Friday, January 9, 2015

real beauty in the modern world

Y'all, this topic just came to my brain and I'm going to try and calm it down and put it into clear, fully developed thoughts so bear with me. This is going to be a sort of "stream of consciousness."

I was just looking in the mirror, admiring my shiny hair that I somehow forced myself to straighten today and trying to overlook the massive red spots on my face. I've been struggling with cystic acne for the last few months and even with makeup it's really hard to cover up. Days where I'm not doing anything I tend to just not do my hair or makeup and just sit in my room and do nothing. If I make plans with someone, I rush to do my makeup and improvise with my hair. I genuinely enjoy putting on makeup and taking cute selfies in rooms where I know the lighting is flattering but it's almost not an option anymore to go out without makeup on because my acne is so bad. If someone Snapchats me and I'm not wearing makeup, I either try to cover the spots with my hand or I don't respond. I'm sure I have so many friends that wonder why my Snapchats always feature my hand resting in front of my mouth and it's for that reason. I'm really insecure about my acne and I don't like it when people see me without any makeup on.


I really enjoy makeup and I think makeup is such a fun thing to accentuate your beauty but you cannot let it define your beauty.


I wouldn't say that I think I'm only beautiful with makeup on but I know that I really don't feel all that beautiful when I have really bad breakouts all over my face. And this is tough. I let the world around me make me feel so insecure about something so minor. Someone told me one time that "no one notices your blemishes even when that's all you can see." Can even you imagine that? I remember laughing and thinking, "Yeah, right. No one notices all of this? *motioning to my chin area* I call BS on this one."

I feel like this is such a controversial topic and a really fine line to walk along because society is generally one way or another. Makeup either makes you beautiful or makeup is completely unnecessary.

I'm not saying that makeup is a bad thing. Not at all. Please, come and see the amount of makeup I've collected or follow me around on a trip to Sephora. I love makeup and I really always have. Makeup is cool but when you can't do anything or go anywhere without putting makeup on, I think that's where the problem lies.

We have let society tell us that a flawless complexion is the only way to be beautiful.

I feel like when I walk into a store, they don't see my face, they see my uncovered acne. When guess what? ACNE IS COMPLETELY NORMAL AND ALMOST ALL HUMAN BEINGS HAVE SUFFERED FROM IT AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIVES. (and if you haven't, go admire your perfect skin in the mirror while the rest of us complain.) When did we start ignoring that? I did not choose to put this zit in the middle of my forehead, people. And you best believe that I am trying to cover the zit in the middle of my forehead up as best I can. I did not attach it to my face and I am not spending time with it on the weekend because it's my best friend. Acne sucks, no one likes it, and sometimes it's not a matter of just washing your face regularly, it's a hormone thing.

Beauty is not your appearance, beauty is your personality and I think that's something we've all forgotten. Society tells us that in order to be beautiful we have to have the right clothes, perfect makeup, flawless hair and a bubbly personality. Well, guess what? Beauty is not found on the outside. Beauty is found in how you treat others. People who can be seen as "beautiful" on the outside aren't always beautiful on the inside. Beauty is found in your actions and how you love the world around you. Beauty is found in your kindness shown to others. Beauty is not defined by a number on a scale or what size clothes you wear but by your words and actions.

I think we've all gotten distracted along the way and we've let society and the media trick us into believing that you can only be beautiful if you look like the men and women who are shown in magazines or on TV and in movies. The world has so much possibility and if we all truly believed and bought into the idea of real beauty coming from within then I think we would see a drastic change in the media, in the beauty and fashion industries, in how we treat each other, and in so much more.

Just some food for thought. Hope y'all are having a great week and I hope you all know that you're beautiful in your own amazing and unique way.

xoxo, Molly

p.s. feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on this subject! I'd love some feedback

2 comments:

  1. Nice blog post Molly! I have always thought about this in my head and wished everyone else thought about it too. Society has changed how we view others and it's just not right. One should learn how to love themselves how they are and not care about what the world aeound them thinks.
    Thanks for sharing this! :)

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  2. Girl -- I feel the same way at THIRTY-TWO YEARS OLD!!! I just said the other day, "aren't you supposed to stop getting huge under the skin zits after your teenage years"... apparently not. I have no problem running around town with no makeup on but if I have a blemish then I am self conscious too and will at least throw on some powder and mascara. Love you! Can't wait to see you next week! xoxo-MK

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