Written by Jodie Patterson, Founder of Doobop.com
In the words of my dear friend Bevy Smith, “#beauty is what God has given you. It’s a gift”. And as I know now, #gifts are to be adored.
There was a time in my life when I was painfully uncomfortable with my looks. I felt small and awkward. Boyish and goofy. The polar opposite of pretty. In fact, next to my graceful and womanly older sisters, I wanted so desperately to fade away. Most of the time I did just that, I shrank away from cameras and onlookers and sat close to mama. For many years, I was a voyeur to everyone else’s fun at the party.
Somewhere in my late 30’s, after I grew tired of being a voyeur. I realized that the most boring thing about me was my insecurity. From that moment on, I was done with shrinking. And so with that, I decided to use my feelings (a ton of which I had) to ignite my beauty.
Ladies, our beauty is not surface. It literally comes out of us. Joyous, or melancholy, mysterious, or brazen, shy or roucus – our beauty should be understood first as an emotion and then after that we must adorn it. There is nothing more gorgeous than a woman who is thankful for and highlights the very thing that bubbles up from inside of her. For me it’s my endless enthusiasm – I can’t keep it at bay and thankfully it’s the very thing that will keep me forever young and glowing.
For the month of November, let us all be thankful for our beauty, as it is a gift. When you feel a certain way, jot it down so you can remember it. Keep a journal of what’s going on in your head and heart. Add one more category of Notes in your phone and each time you feel something, type in exactly that feeling. I like to clip pictures of anything that catches my eye, and usually the things that do catch my eye are the very things that resemble my feelings. By the end of each month, my black Moleskine is filled with quotes, photos, even color swatches – things that reflect who I am (or want to be).
Make up and product can be the perfect tools to express your inner feelings. Use them to amplify your emotions (aka, your inner beauty). Take your own ‘black book’ of mood memories, and study it. Once you’ve gotten to know yourself on that deeper level, choose make up, lotions and potions that reflect who you are. Once again, in the words of Ms. Bevy Smith, “Beauty is what bubbles and pops.”
xxjodie
@Doobop_beauty
Jodie Paterson is co-founder of Doobop.com. The premier online beauty store for women of color.
