Iskra Lawrence, 28, is no stranger to trolls. The body activist is regularly shamed on Instagram for daring to wear bikinis while not being a size zero but proudly and unabashedly showing off her curves. The Brit told HollywoodLife how she brushes the hateful comments off and lives her best life. “Trolls aren’t going to go away anytime soon so I’ve learned how to deal with it,” she told us EXCLUSIVELY at Beautycon in Los Angeles on Aug. 10. “I tend to either try to make a funny, positive twist on it – like I’ll do a clapback – or I block, delete and I move on with my day and do something fun and surround myself with my friends and feel loved.”
These are tactics that Iskra has learned to arm herself with after battling an eating disorder and body dysmorphia in the early years of her modeling career. These days she tries to share positive messages about “self-love” to inspire her 4.5 million Instagram followers. “It’s important for me to spread self-love because everyone deserves the chance to be their best, happiest, healthiest selves,” she said. “And, for me, having struggled with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia I know how crushing that can be and how limiting that can be. And, especially for young women, we’ve got to change the value system. It’s usually based on appearance and we need to know that beauty comes from inside out. We can decorate ourselves and be confident but we also need to make sure that our mental health is in check too.”
As someone who is frequently shamed for her curves who proudly embraces her cellulite, Iskra has a message for women who are scared to rock a bikini on the beach.
“I know so many people in my own life who have been body shamed so horrifically that they can’t wear bikinis,” she said. “I want you to remember that the beach is somewhere for you to have a human experience. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the ocean, and remember those things. So anything that anyone’s ever told you that you’re not worthy, you are worthy of experiencing that in whatever you want to wear. It’s about you being able to live your fullest life no matter what. So, those people who have ever said anything [negative] to you that’s on them, but you go do you.”