I have this incredibly disappointing theory that the princesses in all our favorite fairy tales were actually not as beautiful as we had once thought.
Firstly, the story always begins in a far away land – and the princess is always in some remote village, with hardly any women around, and if there are any women in the story, it’s always a wicked ugly witch or dwarves, or giants of some sort. Cinderella had two ugly step sisters, Snow White was surrounded by seven grumpy ass dwarves, Belle fell in love with a beast and Jasmine was the only woman in Arabia who was allowed to show any skin. No wonder we thought these women were the most incredibly flawless and wonderful creatures – the competition around them was pretty slim.
In the real world, however, the beauty of others is blasted in our faces through social media. I personally follow some of the most beautiful models in the world and it’s intimidating peering into their lives. Flawless butts, designer clothing, airbrushed real life skin and their perfectly never-been-blow-dried looking hair flowing like there’s a guy with a wind machine constantly three steps in front of them. It’s hard to feel beautiful these days when you’re exposed to so much of this. Instagram alone allows us an up close and personal gallery of every celebrity and model, literally available at our fingertips. It only makes your own life seem bleak because – really – how can you compete? It’s getting harder and harder to feel like a princess.
So, swamped with all the intense glamour and raw-vegan-gluten-free food posts, in the weeks leading up to my wedding, I decided it was time to knuckle down and focus on myself, my body and my beauty. I stopped drinking, changed my diet (which basically meant: not drinking) and I started exercising like a maniac. It was rough, but the sacrifice I had to make to get a taste of feeling like a princess for a day.
As the planning progressed and The Day got closer, I started feeling and looking better. Then I sat down to finalize the guest list and start doing the table seating and it suddenly dawned on me – ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MODELS.
Not only am I living in a world where we’re surrounded by the social media of beautiful people, but I have unconsciously, over the years, surrounded myself with incredibly, irritatingly perfect-looking people. So now, on my wedding day, the one day that I’m supposed to feel like the most beautiful woman in the room, I realized that I was going to be up against a sea of international models facing back at me. It was an overwhelming feeling. How could I compete?
But then it dawned on me, why have I never realized or felt this before?
Over the years as a stylist, I’ve forged an incredible network of working and successful models, but it’s never overwhelmed me or made me feel less of a person. The reason is because these models, these icons, are all real people living with the same issues and hurdles that most of us girls deal with on a daily basis. They are actually really genuine and gorgeous on the inside too. I know them as friends before beauty and I get a rare inside look at the real world behind the glamourous life of a model. And while the perks are obvious, the downside can sometimes be brutal, and it makes these wonderful women as real as the rest of us.
So, I decided to exploit the fact that I have a sea of my very own Barbie dolls at my finger tips. I wanted to play with the idea of delving in and showcasing their real lives, their fears, their struggles and the tricks of the trade. Opening up people’s minds by showing them the world behind the camera and what they see on the red carpet.
My aim is to show you guys that you should never feel intimidated or question the worth of your lifestyle because it seems like models and celebrities have it so much better. Empowering women to understand each other and to embrace the different types of beauty we possess. We need to be able to teach and to learn from each other. To inspire the better for all. I mean – after all we are all on the same team.
This is a collaboration covering health, lifestyle, beauty and fashion with a group of my friends, who just so happen to all be models. For more insights and to explore various perspectives, consider looking into essays for sale at EssayZoo.
