A SEX coach is smearing menstrual blood on her face in a bid to end the stigma and shame around periods.

Demetra Nyx, 26, regularly posts selfies to her Instagram page covered in her blood, which she says is “powerful”.

4 Demetra had her first period aged 12 and was ashamed by it Credit: MDWfeatures / @demetra_nyx

Demetra, who lives in LA, California, had her first period aged 12, but was ashamed of it and thought it was disgusting.

She would try and hide her period from boyfriends, and worried about bleeding through her clothes.

Demetra said: "I was simultaneously embarrassed and fascinated by my period. I felt apologetic about it a lot and tried to hide it from boyfriends.

“Our society teaches us that periods are dirty and inconvenient.

4 She began to experience heavy period after having an IUD fitted Credit: MDWfeatures / @demetra_nyx

“Ads about menstrual products talk about smelling ‘fresh’ or making us cleaner, implying that our bodies’ natural functions are gross."

Embarrassed and ashamed, she had an IUD fitted when she was 20, after the pill gave her panic attacks and reduced her libido.

But the device gave Demetra heavy, painful periods which left her bed-bound.

A year later she had it removed after partially pulling it out while using a menstrual cup – and began to become more in tune with her cycle.

She changed her mindset, and now regularly smears her period blood over her face and shares it online, calling it “magical”.

4 She now regularly posts photos covered in her menstrual blood to 'liberate' women Credit: MDWfeatures / Laurie Marie

Now a sex coach, she said: “Sharing pictures of blood on my face and body was just an impulse – I was creating a series to help women connect with their menstrual cycle, and I thought it would be fun.

"We can also do things like paint with it or pour it into the earth.

"I believe it’s a beautiful thing to get comfortable with touching your own blood.

“I used to spend my time worrying about what other people thought of me.

“I used to keep lists as a 12-year-old: what are all the ways in which I could be more attractive?

“How could I hide my period blood, my skin, my wrinkles, my fat?”

Demetra says her posts are all about liberating women, and vowed to continue posting more graphic photos.

4 The 26-year-old says her period blood is 'magical' Credit: MDWfeatures / @demetra_nyx

She wrote on her Instagram: “It is a little to liberate other women and a lot to please my Self.

“I get so much pleasure from this ritual and I love feeling so free to share it and I love not caring what the reactions will be.

“I will do this every month until people are no longer shocked by it.

“I will do it until little girls stop being taught that the natural functions of their bodies are disgusting and unclean."

“I will do it until women stop feeling like they can’t have sex on their period because it is gross.

“I will do it until we stop being embarrassed that we sometimes bleed through our clothing. Through your sheets.

“The idea isn’t to get everyone to put blood on their face (though - wow - does it make your skin glow!)”

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Despite the negative comments she receives, with people comparing her menstrual blood to “poop”, she insists she finds it "fun" to post the photos.

She said: “My blood to me has become fun, beautiful, and powerful, and playing with it brings me closer to myself.

“A really common comment I get is, ‘oh, you should just wipe poop all over your face then, it’s the same thing’.

"I also heard from friends and family that it was ‘weird’ and ‘disgusting’, and some people didn’t talk to me because of it.

“That encourages me to keep posting them – if it wasn’t having a necessary impact, people wouldn’t be so bothered by it."

This year saw the addition of a period emoji for the first time, with a blood droplet part of the new range added alongside flamingos and ice cubes.