A woman whose stunning beauty selfie went viral has issued an important message to make-up shamers who posted negative reviews of her look: "Suck eggs."

Kelsie Swygart, a nail technician from Ohio, posted a flawless #PowerOfMakeup selfie on Instagram to demonstrate the transformative powers of cosmetics.

With the bare half of her face showing glowing skin covered in freckles, the other side is a starkly different look - the freckles replaced with a creamy even base and Kelsie's hazel eyes framed by dramatic smoky eyes and dark, structured brows.

While the #PowerOfMakeup challenge has been popular since last year, Kelsie's picture has swept across Instagram thanks to the mind-blowing contrast between her two looks.

Read more - Burn survivor uses #powerofmakeup to share empowering beauty message

As her picture gained popularity, comments judging her appearance also began to drop.

"Think I prefer before," one user wrote.

"You're way prettier before," added another - both missing the point of the campaign, which was launched to stop women from feeling ashamed of the way they choose to wear their make-up.

Read more: “When did wearing make-up stop being a choice?”

Kelsie's picture vividly sums up the subjective nature of beauty and the deeply personal relationship make-up wearers have with their chosen products - but what makes it so empowering is her defiant response to critics: her make-up is her business and no one else's.

“I DON'T WEAR THIS MUCH MAKEUP EVER. I just did this for the sake of the challenge," she writes. “Most days I don't wear any makeup at all unless I'm at work and even then it's just brows, liner & mascara.”

“For everyone saying ‘Too much’ or ‘Too dramatic’ etc. can suck eggs. Even if I did this full glam look every day, it would be nobody's concern but my own."

“I do feel beautiful with or without makeup. This challenge was so freaking fun and I will be doing it again sometime soon! Thank you everyone for your kind and supporting comments!”

She later added: “When I posted that first power of makeup post I never could have imagined in a hundred million years that people would react like they are.

“I thought the MOST I'd get out of it was 20-30 likes and a few sweet comments from my close friends. I'm still shocked and a little overwhelmed by how huge this has got.

“It's taken me years to become comfortable with myself and it's something I work on each day. But empowering others is all I want to get out of this.”

The #powerofmakeup phenomenon has recently been put in the shade on social media by its lower maintenance cousin, the #nomakeup revolution, with a bride making the news for going bare-faced on her big day and Alicia Keys calling on women everywhere to follow her lead and "uncover up".

Images: Kelsie Swygart. You can follow her on Instagram on kelsieswygartnails and freckles_and_full.glam