Paulina Porizkova is opening up about her relationship with her looks.
In a candid social media post on Thursday, the 55-year-old supermodel posted a photograph of herself after getting a plasma pen treatment — a noninvasive procedure to keep the complexion firm and wrinkle-free, which can be done as an alternative to lasers or injections.
Acknowledging that "real beauty" is about more than what meets the eye, Porizkova addressed the impact the opinions of others can have on your self-esteem.
"I'm keeping this strictly about physical looks," she wrote. "We all know real beauty is so much more than that- but that muddies this specific conversation. And here is a shot of me after a plasma pen treatment- cause I'm vain and want to be pretty.🤣"
Porizkova shared that when she was 14 she was "terribly bullied in school" by other girls.
"I thought it was because I was so ugly. That is what I was told. I was told I looked like a moose, a plucked chicken, a drunken giraffe, and a dirty communist. (What does that even look like?)," wrote the supermodel, who was born in what is now the Czech Republic.
At the time, Porizkova said that there were many parts of her physical appearance she would have liked to change.
"Had I had the access to plastic surgery, I would have gotten my lips plumped, my teeth capped, shave down my square jawbone, breast implants and liposuction on my thighs, and I would have given my soul to be a cute 5'5 or so," she wrote.
Of course, as Porizkova's career began to take off, the conversations around her physical appearance changed dramatically.
"A year later, at fifteen, I became a model in Paris , a model of what other women were supposed to aspire to look like," she shared. "But soon I was rewarded for exactly the parts of me I thought I hated."
That experience taught Porizkova "an invaluable lesson."
"I hadn't changed. People's opinions had," she explained, before acknowledging how "incredibly lucky" she was to find herself in that position.
"What happens to women who never get society's approval of their looks? They are forced to give up or become fighters," she wrote.
As the post came to a close, Porizkova encouraged all her followers to "own" their own beauty, rather than search for acceptance in others. "You cannot blame or judge either side, because this societal structure was set long ago, and it has grown over us like cataracts , clouding our vision to true beauty," she wrote.
Earlier this week, Porizkova reflected on why some women "shy away from looking unique" while singing the praises of French actress Camille Cottin.
"She is of course very talented," wrote Porizkova, "but what obsesses me – is the way she looks."
"This woman is unquestionably beautiful. She has a great lithe body, shiny skin and hair, those clear eyes and that pout. But then she turns into profile and boom. Her nose. This magnificent protuberance, this statement of a nose," she continued.
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Porizkova, who described herself as being reared in a world where any features that aren't "mathematically regular" get "fixed," the supermodel described the actress "a breath of fresh air."
"She is a storm. A storm of preconceived notions of beauty getting crushed under the weight of her beauty: strong, confident, unapologetic, and most of all , original," she wrote. "Originality is memorable. Unique. Precious. Highly sought after. Just think of all work of art hanging in museums. So, why do we, women, shy away from looking unique? Why do we all want the same pretty?
"Because if you're unique, you'll stand out. Most of us want to fit in for obvious reasons: it's safer. To stand out is to dare, to be brave. I bow to all you women out there who have this confidence, who claim your uniqueness, who are brave," she added. "I'm working on mine."
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