Transcription
This is what I used to look like, guys. Look at the difference! My face used to be so puffy; it used to hold all of this weight. I also had cystic acne that was covering every single part of my face. My makeup was all wrong for my facial features. My hair was thinning and looked so damaged and unhealthy, especially at the ends. My clothing was all wrong. I was always hiding my face in pictures and taking steps to try to glow up, but I never felt that satisfaction when I looked in the mirror.
And now I'm at a point in my life where I am so obsessed with myself and the way I look. Like, I'm so content with it. I'm never like, "Oh my God, I need to look like that person," or "I need to change the way I look," or "I need surgery to look better." No, I look in the mirror every single morning and I am like, "You are that girl!" And everybody deserves to feel that way.
So, in this video, I'm going to teach you how I gave myself the ultimate glow up. Before we get into it, just a quick note: I already have an ultimate glowup guide video on my channel. This one is more catered to what I did personally to get myself from this to this, but be sure to check that out because it's got loads of more hacks in there which I won't be in in this video.
I also have my Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, second YouTube channel, and podcast with exclusive self-development episodes, all linked below in the description. Be sure to head over to my Instagram because I have a broadcast channel where I ask you guys questions and specific topics that you guys want me to cover in my main Channel videos every single week, and I actually center all of my YouTube videos around the questions you guys ask in there. So, click the link below to give it a follow.
Chapter Number One: Appearance.
The first is how to dress. Now, I have an ultimate guide video on my YouTube channel already, but for now, let me tell you what I use every single day to make sure I pick out the best, most stylish outfit: this little chart right over here. This is a color combination chart that I found on Pinterest. I look at it every single day when I'm struggling to pick out an outfit, and that is how I can make sure I look super stylish and I'm not always going for the most basic option, which is just wear all black, wear the same color, wear jeans and a T-shirt. This chart makes putting together random colors way more easier, and you look more stylish to other people.
And that links into Pinterest, which has been a Major Tool in me finding my own personal style. I'm so big on this, like, you need to use your everyday life as a walking pin dress board. So, when you're out in the street and you're admiring another girl because she's dressed so cool, what is calling out to you about her outfit? Same for when you watch TV shows or movies. This is what I did: I would literally, after I watched a movie where I liked the style, I would Google it. I would save the images and put them in my Pinterest board, and then I would scroll through and find the common themes of what I found so attractive about that type of style.
So, I realized I loved statement jewelry. 5 years ago, I discovered that I love dressing so extra with all of the fur coats and all of the fancy bags, and I'm never going to be a basic minimalist girl, so why would I follow that Trend?
This links into also shopping for your body type. So, an example of this is shorter girls might opt to buy high-waisted trousers because it elongates their legs. Same goes for investing in monochromatic outfits because it doesn't break up your body with all of the different colors; it makes you appear more taller and Slimmer if that's the look you want to go for. For me personally, I know I have really defined collar bones and I have super wide shoulders, so when I wear a barough top, it always looks really good on me. So, I know that. However, when I wear like a strapless dress where there's nothing up here, my body looks very disproportionate because my shoulders are too wide. So, I buy clothes that I know are going to accentuate the features that I want to emphasize.
But at the same time, it's about buying what you know you feel confident in. So, I actually recently bought this like super skin tight, it was kind of like a catsuit outfit, and I posted it, and loads of people were criticizing me for my body type, the fact that I'm not curvy enough, and the fact that I couldn't pull it off. When I was out in this outfit, I felt amazing. I know I didn't have the assets to fill it out, but it didn't matter because I love my body type and I love how it made me look, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
To figure out your personal style and to make sure that it's flattering and heightens your confidence, I would say there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. One: what is the color scheme that you want to stick to? For me, I don't have one in particular; I love all of the colors, which is why I choose to look at the color combination chart. For you, you might like neutral tones, might like jewal tones, nude tones, etc.
Then we have what type of pieces and what Basics that you are going to build each outfit off of. A lot of people, you know, like to stick to their jeans and their T-shirts. Personally, I hate that type of outfit; it doesn't make me feel confident. I prefer trousers over jeans, I prefer skirts, and then for Tops, I prefer turtlenecks, bodysuits, more fancy, dressy tops.
That leads to the next step, which is accessorizing. I'm all about my gold jewels, but recently I've also been mixing gold and silver, which I really like. I just feel like it makes you put look so expensive, so put together. I always get questions on my jewelry. I actually have a jewelry collection where you guys can get some cute layered necklaces and some of my rings, which will be linked Down Below in the description.
I've always had a very naturally slim, chiseled face until 2021 when I caught myself looking at selfies and thinking, "What the hell happened to my face?" It was so puffy, and after doing some research, I figured out that intolerances can impact this, and your diet can also impact this. I tried exercising every day for months, and it made no difference. Truly, the food that I was consuming was contributing to this puffiness, and after some research, I found out that I was intolerant to Dairy and sugar, two things that I was consuming very frequently, which led to having a very puffy face.
I took a DNA test. This is Circle DNA, a premium DNA test, and not only does it talk about your ancestry and your intolerances that you may have, but it goes so much deeper than that. It has given me input on my diet, nutrition, success traits, behavioral traits, Sport and Fitness abilities, my common health risks, my personality traits, my gender traits, my physical traits. So, for example, when I did the test, one thing that really shocked me in the nutrition section of my report is that I actually have a higher needs for green vegetables than the average person does. This was so interesting, and so I altered my diet according to the results in my report, and I saw major changes.
This report was also a little bit of a confidence booster 'cuz in the success traits folder, it said in creativity I am above average, I am rated excellent, as well as my language ability. Overall, I learned so much valuable information about myself, my diet, my fitness needs, and my abilities, which gives me valuable knowledge on how to look after my body much better and more efficiently in a way that suits my needs rather than just following somebody else's random advice on the internet.
So, to glow up even faster than before, you can take your very own Circle DNA premium test on Circle dna.com, and you can use my promo code on the screen or in the description for 40% off.
Next step is Fitness. I get a lot of questions about my figure and how I maintain it and what my workout routine is, and I just want to say, so much of my body is down to genetics. I'm never going to come online and post my workout routine because it would be so inauthentic. I have always pretty much naturally had this body and look like this.
I would say the only time my weight really varied was when I started University. I was drinking a lot of the time, I basically was living on processed foods, and I found that a lot of my clothes were getting tighter for a period. It wasn't such a huge noticeable difference, but I was carrying a lot more weight. I have since lost it all, and I think that's truly down to just prioritizing movement every single day.
I am not harsh on, "I have to do squats," and "I have to do weightlifting." I don't care if I have the flattest butt in the world because I love my body type. I love that I'm slim and I'm tall. I don't care if it's not desirable to not be curvy. I exercise for my mental health, not for anybody else. So, sometimes I vary it through cardio, through a little bit of weightlifting in the gym, or a walk. I've been doing Pilates classes once a week, which I feel like have toned me. Wait, can I get my abs out? Are they showing? They're barely there.
Truly, Fitness to me is about maintaining my mental health and avoiding having a hormonal imbalance, which can just e you up in so many other ways. It can really wreck your skin. So, for me, it's more about Wellness than trying to alter my body type.
This links into the next step, which is skin care. Now, I don't have Perfect Skin. I've been suffering with acne per skin for a few years. It used to be a hell of a lot worse than it is now. It's probably in its best Stage that it has been in a long, long time, and that is truly down to me completely stripping back my skincare routine. It is so simple.
I use my cave hydrating cleanser. I use Nivea face cream, which is what I used my entire life, and I always had the clearer skin. And it wasn't until I started using all of the fancy skincare products and all of the active ingredients that messed up My Skin Barrier, and my skin was never the same.
I also use SPF every single morning. I use the ver zinc SPF. Zinc is an amazing ingredient if you have acne prone skin; it's not going to cause purging, it's not too harsh, but it will help with reducing any breakouts. And then I follow up with the L Raj POS e CLA imperfection Duo. It's like a little cream that you put on. I use it morning and night, and it's super gentle, and this helps fade any acne scars, which has been a godsend clearing my skin.
Another important element of skincare for me is supplements. So, I will take a zinc supplement for the same reasons that I said before: it's so, so, so, so, so good for your skin. I also take a silica supplement because I found out that I was deficient in it, and this is Major for healthy skin, hair, and nails. I also take a turmeric and ginger supplement, which lowers inflammation in the body, and inflammation is a massive contributor to acne breakouts. And then I also take collagen, 'cuz duh, really good for your skin.
One thing I've changed up with my skincare recently is I used used to use benzil peroxide on my acne breakouts. I've completely cut that out of my routine. It was working when I used it, but what happens is, I feel like if you are putting that on your breakout, it is also drying out the skin around your breakout, and when your skin gets too dry, it will then produce excess Seaburn, making your skin more oily and then prone to yet another breakout. 'Cuz I felt like I would have a breakout, it would go away, and then it would come back in the exact same spot. And I have cut out Benzel peroxide for about 2 weeks now, and I'm starting to see a difference.
And then I splurged and I got the K's avocado under eye cream. Guys, I have the worst genetic dark circles ever, and I have tried every single eye cream in the drugstore or on the more expensive side, and this K's one is the only one that has made a difference. I would highly recommend.
Next up is Nails. A cute manicure makes you look so put together, and honestly, I don't think I will ever skip this step. A manicure every month is the one for me.
Now, I used to Rave about bab all of the time. It's really good at getting this look but still having your natural nails and not having any damage. But I live such a go go go lifestyle that I kept breaking my biabs, so I am back on acrylics, guys. It just suits me better, but I would still recommend biab as a first option.
One thing I would say is, before I could afford monthly manicures and I had to do my nails at home, I bought hoba oil on Amazon. You put it on your cuticles every night. Make sure you're like wearing gloves when you're washing the dishes and stuff like that to protect your nails. My nails grew like crazy, like they were this length, because of hoba oil.
The next step is the Beauty Tools I use. I don't use a lot. So, one is a guach. This is to help with lymphatic drainage in your face. It will help sculpt your face, make it look more chiseled.
And then recently, I've been using an LED face mask every single night for, I think, a month now, which is amazing. So, it has a light setting, and the blue one helps with fighting and killing any acne causing bacteria. The red helps with anti-aging; it will help reduce any hyperpigmentation on the skin, any post acne scarring, and just give your skin a better appearance. It is definitely a Splurge item. I got the Dr Dennis gross one.
Next step is makeup. Now, I have an entire in-depth makeup tutorial with all of the products I use over on my Vlog channel that you guys can check out. But my top tips would be: number one, invest in a color corrector. This is the one I use; it's the Huda Beauty faux filter color corrector. This is in the shade Peach. It's very orange, but I've seen a lot of people use the lighter, Pinker shade one, so if you're fairer than me, I would recommend getting that. This is expensive for a color corrector, but I have tried so many on the market, and this one wins by a long shot, and you get so much product in there. This changes your makeup game next level. I normally put it around my mouth and under my eyes because I have hyperpigmentation there. It cancels that out, and if you ever feel like you put concealer on but your dark circles are still showing through or your makeup is looking gray around your mouth, that is going to help you.
Another thing I've done, kind of in terms of makeup, is a permanent makeup treatment. I've gotten my eyebrows done, so not micro bading. I've had microb bading, and I hated it. Nobody should be getting microb bading unless you have literally no eyebrows, okay? But if you feel like you just want the appearance that you've put makeup on your eyebrows, like you do every single day, then you need to get a powder brow treatment. I got mine done from highbrow in birmingh. So good! I just wake up with flawless brows.
And lastly, for makeup, this really links into just trying out new looks all of the time. I feel like you can get very bored with your appearance, and so I'm always experimenting but incorporating the same top tips that I know accentuate my features, which is color corrector, under eye baking powder, and a cut eyeliner. But like today, I've done a smokey eye, which is different for me. In one of my videos, I did blue eyeshadow. In my "how to be a" video, I was wearing false lashes for the first time. I had under eye eyeshadow on as well. You guys going crazy for that makeup look in the comments, so it just goes to show, a little bit of experimentation can go a long way.
Next step is body. Now, I know I'm a brown girl, but I self tan every single week, okay? In my defense, I am very fair for a brown girl. I also live in the UK where there is no sun, okay? So, all of us are hella pale.
And what I do is, I use this. This is the Garnier Summer Body moisturizing lotion, and after a shower, I cover myself in this, and this just gives you a really nice Natural Glow. It doesn't stay in your bed sheets, it's not high maintenance, but especially in the winter months when I want to go in, I really want to be couple Shades Darker. I mix it in with the is of paradise. Oh, these are face self turning drops, but I always use it on my body. I never selft my face just 'cuz I don't want to clug my pores, but this gives me a good glow.
As for fragrance, your girl loves to have a full collection of perfume, but unfortunately, none of them have gotten me compliments like this combo I'm about to show you: the so hinero Brazilian bum bum cream layered with the YSL black opium. I don't even like this perfume that much; it's not my favorite in my collection. But when I pair these together, my boyfriend can't stop sniffing me. I get random compliments from strangers. I was actually leaving my apartment building, and a postman was coming in to deliver a package, and I W past him. He goes, "Excuse me?" And I was like, "Yeah?" He was like, "Sorry, I just had to stop you to tell you, you smell amazing!" Who would have thought?
I've also had a lot of questions before on hair removal. As of now, I literally just shave. I use a good scented shaving cream, shave my entire body, and then I layer it with the Vaseline body oil in in Cocoa Butter scent.
Next up is the answer you've all been waiting for: my hair.
I have been oiling my hair every single week for about a year and a half now. I use the Miel rosemary oil mixed with Indian umla oil, and sometimes when I get fancy, I'll put some castor oil like right on my roots. And I now have the most annoying baby hairs in the world, but it's good 'cuz it means my hair is growing a lot. Like, my parting now looks a lot better than it used to; it used to be a lot wider. When I po my hair up into a pony, this used to be really sparse, and now it's hella fall. This is all like new hair growth just from oiling my hair.
I've also been sleeping with silk pillow cases and a silk Bonnet on my head for the last year just to remove any breakage or any frizziness in my hair. I also, after the shower, coat my hair in the color wild Dream Coat. My hair is the frizziest, but that actually tames it and helps it look super silky and super smooth.
I'm finally at a point in my life where I get regular trims just at the ends every 3 months. I used to leave it to like once a year, and that definitely increased the amount of split ends that I had. Once a week, I also used the kar deep conditioner treatment. It's in like a pink tub, and I feel like that really adds to the shine and condition of my hair.
For my lashes, I use the Lancome lash serum. It's in a little gold tube that has done wonders for the length of my lashes.
And then finally, on top of all of that, with improving my hair growth, I wear human hair extensions from a brand called L Bells. I bought it about 6 months ago, and I've been wearing it consistently since. They are incredible. This is my natural hair, and so it's a very similar length, and it's a lot healthier than it used to be; like, there are no split ends. But I have high extensions to just give me some more body.
Chapter 2: Lifestyle.
This is now where I'm going to go a little bit more into detail about my diet because, truly, this contributed the most to my appearance, especially about getting rid of that puffy face.
Now, I'm at a point in my life where I consume 90% Whole Foods. I'm not about depriving yourself; if you have a craving, you should be able to honor it, okay? If you were depriving yourself of everything, then that is not very self love of you, okay? I still enjoy a good burger, I still enjoy a good sweet treat, but just in a balanced way. So, every single day, all of my meals will always be based around proteins and veggies.
I have stopped buying things that are packaged or with high fructose syrups. If I was going out to get a coffee from a cafe, I will ask for it with no syrup because I also limit my sugar intake. I also drink matcha over coffee because coffee is very inflammatory for the body. For breakfast, I'll have a protein shake or a green juice, and this is basically to avoid having a blood sugar spike in the morning, which can also then lead to acne breakouts if you were having a quason or cereal for breakfast, which is just loaded with sugar and super processed.
I've limited processed foods to like Max once a week. In terms of going to the grocery store and buying things, I buy things that are fresh, that are natural. So, like I said, veggies, proteins. I wouldn't go and buy a box of protein bars, which are marketed to you as healthy, but if you look at the ingredients list, it's filled with seed oils and a bunch of other ingredients which just cause inflammation, will make you break out, and are not going to do anything for your glow up.
In terms of reducing my acne, diet played a huge role. Once again, I learned about hygiene I food, so stuff like white bread, white potatoes. And if you Google a list of high gii Foods, these are foods that are more likely to cause you to break out.
I listened to a podcast episode of the Diary of the CEO where a woman called Jesse in ch Bay, who I'm pretty sure is an expert on nutrition, on diet, she speaks a lot about sugar, and she spoke about how to cut sugar out of your diet. And this is where self-education comes into play. Like, the more I learn about these foods and the damages they can do, the easier it was to stay away from them. Plus, she spoke about in this episode the order in which you should be eating your foods to reduce the blood sugar spike in your body, which then causes you to crash later or then will cause inflammation in the body or acne. And the order is: you need to eat your veggies, then your protein, and your carbs and sugars last at the end of your meal.
This then links into balancing your hormones. And in order to do this, you need to exercise regularly, you need to eat very well, you know, cut out the sugar, cut out the processed foods. You need to have a consistent and regular sleep schedule of at least eight hours of sleep every night.
Hormonal imbalances happen when the body is in excess or deficiency. So, if you're not eating enough because you think it's going to help you lose weight, that is equally as un healthy, and you should not be doing that. You should be nourishing your body with all of the right Foods.
Another huge part of hormonal imbalances is stress. So, I like to incorporate self-care Sundays where I get to just rest all day, and I also do a meditation practice every single night before bed to just wind down and reduce my cortisol levels. High cortisol means high stress, and this will just increase your hormonal imbalance, which will then lead to acne breakouts and inflammation in the body, etc.
And the way to reduce your cortisol is the way to the best glow up. And so, I use a few things to do this. One is magnesium right before bed, which is really good at lowering cortisol and making sure that you have a good, consistent, deep sleep. Two is, I have alternate morning routines. So, if I wake up and I'm tired and I'm sluggish, I don't force myself to go to the gym and weight lift and have a super busy, hectic morning, which is then just going to make me more stressed. I'll take it slower. So, I'll skip my intimate in fasting and I'll eat a nourishing breakfast straight away. I'll go for a walk instead of weightlifting, and I'll rest a little bit and just fulfill my desires, have a slower morning routine before I start working so I can get my cortisol levels back to normal.
Another morning routine Habit to lower your cortisol levels is you should not be drinking caffeine within the first 90 minutes of waking up. And when you do drink caffeine, you should be drinking water before it, and you should not be drinking it on an empty stomach. Plus, you shouldn't be drinking coffee after 3 p.m. because after that, it's going to mess with your sleep cycle.
Another good habit to lower your cortisol is low impact movement, so stuff like Pilates, yoga, going for a walk, as opposed to weightlifting.
And lastly, Less phone usage. If you're waking up and you are scrolling first thing in the morning, you are having all of these ideas put into your brain. You are more likely to compare yourself. You have all of this stress that you are absorbing rather than just getting into your day and relaxing. But I have an entire video on my YouTube Channel full of hacks on how you can use your phone less.
And then in terms of body and weight, I have never calorie counted. I have never even reduced my portions or force myself to go hungry when I'm craving to eat more. I always allow myself to do that.
But what I do is intimate in fasting, and this is when all of the food you eat in a day is within an 8 Hour window. So, for me personally, I start eating my breakfast at 11:00 a.m. and then I'll have my last meal of the day at 7:00 p.m. You can choose any times for you as long as they're within an 8 or 9 hour window, whatever works for you. And basically, this is to avoid eating first thing in the morning and eating right before bed, which is also really bad for you and can disrupt your sleep cycle, which then leads to imbalanced hormones, breakouts, etc. But the biggest benefit of intimate in fasting is that it's the easiest way to maintain your weight, and you can eat as much as you want within that 8 Hour window, and you don't need to restrict yourself or do dangerous things like calorie counting.
Outside of that 8 Hour window of eating, I drink as much water as I possibly can, and I drink a lot of tea. And this links into the next step: the beauty benefits of tea.
Now, I drink a cup of spint tea every single day. This is amazing for your skin and really, really good if you have acne prone skin. I'll also occasionally drink turmeric and ginger tea because that helps reduce any inflammation within the body. I drink Rasberry leaf tea whenever I'm on my period because it helps relieve cramps; it's really good for menstration health. And lastly, I drink green tea or matcha tea as often as I possibly can. That's really good at raising your metabolism, helping with weight management. It's got a ton of benefits. It also reduces inflammation within the body.
And lastly, Chapter Number Three: Your Mindset.
The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that these big beauty glowup hacks are going to help you. Meanwhile, you think you're ugly. Meanwhile, you look into the mirror and you hate what you see. You hide your face in every single picture taken of you. You don't believe it when other people compliment you. It's your mind. You can ignore everything I have said in this video so far and perfect your mindset, and you will be fine. You will be the baddest, the most confident, the most beautiful. And this is how.
Step one: my definition of beauty is the key, and it doesn't have to be the same as yours. For example, I love that I have a slim body. Other people, they think that it's not flattering, it's not beautiful. That's fine, but I feel confident this way, and I've decided for this to be beautiful. Same with other people; they think that acne is super ugly, and they would hate to have it on their face. I'm like, "It is what it is." It just is what it is. Like, I am not going to allow that to Define how beautiful I am or how I feel about myself.
And to prove that confidence and mindset really is everything, let me tell you a quick little story time. I was unset at a photo shoot, so like, professional photographer, makeup artist, hired models, everything. And there was a model that was hired for this photo shoot. She had acne all over her face, okay? She had a full face of makeup on, you can still see it. It was like everywhere. Most beautiful woman I have ever come across. I am not exaggerating, okay? She didn't fit the beauty standard in the sense that she didn't have blonde hair, and she had acne covering her face, and yet she walked around like she was the and all of us believed it, obviously, because she was hired and paid to do a photo shoot. This woman was signed to a modeling agency and had a full-time career of people wanting her to model for their brands, and she had hella imperfect skin, but she didn't allow that to stop her, just like I don't allow it to stop me. I still get on a camera every single day, and I have people commenting that I have a break up on my face as if I don't know it, but I don't care because I'm still feeling myself every single day. My acne does not define me.
And this links into self- Lov. When you don't know who you are, how are you supposed to love yourself? How are you supposed to know what there is to love about yourself? And when you don't take the time to understand yourself and your value and how you are so much more than your appearance, you are going to internalize every external opinion made of You by everyone around you as Truth. For example, when I was 11, 12 years old, and I was getting bullied for how big my nose was, I internalized that opinion, took it as truth, and allowed it to Define my worthiness and my attractiveness. And so, I decided that I wanted to get a nose job, and I lived for the next 7 years with that thought at the front of my mind constantly.
I am now at a point in my life where I have all of the freedom, all of the free time, all of the resources, all of the money to fly out to Turkey and get a nose job tomorrow if I wanted to, but I don't. I know my nose is imperfect. I know it's CR. I know it's wider. I know it doesn't fit the beauty standard, okay? I have a very typical ethnic nose, but I've decided that it's beautiful, and I walk around every day carrying that confidence. I don't try to hide my nose in pictures. I don't just accept the beauty standard that I've been shown and feel like, "Well, I'm never going to be beautiful because I don't look like that particular face." For me, plastic surgery is a last resort. If that's what's going to make you happy, no one is shaming you here, you go do what You've got to do. But for me personally, I'm like, I would just rather work on my mindset. I think that is way more powerful.
And so, I have reprogrammed my perception of beauty, and I did a few things to work on this. You know, I really changed my consumption of things. So, I wasn't following people online and influencers who looked nothing like me because they had a different skin color, hair color, eye color, facial features. I was watching a lot more movies with Indian women who Embrace their natural features, and it allowed me to fall in love with mine because I could see how they were owning theirs and how they looked absolutely beautiful and Majestic with theirs. I think at one point I was really struggling, and I actually put together a Pinterest board of people with the insecurities that I had, so like their skin color or their nose shape or their body type, and looking at them allowed me to accept mine. So, I used to feel really insecure about my slim body type, but then I saw the likes of Zinda ara Grande, Kendall Jenna, all of these superm models, and I'm like, "If they can love it, why can't I?" When you are constantly exposed to people with surgeries and different features to you, of course, you're naturally going to compare yourself.
This then links into your daily confidence. Now, firstly, I have the confidence to wear whatever the hell I want after years and years of having my literal friends sham me, ex-friends sham me, for overdress and being too extra and putting in too much effort or trying too hard. I don't give an f because I realize at the end of the day, people only shame you because they feel that you're outdoing them. People are allowed to have different tastes than you, okay? You can have a bestie who's super into minimalism, would never want to wear your outfit, but they're not going to shame you because they're confident enough in their style, in their looks. People will only criticize you because they are trying to project their own insecurities on you and distract everybody else from looking and judging at them to doing it to you instead. And once you learn that, you will have ultimate peace because, you know, I'm going to go out and I'm going to be wearing, doing, or looking like whatever the hell I want, and if somebody has something negative to say about it, they're making more of a fool of themselves in doing that. Like, you're literally telling on yourself by trying to come at me. That is a win-win scenario. I get to where I want. No one can say anything about me because I know it's more embarrassing for them than it is me. Easy.
This also links into me just finally leaning into my authenticity and my quirks. I feel like my aura has just shined so much brighter as a result. If you guys go to the beginning of my YouTube channel, you'll see that I'm much more reserved, I'm a little bit more quiet. I was still like on my confidence Journey then, so it wasn't as bad as it used to be, but I was not as out there, crazy, like sassy, passionate as I am on camera now. And why do you think I was never getting views back then? As soon as I finally started being myself, I started liking myself because I was leaning into my authenticity. I was teaching myself that it was okay to be me and that I could actually love myself. And when you love yourself, everybody else adopts that exact same mindset. When you are trying to hide yourself, when you're trying to be somebody you're not, when you are trying to gain approval or be liked or fit in, people can send, and they will treat you as such. You are putting people on a pedestal when you are trying to find ways to become more acceptable. They see that you're putting them on the pedestal, and so they treat you according to that. They will treat you like you are lower than them because you are giving all of the Power away to them.
The biggest step which changed my mindset and truly contributed to my glow up was realizing that my body is just a vessel. That's it. It's just a vessel. I realized this in my final year of University, and I was like, "My appearance is the least interesting thing about me," and it was the most freeing feeling in the world. And I still feel that to this day. And I posted a video about it on my Tik Tok like years ago now, and obviously the haters online were like, "Well, then why do you wear makeup and why...?" No, no, no. It's not about, "I'm not going to wear makeup," and "I'm not going to put effort into my appearance." No, it's about realizing my appearance doesn't hold as much importance as the rest of me. I am still allowed to play with it and experiment it with it, okay? It's about taking away the importance where you fixate on your appearance and try to alter it for the approval of others.
Now, I look at my appearance as my own personal Avatar to customize and play with whatever the hell I want because whether I choose a new hairstyle that's flattering or not, it doesn't matter because I have so much value. I have so many amazing personality traits. I have an amazing effect on people. I show up in my relationships with other people. I have such an amazing energy. I love my perception of the world. I love my mindset. I love the way I think. I love the way I deal with my challenges. There is so much to love about me. This, this is just temporary. This can change at any moment.
And so, to then reprogram my mindset once again, to stop fixating on my appearance and allowing it to be like the core and most important element of who I was, I did something crazy. So, when I had that realization, the next day I went to the salon and I got a front Fringe cut right here, right? Not flattering to my face shape. I lowkey knew it wasn't going to be flattering to my face ship. I got it anyway because me getting that and then going outside and challenging myself to be confident anyway in a hairstyle that I knew a lot of people didn't even like on me changed the game because I was like, "Truly, nobody else's opinions matter. I can do this and still come with all of my energy and all of my value." I also got my nose pierced for a short amount of time because I was like, "But it's temporary. I can take it out. My hair is going to grow out. It literally does not matter." If you don't like me for me and what I have to offer on the inside, then you shouldn't be in my life in the first place. And if you're going to judge me from the way I look, you're not worthy of being in my life in the first place. So, no, you are not your physical appearance. You are so much more than that.
And I know it is so hard to be a girl, especially when there are so many Trends telling you what you should and shouldn't be: high visual weight, low visual makeup, what aesthetic you should follow to be the most fashionable, what body type is in. It's exhausting. It is so hard to keep up with all of the new trends, and I know exactly how it feels because when I was 16, I was doing the most crazy stuff: putting oil in my lashes every night, putting cold spoons into my eyes, trying out new DIY face masks, looking at waist trainers online to buy. It's ridiculous. It does not determine your worth.
So, please focus on your happiness, okay? I want you to focus on a few little things that just light up your day, make you feel a little bit confident, whether it's always having your nails done, whether it's curling your hair, learning some makeup that suits your facial featur, which just makes you feel like that girl, you know, putting together a cute outfit. I'm all for it. But please let go of trying to be perfect, okay? I no longer do all of the facials and the teeth whitening because I realize that my purpose is so much greater than just trying to be a pretty girl, especially because I already am one, and so were you.
And that brings us to the end of this video. I hope you guys enjoyed it and learn a thing or two. I hope if you take anything from this video, it truly is to work on your mindset and confidence. I have a ton of videos on my YouTube channel teaching you how to do so. I have my confidence guide and so many other things that you can check out. Let me know what you learn from this video in the comments below. Let me know what other videos you'd like to see in the comments below because I always read them, and then I alter my video schedule according to them because I really just want to provide as much value to you guys as I possibly can. I hope you have the best week. I will see you same time next Friday for a brand new video. Bye, guys! I appreciate you. [Music]