Rise of the naked Instagram: The social media stars with thousands of followers who post snaps of themselves in the buff (and still get around the nudity policy)

From cute animals to #fitspos and #barefacedselfie posters, it can often seem like Instagram is a minefield of varied hashtag trends.

But the latest thing to do might just be the most unusual to date. Introducing the naked girls of Instagram, also known as users who regularly post pictures of themselves or other women completely in the buff.

The trend started with Nude Yoga Girl, a 25 year old who amassed some 180,000 followers since she started posting on the social media platform in November 2015, sharing tasteful black-and-white snaps of herself contorting and stretching her long, lithe body into yoga poses – all without a stitch of clothing on.

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Nude Yoga Girl: The latest trend on Instagram is posing naked, and one such user is Nude Yoga Girl

Publicly popular: Despite only setting up her profile in November, Nude Yoga Girl has some 180,000 followers

But the former model, who prefers to remain anonymous, is far from alone in getting around Instagram’s strict nudity policy (the site gets rid of any photos which display even a hint of female nipple or buttocks). 

Instead, there are a whole host of naked girls on Instagram – women who manage to post arty and dramatic nude shots without getting prohibited by the site.

‘Yoga and photography are my two passions and I wanted to bring them together in a pure way,’ says Nude Yoga Girl, whose work looks nothing like you might see on Instagram on yogis – or nudity for that matter – but instead looks sophisticated, with expert use of shading and shadows in her photos to keep things decent.

‘I found a new way of expressing myself and it all just started out suddenly and spontaneously,’ she says.

Positive comments: She receives comments such as 'stunning' and 'inspiring' online from users

‘Stunning’ and ‘inspiring’ are more common than ‘sexy’ as comments, and Nude Yoga Girl claims she means the page to be empowering rather than erotic.

‘It's great to know that I've been able to ''touch'' people in a positive way with my art and captions. That's the most important thing for me,’ she says.

‘I used to see fault with my body and that made it impossible for me to accept and love myself fully. I think it's important to understand that anybody can struggle with self-acceptance. Yoga helped me to find it and I wish that yoga can help others too. Every single one of us is unique and beautiful exactly the way they are.’

Healthy mind and body: Nude Yoga Girl says she used to see fault with her body, but has now found peace

Crystal Bargholz is another nude-loving yogi who manages to get past Instagram rules in order to post tactful naked yoga poses, which inspire comments such as ‘awesome’ and ‘insane’ on her Instagram page.

Crystal is based in Calgary and has three children. 

Her posts on her Instagram page connect nature and wild scenery with classic yoga poses and tasetful, not-too-revealing nudity. 

Exercise nut: Aside from Nude Yoga Girl, there are plenty of other nude users including Crystal Bargholz

Yogi nudes: Crystal's picture connect nature with yoga to the tune of inspiring comments such as 'awesome'

Aside from exercise nude nuts, there are plenty of other people picking up on the social media trend for being naked online. 

Kim Akrich is one such woman, who occupies a position behind the camera lens instead of in front, capturing women without their clothes on for professional photographs.

Her profile features a whole host of women, predominantly in sun-drenched locations, twisting, running around on beaches and posing nude or nearly nude.  

Nude portraits: Kim Akrich publishes nude portraits of women because she believes they are beautiful 

Lack of advertising: Kim says that if women wear clothes, they are in danger of looking like advertisements 

Completely natural: However her shots are totally natural and without Photoshop usage

Her website describes her style of photography as ‘theatre’ and she agrees that there is a degree of capturing the ‘far away’ in her shots.

‘My work is based on nudes as to me that is the greatest way to express the absolute beauty of the female form,’ she says, of her profile which has over 20,000 followers.

‘When you wear clothes, you can become an advertisement, whereas when you’re naked the only beauty is that of you and yourself. 

Swimwear success: The Naked Tiger publishes nude photos to sell a successful swimwear line

Risque business: The shots are risque but get around Instagram's strict nudity policy

'As a lover of women, I want them to look fierce and proud – strong women. No Photoshop or editing. Nudity is so natural and that’s how it should come across in photos. Nudity is nature. Nudity is beautiful and nudity is art which should be celebrated.’

That’s not to say that every nude Instagrammer doesn’t use nakedness for that specific aim. The Naked Tiger (which has 283,000 followers) is a profile that uses photographers that shoot the nude female body, but this time to sell a hugely successful swimwear and clothing range.

With over a thousand posts and close to a hundred models featured on it, it is managed by Zoe Irvine, who is a blogger and acclaimed fashion designer from Australia.

So are these nude profiles a flash in the pan or the next Instastars every woman will follow online? Watch this space.