Model Paulina Porizkova, 57, shares moving story behind topless snap

The supermodel was praised for her powerful post.

Model Paulina Porizkova has shared a powerful story behind a topless snap taken of her on a beach four years ago.

The 57-year-old posted the picture on Instagram that showed her smiling on the beach at sunset in only bikini bottoms while wrapping an arm around her chest.

"Four years ago, I was on a vacation with friends in St Maarten," she captioned the snap.

"We were lounging on the beach, and I brought up the topic of superpowers. What were our real-life superpowers? What did we think of our own and those for each other."

Paulina Porizkova poses topless on a beach at sunset.
Paulina Porizkova shared the importance of giving people compliments. Source: Instagram

Paulina said they did not get around to deciding on her superpower before she went for a dip in the ocean. However when she returned, her friends told her that she made other women feel beautiful.

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"I was – stunned. I had often been accused of the opposite. My image, I had been told, had been making women feel bad about themselves for decades," she said.

"But what my girlfriends were saying was that my presence made them feel beautiful. Looking at me made women feel bad, but hearing me made them feel good."

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Paulina added people thought she constantly received compliments and so friends rarely offered her one.

"I understand how it feels to be told by someone that you are beautiful to them. And the opposite. So I make a point of complimenting others," she wrote.

Paulina Porizkova poses naked while holding a book.
Paulina Porizkova says every woman is beautiful in her own way. Source: Instagram

"It is shallow? Is it superficial? Maybe. But who cares when the result is a heartfelt smile and a little extra bounce in the step.

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"Every woman is beautiful in her own and unique way. Why not celebrate it?"

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Fans applauded the model for her moving post, with some other celebrities agreeing it was her superpower.

"It’s true!!! That IS your superpower! One time I was making fun of my chubby cheeks on here and YOU wrote back to tell me they’re what make me beautiful. I have not even met you in real life and you passed that love on to me all the way over in San Francisco," chef Amanda Haas wrote.

"The honesty and vulnerability is so powerful," fitness consultant Ashley Borden commented.

"I admire you so much ... I’m 54 and don’t always feel beautiful ... women in their 50s aren’t generally looked at as being 'beautiful' but you Paulina dispel any doubts of women in their 50s not being seen as beautiful ... you are beautiful in and out," a fan added.

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