Two Instagram stars have joined forces in an attempt to redefine beauty the standards we are so often subject to and help women learn to love themselves and embrace their "flaws".
Sarah Tripp, a fashion and lifestyle blogger, has teamed up with body positivity hero Iskra Lawrence to share a series of unretouched photos that are aimed at inspiring women all around the world to love their bodies as they are.
Sarah took to her blog, "Sassy Red Lipstick", to share the photos and titled the post: “Your Five ‘Flaws’ That Are Absolutely Beautiful”.
The main bulk of the text in the post is based around encouraging women to learn to love parts of their bodies that they are consistently told are "flaws". Sarah explains:
"Growing up, I never had any role models who looked like me.
"There were no women like me in magazines, commercials, or any of the fashion blogs I followed. Now that I’ve been able to grow this amazingly diverse audience over the last five years since first sharing my self-love journey, I want women and girls of all sizes to know they are represented and should feel confident in who they are."
For Iskra Lawrence, the post falls at a time when the model is ramping up her message of self-love and positivity.
Lawrence recently launched her show on Facebook Watch called The Mirror Challenge with Iskra which she created and produced with Clevver. The premise of the series is to get men and women to look at their insecurities in the mirror and learn to love themselves. While this may sound like the plot of a lot of TV programmes, it differs in the sense that contestants do not undergo any form of dramatic makeover.
"My hope is that women will stop thinking about what they need to change in order to feel good about themselves, and choose instead to focus on loving and accepting themselves just as they are! Our bodies are so strong and beautiful no matter what size they are," she said.
Both women shared the photos of their Instagram and they have been inundated with comments of positivity and thanks from women who are fighting their own battles across the world.
For Sarah, the response from the commenters has been overwhelming.
"Seeing the heartfelt comments on mine and Iskra’s profiles has been the ultimate reward. If we’ve made even one woman feel more comfortable in her own skin, that’s enough for me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do."
I'm sure we can all agree that these women are leaving a positive footprint on the world through their message of acceptance and self-love. The more people like Tripp and Lawrence (who has 4 million Instagram followers), the quicker we can break down the outdated and patriarchal beauty standards that are so often seen in the western world.
