How to Contour Your Face And Look Beautiful

"How to Contour Your Face And Look Beautiful"

NO. No. Just no.

Stop it! Stop believing that you have to look a certain way to be beautiful! You're beautiful already (or handsome if you're a guy).

It makes me mad when I come across headlines like the one above. They always show a before and after photo, the former implying that because they're not plastered in make-up, they are not beautiful. Because their cheekbones are not razor sharp and their face perfectly highlighted, they are not beautiful. What a joke. What a stupid, idiotic, sick kind of joke.

I read an article the other day that brought up the idea that the industries that objectify women (fashion, make-up, diets, etc) are not actually perpetuated by men, but by women themselves. The article pointed out that it isn't men who buy the magazines advertising 101 ways to lose weight for bikini season, it's the women. It's those who are the customers and consumers of these industries who are the perpetuators.

I've thought about this before and I'd like to extend this idea to fit all of humanity in general. The people who are truly perpetuating the ideas and myths about appearance and expectations are ourselves! Whenever you find yourself coming up against a social construct about, say, what you should look like, you put it there! You looked at what was around you and you let yourself believe that, despite knowing that the model was probably airbrushed out of existence, you should look like them. You let yourself define your own self-worth in comparison to the world of images around you and held them up every time you looked in a mirror.

It's you who decides if you're skinny enough, if you're comfortable enough, whether you look better with or without make-up. So stop upholding these ridiculous standards for yourselves. If you find yourself dissatisfied with your appearance, first evaluate whether it's a valid concern or not. If it is, fix it! It's okay, even healthy, to compare yourself to your standards but only if that prompts you to do something about it. And I'm not talking strict dieting either. Learn to recognize the signs of your own body. No two bodies are alike so sorry, there's not magic formula for perfection.

So learn to listen to your body and only uphold healthy standards. And love yourself for who you are. Contoured or not, I think you have a beautiful face.