Have you discovered the new beauty trend of embracing our flaws and imperfections? What does it mean to be beautiful, if not embracing our flaws and imperfections? Let us show how we as consumers are expressing ourselves creatively, celebrating what makes you feel the most “you”:
1. Our Freckles.
Freckles have now become the pinnacle of natural beauty. This ethereal look brings us a sense of comfort in beauty, which is exactly how everyone should feel in their own skin. It is about time we love and embrace our freckles, and to appreciate the beauty in ourselves.
Did you know that you could accentuate or even add freckles to your everyday routine? By using products such as henna, liners or bronzer, freckles can be recreated to capture a feeling of innocence and purity while emanating a youthful charm. Such a trend has created a sense of individuality and self-expression in beauty to love every bit of ourselves. This unified feeling has brought us together to view this flaw in a different light, where instead of pushing it away we have learned to accept and nurture those little stars on our skin.
From the words of Meghan Markle:
“A Face without Freckles. . . is a Night without Stars.”
2. Our Eyebrows.
We are finally taking the time to love and show off our natural eyebrows. Brow trends have had striking changes across the years from pencil-thin to the now natural brow looks. We believe that ‘natural’ is the way to go.
Whether you are using a brow pen to fill them in or a brow gel to smooth them out, your brows deserve to look ‘on-fleek’ just as they are. Imagine not being able to see the adorable scrunched-up brow look you make when you’re confused, or how they lift when you give off a radiant smile. The point is, there are many reasons to love our brows because they are a part of you and anything part of you, is beautiful.
Celebrities like Cara Delevingne completely changed-up the brow game with her naturally thick and bold eyebrows. Let us take away from this bold move to accept that there is no such thing as one principle brow type. No matter the shape, colour or form, brows are unique to ourselves. Maybe you fancy a soap brow or a faded brow instead. Do not be afraid to express yourself creatively and experiment with different brow shapes and styles to make you feel the most “you”.
3. Our Curves.
Our bodies naturally come in different shapes and sizes and therefore we should celebrate this size diversity by appreciating your body for the way it looks.
Think of your body as a canvas, whereby an artist has applied different curves and shapes all across leaving you with a beautiful piece of artwork, that is: your body, and there is so much beauty in its uniqueness. Erase that image of the perfect body in your mind, take a good look in the mirror and embrace your figure.
Notice the curves and lines that make up you. It is so important that we feel comfortable in our own skin. We do not need a perfect figure to wear that bikini, just as Lizzo, an influencer, tells us. Her Instagram messages are filled with body positivity posts, and this caption just sums it up: “BIG GRRRL SUMMER HAS BEGUN. . .” She is the prime example of if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
This trend has inspired women to be more confident in their bodies and allowed fashion to become a form of self-expression. Wear what you feel best in because confidence is beautiful.
4. Our Tummies.
The quote “all bodies are bikini bodies” had to be said, as it means to accept all our imperfections including our bloated tummies. You do not need a flat stomach to wear a crop top. Neither is there anything wrong if your tummy tries to peek through your dress. The idea of confining our bodies to look a specific way should be demolished because those days are over.
Break that habit of sucking your tummy in, it is time we set it free. Today, GenZ has stepped up to promote loving and embracing different body types. It might be worth following self-love pages, such as: @hi.ur.beautiful as a constant reminder to ignore the harmful beauty standards. It is unfair and unrealistic to constantly be served with images of models with flat stomachs and perfect bodies. We should start asking ourselves how many people in our lives actually adhere to those standards.
The sooner we see that the answer is none, the sooner we realise that we have been setting unrealistic expectations all along. People are breaking boundaries such as with the Body Positive Catwalk that sparked confidence in many to embrace their body types. Thankfully, the beauty industry is being challenged more and more by models with a range of realistic body types and other influencers who stand for body positivity.
Model Kate Wasley is an example of this as she condemned the lack of size diversity among models in Fashion Week. Let’s push ourselves to accept our body for the way it looks, bloated tummies and all.
5. Our Body Hair.
Hair is normal. It is a part of being human. So why do we condemn it so heavily? This new trend seeks to empower us by embracing what is natural. We should never feel forced to get rid of our body hair because it is not a crime to have hair in places that society says we shouldn’t. Why is it that having luscious hair on our heads is a desirable idea yet hair on our underarms is an unwanted thought? That is the irony of beauty standards, they are fickle and sometimes don’t make sense. GenZ has noticed this flaw and are therefore trying to make a difference by spreading phrases like:
- Normalise body hair.
- Normalise underarm hair
- Normalise facial hair
- Normalise leg hair.
It is unrealistic to maintain different amounts of hair in different places, besides our body already does that for us. Naturally, hair grows, and we should love and accept that process. A bold move by Julia Roberts appearing on the red carpet with underarm hair as she waved, smiling really put things into perspective. Body hair is normal and we should celebrate this form of natural beauty.
At Designer Friday we believe in practicing self-love and self-acceptance by encouraging people to embrace their natural beauty and flaunt it too. Here are few tips on how you can achieve these perfect imperfections:
- If you fancy freckles you can go straight ahead and try the OG Freckle by Freck or Colour Pop’s Freckle Pen for direct results. If you’d like to get more creative you could use a felt tip liner or use the Maybelline Brow Tattoo. Henna works too, but the most surprising of all is to use a spoolie covered with a mixture of bronzer and setting spray. Splatter it across your cheeks to achieve the natural freckle look.
- If you fancy a natural brow look, you can never go wrong with using brow pomade to add shape and concealer to sharpen the edges. Looking for inspiration to style an everyday brow? Check out this bushy brow tutorial by Jesshunt2 on Instagram using @refybeauty. To smoothen out your brows, a brow brush can come in handy. Brow gel can help retain the shape and position of your brow hairs for longer, so it’s super useful for long days. To fill them in, a brow pen in a suitable shade works well. Use these products to accentuate what you already have to achieve eyebrows on-fleek.
- If you are wondering what to wear to best flaunt your curves, Designer Friday dresses are a great option for you. We believe that women should feel comfortable and confident in their clothes no matter your shape or size, thus, our creation of no-size labels. Our flowy, breathable dresses fit up to a UK size 16 and come in a variety of prints and designs. Style our pieces with a slim belt or just let it loose, we want you to dress in the way that makes you feel best.
- If you are looking for ways to dress flattering for your bloated tummy, don’t think too much! The answer is simple: wear what you feel good in. Show off the parts of the body that you love and slowly you will gain the confidence to make bold fashion choices. Flaunt your tummy with Aline dress with a belt around the middle. Designerfriday cotton midi dress is a perfect example of Aline dress. May we add all our dresses come with pockets too!
- If you want to learn to embrace your body hair, take it one step at a time. It can be daunting and people might be taken aback but remember that your body hair is a part of you, and if they can’t accept that then you just have to move on from their perception of beauty standards. Don’t fuss about the hair on your legs or underarms. If you feel like going out with it, then by all means go for it because that is your decision to do so. Body hair does not make you any less beautiful.
There is so much to love about ourselves and beauty trends are taking a turn for the better by bringing out the natural beauty within us. Let this inspire you to find beauty in yourself rather than searching for it elsewhere. Follow our imperfect perfect journey on designerfriday.
