Very early on in The Body Shop’s journey, Founder Anita Roddick acknowledged the importance of self esteem in the fight for a fairer world. She launched a campaign featuring a generously proportioned doll, Ruby, with the slogan: There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do. This International Women’s Day, The Body Shop continues on this journey by launching a global movement called the “Self Love Uprising”, supported by activist and actress Jameela Jamil and Sara Kuburic, The Millennial Therapist. In addition to these global partners, the movement will also be supported by beacons of self love and activism on a local level who The Body Shop has coined as their Leading Lights- Tommy Dorfman, Larissa Crawford, Nora McInerny & Sara Mora.
To The Body Shop, self love is many things, but it starts with the recognition and appreciation of our inner worth and value. The Body Shop aims to inspire 1 million acts of self-love in 1 year, to create more love and positive change in the world. It doesn’t matter how big or small, every act can lead to big change. As Amanda Gorman beautifully explained, “Self-love is revolutionary. We cannot fight for others when we’re fighting a war inside ourselves. Compassion is a power that we first bestow on ourselves & then give away through our actions—to people, to our planet. When we recognize this, that is when love becomes our legacy.”
My Personal Journey to Self-Love
I’m always curious if some women rise from birth feeling empowered and owning their body. What is so different in our paths, that somehow along the way of becoming a woman we don’t see the beauty we are. I’m wondering if it’s a comment by a rude boy you like in the 5th grade, or maybe the family obsession with weight that triggers a damaged identity or feelings of being incomplete.
As someone who has worked in beauty for over 14 years, some of my most impactful memories are when I’ve worked with some very famous, powerful women in the industry (I won’t mention any names). One thing that has always stood out to me is how even when I would make them look incredible with my makeup and hair techniques, they would still focused on how they thought they looked fat, old, etc., which never matched up to what I saw in their photos. In their pictures, to me, they radiated beauty, legacy, and strength. It’s like we were both looking at a different picture because of our different perceptions.
On my journey of uncovering my own perceptions of beauty, I looked at a few things. If beauty is more than skin deep, how do we retune our mind to believe we are actual goddesses of the universe? How do we own our beauty? These are difficult questions to answer, but they’re questions I seek answers to every day, by setting my intentions to love and cherish my unique beauty.
My little secret..
I wasn’t always as confident as I appear to be now. I have a whole mantra I say before taking the stage, or getting on camera: “I am one of a kind, born to make a difference, and live a life of dreams and goals coming true.” It’s a little self conversation I do that strengthens my journey to empowerment. It’s what takes me from living in my head, to reminding myself that I am a badass, and I have everything within me to create. I am the world, and the world is me.
I’ve heard it said that, unconsciously, many people choose careers that speak to their personal, emotional self-journey, that without knowing it we often choose paths based on deep subconscious cravings. For example, a yoga teacher may be out of balance in their personal life, but they teach it to stay focused and aligned. I remember having a conversation recently about why I wanted to get into beauty, and was it because I didn’t feel beautiful or I wanted to change who I was with makeup? It’s crazy to believe this was my thought process in the past.
Discovering your beauty, is one that we all walk. There is an awakening that allows us to peek through and remind us that we are all incredible, unique, beautiful, one of a kind beings.
There have been many magical moments that have led me to believe that beauty is not something we grow into but through our many experiences and yes that includes traveling the world and getting outside our comfort zone… we somehow find that confidence through conversation, and beauty is understood. For thousands of decades women would be taught about how to self-care, and find their unique womanhood, but somehow along the way we became slaves to our stereotypes of cooking and cleaning and needing to look a certain way. We were brainwashed to believe that being heads of the households instead of medicine women, with gifts of healing and compassion was what our role was. But by who.. Who was the writer of this story? Of this fictional drama I so wanted to escape?
I want to thank the many women who have shed a light on my reawakening, my embodiment of self love and my own beauty. Whether I was in an airport in Maui or the mountains of Machu Picchu each step in my life has led me to uncover a secretive mission of decoding the beauty myths and unlocking the light within.
As I stand as the woman I am today, I’m proud of the journey I’ve taken to discover true inner beauty. My friend Alson Hoag, founder of The Image Journey and Authentic Beauty, speaks on how women actually stop looking in the mirror after a certain time in life. Women typically do this, she writes, because to them it’s not worth taking a peek when life is so heavy and you’ve spent so much time putting yourself last. I challenge all of you to stop this toxic self-shaming, to look in the mirror, and to celebrate yourself for who you are, and I hope that this post has inspired you to see yourself as beautiful now. Period! Not beautiful if you lose 10 lbs, or if you have a tan, or if you have makeup on: you are beautiful just as you are now.
How do we define self-love? We believe it means finding time, taking care and taking notice of yourself. Self-love is a noun, but we believe it’s also an action. An action that starts from within. Learn more about the meaning of self-love.
What acts of self-love are part of your everyday routine? 
“Recite this affirmation ” Iam Enough” and repost on March 22nd sharing your journey from self doubt to self acceptance using the hashtag #SelfLoveUprising.” to help us reach that goal of 1 million acts of self-love. I’ve shared my story and I can’t wait to hear your’s. When we share we are seen and others can relate.
Join the #SelfLoveUprising
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