A body modification fan who has had 30 piercings, implants, tattoos and fillers to boost her lips to ten times their usual size has said she has no regrets – despite people saying she looks like a monster.
Make-up apprentice Chiara Dell’Abate, of Rome, is in her early 20s but has been modifying her body since she was 12.
She said she was bullied in her youth for no reason and this only stopped when she started changing her appearance.
She added that modifying her body has opened up a world of experiences she would never otherwise have had.
Natural beauty: Aydin before her lip fillers. She says she was bullied in her early teens for no real reason but that changed when she began turning to body modification
Aydin pictured a couple of days after a vial of lip fillers, which have helped make her lips 10 times their normal size
Fat lips: People online have called Aydin a monster for her huge lips and body modifications – but she does not mind the comments
Chiara, who is known by the name Aydin, said: ‘I saw modified people on TV when I was eight years old and got really curious.
‘My first piercing at 12 started my journey that has transformed my life forever.
‘It opened my mind. I learnt how to respect everyone’s choices. I learnt how to be more kind. Body modification has given me so much confidence.’.
Growing up with her mother, uncle, grandmother and younger brother, but never knowing her father, Aydin said she was also a shy and introverted child who was bullied by peers.
This was until she entered the world of body modification aged 12.
First she got her ear lobes stretched and got her nostril and labret or bottom lip – pierced. But she soon expanded into other modifications.
Now in her early 20s, she has nine silicone implants including six on her outer labia, two on her forehead and one in her left hand.
Aydin has had many body modifications, including facial piercings, all-over-body tattoos and a tongue splitting (pictured above)
Aydin (pictured here aged 14) says having body modifications has made her kinder to people and more accepting of diversity
Aydin (pictured here aged 21 posing in Turin, Italy). She says she is always kind to her trolls as she herself was bullied
Aydin (pictured with dramatically-long fingernails) taking part in a TV show in Rome – one of the jobs that has come her way since modifying her body
Covered in tattoos, including a large block black ink drawing on her neck. Aydin says she will never stop modifying her body
She also has thirty piercings and fillers in her cheekbones.
Her whole body – face, neck, chest and back – are also covered in tattoos, as is her arms, palm, belly and legs.
And in 2021, she also underwent a cat eye surgery – which makes the eyes look tight.
But perhaps most striking are her lips.
Aydin has 18 fillers in her lips alone, and prefers injecting her own lips, paying just for the vials, something she doesn’t suggest to other people.
Normally lip filler is 1ml up to 3ml in total – but she inserts 1ml filler each month.
Aydin says that sharing her body with piercings, implants, tattoos and fillers has offered her a new world of opportunities and that she will never stop doing body modifications.
She said: ‘I have been on TV shows and even got a part in a movie that is yet to be released.
‘I was also a body art performer for a fetish club and I am often interviewed by anthropology students at the university.
‘I have experienced so much at such a young age.’
Aydin also says that people assume that her parents failed her or she rebelled against them.
But she says this is completely wrong and that her mother has always been supportive of her choices.
‘My friends and family are just curious to know how do these modifications heal,’ she said. Most of my friends have body modifications too. My body modifications have been cool for everyone around me.’
Aydin also describes herself as ‘plastic positive’, and she says there is no limit to her modifications.
She said: ‘I don’t judge people who have surgeries done. As long as you respect the limits of your body health, you can get as many as you like.
‘People who want to do body modification should be true to themselves and just enjoy their journey.’
Aydin says her friends and family support her with her body modifications – it is just online trolls who don’t approve
Aydin has a tattoo of a high-heel shoe on her leg (pictured) and others on her chest, neck and back
When asked about her experiences with bullies and trolls, Aydin said: ‘I was bullied more before I did my body modifications.
‘Like all school kids, sadly I was also normally a target without any reason.
‘I usually ignore online trolls but if I reply to them, I try to be as kind as possible.
‘If the trolls think I’ll be crying because of 15 throwing up emojis, they are wrong.
‘I want to educate people and not hate back like they do. I have learned how to deal with this as a compromise of fully choosing how to look.
‘People rarely have the courage to say something to me in person.’
And she explains how she has a calm way of responding to trolls, believing they should not be listened to.
She said: ‘No one will be spared from being judged by these trolls, regardless of the way one looks.
‘People who look “normal” face similar trolling online. Just don’t bother and feel put down because of them. What matters is being true to oneself.’