Authentic Beauty was founded on one simple principal “You Are Beautiful”.
I had the courage to start my company because I knew there needed to be an alternative solution to the beauty industry’s insidiousness. After seeing the Dove Real Beauty Campaign’s Evolution video I came to the stunning realization: we are all unconsciously affected by the images around us; this is not a new realization, but what was new: the understanding that all the images that surround us aren’t real. They are photo-shopped, altered and manipulated to create a standard of beauty that is unattainable and inauthentic. The beauty industry uses this to support their marketing strategy. If you feel bad about yourself they can be the solution for you to feel good about yourself if you just buy more of their stuff.
We look to these images and the to the media’s portrayal of women as a way to gauge what we should look and act like as well as what we should have or want to have. They send us messages of what is normal and what is expected. Have you really been paying attention to what you are looking at? Or what your daughter, your sister or mother is looking at? 78% of girls report feeling bad about themselves after looking at magazines.
Buying into this unrealistic standard of beauty leads to low self-esteem and dissatisfaction of one’s body image. We have a serious problem in our country. We are exposed to 40,000 advertisements a year and even though the United States only accounts for 5% of the World’s population we are exposed to over 40% of the world’s advertising. And the images we are looking at aren’t REAL.
The first step in transformation is always awareness. Become aware of what is unconsciously affecting us. Please pay attention and take proactive steps to protect yourself and the women and girls you love from buying into this unrealistic standard of beauty.
What we believe at Authentic Beauty is that your image should be a reflection of your Authentic Self. You should never be told how you should look. You need to discover what that is for you and learn to author your image. Take an Image Journey..that’s what our self-discovery lesson is all about.
In the meantime, if you have a teen in your life, as a daughter or sister etc. then consider attending our Mother-Daughter workshop on March the 5th. Alison Cross, co-founder and director of Project Authentic Beauty, our non-profit initiative to empower all women and girls to love what they see form the inside out, will be leading this workshop along with Authentic Beauty’s lead artist Crystal Rock. Alison Cross has been a licensed professional counselor for over 15 years. She is a specialist in the area of eating disorders. She gives insight and strategies for how to deal with the media’s onslaught of images on our girls as well as empower them to find their own sense of beauty within themselves. To see a video of Alison discussing PAB click HERE.
We hope you will join us on March the 5th. Please see the flyer below for more information.
