Heather's Dish

Faces of Beauty

The Announcement

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Good morning everyone! Today’s the day I’ve been teasing y’all about for a while now 🙂  This post could get a little wordy, but please read all the way through since this is something that is very near and dear to my heart.

If you’ve been reading Heather’s Dish for a while now, or even if you’ve just stopped by to check out the “About Me” section, you have probably read about the fact that I struggled with body image issues and disordered eating for 14 years of my very short life.  I could go into detail here on how horrible it was physically, emotionally, relationally, etc; however, the hardest part of it all to swallow now is the realization that for 14 years I had no idea that I was beautiful exactly how I am.  It’s not for lack of people telling me though.  I have the most incredible family a girl could ask for, and my husband tells me every day that I’m gorgeous.  The thing is that internally I was unable to see the beauty in myself and constantly compared myself to others.

As Nate and I continue to embark on the photography journey, we hear almost constantly the phrase, “Oh, you can just PhotoShop that out, right?”  And I’ll be honest…when it comes down to it, PhotoShop is not a bad thing.  When people pay for photographs they want to see the best possible version of themselves, and that’s OK.  What makes me sad about it though is when I see videos like the one below from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty and see the behind-the-scenes of what goes into making models and celebrities look the way they do:

Again, I’m not harping on PhotoShop or even the people who utilize it.  The thing that kills me about this is the fact that young girls and women of all shapes and sizes will see photos that are touched up like this all over the world and believe that they are not beautiful because they don’t look like that.  Research has shown that up to 90% of women are unhappy with the way that they look. These women and girls will go through their lives not ever truly believing that they are incredibly beautiful just as they are.

What I want to do is start a CELEBRATION of our natural beauty.  What if we took things like wrinkles, smile lines, gray hair, blond eyelashes, crooked teeth, crooked noses, shorter necks, etc. and saw the beauty and the LIFE in them?

I have started FacesofBeauty.org as a place to post pictures of real women (and men!) and the beauty within them.  It’s very simple actually:  every post will feature one beautiful person (that’s YOU!) with a headshot that follows the following guidelines:

  • must be wearing minimal to no make-up (no colored eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc)
  • cannot have any editing of any kind;
  • must be at least 1200 pixels on the long side of the photo.

Each photo should be accompanied with a 500-word or less description of what you think is beautiful about you and why, the story of your journey to self-love, and/or what defines beauty to you.  Email the photo and paragraph to me at heathersdish [at] gmail [dot] com.  Also, if you’d like to be linked to your blog just include the URL for it as well.

My prayer is that everyone who reads this today will join this celebration and spread the word to their friends and families.  That you would email me your photo and paragraph, then copy this link and email it out in mass quantities and that the world would be moved by our transparency and celebration of the beauty that we all have! This is my formal request…bring on the emails!

I understand that I’m asking everyone who comes across this blog to participate, and that by participating you are taking a chance. You’re putting yourself out there.  You’re exposing yourself.  You’re making yourself known.  But what you’re also doing is encouraging others to truly look inside themselves and see that they are beautiful as well.  It is my belief that life is too short for anyone to take another 14 years to learn to love themselves, so let’s celebrate it now!

Do you believe that you are truly beautiful?

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Comments

  2. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says

    amazing and i will look thru my stash and send you something. 99% of my photos on my blog are no make and not retouched. as if i have time for all that, i have 17 things to do every day and hair, makeup, and photoshopping dont make the cut!

    Reply

  3. Katie says

    This post made me tear up a little. Absolutely love this idea and this post was so incredibly well written and inspiring! 🙂

    Reply

    • Heather says

      That will definitely work! And to see how many pixels, just highlight it in the Finder or folder that it’s in…it should pop up a bunch of info about it to the right, which includes dimensions!

      Reply

    • Heather says

      Hey Gena! If you can submit a photo and paragraph and spread the word that would be amazing! Anything to participate and encourage others to participate helps 🙂 Thanks so much for asking!

      Reply

  14. Amber@momsgottheruns says

    Heather! OMG! Please don’t think I’m a nut when I responded to your comment on my blog about my pregnancy! For some reason I was thinking Heather from another blog (who’s pregnant!). So sorry! I’m really not crazy! LOL

    Reply

  16. Val says

    This is such a great idea! That video was very moving. It made me sad that women use so much energy striving to look like something that clearly is not a reality.

    I will be submitting soon!

    Reply

  18. Penny Lane says

    Way to go! I will be working on my Pic (takes me a bit to get pics taken) and my 500 word essay. This is something that I have been something that has been close to my heart for a few years.

    Reply

  19. Becca D. says

    This is such a beautiful idea! I hope that soon I can get the courage to post a pic on the site….this concept is definitely something I have been struggling to believe for quite some time!! I absolutely love that you are putting this out there in the world…way to go Heather!!

    Reply

  23. Axelle the french reader says

    This is sooooo EXACT and right and true ! … I would like to participate, but I love myself so much that I delete each picture someone takes from me …
    But you’re right, you know.

    Reply

  28. Julie says

    Fantastic idea! I’m currently dealing with trying to figure out how to inspire my young nieces and my own children to not get caught up in all these traps we got caught in. Hooray for such a great endeavor!!

    Reply

    • Heather says

      Well, I had Nate take mine with all of our camera equipment, but definitely do it outside in natural light! brings out the glow even more 🙂 you could do a self-timer, have someone else take it for you, or just snap a self portrait 🙂

      Reply

  33. spokesnoats says

    As I sit here and ponder this fabulous idea and the prospect of myself perhaps submitting a photo it’s easier to imagine working up the courage to send in a photo, but a whole other prospect to envision coming up with things you like about your own face in all its “nude” glory. I can’t wait ’til this takes off. I look forward to being inspired.

    Reply

  36. Katie says

    This is a beautiful idea… I haven’t showered yet today (haa) so after I do and before I put on any mascara or touch my hair, I’m going to have my mom take a picture. I’ll try to get her to get on board too. SUCH a great idea.

    Reply

  39. Krista (kristastes) says

    I love this idea, I’ll write up my post for you soon! I get so annoyed with ads of crazy thin/airbrushed women that set an ‘ideal’ no woman will be able to reach in a healthy way. Makeup-free days are always nice too — makes my morning routine snappy 😉

    Reply

  51. Tina says

    Without a doubt I am in! I still have to get my 500 words written and to you. I’m working on it. And I love what you’re doing here.

    Reply

  61. offeringmyownconfusion says

    Just did a post with my fresh faced picture. This is such a wonderful idea, especially in a time when girls and women grow up with an unattainable image that somehow they are supposed to fulfill. Thank you Heather! 🙂

    Reply

  63. TheHealthyApron says

    That video is ridiculous! No wonder we all have such low self-esteem! What a great idea though heather! I love all the positive body image vibes going around! Maybe if we start today, we can change for our future girls!

    Reply

  67. Tammy says

    So…I really kinda love this! I’ll either have to find a picture or take a new one. This is really kinda meeting me where I am at in life. Post pregancy body + another pregnancy in progress. Kinda just have to accept my body and not obsess. Easier said than done but getting there!

    Reply

  68. Melissa (MyMcDonaldMeal) says

    What an awesome idea! I’m very excited for you and can’t wait to see all the amazing posts on your new site. I’ll turn the camera around soon and shoot a picture of myself to add to your site. Best to you!!

    Reply

  70. Becky says

    This is an incredible idea! I am going to have to take some photos 🙂

    Can’t wait to visit the site and see all the beautiful faces each day – love the positive energy!

    Reply

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