I'm A Joy Strategist & This Is How I Feel Most Beautiful (No Products Needed!)

Listen, I find beauty to be a joyful endeavor. I love trying new products, researching ingredients, recommending items to people, talking about trends and philosophies, and doing my rituals daily. But many parts of beauty aren't always so blithe: particularly, the journey of finding self-love, acceptance, and feeling good about yourself. Those are decidedly not joyful at times. 

That's why in this episode of Clean Beauty School, I tapped mindbodygreen's resident joy strategist Erica Lasan to help me (and you, dear mbg beauty community) make beauty a more exuberant experience. 

"What actually makes you most beautiful is embracing what feels good. I find that the more work you have to put into trying to be something, it sucks the joy out of what it is that you're doing," says Lasan, founder of JOYrney To Purpose. 

A simple piece of advice but one we often forget to follow. "Embrace beauty practices that feel natural and organic to you," she says. Take it from me, someone who is encouraged to try every product, 20-step routine, and treatment under the sun: You don't need to succumb to the pressure to try every trendy, social-media-pushed ideology that makes a splash. Just do what speaks to you and serves you!

And homing in on those rituals is about being self-aware of your habits. Take stock of what you do daily. "You should also be cognizant of why you're doing it, the ways you're presenting yourself, your intentions, and motivations," she says, noting that this is true of all people—no matter whether you are someone who considers themselves a beauty minimalist or are someone who regularly does a full beat of makeup. 

This is not a shocking statement, but traditional beauty standards that the media regularly pushes out can be deeply harmful to self-confidence and acceptance. (Research shows this to be true time and again1!) While the media is more aware of this issue now—and hopefully making strides in the right direction—in the meantime, use yourself as your own inspiration. 

"It's absolutely necessary that people [come up with their own] beauty standards and their personal ideals," she says, noting that she recommends even making a vision board of your beauty standards and goals as a reference point.