A few months ago, my friend Emily and I got to talking about different ways we could serve within our community. We knew we wanted to work with women. We also knew that we wanted to touch on the heavy topic of body image and self love. As we continued brainstorming we came up with the idea to photograph the women in their natural state (no hair or makeup) and then again with hair and makeup done. The goal behind this idea was to show women the beauty of both sides. Collaborating with hair stylists, makeup artists, and a clothing boutique made our vision come to life. This really became an empowering movement for all involved. Together we developed a unique experience for women from all seasons of life and the results are pretty amazing.

As women we are never taught to love our bodies. Instead, we are bombarded daily with numerous images reflecting worldly ideals. It’s hard not to think your body is in need of changing, thus resulting in feelings of self doubt and shame. In a world of Photoshop and filters we must be realistic and understand that not even the girls in the magazines look like the girls in the magazines. If we are constantly basing our worth and happiness on what the world claims to be ideal we will never be satisfied. Comparison really is the true thief of joy. It is only through Christ that we can heal the way we view ourselves.

We do want to make it clear that this is not an anti makeup movement. Makeup as well as other beauty products have great value and purpose. The key here is that these products are used to ENHANCE your God given beauty rather than DEFINE you.

We all have a different gift according to the grace given to us. What if instead of obsessing over our looks we learned to improve our self care? What if we taught our daughters and all young women the value of self love? Once we are able to shift our mindset from constantly criticizing ourselves to finding the true beauty that lies within us we can build better relationships, eliminate negativity, and maybe even find our passion.

Loving one another and experiencing life’s joy is after all how God intended life to be.