"I started to be more confident and understanding that uniqueness makes you even more beautiful"
SundayGirl of the week, Irene Noren shares her confidence, but it wasn't always that way for her.
Sunday: Thanks, for joining us today Irene. Tell us, what’s your ethnicity?
Irene: I am Spanish/Norwegian
Sunday: Wow! Such a beautiful mix! and what’s your age?
Irene: 27
Sunday: Is it true you speak 5 languages?
Irene: Yes, Spanish English Norwegian catalan and basic of French and Italian.
Sunday: Also, congrats on both your companies: @in.thelabel your clothing line and @oh.wab your beauty products line. Love mission and what you are doing as an entrepreneur Irene.
Sunday: So, let's talk about your body....what is one major way you’ve struggled to appreciate or love your body?
Irene: When I first started modeling, I tended to compare myself to others all the time. I never expected to be a model. Growing up I always felt very insecure about my looks, so I never really understood or believed that people would pay me money to be the image of their brands.
After time I started to think “ok, I’m different to the rest of the models, I’m not as tall as them, I have more curves, but if they are hiring me it must be because they actually want me.” So I started to be more confident and understanding that uniqueness makes you even more beautiful than following the beauty standards that are established.
Sunday: Why do you think women develop negative relationships with their bodies?
Irene: I feel that’s because men make us feel non-worthy and they often treat us badly. When a guy decides to stop answering your messages or cheats on you, women tend to think it’s their fault. I feel most of the time we tend to think that if our looks were different, then this wouldn’t have happened.
We need to stop thinking this way, and start thinking that if this happened it’s because he wasn’t the right one.
Sunday: What are a couple ways you’ve found to overcome negativity in relation to your body?
"All of us, we have things that we like about ourselves and things that we don’t. I focus on the ones I like and I embrace them"
Irene: All of us, we have things that we like about ourselves and things that we don’t. I focus on the ones I like and I embrace them :)
Sunday: What’s one thing you wish would change in the world to help present and future generations of women feel more beautiful in their own skin?
Irene: I think in schools we should learn self love and how to deal with anxiety. Mental health is linked to how confident we feel in our skin. We take it for granted when most of the population deals with depression, body dysmorphia and anxiety.
Also I feel that parents should embrace their kids differently, instead of focusing on their physical qualities (like saying you have amazing hair, your sister looks like her father, you are more pretty when you smile) focus on qualities that makes them a better person, like: you have a beautiful heart, I love that you want to help your mother, etc.
Sunday: What do you love most about your body, and why?
Irene: I love my skin, how I get tan in summer and how soft it is.
Sunday: How was it shooting with Karlo with no makeup?
Irene: It was great! I don’t always shoot with make up, I tried to keep my looks as natural as I can. Makeup is fun when you want to look more glam or give a retro aesthetic to the photos but I love a natural look.
Sunday: Do you typically wear makeup? If so why?
Irene: No, I play with make up when I want to look more glam or as a compliment to my outfits.
Sunday: How do you keep yourself healthy?
Irene: I read a lot about philosophy, mental health and I practice meditation. Overall I try to have a healthy mindset and then I compliment this to a diet that is focused on organic food. I mostly eat plant based foods and sometimes I have days where I just eat what my body wants :)
Sunday: What physical activities make you feel better?
Irene: I have the habit of meditating, so it’s something I really do enjoy. I also walk everyday, and a couple times a week I workout.
Sunday: What do you typically eat to stay healthy?
Irene: Plant based foods. I avoid processed foods along with unhealthy sugars and fats.
Sunday: What words of inspiration can you give to a girl struggling to love her body?
Irene: Stop comparing your body to others. Do small changes that can help you feel better and always remember that beauty comes from within.
Sunday: Why is it important to feel sexy?
Irene: I think what is really important is to feel confident. Some girls will find confidence when they look sexy and others will find it being less sexy. Being sexy is just a decision you make in order to feel more confident, but I think that other women find their confidence differently, and that’s totally respectable.
Sunday: When do you feel most sexy?
Irene: I feel the most sexy when I can be my self with the people I love, when there’s no judgments and I have fun dancing or being silly with them.
Sunday: Why is loving your skin so important?
Irene: Because it’s how we present ourselves to the world and it gives me confidence in my work.
Sunday: Some people feel taking pictures in underwear is wrong, how does it make you feel when you take photos in a bra and underwear?
Irene: At the beginning it was a part of my job. I will always book lingerie and swimwear jobs, so I normalized it. For me the problem isn’t in the clothes you wear, but in the kind of people who judge it.
Sunday: How has SMV impacted you?
Irene: I think it’s really beautiful to have a platform for diversity and different opinions from different women. I think that in a world of comparisons, having different role models of people to look up too or relate with is really amazing.
Sunday: To see more of Irene please follow her @irenenoren and make sure to check out her new clothing line In The Label. Any photos with a bodysuit are from her line.
"Being sexy is just a decision you make in order to feel more confident"
"For me the problem isn’t in the clothes you wear, but in the kind of people who judge it"
Here are more Gorgeous Images from Irene's Photo Shoot Spread.
