The beautiful way this teen with cancer embraced the loss of her hair.

A 17-year-old teen has turned her sudden cancer diagnosis into something truly beautiful.

Andrea Salazar from Texas was diagnosed with stage two nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma after she found a lump in her neck in February.

The young teen soon began chemotherapy and watched as she slowly lost her hair.

Salazar told Buzzfeed she struggled to accept the loss of her hair.

“Before chemotherapy I had always been a confident person,” she said,

“When my hair started to fall out I would look in the mirror and I wouldn’t feel that confident about myself.”

Salazar became determined to reclaim her old life and her passion for modelling.

The product was a series of photos that prove illness doesn't need to make anyone feel any less beautiful.

Photographer Gerardo Garmendia worked with the 17-year-old to create a truly magical shoot.

Salazar said she initially wanted to inspire the girls at the hospital where she was being treated to feel better about how they look.

“I see all these little girls, and you can see it in their faces that they lose all confidence in themselves,” she said.

“I want them to know that your hair or your physical attributes doesn’t define who you are – what really matters is your inner beauty, the way you treat others, and if you’re a kind person, that shows through.”

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The story of Salazar will hopefully be a reminder to young girls everywhere that beauty is not defined by what's on top — it's what's underneath.