Dove #NoLikesNeeded Campaign

Like most women, I have a number of insecurities about myself.  I struggle with them every single day and I suppose, in many ways I have actually shaped my entire life around them.  Who I am and what I choose to do is governed by the way I feel about myself...which should actually be empowering but yet I find it crippling some days.

I see a lot of wrong with me and although I try not to focus on the physical aspects of who I am, it is difficult not to look at myself and compare myself to what society thinks is beautiful.  Writing about beauty requires bloggers to share swatches and show what the product looks like on ourselves, yet at times I am so scared to do it because of what people might think of me. When I share photos of my makeup on Instagram or Twitter, I want my followers to see what the product really looks like, so I don't touch them up - before I post the photo, I see all the wrong and it is with a bit of fear that I post it. Before I truly understood how far reaching social media is, I really didn't have any worries about posting photos of me and my often poorly applied makeup.  I was having fun and enjoyed sharing my experiences with my followers.

I am lucky that I haven't really been targeted by any hurtful comments, but I have witnessed how horrible the social media community can be.  When you see it happening, the fear of it happening to you makes you change your behaviour.  To me that is a load of crap! Why should I care about what others think and might say?! I should be happy with who I am and with the way that I look.  I can't live my life measuring myself against what others find beautiful.  I am so fortunate that I have people around me who find me beautiful for who I am, not what I look like or what size dress I fit into.  I need to start loving myself more. I know it is not as easy as just flipping a switch and suddenly having a bottomless well of self confidence. But I can start being kinder to myself and acknowledge the fact that I am human, and that means I have flaws - flaws that make me who I am.  So I am going to start making changes,  it starts now.

Big Hugs,
Charlene XXX

PS. Dove is running a really powerful campaign to help improve the self image that we have of ourselves. Share your #NoLikesNeeded selfie on social media to show your support.  Visit the Dove Twitter page to learn more about the campaign (@Dove_ZA)