Hi👋 my name is Fawn and I'm a stylist and skin care specialist in Pensacola, Florida. There are a few things I think you should know, if you're considering making me your "girl" for either: I'm a radical Jesus lover with a wicked case of A.D.O.P (Attention Defici.... Oooh, Pretty). I'm a fan of grandiloquent words, and I sing - a LOT, especially when I'm creating the beautiful hairs. If I had my druthers, life would actually be a musical 😂🎶💃 When I'm not busy as a hairstylist/esthetician I like to stretch my story telling muscles by writing poetry, songs and bits of fiction. I'm a fun mix of nerdy scientist, and passionate creative - but you must also know this: I entered the beauty biz very reluctantly
In truth, most days I don't feel like I'm a proper fit for my chosen industry.
Don't misunderstand me, I love doing hair! Helping my guests take good care of their skin brings me joy! These infelicitous feelings I'm admitting to arise more from my understanding of what categorical beauty is and isn't.
My beliefs on beauty - well... that's a story in and of itself!
I grew up in salons - looking at all the magazines, watching all the trends that told women what was beautiful for the day, and my soul took note of this: instead of celebrating each person as uniquely beautiful, our culture deemed someone else's paradigms of beauty to be supreme, and I watched as this ravished the hearts of most of the women who came in and out of our doors.
They never perceived themselves as having attained this elusive concept of being beautiful. They were quick to see their own faults and slow to recognize their own splendiferousness.
The stylist was there to beautify the client, but without intending to, the industry led women to buy the lie that "I'd really be a beaut if I... (cut, grew, waxed, colored).
Over the years I watched as the models on the magazine covers got younger, and the clever use of makeup coupled with photoshop pushed the standards for beauty beyond the reach of even those photographed, all the while most women were becoming even less secure in their own beauty.
I noticed how these unrealistic standards were effecting my own heart and mind as well.
It had become impossible to be content with my own reflection. I was fixated on my weight, and the size of my clothing. My eyes aren't exactly symmetrical... Eventually I put two and two together. I decided to ditch my scale and traded my obsession with clothing sizes for a genuine metric of health. I cancelled magazine subscriptions, even stopped following certain social media accounts to help clear my mind and get a grasp on what it was that made me "beautiful".
As I studied the psychological repercussions the beauty industry was exerting on the modern woman (I did mention I'm a bit nerdy, right?), I even began to write articles encouraging women to throw off the damaging mindsets that had instilled.
In fact, while I was doing some research for my last article, I had an exchange that solidified my counter culture position in this arena.
I was working for a private college, teaching cosmetology students how to run the front end of a salon. I was researching some of the statistics of photo editing done on movie stars (something done almost exclusively to women - by the way) when an older male student approached and saw the general topic of my study.
"You planning to have some work done, Mrs. Lee", He asked me, approvingly.
Now, I stand no more than 5.4 (if I'm stretching). This gentleman was at least 6.5
I was in my 30's while he was well into his 50's.
In that moment, something deep in my soul shifted. I pinged this unfortunate fella with my gaze and the Julia Sugarbaker-like response that issued forth from that change was this:
"No, Mr. *****, every smile line I possess, each extra chin and dimple, in fact every nuance of my being that you might perceive as a flaw, is the evidence of a life fully lived. My history doesn't need to be revised and my beauty doesn't need to be "worked on"."
In that moment, my thoughts on the beauty industry become clear:
Beauty can't be limited to a persons weight - I've known people of all sizes and shapes that were beautiful.
Beauty can't be defined by the color or condition of ones skin - I have found beauty in every skin color under the sun, in the youthful and the aged, and among the clear skinned and the acne'd
Beauty can't be confined by the theories that try to box it in - I have seen fuller faces that are resplendent in pixie cuts and my own momma rocked fantasy color like no one's business at 67!
Therefore it is my strongly held opinion: there is beauty in each person - because we were each made in the image of the most beautiful God.
Today, at 48 years old, I feel like I've been set free.
That might sound dramatic, but I've all ready admitted that I'm unabashedly theatrical, and opinionated, so... whose surprised?
I don't diet, but I do try to eat healthy so that my body functions at it's best.
I am not clinging to the appearance of youth, but I do take care of my skin because it's the only earthsuit I'm getting and therefore has great value to me.
I don't believe my haircolor makes me beautiful, however, it makes me happy each time I see those peeks of peacock.
I pray that each person who finds their way to my chair feels the complete liberty to eschew the confining "do's and don'ts" of the main stream beauty industry - to find their own beauty esthetic! To feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.
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