The Beauty in Doing Less

I’ve always believed that everyone is naturally beautiful.

That doesn’t mean I’m against changing things about ourselves or enhancing the features we love. I’m a hairstylist my entire career is built around transformation. But I also believe there is a point where more doesn’t necessarily mean better.

Sometimes, less really is more.

Every person has something uniquely beautiful about them. Maybe it’s their eyes. Their jawline. Their smile. Their cheekbones. Their skin tone. Maybe it’s the way their natural hair colour makes their eyes stand out.

The goal should be to find those features and bring attention to them not cover them up.

Hair can completely change the way we see someone’s face. The right haircut can expose a beautiful jawline or frame your cheekbones. Bangs can draw attention to your eyes. The right shade of blonde, brunette, copper or red can completely change the way your skin and eye colour look.

And sometimes the best thing we can do is actually take something away.

You might love having extremely long hair, but if the length is overwhelming your frame and hiding your face, cutting a few inches or adding the right layers could actually make you stand out more.

You might love being blonde, but continually pushing your hair lighter and lighter isn’t always what is going to complement you best. Sometimes adding dimension, depth or bringing your colour closer to your natural tone makes your eyes, skin and features suddenly become the focus again.

I think we can get caught up in trends and forget to ask ourselves: Does this actually suit me?

Beauty shouldn’t be about trying to look like everyone else.

It should be about understanding what makes you beautiful and enhancing it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Botox, filler, extensions, colour, makeup, cosmetic treatments or anything else that makes someone feel confident. I just believe there is beauty in restraint. When we overdo any one thing, sometimes the enhancement becomes the first thing people notice instead of the person underneath it.

I want someone to look at you and think, Wow, she looks beautiful.

Not necessarily, Wow, look at her hair.

As a hairstylist, that’s something I think about more and more. My job isn’t simply to make someone blonder, give them longer hair or follow whatever trend is popular that month. It’s to look at the person sitting in my chair and figure out what is going to make their individual beauty stand out.

Because trends change.

But the features that make you uniquely you are worth highlighting.

Enhance them. Frame them. Have fun with them.

Just don’t forget they were beautiful to begin with.