No one else has your eyes, your smile, your wit or your charm. Nobody does "you" quite like you do, and for this we should celebrate, always.
Growing up in Australia as one of very few black children in my school, I always loved the things that made me different - my chocolate brown complexion, my tight afro curls that had the power to defy gravity, and my infectiously boisterous laugh, a noise that not even the school walls could contain. It was during those days in a classroom scattered with faces from China, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and beyond that I learnt to truly embrace diversity - it was here that I found beauty and mutual acceptance of all the things that made us unique.
As a woman of Caribbean descent, now living in London, I created this blog (in conjunction with Sheer Chemistry) to celebrate these diverse shades of beauty as I am still often surprised by the lack of diversity I see in the media and on the shelves of beauty counters, which don't always reflect the city's colourful tapestry.
I want to make this a playground of thought where our differences are embraced and celebrated for the ways that they enrich our lives - there are no boundaries, just one rule: Let your true colour shine! Why blend in when you can stand out?
It's funny how we are all truly unique and different but often don't let that show for (irrational) fear of judgement/lack of acceptance. Letting the media or shop floors/counters dictate to you what beauty is dangerous and a poor reflection of reality. Wear your hair like this...only this skin tone is attractive...according to who?
ReplyDeleteI think confidence to embrace yourself starts at home, some nature with a whole lot of nurture. Some young girls in your situation growing up would have had a whole lot of issues with embracing themselves in that environment. But anyone who has met your mum will know she doesn’t play that hide/be someone else but yourself business lol!
People that aren’t taught to love their beauty by those closest to them growing up, have to learn by themselves a lot later on and by that time their idea of it is skewed....
Thanks for the comment Linda, you are so right!!
DeleteThe ability to embrace who you are definitely starts at home and with those around you as we cannot depend on the media to validate our beauty or accurately reflect the diversity of today's society. I guess that's what I really want to promote here - by highlighting my experiences and observations I want to encourage women like your gorgeous self to be proud and shout about what makes them unique and remarkably different and to celebrate this as a GOOD thing!
In the words of Coco Chanel herself: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different" and who in the world wants to be cast off in a box to the left lol??