This 26-Year-Old Model Is Rewriting Beauty Standards

Sara Geurts is not your usual model because of one main separator - her skin. When she was only 10 years old, Sara was diagnosed with a rare skin condition called Dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which compromises body's ability to produce collagen. For Sara that meant premature wrinkles and a look way beyond her age. Yet after years of struggling with her insecurities, she decided to embrace it instead and has become one of the most extraordinary models out there. “My skin was my biggest insecurity,” Sara explains. “But now I think it’s the most beautiful thing ever. Each imperfection you have is individual to you, and it tells a story about you and who you are, and the struggle and the journey that you have been on.” Now Sara has set out to change some key misconceptions about beauty by praising women's imperfections rather than trying to hide them. In 2015 she submitted her story to the 'Love Your Lines campaign' to advocate her cause, and her recent video, produced by Barcroft TV, has been viewed two million times already. “You’re going to meet people who are intimidated by you,” she writes on Instagram. “You’re different. People don’t know how to react or how to accept someone who doesn’t follow the crowd… They are not used to someone who doesn’t try to fit in — So instead of bolstering your uniqueness, they’ll try and make you feel like you’re weird or damaged. I’m here to offer some well-earned advice: Screw them.” More info: instagram (h/t)

“My skin was my biggest insecurity, but now I think it’s the most beautiful thing ever,” says Sara Geurts

She has a rare skin condition called Dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

EDS is a connective tissue disorder that inhibits the body’s ability to produce collagen

As a consequence, Geurts has skin that wrinkles prematurely and makes her look older than she is

But the model, now 26, is determined to show the world that she has nothing to be ashamed of

She’s on a mission to change the way we think about beauty standards

“Each imperfection you have is individual to you,” she says

“It tells a story about you and who you are, and the struggle and the journey that you have been on”

“You’re going to meet people who are intimidated by you”

“You’re different. People don’t know how to react or how to accept someone who doesn’t follow the crowd”

Sara was diagnosed with the condition when she was just 10 years old

It wasn’t until she was 22 or 23 years old that she learned to embrace her wrinkles

“[People will] try and make you feel…weird or damaged. I’m here to offer some well-earned advice: Screw them”

Let Sara tell you her story: