What Is Beauty? by Rambling Raven

I have a co-worker who is always in the pursuit of beauty. She has never shown up to work without a designer label on some part of her body, her make-up is immaculate and she spends hundreds of dollars (monthly) on her hair. Instead of a book her nose is always buried in some sort of style magazine, and she talks consistently about dieting or exercising for a particular “problem”. During a conversation with her one day she explained to me that she grew up in the church and had a strict father. She told me that it wasn’t until adulthood that she had a chance to break out on her own and explore her beauty and sexuality. She feels as if she is making up for lost time.

During that conversation with my co-worker I thought about my own beauty evolution. Unlike my friend, I was allowed to wear make-up as a teen and experiment with different fads and styles. I also read every fashion and beauty magazine available. I would often critique the numerous looks and styles of the different celebrities and models I saw within those magazines. And quite often I found myself on some new diet or exercise craze that I thought would help me in my quest to be beautiful. For a while I was a Jane Fonda/ Tae Bo/Juice Master queen.

However, unlike my co-worker I was able to evolve beyond the stereotypical ideal of beauty. The fads started to become more and more ridiculous to me. Spending an hour in front of the mirror every morning became too taxing and time consuming. I eventually stopped trying to impress the outer world and begun to work on my inner world. The seven hours at the hair salon having my hair fried and dyed was eventually replaced with a natural hairstylist who showed me the beauty of my own God-given locks. I saw the beautiful curl pattern that I was born soon emerged and became more pronounced and healthier. Three years later, my hair is truly beautiful to me.

I gave up the fads and the fashions. I started to see that beauty comes from having your own unique style instead of from some designer’s name etched into your clothes. I no longer spend the type of money on clothes like I did several years ago. Instead, I look for quality pieces that will enhance my existing wardrobe and last beyond a season or two. I feel beautiful in my clothes when I know that they are well made and flatter my figure.

In my quest for beauty I use to spend hundreds of dollars a year on cosmetics. I would have more tubes of lipstick than I could possibly go through in a year. Not to mention all the eyeliner, mascara and foundation. I would spend a lot of time in the mirror trying to make it all work perfectly. My painted face was beautiful to me at the time. Now, I strive for “make-up optional skin.” I look for healthy, non-toxic products to enhance and improve my skin’s tone and texture. I feel beautiful now when people say to me how great my skin looks or ask what I use on my face.

It has taken a long time but I am finally getting to the point in my life where I truly understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While my co-worker is trying to immolate what she believe is beauty and style, I am also still pursuing my own path to beauty, although I chose to do so in a more natural form. I think beauty should begin from inside out. I have become obsessed with what goes in my body and on my skin. I see beauty as being healthy, feeling good about myself and having a healthy glow. What does it mean to be beautiful to you?

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