The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

Being a woman in today’s world often means putting on that extra little bit of makeup, changing up your hairstyle regularly or purchasing body shapers; sometimes it even means taking life-changing measures like plastic surgery – all for the sake of beauty.

Increasing pressure from the media and other sources have led many women to go to great lengths just to meet the so-called beauty standard.

In their quest to meet this standard, some women neglect to enhance who they are on the inside, according to organisers of a new empowerment campaign.

The “Beauty Starts Here” campaign began as simple, fun, “girly girl” event to uplift women, but has now evolved into a movement which aims to inspire women to focus on developing their inner beauty.

The campaign is an initiative inspired by a Beauty & Assurance event held in May by Shannen Albury and Natoya Flowers.

The event was designed to give women a good dose of fun while teaching them how to enhance their makeup application skills, and giving them a chance to share their most personals thoughts. During the “Beauty Talk” segment, those in attendance were given a pep talk on accepting and embracing who they were created to be.

“Lives were touched and ladies began to pour out their beauty stories. It was incredible. After the event, we didn’t want it to stop there. We partnered with the amazing people over at Unorthodox Entertainment to bring our campaign’s vision to life,” said Ms Albury.

The new campaign began last month with a series of promotional videos posted to the “Beauty Starts Here” social media pages. The official launch, however, takes place next month with the sharing of two beauty stories by women in Nassau.

Over a five-week period, women will share stories of the their struggles and the process of getting to a place where they love who they are inside and out.

“There are so many females, young and old, here in Nassau alone who suffer in silence because they believe they have to meet the beauty standards of their peers and socially famous people,” said Ms Albury.

“Their standards drop because their assurance comes from compliments and social media ‘likes’ they’d do anything for. The aim of this campaign is for women in the Bahamas and around the world to look past social norms and standards of beauty that only apply to the fading outer beauty of a woman. We desire for females to begin to search within themselves, to the core of the heart, for the unfading beauty of a woman.

“This cause is so significant because there are dozens of beauty campaigns that only focus on the exterior. If you dress this way, fix your hair this way, do your makeup this way, then you’ll be beautiful. It is so much more than that. This campaign is all about the interior. We desire for women to begin searching from the inside out, not the outside in. So when persons don’t compliment you or like your Facebook photo, you’re still assured that you are beautiful.”

Organisers of the campaign hope that women will understand that being attractive on the outside is just a small part of what it means to be beautiful.

“If you are a woman reading this, I want to assure you that you are so beautiful and nothing will ever change that. Be confident with the flaws God created you with on the outside. It’s OK to correct them, but begin putting in more work enhancing what’s on the inside of you, and only you. That there is what really makes you beautiful,” said Ms Albury.

For more information, visit the “Beauty Starts Here” Facebook page, Instagram @_beautystartshere and the YouTube “Beauty StartsHere” channel.