The ideology of beauty has fascinated me ever since I was a little girl. At 7 years old, I would be sneaking into my mom's bathroom to play in her makeup or her room to try on her wigs. I would do these things to try and look "pretty" or "beautiful". Even now that I'm older, I wear false eyelashes and lipgloss to feel this way. Society lets it be known that a small, skinny, pointed nose is "better" than a bigger, flatter one. I would like to change this false idea of beauty and perfection. My goal for my future is to have a beauty salon that gives people a sense of self-confidence and love. It would be a very warm, welcoming, nonjudgemental environment, that's accepting and loving of everyone no matter their age or gender. The style of makeup I would provide won't be over the top and dramatic (unless they request it) but would be subtle and enhance the beautiful features that are already there. I would like everyone to know that you do not have to hide your natural features to feel beautiful because you already are and those features are what make you stand out and make you who you are. As far as hair, as a black woman growing up in America, I was told that my hair was too "nappy" or "rough". My mom would always perm my hair or hot comb it to get it straight and soft giving me the idea that my natural hair wasn't "good" hair. In reality, all hair is good hair, from type 1 to 4c everyone's natural hair is beautiful and should be accepted. This is another principle I would abide by in my salon, I would style hair in a way that was true to self. Our hair is our crown and should be worn proudly and confidently. Ultimately, being able to have my beauty salon would help me broaden the ideology of natural beauty, self-love, self-confidence, and self-worth. As I would always abide by my principles that every face and hair type is beautiful and perfect. Every person on Earth should be comfortable in their skin with a sense that they are beautiful and perfect the way they are. I would love to be the person to open the eyes of the ones in the dark and who are blind to their self beauty.

I’m a 17yr old black female that’s attended predominantly white schools and i've grown up in hispanic and white neighborhoods so I was always one of the few black kids. So i’ve really never seen anyone that looked like me which made me wish or fantasize about having a lighter complexion or silky hair. The song that has the most important message to me and has made me love the skin that i’m in is, Brown skin girl by Beyoncé. My favorite lyrics are, “ Brown skin girl Your skin just like pearls The best thing in the world Never trade you for anybody else”. The way she compared my skin complexion to a pearl which is a very valuable and desired crystal really brung me joy. This song also makes black girls like me have higher self esteem and confidence compared to before due to the beauty standard being white women.