into action. With a clear voice and a cheerful demeanor, Fai greeted fans watching her live-streamed makeup tutorial, sponsored by a local cosmetics brand.

"Hello everyone! I'm Fai, I'm showing you how to do makeup with your feet. Look at my dress today, isn't it beautiful?",ABCFai quote introduction.

The 18-year-old girl then stood up straight on her short legs, trying to keep her balance and dancing to the loud R&B music. Despite having no arms, Fai still confidently showed off her full shoulders with a crop top.

Over the next hour, Fai used the sponsor's products and did everything with her toes, from putting on contact lenses, applying false eyelashes, applying foundation, to applying lipstick and eyeliner.

"Today, I have 4,000 views, which is good," Fai said. "The hardest thing is picking up the little accessories, like fake eyelashes. In my opinion, every woman has her own beauty, they just need to be confident. Be confident and the beauty will come from there."

Fai, whose real name is Bunthida Chinnawong, was born without arms, one leg shorter than the other, a curved spine and one lung.

"The doctor told me to prepare myself, that she might not live more than nine months," said Fai's mother, Pin Saleepote. "After nine months, he said it might be a year, then nine years, 10 years."

"When he was little, I lied that his arms would grow when he grew up. But when he grew up, I had to tell him the truth, that he didn't have arms, but he was great and could show his abilities," Fai's mother recounted.

Fai’s passion for cosmetics began early, when she stole some from her mother and sister. But at the school she attended for the disabled, makeup was not allowed. Fai describes the school as a safe and convenient place where she and her mischievous friends would form a “mafia gang” to tease and chase each other.

"We sat in wheelchairs, chasing each other down the ramp from the third floor to the first floor. Even though the teacher punished us every week, we continued to be naughty like that. I was a stubborn girl," Fai recalled.

With that temperament, Fai finally convinced her parents to transfer her to a school for normal students.

"When I went to a new school, my mother was worried and stayed by my side for half a day. A few days later, Jane and the wheelchair group advised my mother to go home with peace of mind and announced that the group would take care of me," Fai said, revealing that Jane was a 17-year-old close friend whose real name was Nipaporn Kongsungnoen.

Whenever her friends felt like giving up or needed a morale boost, they would turn to Fai for advice. At times like these, Fai would encourage them to keep trying and use herself as an example to work hard with.

When she saw her friends at her new school wearing makeup, Fai felt like a whole new world opened up before her eyes and she began to figure out how to do her own makeup with her nimble toes.

“It comes naturally, but it also takes practice,” Fai said.

Fai then opened her smartphone and started using Facebook to livestream makeup tutorials, attempting to overcome traditional notions of beauty in Thai culture.

"Many people think that white skin is beautiful, but a smooth, healthy skin or a straight nose also makes you look more beautiful," Fai said.

Fai has more than 170,000 followers on Facebook, and her regular live videos are helping her earn money and become famous.

"I don't expect her to become famous, I'm just happy that Fai is now known," said Suchada Kamnaen, a classmate of Fai's.

Fai decided to share her story openly after learning about many people committing suicide. "It made me think that they were luckier than me because they were born healthy, but they chose to end their lives by committing suicide. I want to inspire people like that," Fai said.

For Fai, every day is precious. She lives with the constant fear that one day the curved part of her spine will press against her lungs and cause damage.

At the age of nine, a doctor suggested surgery to correct Fai's spine but said her chance of survival after the operation was only 15%.

"At that time I told him that I wanted to live like this," Fai shared.

Despite her precarious health, Fai revealed her dream of further developing her makeup skills, graduating from university and travelling to Australia and France.

"I heard that Australia has many beautiful cities, so I want to go there to walk around and take pictures. I also want to try to see if the food there is better than Thai food," Fai said excitedly.

The armless girl also said she wants to be in a wheelchair to model on the catwalk and become a TV presenter.