“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.” —Edgar Allan Poe
Recently, I ran across an article stating that makeup created false beauty. This reminded me of a separate article stating that Black women who wear weaves suffer from a low self-esteem. I couldn’t disagree more.
Makeup, wigs, weaves and lotions are simply used to enhance our already beautiful features. I wear makeup and unapologetically love to play with my hairstyles. So did Cleopatra and the indomitable Josephine Baker. Which goes to another point: powerful women for ages have used beauty enhancers to often stunning and disarming effect.
But the reality of the situation is that how we feel about our physical beauty is a factor in achieving a high self-love.
There is a study that shows that mentally ill women who neglect their physical appearance find it easier to achieve recovery when taught to care about their basic personal appearance.
It is not as simple as saying it’s all about appearance, however. Those same women worked hard to build self-esteem internally and to regain mental health. It all goes hand in hand, and concentrating on those factors that build strength from the inside out were essential to my sense of worth and weight loss as well. Here’s why:
When you decide to have a positive attitude and self-confidence, your world inexplicably changes. Self-confidence is partially achieved by being mindful of the negative things you tell yourself.
For example, instead of “It’s impossible for me to lose weight, I’m big boned,” say, “I will achieve the physique I’ve been longing for!” Positive thoughts create positive actions, which creates real results, and results reinforce self-esteem.
Exercising, on a very basic level, boosts self-esteem and improves self-image. No matter your weight, dress size, gender, or age, getting active promptly raises your perception of your own attractiveness and self-worth. And with every healthy bite of food or extra quarter mile walked or run, you prove to yourself that you own your self-perception — no one else does or can.
Setting and achieving goals gives you control of your life. Thinking about your dreams, goals, and future play a huge role in elevating your self-esteem. You feel stronger and more accomplished when you achieve those goals, which creates overall happiness. You cannot buy that, only earn it.
So while beauty at a glance is a view of someone’s outer appearance, their character is just as important! Once you begin to love your uniqueness, you proudly want to enhance the beauty you possess.
Some women do that with makeup or weaves or a daily rotation of high heeled shoes. (You know, the gold ones at Nordstroms with the heel out and black straps… anyway, I digress.) It doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable with yourself!
Women have been enhancing their beauty for centuries, and it’s a waste of time to judge. And honestly, when people begin to tell women what is and isn’t beautiful, they’re falling into the same trap of creating cookie-cutter beauty that we rail against society for. When you’re happy and feel complete with yourself, you have no time to badmouth others!
Latrice Marie welcomes reader responses to Latriceculver46@gmail, or visit her at www. Facebook.com/Latrice- Marie.
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