I AM MORE (Than My Pretty Face)

I am more than my (pretty) face.

Growing up, boys who were friends who “like”-liked me but wouldn’t openly date a girl like me (i.e., a slightly heavy girl), would always say the same thing. “Such a beautiful face”. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve always appreciated a good compliment, but isolating my face that way, instead of just telling me “you’re beautiful,” made me doubt the appeals of my soft, curvy body.

Of course in high school, that curvy body was for all intents and purposes hidden under ultra wide leg Jnco jeans, baggy and brightly colored t-shirts and loose men’s button-down shirts, worn open.

My face was similarly camouflaged, but under layers of makeup, foundation, coverstick, powder, blush, eyeliner, mascara, eye-shadow, lip-gloss, I wore it all, caked on thick. I think I can safely say I used more makeup in a week in High School than I use in a year now that I’m swiftly approaching my thirties (gulp).

With the years, I’ve found my own way, although it was an older boyfriend that simply despised what I like to call my “man-clothes” phase that first inspired me to wear clothing that flattered instead of disguised my figure.

After years of abusing my skin with heavy foundations, I’ve finally figured out the key to makeup is enhancing what you’ve already got, not covering your skin with layer upon layer of gunk so you look like someone else. Most days I slap on my sunscreen or tinted moisturizer, and finish off my face with eye-shadow and a double coat of mascara.

Even so, people still tend to comment on my face and I don’t want to complain, but this focus on my face continues to make me feel like some sort of discombobulated beauty: Just a pretty head, attached to a so-so body. And I want to be reasonable, I really do, I understand, I am not everyone’s idea of a perfect ten, but I figure, if you’re going to do a compliment, do it all the way. Don’t tell me I have gorgeous ankles, or hands, just tell me I’m gorgeous, because I am, and like every other woman that walks this earth, I am far more than the sum of my beautiful parts.

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Chris Ciolli is a freelance writer and Spanish-English Translator. She loves eveything to do with words, coffee, and fashion, in that order. Check out her website at ChrisCiolli.com.