Influencer Bree Lenehan praises 'real and flawed' bodies in new video
Bree Lenehan is encouraging her followers to be themselves.
On Thursday, the 26-year-old took to Instagram to share a video that told her 674,000 followers that they are perfect just the way they are.
Over the years, the influencer has gained a following for her body positive content that highlights the differences between "Instagram vs. reality" — which reminds her fans not to believe everything they see online.
In the video, began by Lenehan filming herself in a black tank top and matching shorts. Her hair was flawlessly styled while her makeup was glowy and fresh.
She playfully put her hands on her hips and struck a pose before transitioning to her "natural" form. Here, she donned pyjama pants and a yellow sports bra. For this part of the clip, Lenehan went makeup free while her brunette locks were tossed into a messy bun.
The social media star shimmied her body to expose the stretch marks and "loose skin" on her belly, which she acknowledged is totally normal.
"Who wants to look 'perfect' when you can be yourself," Lenehan wrote as on-screen text.
In the caption, the self-love advocate opened up about the pressures we face growing up when it comes to our appearance.
"Realness is stunning! A moment for my loose skin and no I haven’t had kids yet," Lenehan began. "When we’re kids, we dream to look like Barbie...when we’re teens, we’re sold diet fads and dream to look like the models and celebrities we see on TV and in magazines."
"When we’re young adults, we compare ourselves to strangers on social media with seemingly perfect lives and figures and careers and material things," she added. "When/if we become parents, we tear apart our stretch marks, loose skin, saggy tatas and drastically different figures...and when we’re 80, we dream to go back and sit cross-legged on the ground without wondering how we’ll get back up again."
The social media star went on to encourage her followers to "show up" as their authentic selves.
"We dream for a do-over...because we didn’t feel good enough at the time," she concluded the post. "Don’t let these things stop you, show up just the way you are. The real and flawed and complete package of you is so loved, hopefully by you one day soon too."
In the comments, fans were quick to praise Lenehan for her inspiring message.
"Yes we are all stunning naturally!" shared a follower.
"You rock, you're amazing, and you're a blessing to every woman on this planet earth," commented someone else.
"This is a breath of fresh air, thanks so much for keeping it real!" penned a fan.
"The courage you have to share this kind of stuff is incredible. You're a beautiful person inside and out and thank you for reminding women that they are amazing and normal. Makes me so happy!" added another.
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