People made fun of this teenager's 'banana' freckles. She got the last laugh

18-year-old Salem Mitchell has become a social media sensation and 'It Girl' - but not for the reasons you might expect.

The young Californian gained attention online for her distinctive freckles.

Mitchell, who is of African-American and Filipino descent, told the San Diego Voicethat people began to make fun of her freckles.

People would say I looked like a banana or a cheetah or like I had a skin disease.

She decided to respond with a creative photo shoot featuring bruised bananas, explaining:

If people are going to laugh at me, I’m going to laugh with them and I’m going to be in charge of the jokes that are about me. [The bananas] kind of looked like me.

It's because of this that photographers began to take notice of her, and Mitchell has since modelled for Vogue, Gucci, Missguided and even Beyoncé’s website!

She's now been signed to Ford Models.

In an interview with C-Heads magazine, Salem said:

People most likely feel the need to compare themselves to others because of the way society highlights specific traits more than others.

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