We could all learn from this Malaysian woman’s beautiful case of self-love.
Evita Delmundo’s Instagram account is a trove of happy selfies and outfit photos. The unique beauty, who is covered from head to toe in moles, appears to have confidence in spades.
But according to Delmundo, it took quite some time to reach a place of self-acceptance about her body.
“I got bullied in primary school and the other kids would call me names like ‘Monster’ or ‘Chipsmore,’ which was really tough to swallow as a young girl,” she told Elle Malaysia, referring to a Malaysian brand of chocolate chip cookies. “I was really timid and I shied away as I didn’t know how to deal with it at all.”
She told Elle she credits a church camp she attended four years ago at 16 with helping her find self-acceptance.
“I really learned how to love myself and communicate with others,” she said. “This was probably the first time I truly started accepting who I was, how I look.”
Delmundo, who once considered having her moles removed, said she is now “grateful” for not changing anything. That sentiment seems to ring true for her 42,000 Instagram followers, too: They flock to her page to leave words of encouragement and tout her as an inspiration.
“Honestly, confidence goals!” one follower wrote on a recent post.
“Awww you make me feel so much better about my moles,” someone wrote on another.
Armed with her newfound self-confidence, Delmundo said she recently made the decision to try out for the Miss Universe Malaysia pageant.
“It’s my dream,” she wrote in a photo caption.
When a commenter replied by asking Delmundo if her dream was to “be judge by the whole world,” she responded that she doesn’t see the pageant that way.
“My dream is to make all girls have their own [confidence] with their own beauty,” she wrote.
Callbacks for the pageant are set to take place in July. We can’t wait to see what’s next for this inspiring young woman.
We’ve reached out to Delmundo through her management; this post may be updated.