I recently had the opportunity to work with C and the Moon to share my #BodyEmbraced story. C and the Moon asked me, “How was our cultures toxic beauty standards and messaging informed your relationship with your body growing up today?”
The culture’s toxic beauty standards and messaging led me to having many insecurities. There was a serious lack of representation while growing up; I only recalled seeing super skinny, tall women, who were not of color. Not only were their body type super model thin, they all had straight, silky hair. And here i am...I was a black girl, big busted, with kinky hair. I didn’t feel like my natural self represented “beauty”. This was mainly because I didn’t see others like me. I mean, there weren’t even Barbie dolls that resembled me. So I began to alter myself in order to fit into the small box of what society told me beauty was.
It took 30 years of my life to finally reach a moment of authenticity and acceptance, and I owe that all to my fiancé. He has constantly encouraged me that my natural state was more than “enough”. When you take care of your body and mental state, you will naturally begin to feel better, translating to self confidence, and then making it possible for your beauty to be on display for others to see.
I love that our society is slowly revolving and is more open to embracing inclusivity. While simply reminding others that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and it all stems from within.
C and the Moon is a skin care line that’s all about clean and conscious skincare. Their products are free of parabens, phthalates, animal by-products, dyes, heavy metals, phenoxyethanols, SLS, SLES and synthetic fragrances. This Malibu Made scrub is an all natural brown sugar exfoliator with hydrating organic oils and food-grade vanilla flavors. www.candthemoon.com