Written by Bend Beauty
Bend Beauty and the Beyond Beauty Project are committed to helping improve our self-esteem and confidence around body image and mental health. Our collaboration is focused on changing the way we talk about beauty – from eliminating the term “anti-aging” from our vocabularies, to understanding that it’s never too late to take better care of your skin, or yourself.
With the shift to more inclusive language, we see many brands talking about “beauty from within” - and we love to see it! But what does it really mean?
At Bend Beauty, we connect beauty from within to self-love. When you prioritize taking care of yourself and your needs – that's beauty. How we think and feel about ourselves I.e. treating ourselves with the same kindness and compassion we extend to our loved ones – that's beauty. More broadly, beauty from within is the concept that when we feel good inside, this is reflected in our appearances. Let's take it a step further than talking about diet and exercise – which are both majorly important. But also, what about the media you’re consuming daily? How is it affecting your thoughts, attitude and worldview? Who are the people you spend the most time with, and what are the conversations you’re having? What locations do you spend time in? Are these influences contributing to or taking away from feeling positive and loving yourself?
Here are some tips to incorporate into your daily and weekly routines to infuse some self-love into these practices:
Mindfulness
So often, we rush around during the day not taking the time to notice and appreciate the small things. Next time you’re doing something simple like washing your face, getting dressed or brushing your hair – take a moment to notice the feeling. Appreciate how the warm water feels rinsing off, the feel of the fabric of your shirt against your skin – maybe an extra moment for a scalp massage! Mindfulness is about fully appreciating the present moment and keeping your mind there instead of focusing on the past or future. Extra points for incorporating some deep breaths into your mindfulness routine.
Supercharge Your Routine
Think of the things you do on a daily basis you consider to be part of your wellness/self-love routines – whether it’s a smoothie in the morning, a workout, or drinking plenty of water. Consider one small thing you could do to supercharge these habits. This could look like incorporating an extra healthy ingredient into that smoothie (of course, we suggest Bend Beauty Marine Collagen + Co-Factors, or an extra boost via chia or flax seeds). Maybe you pop a slice of lemon into your water for an extra tasty, spa-like beverage. You could intentionally take 5 extra minutes post-workout to do some stretching and deep breathing instead of rushing to your next commitment. This is about thinking about the things we already do for ourselves on a daily basis but considering how to put a little extra self-love into these routines.
A Space That Reflects Self Love
Whether you spend most of your time inside or outside your home, having a space to spend time in that makes you feel calm, grounded and positive is another way to express self-love. If this feels like a daunting challenge, make a list of a few key tasks and break them down into one per weekend over the following months. It can be as simple as organizing one junk drawer, or something more elaborate like a closet cleanout. Slowly but surely, accomplishing these tasks will help you to love your space more and feel more positive in your surroundings.
Our Founder and CEO likes to say, “When you nourish all the connections, something magical happens.” We encourage you to think about what this means to you. What are your internal connections that require nourishment for you to feel your best - and feel beautiful? We would love to hear them!
Bend Beauty products are BBP approved and contain many powerful active ingredients to unlock your skin’s potential, and optimize your wellness routine. Shop Bend Beauty – and use code BBP20 for 20% off your purchase on bendbeauty.com.
You can catch our Founder + CEO on Beyond Beauty Project: The Podcast here!
The Education Collection is a series of articles that provide science-backed education on skin health from the inside out. We have partnered with Bend Beauty for this collaboration because we both are on a collective mission to change the narrative surrounding beauty. Bridgett says, "Beauty comes from within – within our physical, mental, and spiritual health." After struggling with cystic acne for years, she learned firsthand that what is going on internally on a physical level often also shows up externally on our skin. Bend Beauty provides education about what we put into and onto our bodies, using their innovative research that allows us to understand new elements of skin health and longevity. Beyond Beauty Project and Bend Beauty truly believe that aging is a magical part of life and that beauty is how you feel.
We love to partner with brands who are committed to not using any marketing that erodes our self-worth and actively working towards changing the narrative of beauty for all of us. We love beauty and beauty products as much as anyone else but still firmly believe there is a way to have all the fun, luxurious products while also feeling empowered about ourselves and our beauty. We hope you enjoy the next series of Beyond Beauty Project x Bend Beauty's Education Collection.
Xx, BBP