A Woman Ditched Her Clothes for Body Paint and No One Even Noticed

There’s no easy fix for overcoming body-image issues, so one woman went to extremes to overcome hers: walking around in nothing but paint.

Julie volunteered herself to become living, breathing art at the hands of Pusher House, a professional body painter. To do so, she stripped down to just pasties and a pair of nude underwear. Then, House outlined a design with a base coat followed by adding more details including buttons, zippers, rips, and holes, as well as shading and highlights. Lastly, sealant was sprayed all over Julie’s body to set the white T-shirt and ripped jeans.

“Growing up, I never really had much of an issue with my body image until probably late high school,” she said. “I was in a musical and I had to wear a leotard onstage. The next day at school I heard someone talking about my cellulite on my legs. I was always really concerned with if I looked skinny enough and that kinda planted a seed in my head.”

Related: A Model Walked Around Half-Naked in Painted-On Pants and No One Even Noticed

While she was nervous at first, Julie’s fears were alleviated when she saw the final product. “I’m not as scared now because it looks like I’m wearing clothes,” she admitted, adding that wearing the painted ensemble is almost like taking off a shield.

As she walked around in front of multiple people, many didn’t notice until she pointed out that there was something off with her outfit.

“I feel like I conquered a really huge fear that I’ve had. Going outside wearing only body paint is really similar to having insecurities,” she said after the experience. “You feel naked or you feel all these negative things about yourself that no one else sees, and no one else understands.”

Tearing up, she conceded, “Sometimes you overthink things and you don’t want to do things because you’re scared of what other people are going to think.” Her advice? Be strong and don’t listen to what other people say — and do not let it matter so much, because it doesn’t. “What matters inside is what counts the most, and that’s where your strength and your beauty come from first.”

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