What Really Enhances Beauty?

Beauty seems to be the centre of everything. We live in a society where looks are a constant obsession. Whether a person is vain or lacks self confidence, it's an obsession. With the high demand for public figures on social media, platforms such as Instagram are covered with images of men and women, and it is these men and women who create a false ideal of beauty. You hear many motivational speeches about self empowerment and about not comparing yourself to people on social media, however it seems that it is the younger generation who do not listen to this advice.

When I was 12/13 years old I remember obsessing over Bratz movies and drawing, playing on the Nintendo Wii with my brother and doing cartwheels and splits in the garden. Now what I see are young girls dressing inappropriately for their age, pouting at cameras, and wearing WAY too much makeup. Now, I wear a fair amount of makeup so don't assume that I'm saying wearing makeup is wrong. What I'm trying to do is express my feelings towards public figures' influence on young people. Kylie Jenner, for example, is a huge influencer. She's beautiful with perfect hair, perfect makeup, and that's what these girls want to look like too. So nowadays you will see 12 year olds wanting to wear heels or thinking about getting lip fillers and losing touch of what a real childhood is.

I'm not your average girl. I have a very different outlook on the world. When I younger I saw beauty as purely physical. But now that I am older I think beauty is shown more through a person's mentality than their physical looks.

Now, what is beauty?

There are so many definitions out there, both as someone's own judgement or a professional meaning. When I think of the word beauty one word comes to my mind - confidence.

For as long as I can remember, I have always admired confidence. I'm not the most confident person in the world and day by day I'm trying to overcome this obstacle. To hear someone's voice is beautiful to me. A voice is a way of expression and is a way of showing one's emotions. Spending more than half of my life in silence was not a fun experience for me. I felt trapped and inferior, and that didn't help my self-confidence at all. I didn't like to look in the mirror for too long, I have no photos of myself from my teenage years at school, I have no photos with my friends from when I was younger - I have no physical memories. I hated the way I was, and what was worse was that I hated myself both physically and mentally leaving me no room for any self love.

But then I got older.

My voice eventually developed and I was not afraid anymore. Things scare me, they always will, but I am better now because I have found beauty in myself. I see amazing people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama who are admired for what they say instead of what they look like, and I want to have that influence too.

There are people out there who wear extravagant clothes, bold colours, and I'm always pleasantly shocked by their beauty. I see men wearing makeup and I am in awe by their art. The phrase is true - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

But let's also be realistic here. I am a 20 year old woman, I still use Instagram,  I still watch those stupid reality shows, I still admire these beautiful people on social media, but this doesn't stop me from knowing that it's all just entertainment.

I will continue to wear the makeup I love, the makeup that makes me feel confident in myself. I will continue to perfect my hair in all these different styles. I'm a girly-girl, what do you expect? But what I have learnt is that no matter what I person looks like, it is the personality which cements their beauty.

Do not let societal ideals influence who you are.

~Ella