With nearly two million Instagram followers combined, Stephanie Claire Smith, 22, and Laura Henshaw, 24, know what it’s like to be in the spotlight with the pressure of being ‘perfect’ on social media. Smith and Henshaw spoke to Bondi Beauty about the pressures they face online and how to love yourself in today’s world of social media.

Besties Smith and Henshaw created the online health and wellness program, Keep It Cleaner, to motivate and help young girls to get fit.

It seems we all have a lot of love to give; our friends, family, pets, even new shoes receive our affections. But what about you? Our new health and wellness program, Keep It Cleaner, will teach you that it’s okay to show yourself some TLC. And here’s how and why:

There’s more to loving yourself than looking in the mirror and saying, “I love you!”. And although it’s important to treat yourself, a shopping spree or a new handbag isn’t showing yourself love. Loving yourself is about holding your own heart as you take on life’s adventures. It’s about respecting your own decisions and allowing yourself to fail. It’s okay to make mistakes, to be wrong, to not be sure. And most importantly, it’s okay not to look like everybody else.

Now, this is where it’s super important you learn to love yourself. In today’s tech-savvy and social world, it seems we’ve forgotten to embrace our individuality. Instead, we’re comparing ourselves to others and striving to look like models on social media – especially Instagram.

Following health and wellbeing accounts is awesome if it motivates and inspires you to work out and eat clean. But if you find it makes you feel bad about your body and life, stop following those accounts. Remember, a lot of those images are Photoshopped, retouched and have filters over them (and that’s fine, just know they’re not ‘real’).

The best thing you can do is shift your focus: stop focusing on the things you don’t like about your body and start focusing on the things you love. Chances are you have a killer feature that makes your friends super jealous!

Just like when you’re learning to run or box, loving yourself takes practice – the more you train, the better you’ll get. Here are our tips to get you started:

1. Treat yourself as your own best friend.
2. Give yourself the love, advice and support you would your bestie.
3. Make your needs a priority (and don’t feel guilty about it).
4. If you start having negative thoughts, go for a walk, a run or try some meditation.
5. Look in the mirror and find three things you love about yourself. Do this every morning until your focus shifts on your best parts – not the bits you want to hide.

Once you have self-love, the happier and more confident you’ll become.

Keep It Cleaner is an online health, lifestyle and wellness program aimed to motivate girls to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For more information head over to www.kicgirls.com

Marielle Punzal

CONTRIBUTOR

Marielle is a lover of all things fashion and beauty, and is usually seen with a coffee in one hand and makeup swatches in the other.