Last week I met Damyan Nikolov at the Open Formula headquarters! We sat down for his Beauty Secrets Podcast Interview to discuss my journey with all things beauty! I don’t think much about beauty these days. It’s more of a maintain, maintain, maintain program. However, with all of his amazing questions, we were able to dig about matters of beauty that are far more than skin deep! I encourage you to listen to the podcast here, but in the meantime, here’s some takeaways.
My Beauty Secrets Podcast Recap:
What makes me feel beautiful?
Dancing. Shocker, right? But, listen, it’s scientific! When you move in a big purposeful way, your body tells your mind that it’s powerful. Then your brain believes it and gives you confidence. It’s what I call the dancer snowball effect because people react to you as if you are powerful, and that in turn gives you condfidence. When you allow your body to move and leave your inhibitions behind, you gain confidence at a surprising speed. In studies, it’s been shown that when women, purposefully take up space, i.e. sitting with their legs wide open like a man, or widen their stance, they feel more powerful. Try it at your next high stakes meeting!
Body Pressures
One doesn’t need to be professional ballet dancer or swimsuit model to feel body pressures. The constant subliminal message to be thin and perfect are everywhere. I was never more miserable or looked worse, than when I obsessed about my body. It’s easy to blame the ballet world, but it’s everywhere. Even seemingly healthy looking soccer girls suffer from body dysmorphia. So how to beat it. I talk more about how I did in the podcast. And at length here.
Latina Beauty Standards
Latinas care about beauty. A LOT. Yes, I know everyone does but this is next level. Growing up I remember watching my mom’s extensive and uncompromising beauty rituals. You simply did not skip washing, moisturizing, toning and beautifying your skin….every damn day. In fact, I still can’t step out to get coffee without putting lipstick on. I think I must have been about 8-9 when I got my first moisturizer. Looking back, my mom didn’t give it to me because I needed it, obviously. She gave it to me to build a life-long habit of caring for my skin. It worked. I can be dead tired, in labor, tipsy or broken-hearted but I still wash and moisturize my face every night. No exceptions!
Kill them with Kindness
One of the questions that Damyan asked was how do I respond to haters or negative feedback. I thought this was interesting! I don’t have much negativity on my social media accounts but I do have it. Hateful, negative messages usually have nothing to do with oneself. The person that’s delivering the hate is usually having a bad day or just in a bad spot in life. Jealousy is prevalent and ugly and we can’t control how people will react to us. We can only control our reaction. Unless someone knows me personally, as IRL, I don’t pay much attention to it. Alternatively, if you have haters, doesn’t it kinda mean you made it? Yup, exactly. Congratulations. 🙂
How Motherhood Changes Beauty
When you become a mama, you go through some wild mental & physical changes. It truly transforms you. I used to be SO much harder on myself before becoming a mom. Then you see your body create and deliver life, nourish it and grow it, and everything changes. For me, I don’ have time to really obsess about every calorie I ate or didn’t after kids. I also see these kids look up to me and love me on my ugliest days. That’s because it’s consistent to what I believe about inner beauty. Several months into knowing someone, you don’t see the outside, you just see the spirit.
You can find more about Damyan and get on the waitlist for Open Formula here. I will be posting about this soon. The premise is to offer transparent pricing and ingredients to the consumer. Spoiler alert: We are paying TOO much folks! So get excited! You can listen to our Beauty Secrets podcast interview and other really fascinating beauty topics here. Wishing the type of beauty that lasts. And don’t forget to smile! XO, Z
Love reading your insight! You are definitely beautiful inside and out!
xx Jenifer