On Beauty: What We Love in a World That Tells Us to Hate How We Look
Beauty isn’t fitting into a prescribed notion of what you “should” look like. It’s about feeling good in your skin—whatever that means.
Throughout our lives, the world tells us how we “should” look. We are served up carefully curated and edited images that showcase idealized beauty thousands of times a day. We are marketed products, medicines, and procedures to fit an unrealistic ideal in which we are all thin and ageless. Despite this pressure, we know true beauty isn’t about contorting ourselves to fit in a narrowly defined box of “pretty.”
Personal beauty can mean a lot of things. For some it’s skincare that makes them feel refreshed. For others it’s the perfect hair oil or a perfume or piece of clothing that lifts their mood. Because the ultimate beauty isn’t fitting into a prescribed notion of what you “should” look like. It’s about feeling good in your skin—whatever that means.
We asked The Persistent contributors for what makes them feel uniquely beautiful and their answers are as varied as we are.
I'm all about "dopamine dressing" these days: getting dressed just for fun. This TikTok trend inspires me to wear colorful, patterned, and otherwise stand-out pieces all year round.
— Han Goldstein, social media editor
I literally use whatever soap is in the shower and then a squirt of Ceravé cream--yes, the cheap stuff they use in hospitals--on my face and body, and that's my entire beauty routine. But I have a dental floss I swear by: Cocofloss. It is 10 times better than any other floss I've ever tried, and yes, it's worth the cost.
— Deborah Copaken, contributing writer
The classic side-part. Time to bring it back.
— Hanna Barczyk, illustrator
I’m obsessed with Merit’s beauty range. I’m in love with their 5-minute makeup routine and have been banging on about it to so many people that I think I should be getting a commission! Now my mum, mother-in-law, sister, and a few friends are all obsessed with it too. My favorites are their bronzer, foundation stick and their blusher.
– Natalie Newsome, illustrator
Gatekeeping good beauty finds is deeply unattractive, so here you go:
The only hair oil that works on my extremely fine hair is Love Me Do by Sam McKnight. It nourishes without making my hair greasy.
— Raquel Aparicio, illustrator
My unconventional beauty advice: Not giving a f*ck! I'm not 100% immune to beauty standards and I still like to get dressed up once in a while but the combination of the pandemic, turning 40 and other factors helped me shed so many of the "requirements" of womanhood: shaving my legs, wearing make-up, dying my hair. There’s so much more on my mind than worrying about arbitrary beauty standards. As my young daughter says "I love my body!"
— Kathleen Davis, executive editor
I have thick, curly hair that’s prone to frizz, so it was hard to find the right product. Right now, I'm obsessed with EVO's Liquid Rollers Hair Balm. It keeps my curls shiny and soft, plus, it smells amazing.
— Paula Derrow, features editor
As 40 greets me with its warm embrace, I'm prioritizing sleep as something I'm not willing to compromise on. I’ve created a pre-sleep routine that does something special and soporific for each of my five senses. My favorite is my sleep fragrance, "Dear Polly" by Vilhelm Parfumerie. I only wear it right before bed so my brain has come to associate it exclusively with sleep. It puts me to sleep with a smile on my face.
— Phoebe Gavin, contributing writer
My sister bought me Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Serum last year and I was quite blah about it because I’m not a skincare person. Turns out it’s the best product in the world and now my life savings go into buying a new bottle every few months. — Holly Baxter, contributing writer
What does unconventional beauty mean to you? Send your recommendations to hello@thepersistent.com. We’ll be back with more recommendations next Friday!
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