3 Tips to a Healthier Self-Image & Choosing Your Beauty Icons
Most people have an appreciation for diverse forms of beauty. You may look nothing like Kim Kardashian or Lupita Nyongo, but you can still admire their beauty because it’s natural to admire beautiful ppl. It’s also natural to have a special type of admiration for ppl who look closer to you, and that is usually how people choose their beauty icons.
When does admiration become unhealthy?
I had a patient who had similar facial features to Emily Ratakowski come in requesting lip filler enhancement. By enlarging her lips she would be a bit closer to looking a little more like Emily Ratakowski, being that Emily had lips that were slightly fuller than hers. She chose to admire a beauty icon to which she had similar features to. I think it becomes unrealistic and unhealthy when a person wants to have cosmetic enhancements done to look more like a person they do not resemble in any way.
A certain amount of self-acceptance is key. This brings me to the popular saying
“Admire someone else’s beauty without questioning your own.”
Celebrating diversity
Unfortunately, the media doesn’t always portray diverse forms of beauty. This is why people are waking up and speaking out. They desire to see people who come in all shapes, sizes, complexions, hair textures etc. After all, beauty comes in all different forms and I'm here to celebrate diversity. It would truly be a boring world if we all looked the same.
“Nature has given us diversity.
We should embrace it because it’s what makes us stand out.
It makes us unique”
Diversity and inclusion in the media
Who is represented most in the media has a lot to do with what the society’s majority look like. It also has a lot to do with who advertisers are targeting with ads. Those in charge of creative projects, like movies and television series, often choose people who look like them for roles within their projects. At the end of the day, it’s their project and their choice of who gets representation. That being said, society doesn’t owe you anything, and it is ultimately your responsibility to develop a healthy self-image.
Why Celebrities aren’t the Best Role Models
When celebrities get cosmetic surgery or injectables done, they most often don’t admit it! This is another reason you should not be hard on yourself with the comparison game. Most often, celebrities will not be open and honest about their insecurities and what they did to improve their looks. They want the public to think that they were born that way. As a matter of fact, they may share the most personal details about their lives that are scandalous but will go to the extent to remain private about and deny cosmetic procedures. The most they may admit to doing is skin care treatments and lasers.
Choosing your Beauty Icons
This is why it’s essential for you to have healthy beauty icons that you can admire. Seeing people that look like you help you develop a healthier self-image and promotes self-acceptance. This is what inspired me to create this blog. My goal is to help you choose healthy beauty icons which reflect the characteristics of your appearance. This will allow you to develop a healthier self-identity.
Below are boards/categories which are organized according to:
Face shape
Ancestry/Race
Facial feature categories
You may choose to follow multiple boards based on the categories above. For example, if you have a square face you may admire Demi Moore or Zoe Kravitz. If you have delicate facial features you may admire Emma Watson. You may also appreciate people that are of the same or similar ancestry. There are endless possibilities and you can choose from many boards!
Face shape
Oval
Janelle Monae
Rachel McAdams
Naomi Watts
Heart
Kim Kardashian
Amanda Seyfried
Halle Berry
Round
Kate Bosworth
Cameron Diaz
Jennifer Freeman
Square
Zoe Kravitz
Demi Moore
Tessa Thompson
Oblong
Jessica Lowndes
Iman
Leona Lewis
Ancestry
African
Examples:
Horn of Africa- Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti
West Africa, Central African, & East Africa- Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Sudan
Southern Africa- Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
Leila Lopes- Angolan
Lupita Nyong'o- Kenyan
Nyadak “Duckie” Thot- Sudanese
Liya Kebede- Ethiopian
Middle East/North-Africa/Western Asia
Examples:
North Africa- Egypt, Algeria, Libya
Middle-East/West Asia- Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey
Amal Clooney- Lebanese
Christine Solomon- Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese
Bahar Soomekh- Persian (Iranian)
European
Examples:
Mediterranean/Southern Europe- Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia
Western Europe- United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria
Northern Europe/Nordic-Scandinavian- Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway
Eastern European- Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania
Monica Belluci- Italian
Keira Knightley- English, Scottish, Welsh
Makin Akerman- Swedish
Mila Jovovich- Ukrainian and Serbian
Asian
Examples:
-East Asia- Japan, China, Korea,Taiwan
-South-East Asia- Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos
Shu Qi- Taiwanese
Lea Salonga- Filipina
Satomi Ishihara- Japanese
Gemma Chan- Chinese
Indo-Aryan
India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Shristi Shrestha- Nepalese
Mahira Khan- Pakistani
Priyanka Chopra- Indian
Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam- Sri Lankan
Indigenous people of the Americas
Of note, it was very difficult to find female icons who were close to 100% Indigenous in ancestry so some of the of the women shown here are only 1/2 or 1/3 Indigenous
Irene Bedard- Inuit and Cree
Tonantzin Carmelo-Tongva and Kumeyaay
Patricia Velasquez- Wayuu (Patricia is actually1/3 Indigenous)
Latina/Hispanic/Latin American
North America- Mexico
Central America- Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama
South American- Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Brazil
Caribbean- Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Jennifer Lopez- Puerto Rican
Maite Perroni- Mexican
Camilla Alves- Brazilian
The media often categorizes bi-racial or multi-racial people according to their minority parent. However this does not contribute to the healthiest self-identity or self-image, because you are not allowing them to embrace their full ancestry. Below you will find examples of boards for mixed or multi-racial people.
Euro-African
Katerina Graham- Americo-Liberian, Polish and Russian
Megan Markle- African, English, Dutch, German and Irish
Gugu Mbatha-Raw- South African & English
Euro-Asian
Nicole Gale Anderson- Filipina, Spanish, Swedish, Irish and German
Berenice Marlohe- Chinese, Cambodian, & French
Olivia Munn- Vietnamese, Chinese German, Irish, & English
Facial Features
Full or round features
Fuller nose, lips, and mouth, these features tend to be more round and pouty lending to a stronger look.
Delicate or narrow features
Smaller nose mouth and lips, less round and full lending to a softer look
