An artist is proving once and for all that stretch marks are nothing to be ashamed of by photographing her own covered in glitter.
Pakistan-based artist, Sara Shakeel, started the project to counteract societal beauty standards that tell us to hide or reduce the appearance of our stretch marks.
She was inspired to create the images after photographing a friend, who asked her to Photoshop out any stretch marks.
“That made me sad because I too have a lot of them myself, including cellulite,” she told HuffPost UK.
“So with all that in mind I made glitter and space stretch marks. I’ll be honest before even uploading them I was wondering why would anyone be interested in my stretch marks.
“Little did I know the world needed this empowerment and some amazing ladies were already on that mission. I am so glad I put that [first photo] up.”
Sara’s series of photos have gained global attention, with the first image she posted receiving more than 20,000 likes.
“I have never felt so powerful and liberated and so fucking proud of my stretch marks in my entire life,” she captioned one image on Instagram.
“From where I come from and live, to be on the chubby side or to even talk about stretch marks is not something one is proud of.”
Hundreds of people have commented to share their support and say what a powerful impact the images have had on them.
“This would have helped me 20 years ago to not have been embarrassed,” one person said.
Another added: “Stretch marks are beautiful, you are beautiful, all women are - this is your life, your story in each stretch marks.”
Sara ended her most recent post with an empowering message for her 194,000 followers.
“Support and love yourself for whoever you are, ’cause there is someone out there sharing the same feelings as you are,” she said.
“There is one thing for sure, you are not alone.”
Sara isn’t the first artist to use her work to celebrate stretch marks.
Earlier this year, Spanish artist Cinta Tort Cartró, who posts under the name @zinteta, made headlines for her colourful creations, using paint to highlight lines on the body.
We say the more body-positive art on Instagram, the merrier. Keep those posts coming, ladies.