In this day and age where flawless and perfectly photo-shopped images of women are the norm, it becomes hard for a woman to accept her real-life bodies. The line between real and photoshopped images becomes blurred that imperfections such as stretch marks, body hair, scars, beauty marks, and excess skin are seen as a nuisance that must be covered.
Luckily, there are other women like Cinta Tort Cartró, who don’t accept the standard of perfection if it doesn’t show the realness of a woman’s body and experience.
She stated that all bodies are beautiful:
“Every one of us is different and, at the same time, every body has one form or another and has its own essence and energy. There are many types of bodies, the same way there are many different kinds of stretch marks,” reads her Instagram (written in Spanish).
“Painting Yacine, Monica, and Roser, I observed their skin in great detail; the delicacy that existed in each of the women, the time, beauty, and essence that each of them had hidden. There are people with more stretch marks and fewer stretch marks; people with thicker and thinner stretch marks; people with darker or lighter marks; and in this, in the diversity, there is richness.”
Using their creativity, they created 58 ways to transform body imperfections into works of art.
This birthmark serves as deep space. Within it is a pretty constellation. I love the simple outline.
Using the birthmark as a watercolor effect for a rose is genius. Simple and beautiful.
This person was left with a devastating scar but today? You’d never know it. They opted to cover it up with a gorgeous, colorful jellyfish floating in the ocean.
“All bodies have (more or less) stains, hairs, freckles, stretch marks, curves, lines, wounds, wrinkles… and all are equally valid,” she concludes.
“It is time for us to begin to love our bodies because, after all, this is our tool of communication with the world. And if we do not like the tool we use to communicate, we can hardly feel free.”
Cartró was inspired by her own stretch marks and her path to accepting them.
“Stretch marks are those marks that many of us have on the skin. I spent years hating them and trying to find a way to eliminate them, until I realized that if I did not accept them, I was not accepting myself.”
She spent years building her self-love, always trying to find a way to accept her body on a deeper level.
6) Nobody’s body is ‘perfect’
“After a few years I had started to work to love myself and to see and accept all that there was on my body. To accept all this is to accept your roots, your history, everything in it and, most of all, to accept yourself. Stretch marks are part of our essence, our moments, our lives, our stories and us. They are so beautiful that at times I don’t know how I hated them.”
This birthmark was transformed into an island. It also tells the story of a perilous journey. One that faces dangerous sea creatures and pirate ships.
This is a total birthmark cover up. You can’t even tell that a birthmark was there to begin with. what a unique design.
9) Other people take a more permanent route
Other people would prefer a more permanent change to disguise their so-called flaws. Here are some gorgeous (and sometimes very funny!) tattoos that incorporate these flaws.
A super smart design here. It’s a tattoo of a bluebird on a branch. The branch is actually a scar.
This is a fun one. They always thought that their birthmark looked like a ghost. So they just went with that.
This tattoo is out of this world. They transformed a birthmark into a pretty ringed planet. My favorite is the tiny star.
This is quite the clever design. The scar looks like a tractor beam that’s pulling this woman up into the spaceship. How smart!
This woman opted to hide her stretch marks by putting a striking tattoo of a large Oak tree with dangling Spanish moss. You’d never know there was any sort of “imperfection” underneath.
This piece is just too adorable. I love a good action tattoo. The scar looks like a wave or undercurrent or something.
This was once a boring scar. Now it’s a lightsaber wielding dark overlord. This is such a cool Star Wars tattoo.
This guy is using Pokémon to enhance his birthmark. It’s a puff of smoke. The smoke is caused by Charmander’s flame.
This is just hilarious. Their birthmark looks just like a spilled glass of wine. So they just added a tattoo wine glass.
This woman’s birthmark could not be lightened. So she decided to turn it into a Harry Potter inspired piece of art. The birthmark works perfectly as the owl’s body.
You can barely noticed it now. But this woman has a scar on her chest. Now it’s a beautiful jewel heart.
This scar had a skeletal look to it. So the artist decided to turn into a fish that has been picked clean. It goes really well.
This scar is perfectly incorporated into this tattoo. It’s a needle and thread. They are sewing up the scar.
This article was able to use the perfect coloring to compliment this birthmark. These poppies are just gorgeous. That coloring is equisite.
This woman suffered from some pretty severe burns. Now they are beautiful. I believe those are cherry blossoms.
Lots of women will use tattoos to cover up mastectomy scars. Some women even have nipples drawn in. This is a beautiful floral design.
Even though this woman had implants put in after have a double mastectomy, she was still left with scars and missing nipples. Instead of looking in the mirror every day at scars and nasty reminders, she gave herself a brand new stunning floral tattoo.
This woman had a scar on her spine. Now it’s a beautiful vine. One that is starting to flower.
This isn’t a cover-up of a scar or a birthmark. It’s covering up some unsightly veins. Pretty cool!
This scar looks like it’s about to take flight. It did once the tattoo artist put a little work into it. It’s a beautiful butterfly watercolor design.
This person once had several scars on their arms. Now it’s a strong and powerful piece. This tribal bird was done in all black.
This leg birthmark is perfectly concealed with this tattoo. It’s not even drawn over but perfectly blends in. What a cute turtle.
This piece is very interesting. It’s a woman getting her head blown up. The dot is her birthmark which is turned into splattered brains, a bird and a butterfly.
What was once a scar is no more. Now its a gorgeous sunset. With beautiful beach waves beneah it.
33) Scarred arm turned skeleton
These self-harm scars were turned into a dark yet beautiful tattooed sleeve. An amazing way to turn something bad into something good.
This leg piece is pretty impressive. It’s used to cover up some scarring on the exterior thigh. I love the black and white.
Another person with a funny sense of humor. They didn’t mind their birthmark so much. They just turned it into a PacMan pellet.
This design uses the different heights of the scar in the design. It’s used to give the spider dimension. It’s also pretty creepy in a cool way.
This person’s scar looked like a big ole’ potato. So that was the inspiration for this Mr. Potatohead tattoo. What a great mustache.
38) You can’t even see it
An operation left this woman with a deep scar on her lower abdomen. To cover it up, she tattooed a beautiful peacock feather. Now, you can’t even see the scar at all.
This birthmark was perfect for this album cover recreation. It’s the cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s album “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.” It’s cool and clever.
He used a wolf to cover up his birthmark. Regal, majestic, and very clever. You’d never know there was a birthmark underneath this piece.
This guy is ballin’. His birthmark is now the Air Jordan logo. His birthmark is the basketball.
He turned his birthmark into a way to tell his life story. A great way to share your travels or where you’ve lived.
The birthmark is now camouflaged into the scales of the fish. It’s amazing what a tattoo can do for someone’s self confidence! Now she has this gorgeous piece of art to show off.
44) Another gorgeous coverup
Scar? What scar? Here’s another example of an amazing coverup by an amazing artist. Unless you knew there was a scar there before, you’d have no idea at all.
The birthmark is covered by a crawling dragon. The possibilities really are endless if you wanted to cover up a scar, birthmark, or other skin issue.
This girl once hated the birthmark behind her ear. Now she loves it. She used to hide the area behind her ear with her hair but she won’t anymore.
This birthmark sort of looked like some continents. So the artist turned it into a map of sorts. A map of unknown land.
48) Orchids covering scars
This is just gorgeous. This floral design is another full cover up. It goes all the way down her arm.
This shark looks like he’s going to take a bite out of you. It’s also the perfect way to blend in a scar. You barely notice the scar.
How do you turn a bad scar into a piece you’ll always love to look at? Turn it into a Rick and Morty tattoo, of course! This tattoo artist did an absolutely amazing job.
“Run Forrest, Run!” This tattoo is inspired by “Forrest Gump.” It shows Forrest breaking free from his leg brace.
This cute little tat doesn’t try to hide the scar it incorporates the scar. It’s a snake that looks like it’s wrapping around a staff. The staff is the scar.
This scar looked as if it had a wingspan. Now it actually does. It’s been turned ito a lovely blue butterfly.
54) Self-harm to self-care
Here’s another example of a person that was left from scars after causing self-harm. Having started to love and care for themselves, they turned a sad reminder into a cute hedgehog.
After having stitches removed, she was left with a scar that resembled the tracks of a zipper. So, why not have a zipper tattooed there for fun?
Even though this woman was left with a scar, it was perfectly designed to be turned into a flower. The scar itself was shaped like a stem, it was only meant to be.
Would you believe that there are hidden stretch marks underneath there? The only thing you (or anyone) can see if a beautiful tattoo of a lotus-inspired design.
This person looks like they’ve suffered and survived through a lot. And now, they have an angel on their body to continue watching and protecting them.
These people took their supposed flaws, imperfections, scars, and birthmarks and turned them into something they can show off and feel proud of. Do you have a bodily imperfection that you’d like to cover up with a tattoo?
In this day and age where flawless and perfectly photo-shopped images of women are the norm, it becomes hard for a woman to accept her real-life bodies. The line between real and photoshopped images becomes blurred that imperfections such as stretch marks, body hair, scars, beauty marks, and excess skin are seen as a nuisance that must be covered.
Luckily, there are other women like Cinta Tort Cartró, who don’t accept the standard of perfection if it doesn’t show the realness of a woman’s body and experience.
She stated that all bodies are beautiful:
“Every one of us is different and, at the same time, every body has one form or another and has its own essence and energy. There are many types of bodies, the same way there are many different kinds of stretch marks,” reads her Instagram (written in Spanish).
“Painting Yacine, Monica, and Roser, I observed their skin in great detail; the delicacy that existed in each of the women, the time, beauty, and essence that each of them had hidden. There are people with more stretch marks and fewer stretch marks; people with thicker and thinner stretch marks; people with darker or lighter marks; and in this, in the diversity, there is richness.”
Using their creativity, they created 58 ways to transform body imperfections into works of art.
