The Best Beauty (and Life) Tip I Have Ever Received (as modeled by a six-year-old)

At the beginning of the month, I wrote an article sharing about my personal reasons for loving beauty products as I do. In there, I told some important anecdotes between my mom and, my older sister, and my best friend and soul sister, and me that all shaped this love. I did, however, neglected to mention one other very special lady who has played a pivotal role in how I think about beauty and life in general my six-year-old niece. We'll call her Goo (that's her nickname) for the remainder of this post.

In many ways, Goo is the complete opposite of me. She is bold where I am often hesitant/ There is nothing she loves to do more than go for a dive in a swimming pool, and I am deathly afraid of the water. She is fearlessly graceful and coordinated in her dance moves where I am physically very awkward and clumsy. However, this lady is the embodiment of intrepidly being yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks and embracing life for all it is and never being afraid of trying new things.

If you ask her to pick her favorite color, for example, she will give you a loud cheer of "GREEN!" as her immediate response. Then she'll add "And purple!". Then she amends, "I like all the colors." And truly, she does. She has a very vast, very multicolored wardrobe, much of which she chooses for herself or at least has a strong hand in. Yet, there is no formula in the way she dresses or in what she likes at all, in what colors she chooses to paint with, which Disney Princess she prefers, even what music she likes the most to dance to. Goo is an explorer and follows her own trends, and really, never makes things a trend for too long at all. There is always beauty in something new.

I notice even when she stays over at my house and she watches me do my makeup for the day, sometimes she will want me to put some on her just for fun, and other times, she will tell me she doesn't want to wear any. I love seeing how unprogrammed she is into thinking she "needs" makeup, but still enjoys playing with it every once in awhile. Also, when I let my hair down after sleeping, she'll survey the mess of spindly frizzed bits and ask me straight up, "Why your hair all crazy?" Then she'll say sometimes, "It's cool!" Even "craziness" can have its own beauty in her world. I really love that!

I know in many articles, I have tried to encourage the spirit of play and fun in makeup looks. Really, though, I think like many people, I do find myself doing the same things again and again and hesitant to try something way off my own beaten path. I think, though, there is a lot to be said for the lesson that Goo teaches me and, I believe, children everywhere often do enact. Imagination is one of the best gifts of living and the willingness to embrace change is truly letting the imagination loose to be its full self. So today, on this sunny summer day, I encourage you to do something you never thought you would do, with makeup or otherwise, and embrace this reinvention wherever it may lead you.