I haven’t always felt this comfortable in my own skin. Even now I still have my off days, which can easily turn into weeks and months if I let them. Even if you turn a blind eye to the media and its beauty standards for women, it can still be pretty tough to not compare your features to those of the women around you. So, I’m going to share with you some tricks I’ve learned along the way!
P.S. Guess what? You’re beautiful!
1. Fake it ‘til you make it
Pretend to be confident. I realise this sounds a bit ridiculous, but hear me out! This is possibly the most important tip of them all. Can we talk about that voice in your head? You know the one; the one that constantly tells you that your nose is too big, your lips are too thin and you look awful in that outfit… yeah, that one. Well, instead of letting all of that negativity seep through unscathed, counteract it with positivity. You could think, for example, ‘Yeah, my nose is a little bigger than I’d like but my eyelashes are poppin’ today!’
Don’t be afraid to compliment yourself. Find something that you like about yourself – it could be something as small as the way that certain lil’ freckle is positioned – anything. The most random thing to date that I’ve found I like about myself is something that’s usually frowned upon and one that people try to cover up: I actually like the dark circles under my eyes. After doing this for a while, it becomes natural and instead of counteracting the negative voice, the positive can actually start to overpower it. Try it!
2. Know how unique you are
There is nobody in the world that looks quite like you. A large part of your appearance boils down to genetic makeup. Whether you look just like your parents or you’ve acquired a gene from someone in your distant ancestry, the genetic lottery is completely random. If you can learn to appreciate how/why you look the way you do, then you’ll definitely be able to appreciate how amazing it is that you are who you are.
3. Remember that there’s no such thing as flaws
Have you ever asked yourself what a ‘flaw’ really is? A ‘flaw’ is something that has been determined by society. The concept that there’s something wrong with you just because you look a certain way is purely made up. Even if you think of it in terms of animals – like the way the peacock with the biggest, brightest feathers is the one that gets the ‘mate’ – it’s all relative, not to mention very ridiculous. So, again, if you start to think about things on a grander scale, you may find it helps you to combat negativity within yourself.
4. Don’t let negative people win
People that are truly happy with themselves and their lives don’t try to put other people down. No matter how amazing they look or how amazing their life appears to be, if they were truly content and busy with themselves, they wouldn’t even have time to consider making you feel bad about yourself. It’s also kinda the age old ‘they’re just jealous of you’ thing. Whether you believe it or not, there is something about you that people would pay a lot of money to have. Somewhere, someone is looking in the mirror wishing they had the very thing you overlook on yourself. Realise that they’re the ones with the problem, not you.
5. Your opinion is the only one that counts
Nobody else is living inside of your body; nobody else can hear your thoughts. Wear as much or as little makeup as you want, and wear whatever the hell you want. Your body is your body and you are the only person who should have any say over how you should look.
Be true to yourself and stay slaying, ladies!
Images via Marcia Lustra Illustrator & @_selfesteemteam
Read our interview with the Self Esteem Team here
