I was eight years old when I watched my first ever makeup tutorial. It was a video posted by Michelle Phan creating an impression of Barbie. I remember soon after, binging all of Michelle Phan’s videos after that, to where I was introduced to a world I had never even seen before. Videos jam-packed with information on what style suits your personality best, what makeup looks are most flattering to your features, how to get the most beautiful skin, how to look your best— always. I have been an avid watcher of the makeup tutorial-OG, and throughout the years as I learned different techniques and insights, I have seen almost every makeup and fashion trend come and go— down to the color that was most popular that year, and how approachable that made you if you were wearing it.
I was eight years old when I first became aware of my external appearances. I noticed that my hair soaked water like a sponge, but when dried, looked like frayed rope; my nose looked funny at different angles; my eyebrows were just about close to being conjoined at the center; I felt awkward and silly, and not beautiful. I overly fixated on my looks at such a young age, and experimented with all different beauty trends as I aged, in hopes of resembling my peers who I thought all looked normal (and not awkward and silly) at the very least.
Along the years, I have pinpointed the three things that revolutionized every one of my outfits or makeup looks, and it is three-fold: being more present, enriching entertainment, and positivity.
Being More Present
In a world so stimulation-heavy, where you can scroll for hours and hear so many different sounds, and see so many different images and videos, it can oftentimes fog our brain from understanding ourselves and our reality more. When we practically consume this pseudo-reality, we perceive things much differently, and oftentimes, too, negatively. Being more present not only grounds us to focus on becoming a better version of ourselves, but it allows us to become more at peace, no matter where we are or what conditions we are in. The results of being more present, then, is an internal sense of beauty that will always be exemplified in whatever makeup or clothes you decide to wear. Here are some ways to becoming more present:
- not paying too much attention to mirrors or front-facing cameras
- taking a break from your phone and social media
- surrounding yourself in better environments (e.g., the outdoors, surrounding yourself with friends, cleaner/cozier bedroom, etc.)
- eating your food without having to go on TikTok/Instagram/YouTube (or anything else to fill the void)
- slowing down (e.g., your thoughts, your breathing, etc.)
This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to start in figuring out some areas that can be tweaked at into becoming more present with yourself and where you are in life! As over-repetitive and dismissive as it may sound, beauty does come from within. Fashion and beauty trends will always come and go, and we may just as well be as dynamic, too— but the value of our thoughts, ideas and feelings hold more precedence over materialized versions of what is considered beautiful.
Enriching entertainment
This next one on the list ties back into the first point, and that is consuming much more beneficial media. This does not mean that mindless and funny videos are useless, or that even makeup tutorials are inherently “bad”, but it can be said that there is an extent to what entertains us and what numbs us. We are constantly fed different images of what is considered right and more beautiful. Different apps give us the ability to modify our faces and bodies to fit the mold of beauty. Social media perpetuates a different and unattainable standard of beauty, making us believe we have to buy so many kinds of shoes, articles of clothing, makeup products, overabundant skincare and anything else that might make us appear more “aesthetic”. Being on any platform subjects us as targets to mass corporations from every end there is, so it is important to become more aware and understand what exactly we are consuming.
When we become more aware of what we take in, then, we start to understand the other more enriching forms of entertainment:
- mentally stimulating YouTube videos
- movies and shows that make us feel happier
- music that we truly enjoy
- reading books of any genre that draws us in
- attending live concerts
- making our own content, too, as an extension of our most creative endeavors
How exactly does this play into beauty and fashion? When you broaden your consumption of media and entertainment beyond what is mainstream to almost spoon-fed to us, we begin to diversify our understandings of what we think looks good, and makes us feel good, too. Feeling and looking good might not otherwise seem to work in tandem, but in the condition of our own skin, body, and perception of ourselves, they are entirely connected to each other. When we engage in things that truly make us feel good, and we consume media that does not deter us from loving ourselves as we are, we begin to feel at our best, and we don’t rely on visual distortions (the mirror) to validate that we are looking our most beautiful.
Positivity
Could this seem any more like this was taken straight out of a Hallmark movie? Positivity is the most umbrella term ever for anything picturesque like Pinterest or daily affirmation tweets— both of which I used to be absolutely repellant to. What does positivity even entail?
- focusing on your wellness: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health
- speaking kinder words to yourself
- smiling more and not being afraid to laugh
- complimenting yourself or giving someone else a compliment
- viewing yourself in less black-and-white/”good” and “bad” terms
- believing in your abilities and capabilities
The list is truly endless on what is deterministic of yielding more positivity, and maybe that’s why the conversation has become so open-ended (and possibly abhorrent to be a part of). It is certainly not easy to engage in these kinds of things, especially if we’ve never even tried to begin with. It’s bewildering to think that we are taught the best of manners and sentence phrasing when we are in the presence of our superiors, yet often resolve to the worst of treatment to our own selves. Centering ourselves and focusing on positive affects is the most reinforcing and empowering feeling, and can make us feel as though we are truly alive from within. Then, no matter what we put on our face or our limbs, we’re going to feel great anyways, and in the end, look undeniably beautiful.
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I still follow Michelle Phan on all her social media platforms, almost as a way of retaining that sense of nostalgia. Her most crazy makeup and fashion looks, as well as her most “natural” and laid-back styles, never go out of style. Trends enter in from every corner and leave just as soon as they came. I, myself, have done the most bizarre things to look like what they presented in mainstream media, and have certainly learned the hard way on the beauty/fashion mistakes I have made.
While they are cheesy in nature, the more self-developmental aspects of life are timeless in their significance. Beauty itself is timeless, when taken out of the context of it being tangible and material. Everything else compared to things like confidence and happiness is merely flimsy, and lasts only as long as temporary feelings of satisfaction. While we may take some time to get there, surely, we can begin to understand that a stronger sense of self is the basic and most fundamental foundation of authentic beauty.