SI Swimsuit Model Lais Ribeiro Says Beauty Is All About Inner Confidence

The four-time brand star shares how she cultivated self-worth from within as a young girl.

Lais Ribeiro was photographed by Anne Menke in Sacramento, Calif. / Anne Menke/Sports Illustrated

In honor of National Inner Beauty Day next week, we’re gathering insight from a few SI Swimsuit models on what true beauty means to them. From radiating positive energy to embodying inner confidence, our brand stars certainly know a thing or two about shining from the inside out.

Take four-time SI Swimsuit model Lais Ribeiro, for example. The 33-year-old Brazilian model, who was featured in the 2017, ’18, ’19 and 2021 magazines, following her photo shoots in Indonesia, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Sacramento, Calif., respectively, connects true beauty to one’s inner confidence. In an on-set interview, she shared an anecdote from her childhood that led Ribeiro to unlock her self-worth.

“Beauty means confidence, for sure,” Ribeiro says. “I think you have to be comfortable in your own skin, like you have to accept yourself. When I was a child, I was embarrassed of myself because I was pretty skinny and I had like the biggest knees, and I didn’t feel beautiful because a lot of people would just keep telling me I wasn’t. So when I accepted myself the way I was, you know, I just am and I’m like this and I feel beautiful in my own skin, that’s when I feel confident.”

Outside of her collaborations with SI Swimsuit, Ribeiro is known for her work as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, and has landed on the covers of publications like Ocean Drive and Galore magazine. In addition to modeling, she is incredibly passionate about health and fitness. Ribeiro’s philosophy that beauty begins within is one that extends to her ideology where her well-being is concerned, too.

“I would say my health and wellness routine is a big part of my beauty routine. For me, beauty starts from within and what you put into your body,” Ribeiro told Who What Wear in 2021. “I’m always drinking a lot of water and making sure I’m eating healthy, but I also love staying active so I can sweat out any toxins in my body.”

Oftentimes, her work as a model allows Ribeiro to bring her passion for exercise to set, as she did with the SI Swimsuit team while in the Bahamas for her 2018 magazine feature. Photographer Ben Watts had her leaping through the air, frolicking along the sand into the surf and even juggling a soccer ball in order to capture some incredible mid-action snapshots. Check out the behind the scenes footage from her feature here.