The Radical Power of Looking Like Yourself (and 7 Ways to Glow From Within)
Who benefits when women believe they need injectables, fillers, and toxic beauty products to be beautiful? It's not us, it's not our bodies, and it's not the earth. It’s time to reject the artificial, embrace the natural, and glow from within.
It’s everywhere: articles about how aesthetic injectables are the “new status symbol” for young women. Social media posts quipping that “you’re not ugly, you’re just poor” — because if you were richer, you could afford the products and procedures that would make you beautiful. You know, filler, baby botox, buccal fat removal, all the things that make you look more like an instagram filter, and less like yourself.
It begs the question: who benefits when we believe that to be beautiful, we have to reject the natural (how we look) and embrace the artificial (the “it” look)?
Who profits when we think we need all these different expensive (and not to mention extremely toxic) products and procedures?
Were any of these things relevant before there was a trend that needed to be followed or a product that needed to be advertised? (No)
And importantly, what is lost when we think there is one single way to be beautiful?
Natural > Artificial
It’s ironic that so many artificial things different things – lip filler, $100 serums, botox, makeup full of microplastics, the list goes on and on – are pushed onto women as a way to “fix” us, when in reality, these very things are causing so many of our problems.
They're full of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can lead to everything from PMS to migraines to fertility issues (and more).
And these so-called beauty standards aren’t even set by us. They’re set by corporations (led by white men) chasing profit above all, at the expense of our health and the health of the planet.
Do we really need a body serum for strawberry legs? An exfoliating lip mask? 18 different lip balms? An eye cream to fix our dark circles (that may be partially caused by stress or toxin overload in the first place)?
The artificial isn't making us more beautiful – it's making us sick, miserable, and stuck chasing a false and ever-shifting ideal.
True beauty? It's found in sunshine, stretching, regular movement, a calm nervous system, a nourishing diet, herbal support, and the recognition that what makes you unique is exactly what makes you beautiful.
Embracing the Natural: 7 Ways to Glow From Within
1 ⟢ Start your morning with a nourishing nettle infusion
2 ⟢ Spend 15 minutes outside first thing in the morning, every morning (or as often as you can manage)
3 ⟢ Ditch the alcoholic nightcap and end the day with a mug of ginger tea
4 ⟢ Eat more salmon, berries, and leafy greens, and less refined sugar, caffeine, and alcohol
5 ⟢ Massage your face with rosehip oil (or another natural oil of your choosing) to increase circulation and lymphatic flow
6 ⟢ Treat your body as a sacred space deserving of care and respect. How do you speak to and about your body? Offer it kind, loving, and affirming words. What do you put on and in your body? How do you touch your body? How do you care for your body?
7 ⟢ Be your own beauty standard. How could you look at your brightest, healthiest, and most wildly expressed? That is what you should aim for. Discard the rest (especially the things that were never real in the first place).
