FRANCES Bignall is used to being stared at and the subject of verbal abuse when she walks along the street.

"If you go abroad to somewhere like America, people think you are cool. Here people throw things in the street and call you a freak," says the 26-year-old who lives in Darlington.

It's hardly surprising people stop and stare. She has coloured hair - pink, orange and yellow at present - as well as many facial piercings featuring large jewellery and tattoos. But Frances, pictured right, is featured in Body Beautiful because of the beads she's had implanted under the skin on her forearm.

"I'd seen people with them on the Internet and in pictures. I got in touch with a guy in America who does that procedure and discussed it with him. I combined having the beads inserted with a holiday," she explains.

There was "an awful lot of pain involved" but she says: "You kind of switch off to it". The procedure involved making an incision in her arm and then introducing the beads under the skin through equipment similar to that used in breast implants.

Why put herself through such agony? "I don't think I would put too much emphasis on the aesthetics although that's obviously a reason. I believe it's a natural urge. If you look at kids they're always having a great time with face paints and that," she explains.

She began about ten years ago with piercings, moving on to tattoos and implants. "I have more ideas for more surgical modifications like more implants and ear restructuring," she adds.

Frances was hesitant about contributing to Body Beautiful only agreeing after becoming convinced that producer Derek Proud wanted to do something positive on the subject "which isn't done that often in the media".

Hagi, a 24-year-old engineer from Middlesbrough now living in Stockton, was also dubious about taking part because of the way people like him have been portrayed in the past.

He talks about having his calf branded. He went to Phoenix in America to have it done. The process was carried out with a heated rod whose intense electrical heat creates a third degree burn on the part of the body chosen to be branded.

"It's an incredibly painful experience. It leaves a big scar and I designed my own pattern," he recalls. "But it's just a natural progression. I've gone through the piercing stages. I'm not running out of places to pierce but of places that look good.

"My piercings and tattoos are not for other people to see. I do it for me. I feel better in myself. I have quite a lot of facial piercings, about 15 to 20 including the ears. People see them but no one really sees the rest of it, only friends and people that I'm close to."

He can't remember when or why he started changing his body, although he had his ears pierced when he was 13. "It was just a natural thing," he says. "Once you get one done, that's it. I wanted more and more and more. They built up over the years."

He had his first tattoo at 15, which he describes as an act of rebellion to upset his mother and has since had that first tattoo covered up.

Hagi insists on designing his own tattoos, planning to have flames design on his right arm and an all-black design on his left arm. He is also moving into scarification - "just involving scalpels really, abstract cuttings on people" - and wants "some big scars", including one from shoulder to stomach.

"I don't particularly like the pain. The piercings are not too bad although the last two or three I've been close to passing out but that's more to do with the fact I had them done on a Sunday when I had a bad hangover. I do think, 'can I put up with the pain?' beforehand and nine times out of ten I get it done."

He's aware that not everyone agrees with what he does to his body. After the branding he recalls a friend who "turned round behind my back and said to another friend he thought I'd gone too far and had been stupid".

Others are intrigued by his actions. Hagi says his co-workers know about it and are fine with it. "Some were a bit awkward when I started but it only took a couple of months for people to accept that I'm not some strange freak."

He can also point to the fact that his branding was a bargain. Normally he would have paid £200 or £300 but it only cost him a pair of shoes. "The girlfriend of the guy doing the branding fell madly in love with my then girlfriend's shoes and said he'd do the branding if I sent him a pair of those shoes when I got home.