Ciara Shares Why She’s Done Trying to Cover Up Her Stretch Marks

If you are struggling with how you see yourself in the mirror postpartum you aren’t alone. Between messages to “bounce back” and those pushing radical acceptance, it can be hard to even decide what’s okay to feel. But as R&B icon Ciara and Kylie Kelce recently reminded listeners, there’s beauty in giving yourself time and grace to figure out what feels true to you.

On a recent episode of Not Gonna Lie, hosted by Kelce, the Grammy-winning artist opened up about her own path to self-acceptance following pregnancy. The conversation was sparked by a social media clip Ciara shared after welcoming daughter Amora with husband Russell Wilson in December 2023, in which she proudly declared, “My four babies bless me with these stretch marks. Why am I going to cover them up?” Now a mom of four, Ciara reflected on the changes motherhood has brought to her body over the past 10 years.

“You know, I had to find my way in it,” Ciara told Kelce. “Especially like the beginning with the stomach stretching. Like that’s something that’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, my stomach will never be the same…’” Ciara explained that with every pregnancy she developed stretch marks and would turn to stretch mark removal treatments to help fade certain spots. But this time, something shifted.

“This last time, I’m like, you know what? These are my beauty marks…I have finally turned the corner on embracing those imperfect marks on my body because they do tell the story,” she shared. “They are part of who I am, and I can’t change those things. Those things have depth to them in reference to where the marks come from.”

Kelce praised Ciara’s openness and gradual progression, sharing her own perspective as a mom of four. “Nobody expects you to push out a baby and have these physical changes and look at yourself in the mirror. Especially postpartum bodies— to me, I find it so jarring and I’ve done it four times. Every single time I’m like, getting dressed postpartum is an absolute nightmare,” Kelce shared.

“When we talk about getting to a point where you can appreciate the way your body has changed, the stretch marks that you now have, it is so important to recognize that it’s not that you pushed the baby out and you looked at your body and you were like, ‘You know what, I still got it.’ Because I don’t think—if you had that experience, amazing—that was not mine,” she continued. “It took me until probably after my third baby to be like, you know what, my stomach is never going to look the same. And that’s okay because the tiny humans that I have created with my body—you just have to sit in this moment of gratitude.”

“But it is a build like you’re you might not have that the moment that you realize your body has changed, but you can get there,” Kelce shared.

Ciara and Kelce’s candid exchange is a reminder that self-love after pregnancy doesn’t have to be instant. It can be a slow, compassionate build. If you are looking to work your way there, check out these baby steps to loving your postpartum body again.