When I was younger, probably beginning as early as 5th grade, I used to devour teenage and adult fashion and beauty magazines. My mother is one of those naturally beautiful, extremely confident women who’s never seemed to feel the call to make “improvements” to her appearance with makeup or beauty products. She embodies a joyous, youthful energy that I suspect will attract people to her til the end of her days. As a young girl, I didn’t see things her way and with a hunger and desperation I’ve rarely known since, I sought out every possible source of information on how to make myself more beautiful, more slim, more attractive. In hindsight, I look back and I feel for my young self. Thank god, this was before the internet. I procured and devoured every possible source of tips and tricks for how to improve myself. This of course led to me feeling dissatisfied with virtually every aspect of my body and personality and I sought every single course of action within the limited means of my babysitting money to fix myself.
You’re ready for the most radiant skin you’ve ever known. If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’ve got the basics covered. Drinking enough pure water (hold the chlorine, please) and staying the f*ck away from all the usual inflammatory suspects: sugar, gluten, alcohol. This list is for those of us who are pretty happy with the way our skin shows up, but are ready to level up to radiance.
If that’s you, read on to get your glow on.
If you’re anything like me, you probably grew up feeding yourself all kinds of nonsense about how to be the most beautiful, have the best skin, and get the guy you want. As many of us are beginning to realize, much of what we learned through magazines and marketing was, at best, misguided. And we were misinformed. One example of this misinformation I remember clearly was when I read in a magazine in fifth grade about how to stay slim. Never mind the fact that no healthy fifth grader should even be thinking about how to maintain a womanly figure, but there we were. This particular magazine article persuaded readers that a great way to keep the weight down was to make sure they eat enough carbohydrates. For example, bagels. Now, I don’t know about you, but in all my years on this planet, I’ve never known of a woman who maintains her figure by eating an abundance of bagels. If that’s you, god bless you. You win life.
Luminous, radiant, glowing
If you knew even a fraction of how your body and therefore your mind has been co-opted. Well, I don’t know what you’d do. Sometimes when I talk about my fasting or things I do or don’t eat or the amount of time and energy I put into cleansing and nourishing my temple, I often get a rather aloof reaction from people, as if I’m another specimen, so even though I can do these things, many people don’t view them as an option for themselves. The reason I can do these things, though, is because I’ve seen what the other side looks like. And it’s terrifying. The alternative is not an option for me. Waiting, putting it off isn’t an option. The price of remaining comfortable is steep and it comes later and it always comes. And the price you pay, even if delayed,
Do you really want to put something on your face that you can’t put in your eyes or on your lips? If it’s damaging for those sensitive areas, can it really be good for you in the long run?