CoverGirl has a lot of spokeswomen lately–Pink, Taylor Swift, Sofia Vergara, Janelle Monae, Ellen Degeneres–but their newest one is our favorite. Talia Joy Castellanois beautiful inside and out, and she’s helping other girls feel that way, too, through her super-inspiring and cosmetically educational YouTube videos.

Talia is 13 and was first diagnosed with cancer six years ago. At that time, she bonded with a pal of her mom’s who also survived the disease, and they started talking makeup–and Talia never looked back. She used makeup as her “wig,” sporting sparkly shadows and lip glosses to feel beautiful despite losing her hair to a lot of her chemotherapy. She spread her joy around by making YouTube tutorials on how to get her spritely looks, and she garnered around 14 million hits–this was before she even made it on TV.

“When I put on my makeup I feel like I can embrace those features that I really like about myself,” she explained. “I feel if someone’s looking at me, they’re looking at my makeup, not looking at my bald head. I am just trying to make young girls, young adults, adults, anyone, feel beautiful by using makeup.”

Ellen Degeneres heard of Talia, who is now battling both neuroblastoma and leukemia at the same time, through her fans on Facebook and Twitter, and, much like the rest of the world, fell in love with her. She invited Talia to be on her show, where it was announced that Talia was now an honorary CoverGirl. Of course, Talia’s response was freakin’ (or, as she’d put it, “frickin’“) adorable. Watch it here and have your heart warmed and day made, and check out Talia’s video blog here.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be busy touching up our smoky eyes, because they’re a little smudged now.

Are you inspired by Talia? Who’s your favorite CoverGirl? What’s your best makeup tip? Would you skip a wig like Talia or go all out? Tell us in the comments!

And here’s our other favorite beauty vlogger!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

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