How The Beauty Industry Affects Our Idea Of Beauty And Our Self-image

This week we are getting a little deep.  We are talking about the pros and cons of the beauty industry, how it affects our mental health and self-worth. I have been into makeup and hair since I was little. Now, as I’m getting older, I take a step back and ask myself if any of this even matters? And the answer is complicated.

First, I think celebrating beauty is amazing! Creating a version of yourself that you are proud of and love is exactly why I love working in the beauty industry. But sometimes our societal beauty standards can harm us. We are constantly being told that we need products or services for problems we didn’t know we even had! Until they pushed comparison into our minds maybe we would have loved our stretchmarks or appreciated every wrinkle we gained during our lifetime.

Second, I think the beauty industry has come a long way recently with brands being inclusive. In beauty, Makeup Forever and Fenty are a few makeup brands that have surpassed 40+ foundation shades and promoting genderless beauty, because the beauty industry isn’t just for women.

In fashion, we are now seeing brands like Good American, Girlfriend Collective and Andie Swim having sizes ALL ACROSS the board. Which is awesome! The con to that is we still aren’t seeing “high-end” brands do this and we probably never will.

Third, the biggest con for me about the beauty industry is just realizing everything is marketing and every move is calculated so that corporations make money. PERIOD.

How can we change our mindset or perception on beauty standards?

It is not a quick fix but slowly you can change your mindset.

Step One

Forget the idea of perfection.

I love the quote:

“Flowers are pretty but so are Christmas lights and they look nothing alike”

We are all just human beings living on a floating rock in the universe. We each lead different lives but at the end of the day I think we all have a main goal of unity, peace and acceptance. We all should celebrate and accept each other for our difference and our common human experience.

Step Two

Surround yourself with beauty that inspires you; not what makes you create negative thoughts about yourself.

What does your Instagram feed look like? Do the people you admire look like you? Or do they look like unattainable beauty? AKA photoshopped bodies, smoothed out skin or even plastic surgery! This was a huge thing I recently realized. I was following a lot of Instagram models that 100% have had most of their body worked on. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, more power to them! But I had to remind myself that people don’t look like that NATURALLY.

One thing I’ve really focused on is changing how I look at my Instagram feed. I get inspired by people on the ‘gram by looking at them like art, maybe it’s creative hair, artsy fashion, a model’s poses or the way they are editing their photos to curate a feeling for their followers. Everyday people who are creative and artistic pique my interest more than models in beauty ads and it’s MY feed. I’m still in charge even though the Instagram algorithm may disagree. Here are a few body positive IG accounts to follow:

View this profile on Instagram

FITMELAURA • Mental health/ Body positive ? (@fitmelaura) • Instagram photos and videos

View this profile on Instagram

Alexis Conason, Psy.D. (@theantidietplan) • Instagram photos and videos

View this profile on Instagram

Ariella Nyssa (@ariellanyssa) • Instagram photos and videos

Step Three

We do live in a world where you really can be who you want to be and look how you want to look. So if you don’t like something, change it. You get to create exactly who you want to be, so do it. If it will truly improve your day-to-day life, go for it!

Step Four

Take your power back. NO ONE IS YOU. That’s your power. You decide if you wake up every morning and battle yourself or love yourself. You are enough. It comes down to YOUR mindset. If you are struggling right now, please know it is a journey and self-love takes practice and time. You can take what society tells you is beautiful and focus on your differences in a negative way or you can take your unique characteristics and make a beauty statement of your own <3