0 Comments
The representation of natural beauty is spearheaded by the beauty industry and is primarily focused on what’s on the outside. It is directed at fixing perceived flaws such as being wrinkly, too dark, uncontrollable curly hair, all these conditions are perceived as problems and are conveniently fixed by products they sell.
This leaves a lot of women feeling marginalized and the result is, many feel compelled to buy these products so that they fit into the beauty lane.
There should be a holistic view, that focuses on inclusivity as we are all different and beautiful as we are. Diversity in beauty should be celebrated and encouraged, to a mindset that cares just as much about our compassion as it does our concealer.
It’s time to rebrand natural beauty into a view that encourages women to unashamedly own their style whilst respecting our values, and highlighting the fact that some days women just don’t feel like putting in the effort to fit the predetermined idea of beauty (and that’s okay).
The brutal truth is that redefining natural beauty is an idea that won’t happen overnight, but it’s a movement that needs to start with listening to the voices of all women and recognising the ideas of ladies who aren’t typically considered or invited to such conversations.
So let’s discover 8 great meaning that defines the natural beauty:
1- Natural beauty gets creative
Natural beauty tends to be an interesting phrase when a major part of your body is artificial. Say you have a prosthetic leg to move around with, instead of having a ‘cosmesis’ (that cosmetic cover that goes over a prosthetic limb) and is meant to emulate a ‘real’ leg but of course, human skin tone doesn’t have a matte finish or a consistent combination of colour so inadvertently, it will look fake.
So instead of walking around with something that looks obviously like a fake leg, why not get creative with it. Picked out a floral linen upholstery fabric that you adored and have it laminated to the fibreglass shell. The result: will be a customised, stunning accessory that looks like a hand-painted artwork that is part of my body.
And while there’s nothing ‘natural’ about this, it sets you apart by being an integral part of your mobility, identity, and in its simplicity becomes a part of what makes you whole. This mindset can be used in a whole host of areas, don’t follow the herd, break out and find something that works well to represent you
2- Natural beauty surprises you
For girls with curly hair, throughout their time in elementary school and middle school, have their hair blow-dried and straightened every single day in preparation for school. Most don’t even know that they have curly hair until much later on in life. Even after discovering their curls, many still feel compelled to straighten their hair to feel ‘presentable.’
Fast forward a few years later when they are now comfortable in their skin, the curly hair becomes one of their favourite features about themselves because it’s a trait that they didn’t know they had growing up. Instead of trying to hide a natural trait, we should celebrate any characteristic that accentuates someone’s diversity because it is a marker of natural beauty.
3- Natural beauty promotes self-love
Natural beauty needs to have an element of unconditional self-love and acceptance. Black female beauty tends to be denigrated, overlooked, and often stereotyped. Women of colour are often left out of the mainstream beauty industry and it’s a shame.
With their gorgeous full lips, high cheekbones, big eyes, hourglass shapes, and sexy bodies, it’s shocking why they are not encouraged to embrace their natural beauty through positive self-talk
4- Natural beauty needs context
For most foreigners, there tends to an identity crisis as they have to switch to their host countries’ cultures and practices. This rethink shifts their perception of what natural beauty is. Natural beauty is being able to accept oneself fully regardless of culture and place. Women should feel beautiful when they are representing their different heritages.
As humans, we can’t live without context. There’s something really beautiful in having strength in freedom of choice. Having to change who you are to fit into an environment can have dire consequences on one’s confidence and self-appreciation
5- Natural beauty knows no harm
Natural beauty means working with what you have, not trying to be or look any other way, but rather highlighting what makes you, you—flaws and all. Not having to physically change your natural features to fit in.
Natural beauty means, being authentic to your values and customs, this includes supporting brands that align with personal values, which for a lot of individuals, means buying products and items that cause no harm to the environment or animals. Some people find testing on animals or using animal-derived ingredients is unethical
6- Natural beauty means following mom’s advice
mothers define natural beauty for their children at a young age. At that young age, the focus is making sure you took care of your hair, have clean clear skin, and ultimately look like yourself. This minimalistic approach is an important lesson we should encourage our young girls. You do not need to cake your face full of product to be considered beautiful.
These life lessons should be carried throughout life. There’s a lot of pressure out there to look like celebrities, and buying a product to fix your ‘perceived’ imperfections
7- With natural beauty, less is more.
In keeping with the theme “mother knows best” we tend to take our natural beauty for granted when we’re young but the older we get, we start appreciating being healthy naturally beautiful. Natural beauty is derived from the soul, and it’s a feeling that comes from within.
We don’t need to have a whole lot of cosmetics on our faces to cover us up. What every woman needs, is to have a deeper appreciation for their natural beauty, and this is only achieved if you have a healthy outlook and a positive persona. When you take care of yourself consistently, you will feel good and a peaceful soul.
8- Natural beauty balances strength and vulnerability.
Not all women fit into the petite dainty bracket and tend to be uncomfortable in their skin. For these strong beautiful women, need to be taught that beauty is not your appearance, but being able to be strong and feminine to correlate.
—
The term “Natural beauty”, seems to have lost its meaning. When you take a glance at the mainstream media you will realize that there is a predetermined agenda to define beauty in a monochromatic manner.
The visuals on magazines, websites, billboards, and television tend to follow a particular trend. Natural beauty is represented by slim ladies with long straight hair and a fair skin tone. This unfortunate representation is extremely prejudicial as it leaves a whole lot of women out of the picture.
