Instead of the films and actors that won, the 2022 Oscars will likely be remembered for Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock live on stage for making a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith, his wife, and her hair loss.

"She could have summoned up so much bravery to leave the house that day and show up and be photographed," 27-year-old Chidera, who also suffers from hair loss, said.

She said that the joke shows how society still discriminates against people with physical differences and how people tend not to think about the implications of making fun of someone for having a condition beyond their control.

Will Smith apologised to the event organisers for striking the comedian, and later said sorry to Rock as well. Los Angeles Police Department said no charges were being brought against Smith, but the Oscars film academy has launched a formal review into what happened.

Jada Pinkett-Smith has a condition called Alopecia areata, which is the medical term for hair loss. It can be temporary or permanent and can range from having bald patches to losing hair completely - affecting 1 in every 500 to 1,000 people, according to stats from the United States.

Chidera, an influencer from London, has had traction alopecia since the age of seven, which is a different type to Jada's. She said that hers was caused through years of wearing heavy hair extensions and using relaxers - which are a chemical straighter often used to 'relax' naturally curly hair.

"It's resulted in pretty much permanent hair loss on a massive patch at the side of my head that's quite visible," she says. "It's something that I find a bit embarrassing, but I'm learning to love it."

It's not been an easy journey to accept her condition because, like Jada at the 2022 Oscars, she's had jokes and comments made about her hair loss.

"It's something that's quite common in the black community, because being a black woman, your hair is where a lot of your beauty is derived from," Chidera says. "There's so much emphasis placed on you having laid edges and popping baby hairs, and when you have a bald patch, people look at you and think something's wrong with you almost like you've failed, because there's such a high standard."

Jada Pinkett-Smith first revealed she had alopecia in 2018 during an episode of her talk show, Red Table Talk.

"It was terrifying when it first started,” Jada said in the episode. “I was in the shower one day and then just handfuls of hair, just in my hands, and I was like 'oh my God am I going bald?'”

Hearing someone like Jada speak about hair loss gave Chidera a sense of relief. "She's not someone you'd ever think this kind of thing would happen to," she says.

Alopecia currently has no cure, and after years of trying various oils, creams and other treatment with little success, Chidera decided to embrace her hair loss. She says experimenting with hairstyles that have allowed her to feel empowered, as well as challenging herself to wear her hair in a way that exposes her bald patch, has helped her accept it.

"When you have a visible insecurity, you think that people see that before they see you. But most of the time people don't notice it," she says. "And even if people do notice it, that's not the main thing about you that stands out, you're still a person with other facets and interesting things about you that add up to who you are."

"You're not just a bald patch," she says. "Know what you look like, there's beauty in everyone, in everything.

"Just because a person sitting next to you has hair, doesn't make you any less beautiful".