Celebrate International Day of the Girl With the Most-Empowering Beauty Quotes Ever
Who run the world? In celebration of International Day of the Girl today, we asked celebrities to share the most empowering pieces of beauty advice they've ever been given. There's no question that beauty encompasses more than just what you look like, and stars like Jessica Alba, Shay Mitchell, Gina Rodriguez drive home a key point—there are so many ways to be beautiful, and you should celebrate the aspects that make you so unique. Crank up the Spice Girls, and scroll down for a major dose of girl power. After all, there's no power quite like it.
Kerry Washington
"Make sure what you do works for you. If you’re making choices to try and please other people, then you’ll never be happy because you can’t please everybody all of the time. But when you walk out the door and you feel great about your look, then it kind of doesn’t matter what other people say."
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Jessica Alba
"You don’t need to conform to anyone’s idea of beauty. Do what feels right for you. I think so many things are thrown at you as a woman, what you should look like and what you should feel like, but it’s different day to day and what works for one person may not work for another. Just embracing who you are and what you want and learning from your mistakes versus letting them define are all key things I’ve learned in life, and have applied to beauty as well."
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Halle Berry
"Be yourself, and don't fall victim to trends and what everybody else is doing. Like right now, you see women shooting their faces up with all of this stuff, and not to judge anyone who does that, but the best advice I’ve been given is to do that if I want to, but don’t do it because everyone else is doing it. I try stay true to myself and do what feels good to me—whether it’s getting a treatment or wearing a certain look, like a red lip, I don’t like red lips, I don’t look good in red lips, so I’m not gonna start wearing red lips because that’s the trend. It’s about staying true to who you are and what you feel good in and what makes you feel your best."
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Taylor Schilling
"There are so many other things to worry about, and you’re so much more than what you look like. Makeup can be really fun and it’s a beautiful way to self-express, but you’re also so, so much more, so be brave."
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Mariah Carey
"I would just say speak up if you don’t like something. If you're getting your makeup or hair done, don't be afraid to tell the person, please don’t do this to me, please don’t put this in my hair, please don’t put this makeup on me. It’s really hard to do that, and it was for me, especially when you’re just starting out. It depends on the type of person you are. Some people might be really vocal and say, I hate this, but that’s not at all who I am. Just be yourself, be as happy with being you as possible, and enjoy it."
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Brandy
"I think that everybody should know that their dreams are already true, and the only thing to manifest your dreams is to really truly believe they’re already true, and that in the right time, it will happen. You just have to stay honing your craft and keep at what you do. Be ready when the opportunity presents itself, because it will, and you have to believe, because it’s coming. It just is. Your dreams are already true."
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Jennifer Aniston
"Develop your inner beauty. Truthfully, beauty is really in the eye of the beholder and there are so many versions of what beauty is, so it’s really about loving yourself, being good to yourself and being healthy—what you put inside of your body, what you put inside your mouth, what you put inside your ears. All of that is very precious."
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Shay Mitchell
"If I could give my younger self beauty advice, I would tell myself to celebrate the fact that I was different, and to embrace what made me different and unique. Growing up a different race in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood, all of my friends had fair complexions with blonde hair and blue eyes. I look back on my photos and I'm completely different. I dyed my hair lighter, I wore color contacts, I didn't want to be out in the sun. If I said anything to myself back then, it would have been, celebrate who you are. The fact that you're different is going to help you in the future."
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Amber Rose
"Literally, dress how you feel when you wake up in the morning, and don’t give a sh-t what anybody says about you. My mom used to say this all the time and she would just build up my confidence, so that’s what actually made me shave my head and just wear and say whatever I want."
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Gina Rodriguez
"My mother used to tell me constantly, confidence is the most beautiful dress on a woman, and it’s so true. I’m not the best dresser, I can’t match myself, I don’t have the ability to do that, I wish I did, I realize that even if I’m not matching or my outfit isn’t the flyest or my hair isn’t super-done and I don’t have full makeup on, if I feel good, nothing can stop me. I think beauty 1000% starts within your soul and within your character work, and if you’re constantly working on being a better human being and growing and giving and being kind and serviceful, that grows to an extent that it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, it doesn’t matter if your hair has frizz today and maybe none tomorrow. You’re doing the best you can, and inside it’s always beautiful. It starts for me on the inside so I really love my mom for giving me that. Confidence is definitely the most beautiful dress on a woman."
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Demi Lovato
"I think the most powerful piece of advice I’ve learned—I’ve been given it before but I had to learn it myself to be able to really fully understand what it meant—I had to stop comparing myself to other people, and that’s something just about every woman does. You know, is she prettier? Does she have a better body? Is she more—whatever it is! You have to stop comparing yourself to other people. There’s always gonna be someone that’s funnier or who is probably prettier, but you’ve just gotta be excited about what you've been given, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you look like, it’s just about what purpose you serve on Earth."
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Candice Swanepoel
"I think my most-empowering beauty tip is more to do with what’s going on inside you. I feel so lucky to be a woman, it’s such an amazing thing—we’re so much more interesting. I think it’s important for us to embrace that power and use the power of femininity, it’s the one thing we’ve got."