I am Brave and Beautiful, a beauty movement inspired by Colbie Caillat and her recent song TRY, is sweeping the globe. Colbie’s song says, “Take your make up off. Let your hair down…Look into the mirror at yourself. Do you like you? Cause I like you.”
Megan of Brassy Apple and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces teamed up to spread the message of the Brace and Beautiful movement, and they invited bloggers from around the world to join them. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. Click play to see their beauty and bravery displayed, and you might recognize a few other familiar faces in there, too (video by Robbins Creative).
I have joined up with 100+ other women bloggers from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes to be Brave and Beautiful! You can also join in this movement by sharing a photo of yourself without makeup on to your social media accounts. You do NOT need to have a blog! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful, and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in.
My profile picture is a snapshot that my mom took of me in the winter of 2012, which isn’t all that long ago, but isn’t exactly recent either. Unless this is your first time visiting Happiness is Homemade, you’ve probably seen it before. It’s grainy when you blow it up in size, and my curls are too tight (and no longer match up to the fact that I recently chopped all of my hair off), but I like that my smile looks natural. I’m not very comfortable in front of the camera, so my smile usually looks pained and fake.
Truth be told though, if you stopped by my house on a Sunday afternoon, this is how you’d find me – no makeup, flat hair, capri leggings, a football tee and a pair of Converse. It’s the perfect attire for spending a day at home with a bunch of wrestling little boys, football games, and weekly food prep. It’s nice to give myself a break and skip the full hair and makeup for a change.
I sat down to write this post and realized that I needed to take a bare faced photo to share with you all. I grabbed my phone and made a beeline for the only room in the house that had decent natural lighting at that hour of the day – my bathroom. Keepin’ it classy with a bathroom selfie. Usually I’m so busy on the weekends that I don’t take time to stop and look at my own reflection, but today I was forced to take a closer look. Gah, those bags under my eyes sure do tell the tale of weeks months years of poor sleep habits, eh?
You might not know it, but it took a tremendous amount of bravery for me to share this photo. For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from body dysmorphic disorder, and there is nothing in the world that is harder for me to do than to draw attention to myself and my appearance. Especially without makeup, jewelry or cute clothing to hide behind.
The very notion of sharing a raw and vulnerable version of myself for the world to see (and judge) makes me want to vomit. But I knew that I had to do it. I needed to share myself honestly and face my fears by stepping outside the confining box of perfectionism. I needed to step away from meticulously staged photos and selectively chosen sneak peeks into my life, and to share a part of the real me with you. The real me hates having her picture taken, and the idea of opening up and getting personal on my blog gives me extreme anxiety. It’s ridiculously hard for me to put myself out there.
Source: Amandine Rose Designs
The Brave and Beautiful movement isn’t just about sharing makeup-free photos though. It’s about taking that first brave step that can lead to self growth and increased confidence. It’s about being able to become comfortable in your own skin, and to me, that’s the most important part of the message. I am brave, and I am beautiful just as I am.
Each of these brave and beautiful women below are sharing a bit of their heart with you today. We hope that as you click around you will feel the empowering effect of the Brave and Beautiful message and that it encourages you in some way.
>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link displays an error message, simply click on the HOME button for each site, and you should see their Brave and Beautiful post there. All link errors will be updated as soon as possible!<<<<<<<<<<<<
1. BrassyApple 2. Peace from 6 Pieces 3. Is this Really My Life 4. Among the Young 5. Love Me Dani Marie 6. Sweet Charli 7. Kim Orlandini 8. XO, Ashton Tilton 9. She Calls Me Mama Leisha 10. Raising Memories – Canada 11. A Little Tipsy 12. Amy Cornwell 13. A girl and a glue gun 14. My Craftily Ever After 15. Maybe I Will 16. WhipperBerry 17. Paging SuperMom 18. All Things Thrifty 19. Ashlee Marie 20. The Project Girl
21. One Little Momma 22. Entirely Eventful Day 23. Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl 24. Tips from a Typical Mom 25. Utah Sweet Savings 26. Flats to Flip Flops 27. One Krieger Chick 28. What Meegan Makes 29. Simply Kierste 30. Live to be Inspired 31. HoneyBear Lane 32. Pretty Providence 33. Ma Nouvelle Mode – in FRANCE 34. MomEntity 35. Serger Pepper – in ITALY 36. Kiki and Company 37. Girl Loves Glam 38. Thrive
39. The Potters Place 40. Crafting in the Rain 41. Cooking With Ruthie 42. Delineate Your Dwelling 43. The Pennington Point 44. Bakerette 45. The Happy Scraps 46. Shannon Baird Photography 47. Tried and Tasty 48. Lionesses at the Gate 49. Fry Sauce and Grits 50. Lolly Jane 51. That’s What Che Said 52. Sugar Bee Crafts 53. Your HomeBased Mom 54. Happiness is Homemade 55. The Crafted Sparrow 56. R&R Workshop 57. I Should Be Mopping the Floor 58. Sassy Steals
59. Let’s Eat Grandpa 60. Being Spiffy 61. Sumo’s Sweet Stuff 62. Ginger Snap Crafts 63. Bless This Mess 64. Apronista 65. Dreaming About Someday 66. Frenchie 67. Tastefully Frugal 68. Four Marrs and One Venus 69. Your Sister Circle 70. Over the Big Moon 71. See Vanessa Craft 72. Infarrantly Creative 73. Family StoryTelling
74. Albion Gould 75. Life as Mrs. Larson 76. Tried and True 77. Play.Party.Pin. 78. Bite of Delight 79. Ink Happi 80. ObSEUSSed 81. U Create 82. My Mommy Style 83. Find it Make it Love it 84. The Contractor Chronicles 85. Novae Clothing 86. Mommy Makes Things 87. At Home with Sweet T 88. We Like to Learn As We Go 89. House for Five 90. Organize and Decorate Everything 91. Sassy Southern Gurl 92. The Creative Mom 93. Keep Moving Forward with Me
94. The Benson Street 95. Mom 4 Real 96. Sowdering About 97. illistyle 98. The Crafty Blog Stalker 99. A Fiery Red Life 100. Cupcakes & Crowbars 101. One Sweet Appetite 102. My DayLights 103. Restless Risa
104. Sypsie Designs 105. Vintage Mother 106. Like Mother Like Daughter 107. 30 Handmade Days 108. Queen Bee and Me 109. Apples by Ashley 110. Boutique Cafe – in CANADA 111. Just My Little Mess 112. Bombshell Bling 113. Sarah Tyau 114. Taradara Make it 115. Capturing Joy 116. Ivory Lime Photography 117. Jenkins Kids Farm 118. Free Time Frolics 119. Bella Storia 120. Dana Ohlsen Photography
Ready to join in?Snap, hashtag and share!
Also follow our Bravery and Beauty PINTEREST board for more inspiration!
The post Brave & Beautiful appeared first on Happiness is Homemade.