As it's National Compliment Day, we want to let people know that it's okay to embrace your natural features, whether society thinks you should or not. Thus, to anybody with any of the following attributes (that many people prefer to hide or erase), you are beautiful!
Fashion and Beauty on Female First
1. Stretch marks
Most women will experience stretch marks at some point in their life. They are very common around the hips, thigh, stomach and breast area and are caused by rapid growth or stretching of the skin. Around 90% of pregnant women get stretch marks, but it is completely normal for anyone to get them. Chrissy Teigen took a stand when she showed off her pre- and post-baby marks on social media, and she's still one of the most stunning women in the world. It's time we celebrated these beautiful battle scars.
2. Hooded eyes
For some reason, many women with hooded eyes (that is, eyelids that have extra skin over the crease making the lid look smaller) have a huge problem with it. Age will make the eyelids droop, but many people are born with fairly non-visible eyelids. The lengths people will go to to have them surgically "corrected" is ridiculous - particularly in Far Eastern countries. And yet so many beautiful famous women have hooded eyes: Jennifer Lawrence, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Taylor Swift, Blake Lively and Renée Zellweger (before her surgery) to name but a few.
3. Freckles
There is something so youthful and vibrant about having a face and/or body covered in freckles, and yet many people layer on the fake tan and pile on the foundation to hide them. If you are one of those people, this has got to stop. There are women out there drawing dots on their face in henna so they can look like you. And like Emma Watson. And like Emily Atack after several weeks on I'm a Celebrity last year.
4. Body hair
This month started a new trend for women everywhere and we're totally on board: Januhairy. Women have decided to dispense with their razors and embrace their natural selves - because body hair is such a normal part of the body. Men aren't pressured to remove their body hair, so why the hell should women? It doesn't make you any less attractive because you don't want to shave.
5. Wrinkles
People in general, though especially women, start to feel invisible as they age. There are few mature models strutting down catwalks and magazines are filled with advertisements for products which claim to smooth out wrinkles. People go through so much pain to regain their youthful skin with Botox and fillers, and it's just not necessary. There is nothing unattractive about wrinkles. They are signs of life and of experience. No-one should be made to feel less than beautiful because of a few lines on their face.
6. Moles
Moles come in various shapes, sizes and colours, and if you've got one that you'd rather not be there just remember that people used to paint these on as part of their make-up in the 18th century. The trend came back into fashion in the 50s thanks to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, and women like Cindy Crawford, Madonna and Rachel McAdams just wouldn't be them without their famous moles. They're called beauty marks for a reason!
7. Bellies
There's no shame in having a flat stomach, but having a little extra going on in that department isn't a bad thing either. As long as you're eating healthy and staying active, there's no reason you shouldn't embrace your curves. The stomach area is one of the biggest body issues for most women, despite the fact that a more prominent belly makes cuddling more awesome.
