Be Whole

Here’s to all the women who’d admire another woman from across the room, wondering which hair products she uses, how she gets her skin looking so smooth, or how much time it took her to perfect that look…

I am happy to announce my collaboration with Beauty Bulletin, South Africa’s largest beauty community and review club. I’ve always had an interest in beauty culture, and given that I’d spent a couple of years working as a beauty consultant during varsity, I know a thing or two about the industry. Sharing reviews on products comes easily. It’s a great cue for conversation and exciting when you’re sharing useful information. I love Beauty Bulletin’s concept of creating a large community of real women who embrace that they’re all equally beautiful and distinctly different.

Is this you?

I walk into public bathrooms and often smile at the ladies beside me – who are touching-up mascara, re-applying gloss, neatening stray hairs, or other small things that we go to the bathroom for, other than to pee. If I discover something beautiful about another woman, even if I’m standing in a shopping aisle, I won’t hesitate to compliment her. I’ve learned some of the most helpful beauty and hair tips from other women in public bathrooms and shopping aisles, and in the comment sections of blog posts, not in magazines, and much less from TV. Real women who don’t have on-hand make-up teams and in-house hair stylists, taught me tips and tricks just because they’re also women, and like me, they felt compelled to share something that could be useful for interest’s sake and self-esteem.

Tell me if you agree

There’s a desperate need for women in South Africa to break away from warped ideas of what it means to be beautiful. The latest Dove Real Beauty Survey conducted for South African women in 2013, showed that 45% of women agreed that their greatest beauty pressures came from themselves. Do you do it too? A lot of the time, when I become overly conscious about something like my hair not being in place or my face looking shiny, everyone else hadn’t even noticed until I’d brought it up.

“But how does it look? Are you sure?” “Yes. You look amazing”. – *Friends

Beauty emanates from a woman who feels it. As long as you feel beautiful, you are. This was validated for me when Clarins USA recently featured an Instagram photo of me, taken by photographer, Tony Maake. It wasn’t anything extravagant. My make-up was quite basic and I’d let my fluffy hair out of its usual, tight bun. I felt a little apprehensive during the photo shoot because, well, I’m not a model and I didn’t rehearse any kind of pose. Days after the shoot, when I saw the photo, I thought, “God, that’s actually me. No front.” And I love it so much that I’d asked Beauty Bulletin to update my existing photo to the one below:

Related: The Truth About Going Natural

#fangram: @bewhole_ wears Clarins, makes us feel both jealousy and excitement… ❤️? #ShowUsYourClarins

A photo posted by CLARINS (@clarinsnews) on Sep 4, 2015 at 8:14am PDT

Visit wwww.beautybulletin.com to read and/or view exciting beauty reviews by South African women. You may spot a familiar face 🙂

You may also want to read:

• 5 Style Tips to Secure your Next Interview
• 5 ways to maintain twist braids 

Have a question or a comment? Leave a reply in the comment section below. Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or email me directly to robyn@bewhole.co.za. I’d love to hear from you.