I recently heard a talk at a ladies breakfast I attended for work. A lady from Dove gave a talk about their campaign, Real Beauty and showed us this video:

Dove conducted a social experiment called the ‘Real Beauty Sketch’ which explored how women view their own beauty in contrast to what others see. Basically a series of ladies met with an artist who started to draw them (having never seen them) by the way in which they were explaining themselves to look like. The artist then met with a stranger who had the chance to meet these same ladies and he then began to draw the ladies according to how the strangers were describing these women. The result was astonishing!

When it comes to our looks, we are our worst critics. According to Dove, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful. Are you apart of this statistic?

The reality is, everyone has flaws but that doesn’t mean that others can see them when looking at you. Truth is, you (besides your husband and family) know what you look like without make up, without your hair done up nicely, what you look like naked and how you feel about yourself when you see this person. Others can’t. Have you ever looked at a friend or another person and thought ‘wow I wish that I had her hair or her nose’? Nine times out of 10, she has done the same thing or even hates her curly hair!

Some truths to think about: 

• You are more beautiful than you think!
• Embrace what you have and work with it!
• Beauty is not all about what you look like.

How tall you are, how small your waist is and what colour your eyes are, is just a small segment of what beauty is. You don’t have to be a model to be beautiful.

We critise ourselves everyday and are conscious about how we present ourselves to society. This impacts our self esteem, our confidence, beauty should be a source of confidence and not anxiety. It is important to remember that everyone wants to change at least one thing about themselves (even the model or actress you are wishing to look like) so we are all in the same boat at the end of the day.

Tips: 

Dove offered some tips to work through and I decided to work through them on my blog to help you identify with your own issues:

Focus on your beauty – name five things you love about your appearance:
I have always loved my smile – having had the blessing of braces when I was 15/16 really did help me straighten out my teeth and today they are truly one of my favourite feature on my face
My eyes – I always receive compliments on the colour of my eyes. I was lucky enough to have been born with sparkling green eyes.
My curly hair – I use to hate having curly hair because before I knew how to ‘work with it’ I use to feel like it was messy, bushy and frizzy and always envied girls with beautiful sleek straight hair. Now that I know how to style my curls and I know what works for me, I am lucky enough to have both options when styling my hair – I can leave it naturally curly or I can straighten it 🙂 Lucky me!
My fair skin – I use to envy girls who could tan and turn brown at the first sight of sun while I turned red the moment the sun spotted me but now I think fair skin is pretty and I embrace my ‘lilly whiteness’
My chest – I was fortunate enough to be blessed with a nice chest area that fills tops well (haha enough said)

Identify your uniqueness – what makes you stand out?
I feel like beauty is skin deep and I feel like my positivity shines through my face/smile/eyes and I think this is what makes me stand out. I try and always be a happy influence on people as I feel like life is hard enough without having to inflict your negativity and hardships on others.
My acceptance and love of my body/curves. I truly make a point everyday of loving and accepting who I am, what I look like and hope to inspire others through the love of my body. I feel that society tells women/young girls that only one shape is beautiful and that is slim and if you don’t fit this idea – you are not beautiful but who said plus size isn’t beautiful?
My energy – I am always up for adventure, fun and inspire others through my love of life.

Admire your inner beauty and characteristics & qualities you are proud of?

My past – I have come from a broken home and the things that I have been through to make me who I am today is a characteristic I am proud of. For most of you reading my blog today, you won’t know who I am, where I have come from and how far I have come since my childhood, but this is something I am proud of.

My big love – I believe I got this from my late mom. She had this ability to love so big, she had friends who adored her and she had the biggest heart and I believe she taught me how to love today.

My strength – Despite my sensitivity, I am able to get up and move on.

Realise how beautiful you are and let go of hurt, restrictions and words that my hold you down:
To sum it up – forgive yourself for beating yourself up about how you look. Let go of people, words or hurtful actions that have been said, spoken or done to you. People are generally unhappy with themselves and feel that saying horrible things to you will make themselves feel better about themselves. Remember one thing: You are only as beautiful as you feel!

I would love to hear your thoughts!

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