Beauty has left the eyes of the beholder, it is now in the hands of the makeup artist. - Nigerian proverb
The above statement is very popular in my country. It means that unless a lady applies makeup, most times a heavy one, then she is not beautiful. The saying started not because women are less beautiful without makeup, but because they are mostly on it.
YOU don’t like the way you look? Well, very few are entirely satisfied with their appearance. Unlike Narcissus, the greek mythology who fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water, some of us will nearly fall into the water when we see our reflection. Body image can have effects on a person’s self-confidence and what he does or does not do in life. A healthy concern about your appearance thus makes good sense.
How Beauty is Defined
The idea of beauty is not constant. It is mostly set by the media, celebrities and fashion homes that seek to sell their goods to the masses. In Europe, the beautiful woman might be described as tall, slender and sharp facial features. In Africa such woman would be thick, or chubby, not necessarily tall and sometimes fair in complexion. This makes the ladies try to change what they can about themselves, like bleaching, using body enhancement products and undergoing surgery.
The men are of course are not exempted. The beautiful man is one with a killer body and an attractive face. To achieve this they feel pressured to visit the gym and even take steroids that can have adverse effects on their health.
So to all, beauty is something physical, only skin deep. Really, is this all there is to beauty?
The Real Beauty
Beauty, in it's entirety, does not just depend on physical appearance. "Oh here we go again, the same old story", you might think. Well if it's an old story that you hear often, then you should try to consider it's credibility. Beauty is about values and respect and the right to exist without having to change who you fundamentally are.
Therefore, it is safe to say that real beauty far supercedes physical appearance. Let me give an example.
I was attracted to a fellow course mate in school. She was indeed beautiful. I approached her and made known my intentions, after some time we started dating. I have found the one, or have I? I started seeing red flags. She is the extremely clingy one, she doesn't want me to have any life apart from her. I no longer have time for myself, no time to do things I enjoy doing because she is always present. The last straw that broke the camel's back was when my twin brother came to visit when he was on school break. She told me that because my twin was around I didn't have time for her again. The audacity!
Eventually, "I can't get enough of your beautiful face" turned to "your presence annoys me". You can't really blame me can you? She won't even accept the fact that we need time outside our relationship. Surely, this is going nowhere. So I had to call it quits.
The point here is, she suddenly became unattractive to me. Why? Because of her attributes. Clearly, her beauty just wasn't enough. We all have instances where the person we so much admire physically suddenly turned unattractive, sometimes even within some minutes. So in the end it all comes down to character. Let me share with you another short experience.
I attended a party one night with a female friend. She saw a guy which I've got to admit, was really good looking. She was so focused on him and he eventually caught the signals. He approached her, they conversed for some time and collected her number. But we realized that she was not the only one for the night. As more girls were arriving he would go and meet them, flirt and collect their numbers too. It was ugly! She suddenly voiced how unattractive he was...(haha, you just said he was goodlooking!) Can you get the point?
Often, our first admission of beauty is wrong. Only until we get to know the person in question can we really answer if he/she is beautiful or not. Just like @jane said: We are all beautiful, it's our character that makes us ugly. Beauty is far more than what the physical eye can see at first.
Therefore if you have a good heart and character, you are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
This is my entry for the prompt #15 Beauty by @JonicaBradley . If you would like to participate in this writing prompt, kindly follow these simple steps:
The prompt word is "Beauty "
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This is apt. Our first impression of what beauty is,is not always true. The true definition of beauty is what exist inside not outside.