It’s been one year since Grace VanderWaal took the top prize on America’s Got Talent, and since then has gone from strength to strength.
And the 13-year-old has consistently shown wisdom beyond her years, taking her fame and the affect it might have on other young women to heart.
In a new interview with Teen Vogue, Grace opened up about her recent make-up-free post that subsequently went viral as a powerful message about self-love.
Big star: Singer Grace VanderWaal, 13, has opened up about her personal body confidence issues
Empowered: The America’s Got Talent winner proudly showed off her make-up-free face (pictured) in a powerful social media post about self love earlier this week
The teen revealed that she and her sister have both been going through some body confidence struggles.
‘I just realized this because when you look in the mirror and you look at that photo and you’re like, “God, my face needs to be slimmer, my lips need to be bigger, my booty needs to be bigger, my waist needs to be more cinched.”‘
She added: ‘At a certain point, it’s a little too much to exploit, to young girls. I felt like with the platform I had, I wanted to share that.’
Grace also talked about how she realizes her problems are far from uncommon, saying: ‘Our generation, we [talk so much about] self-love and body confidence, yet I believe we have the most unrealistic standards of any other generation.’
The Instagram images in question show Grace, who won the show’s eleventh season last year, without any apparent trace of make-up, lifting her bangs to reveal a few pimples on her forehead.
Shots: The 13-year-old singer also included one in which her make-up is fully done (pictured)
Message: Grace, who released an EP called Perfectly Imperfect last year, accompanied her photos with a touching caption, insisting she loves herself equally in both snaps
But in the other photo, the teenager’s make-up is fully done and her usual bangs are back.
Grace, who released an EP called Perfectly Imperfect in December last year, accompanied her photos with a touching caption, insisting she loves herself equally in both snaps.
‘We’re all beautiful and human. I love myself in the first photo and love myself in the second,’ she wrote in the accompanying caption.
The singer then opened up about how she feels uncomfortable when other people tell her they love show she looks without make-up, because she knows they have in fact never seen her without cosmetics.
Her post came shortly before Grace announced she has signed with the modeling agency IMG Models.
‘I couldn’t be more honored and excited, can’t wait to see what will happen in the future!’ she tweeted today, while sharing a message from the agency announcing it is now representing her.
Career: Her post came shortly before Grace announced she has signed with the modeling agency IMG Models
‘I cringe a little whenever I post a photo of me with darker eyeliner or something different and I see comments saying “I love you without the makeup!” Because no one on the internet has actually seen me without a stitch of makeup on,’ she continued.
‘What they mean is, “I love you with your natural make-up on!”‘
In a relatable moment, Grace then pointed out that she, like everyone else, has to deal with acne and struggles to look awake earlier in the day.
‘I’m just like you,’ she added. ‘I get pimples and acne on my face, I have tired eyes in the morning, I definitely have my fair share of awkward moments. Love yourself. It’s a hard thing to do, but know that all those girls you wish you looked like, probably look just like you…’
Grace’s message resonated with her followers, and her post has now received more than 120,000 likes as well as dozens of comments thanking her for sharing her post.