The Project: Rachel Hunter praises social media's diversity

From the North Shore, to the world's top catwalks to the cover of Vogue, New Zealand's very own supermodel, Rachel Hunter, knows a thing or two about beauty.

After years of glitz and glamour, 50-year-old Hunter is bringing beauty back to basics. She has been around the world, testing what different cultures have to offer in the name of health and wellbeing. Her experiences are captured in her new book, Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty.

"I see beauty as this evolution... A three-year-old doesn't know [what beauty is]... they are just all inclusive, there's no judgement. As we age, there's conditioning and society, things that impact [us]," the Kiwi icon said on Thursday's episode of The Project. 

"It's interesting how people react when someone says, 'You look really beautiful'... you [can] feel really uncomfortable... there's not always an acceptance there."

Hunter praised social media's diversity, saying it allows young people to find a role model they can identify with and connect to.

"I love social media in terms [of its] diversity. You can find someone who really suits you, someone you really connect to. When I was modelling, there was one particular look - the blue-eyed blonde," Hunter said.

"But here and now, as much as we want to blame social media... there is access to information [for us to] identify and support what we need."

The Glenfield-born model, who went to Paris for her first modelling contract at the age of 16, said inner beauty ultimately comes from helping others.

"There's so much [you can do] externally... but spend some time with your own internal self and really see where you at," she advised.

"Really connect with community... the word 'unity' is within the word. We need support from each other. We need to make sure that our neighbours are okay, that we're okay."

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