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

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