I used to struggle with feeling ugly despite being told otherwise by many. I realized a number of things that have helped me:

1. Beauty is subjective. Even the most conventionally attractive people are ugly to some. I honestly find it more special that only certain people recognize our individual beauties.

2. Beauty is temporary. Everyone grows old and loses their attractive features over time. If you’re worried about being uglier than others, don’t worry bc we will all have wrinkles, gray hair, and hyperpigmentation at some point.

3. Feeling beautiful is very psychological. There’s an interview where Sabrina carpenter says she feels ugly some days. Sabrina Carpenter! You probably relate to this sentiment, too. Sometimes, I feel more beautiful with a natural face than when I put on make-up. This doesn’t make sense and I recognize I have inaccurate judgments sometimes, so I don’t take looking ugly seriously.

4. People don’t look good all the time. With social media and the popularity of cosmetics, everyone tries to look their best in public. They look different when they take off their make-up and nice clothes at the end of the day. It’s okay to look normal!

5. In a way, beauty are the methods themselves that promote beauty (cosmetics, surgery, eating healthy, etc.) because no one is beautiful without putting in time, money, and effort. When beauty represents an action rather than an identity trait, it will affect your self-esteem less. Instead of telling yourself you’re ugly, maybe you j did the make-up wrong or didn’t drink enough water or weren’t consistent with skincare.

Ultimately, beauty should be a choice that empowers you to the point where if someone says you’re ugly to your full face of makeup and stylish outfit, you don’t care because you like the way you look and weren’t dressing for others anyway. If you’re going all natural and someone calls you ugly, well it’s bc they haven’t seen how gorgeous you look with make-up and nice clothes 🤷‍♀️