Pretty on the Outside, Beautiful on the Inside

First off, just wanted to mention a milestone: I got my first comment on my beauty blog!!! YAAAY.  Isn't it just so satisfying when people show real interest in what you're writing? Wink wink.  

I've been thinking lately a really depressing thought.  People who are more symmetrical, less spotty, skinnier, paler, more sleek...those are the people who are going to successful, aren't they? I've always been afraid that I could never be beautiful because I'm Chinese American.  There's just no way for me to fit into the Hollywood mold of "pretty" that I'm surrounded by in Los Angeles.  Just no way.  But then I heard something that really made me smile: 

The difference between being pretty and being beautiful is that pretty just sits on your outside like a coat of foundation.  Being beautiful means you're beautiful through every fiber of your being.

That makes sense, doesn't it? It explains how people who are charismatic are also seen as pretty attractive.  And I think charisma is so much more important than physical outward beauty.  January Jones can pluck and primp and Wonder-bra herself all she likes but if she's still a bitch, then I will never think she's really "beautiful." 

It's my hope that people try to shine from the inside, which will translate to a beautiful glow on the outside.  Has anybody else ever noticed how when someone is truly, truly happy, they kind of glow a little bit? A little smile tugs at the corner of their mouth, their face is just lit up like a lightbulb, their eyes are shining, and they always look like they're happy at an inside joke they're having with themselves? I know because I get that way whenever I go to Disneyland or watch Doctor Who.  

You know what mystifies me? How my perception of beauty is not completely skewed by my obsession with Disney.  

Bazumbas. 

I want to straighten out the Disney + Beauty relationship.  People all over the USA have for years been condemning Disney for promoting an "unhealthy" image of beauty.  But let's evaluate this.  1) They're 2-D.  And then when you get to Enchanted, when Amy Adams portrayed a live-action Disney princess (not technically an official Disney princess though), she had flab.  During "That's How You Know", she lifted her arms into the air and there was definite atonality in the tricep area if you get what I'm sayin'.  But she was still beautiful because her persona was kind and charming and, well, a Disney princess-ish type.  2) I have a feeling the people who are condemning Disney's portrayal of women's waists have children who weren't old/mature/smart enough to realize that this is not a normal, realistic expectation for our waists.  Do you know why women had to stop wearing corsets? The corset was morphing their bodies and squidging all their organs into the space where only their abdomen and bladders should be.  Tha's not healthy.  Corsets were also being strung so tight that they would crack ribs.  And that's really the only way to get a waist like Ariel's.  Well, unless you are crazy skinny like this woman.  She's a friend of a friend, and I suspect she works really, really, really hard to get her body in that spankin' condition.  She does a smashing Slave Leia, too.  If you got it, amirite?  

I'm not going to end this by saying that everyone is beautiful.  I firmly believe that you can't be beautiful if you're mean to others or your priorities are screwed up or something in your psyche makes you unkind to others.  Beauty is such a subjective thing, it's totally in the eye of the beholder as Plato says.  But really, I believe the only way to be truly, really, definitely beautiful is to start on the inside, by which I mean your mind and soul.  This isn't to say go out and donate all your life savings to Oxfam or PETA.  Nonono don't do that.  But maybe take a moment to realize just how lucky you are, the ways which your life doesn't suck.  I'll give you an example: 

• I'm about to miss the deadline to turn in the budget form for this organization I suddenly found out I'm the executive vp of, but I don't owe these people anything.  If I don't get it done in time, then whatever on that.  
• My family lives 20 minutes away from where I go to school so I can go see them whenever I want. 
• I'm able to hook up my computer to the huge HD tv screen that comes with my apartment so I'm watching Finding Nemo while writing this on a huge HD screen.  
• I don't have class until 3:30 tomorrow.  So I'll probably wake up in time to put makeup on! I'm thinking a cafe latte lip and a Fall/Autumn-inspired eye, goldy-burgundy shade.  Pleasing to the eye and such :). 

I am so pleased by these things that my happiness will just shine through my skin.  And it's infectious.  Just ask the security guard who returns a smile at me whenever I leave the building to go to class.  So let your happiness shine through your skin, that's a sure-fire way to work towards beautiful! I'll end my post with this poem that happened to be a favorite of Audrey Hepburn's.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,  reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.
Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the  figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!