Being Yourself is the Prettiest Thing You Can Be!

Hello! Today is about being Brave and Beautiful. For me that starts with a photo and a phrase “Being Yourself is the Prettiest Thing You Can Be”. 

I am Brave and Beautiful – a beauty movement that is sweeping the globe. Colbie Caillat started it with her recent song and video called TRY. My blogging friend Megan of Brassy Apple wanted to push this movement along and invited women from all over to share what they looked like without make up and I joined in! Colbie’s song says,

Take your make up off. Let your hair down… Look into the mirror at yourself, Do you like you? Cause I like you… 

Megan and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces have been the team behind this project. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. The talent of Robbins Creative made it possible for them to pull it off.

I joined in with 101+ other blogging women from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes have decided to be Brave and Beautiful! You can join in this movement too by sharing what you look like without makeup on. You don’t need a blog either! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful on Instgram and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in. ALSO, if you tag it with a second hashtag – #ColbieTRY we just might be able to get Colbie Caillat’s attention since she was the inspiration behind it all!

Are you brave and beautiful? I am… Here I go!

This is a rare selfie I had taken a while back. After fretting over a photo to submit, I chose this one. It was used in an Instagram 30 days campaign and I used the phrase Being yourself on it. It seemed so appropriate for this campaign! This is my everyday look. I like to wear make-up and do my hair, But most photos of myself have a filter, or are photoshopped in some way also.

With make-up and photoshopped somewhat…

NOW FOR THE NO MAKE-UP, NO PHOTOSHOP REVEAL

Eeeek!

No make-up and not photoshopped!

When I was first asked to join this campaign, I knew I had to be a part of it. That did mean being BRAVE. For me, very BRAVE! I rarely post photos of myself because I am ashamed of being overweight. Honestly, that bothers me more that showing a no make-up look. I even avoid photos for that reason! {yes, that was a BRAVE statement to make, right?} On top of that issue, I never leave my home without make-up. Yes, I have always felt like I had to try, to be accepted. I have told people that when you are overwight like I am that people tend to look at you differently. I always had the attitude that if I have a good hair style and cute shoes {top to bottom} along with a well made up face then I get treated better. The truth is, none of that should matter…

What does matter is being yourself.

Being yourself is the prettiest thing you can be.

 YOU are ENOUGH

Everything has beauty!

You don’t have to try so hard.

Just be.

As I have gotten older I have learned not to care so much about what “people think”. Let people think as they may. Just be yourself, do your best, and know that is enough. I often find myself telling younger people that. But it’s advice not always easy to follow. It’s something you must somehow learn for yourself. I do know this though, when you lack confidence, it shows and affects your overall appearance. That is something I know I can work on. I know I am normally a very positive person. If you read my posts very often, I’m sure you know that. So I am going to work on this by looking in the mirror each day and allowing only positive thoughts about my appearance. Then I will vocalize those thoughts. This is not being vain, this is allowing ourselves to see the beauty that is there!

The media is bombarding us with beauty secrets, plastic surgery, secret weight loss tricks, and every beauty product under the sun. Commercials are always telling us we can look better and what we can do to improve our appearance. Many jobs in the public eye require looking a certain way that isn’t always realistic. Rarely, if ever do we see something on inner beauty, about being yourself or someone telling us we “dont have to try so hard”. You don’t have to cover up the real you to be beautiful! Thank-You Colbie Caillat for taking a stand on this issue. And Thank you Megan, Cobi, and over 100 brave women taking this stand today. Seeing so many women taking their make-up off has truly touched me and I have felt and seen such powerful beauty in this. 

I still haven’t learned how to fully love my myself appearance wise. This campaign is helping to teach me that I need to change my thinking and attitude about the way I look. I know there is beauty in everything and I know I can find that within myself!

Remember, BEING YOURSELF IS THE PRETTIEST THING YOU CAN BE!

{Of course I will be sharing a printable for this! —Stay tuned!}

Now read on, and enjoy what so many women have to share with you today. You may not know just who may make a strong impression on you through this movement!

Don’t stop here. Get clicking around – its a blog hop! Below are more brave and beautiful women bearing more than their natural beauty. They each have a little bit of their heart to share with you. Some get very personal. Some share stories. For some this was very hard to do yet they gathered their courage and did it anyway. We hope as you click around (and YES pin these different posts!) you will feel the importance of it, the empowering effect it has and that it encourages you in some way.

>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link has an ERROR, simply click on the HOME button for each site, or google the blog name next to the link, and you should see their brave and beautiful post there. Links will be updated as soon as possible.<<<<<<<<<<<<

1. BrassyApple 2. Peace from 6 Pieces 3. Is this Really My Life 4. Among the Young 5. Love Me Dani Marie 6. Sweet Charli 7. Kim Orlandini 8. XO, Ashton Tilton 9. She Calls Me Mama Leisha 10. Raising Memories – Canada 11. A Little Tipsy 12. Amy Cornwell 13. A girl and a glue gun 14. My Craftily Ever After 15. Maybe I Will 16. WhipperBerry 17. Paging SuperMom 18. All Things Thrifty 19. Ashlee Marie 20. The Project Girl

21. One Little Momma 22. Entirely Eventful Day 23. Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl 24. Tips from a Typical Mom 25. Utah Sweet Savings 26. Flats to Flip Flops 27. One Krieger Chick 28. What Meegan Makes 29. Simply Kierste 30. Live to be Inspired 31. HoneyBear Lane 32. Pretty Providence 33. Ma Nouvelle Mode – in FRANCE 34. MomEntity 35. Serger Pepper – in ITALY 36. Kiki and Company 37. Girl Loves Glam 38. Thrive

39. The Potters Place 40. Crafting in the Rain 41. Cooking With Ruthie 42. Delineate Your Dwelling 43. The Pennington Point 44. Bakerette 45. The Happy Scraps 46. Shannon Baird Photography 47. Tried and Tasty 48. Lionesses at the Gate 49. Fry Sauce and Grits 50. Lolly Jane 51. That’s What Che Said 52. Sugar Bee Crafts 53. Your HomeBased Mom 54. Happiness is Homemade 55. The Crafted Sparrow 56. R&R Workshop 57. I Should Be Mopping the Floor 58. Sassy Steals

59. Let’s Eat Grandpa 60. Being Spiffy 61. Sumo’s Sweet Stuff 62. Ginger Snap Crafts 63. Bless This Mess 64. Apronista 65. Dreaming About Someday 66. Frenchie 67. Tastefully Frugal 68. Four Marrs and One Venus 69. Your Sister Circle 70. Over the Big Moon 71. See Vanessa Craft 72. Infarrantly Creative 73. Family StoryTelling

74. Albion Gould 75. Life as Mrs. Larson 76. Tried and True 77. Play.Party.Pin. 78. Bite of Delight 79. Ink Happi 80. ObSEUSSed 81. U Create 82. My Mommy Style 83. Find it Make it Love it 84. The Contractor Chronicles 85. Novae Clothing 86. Mommy Makes Things 87. At Home with Sweet T 88. We Like to Learn As We Go 89. House for Five 90. Organize and Decorate Everything 91. Sassy Southern Gurl 92. The Creative Mom 93. Keep Moving Forward with Me

94. The Benson Street 95. Mom 4 Real 96. Sowdering About 97. illistyle 98. The Crafty Blog Stalker 99. A Fiery Red Life 100. Cupcakes & Crowbars 101. One Sweet Appetite 102. My DayLights 103. Restless Risa

104. Sypsie Designs 105. Vintage Mother 106. Like Mother Like Daughter 107. 30 Handmade Days 108. Queen Bee and Me 109. Apples by Ashley 110. Boutique Cafe – in CANADA 111. Just My Little Mess 112. Bombshell Bling 113. Sarah Tyau 114. Taradara Make it 115. Capturing Joy 116. Ivory Lime Photography 117. Jenkins Kid Farm 118. Free Time Frolics 119. Bella Storia 120. Dana Ohlsen Photography

Ready to join in? Snap, hashtag and share! Tag @BrassyApple and @Peacefrom6Pieces if you can too!

Also follow our Bravery and Beauty PINTEREST board for more inspiration!