Page 66 - People (February 2020)

What Is
how beauty can transform people,”
she says. “They walk in very stressed Epilepsy?
or sad, and I will do something or A neurological disorder,
sell them a product, and they walk epilepsy affects 3.4 million
out happy. I decided to become a people nationwide. It
makeup artist.” causes seizures, which are
She uploaded her first YouTube tuto- “uncontrolled electrical
rial in 2010, saw her viewership take disturbances in the brain,”
off and hasn’t looked back. Now she says Dr. Madeline Fields,
juggles travel for fashion week, photo codirector of the Mount Sinai
shoots and brand partnerships, run- Epilepsy Program in New York
ning design meetings for her fashion City. “You’re unaware during
a seizure, yet everyone around
line and filming content for her digital
you sees what happened.
platforms. “I could be on 24 hours a day
It’s very isolating.” Although
because I love what I do,” Coelho says.
70 percent of patients will
But because lack of sleep and stress can
see their seizures lessened or
trigger seizures, she keeps her schedule controlled with medication,
tightly controlled. And since seizures
pregnancy presents its own
(which need to be reported to her
set of challenges. Some
doctors in case her medications need
epilepsy drugs can cause birth
adjustment) can happen during sleep— defects, while seizures during
and could even cause suffocation—“I pregnancy can damage fetal
always have someone sleeping with health. Still, with the right
me,” she says, even when she’s travel- precautions, 90 percent of
ing for work without Icaro, who is also women with epilepsy “will have
her business partner. “I’m never alone.” a healthy baby,” according to
She and Icaro, who live in Los Ange- the Epilepsy Foundation.
les and will celebrate 10 years of mar-
riage this fall, are currently facing their
toughest challenge yet: starting a fam-
ily. “I’ve always wanted to be a mom,”

Coelho says. “I come from a huge fam-
ily, and I dream of the belly, breastfeed-
ing, all of that. Kids are my dream.”
But her medication can increase the
chances of birth defects—and going
off it could cause a seizure that would
threaten both her life and the baby’s
(see sidebar). “I need to make the deci-
sion. Do we try to have a baby with or
Fashion Maven
without medicine? What if my child is born and
Coelho (with
there’s a problem? I would feel so guilty,” says influencers Negin
Coelho, whose last seizure happened in 2011, after Mirsalehi, center,
her doctor stopped her medication to see if she and Aimee Song at
Paris Fashion Week
could go without it. “It’s the hardest decision of in 2018) launched
my life and very scary, but I know that I just need her Camila Coelho
to have faith.” Collection (below)
last June.
In the meantime she’s finding strength and
fulfillment in the idea that her voice can help
break the stigma surrounding epilepsy.
“I feel liberated,” she says. “I regret not RIGHT: PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY; COURTESY CAMILA COELHO;
sharing when I was young because
I could have been more free. But HAIR: HAILEY ADICKES/CELESTINE
opening up is definitely helping me,
and I hope it helps others too. I’m
in a very happy place.” •

70 February 17, 2020