Ways to glow up

Hey guys.

It's Lay.

So Valentine's Day just passed and by time you are reading this I will probably be up getting ready to go to the mall with one of my besties because we decided to do our annual sleep over on Valentine's this year which is absolutely perfect because it goes back to last week's post on relationship which was mainly about knowing what you want in a relationship but it also briefly talked about self love. In 2020, it is a fresh start and we are practicing self love this year because there is too much hateful things in the world that it beyond our control. People find it selfish or call you conceited when you start to do what's best for you but the truth is you are simply making changes to improve yourself, your lifestyle and your well being. So in honor of self love, I wanted to share ways to better yourself or " glow up" so you can keep improving. As humans there's no such thing as perfection, perfection is a concept made up to describe something or someone appealing. That is why we as humans can look at the same thing and have various different opinions. Perception is reality and when it comes to self image, the only perception that matter.

1. Recognize where you are and establish the qualities you love and wish to improve on

When I say "glow up" it just means to improve so I'm not just referring to your physical appearances. I personally to glow up, you need to recognize where you are in life: Are you happy? If you are, is there anything you want that can make you feel happier? If not, what's bring you down and can you change it at the moment? If you can't change it, is there another aspect of your life that you can work on to bring you joy?

Once you figure out where you stand emotionally, think about the things you like about yourself. If you can't see anything, turn to someone close to you like a best friend, brother, sister, cousin etc. to point out the good qualities you possess since those are the people who knows your heart. Some times your biggest critic is yourself so it is good to turn to some supporters to remind you that even if you can't see the good in you , others do.

2. Create a hype up playlist

Music is made to evoke emotions. When I was in high school, if I was sad or lonely, I would play music that reflected that. The positives of that was I felt less alone because the lyrics were what I was thinking/feeling and it showed I wasn’t the only one that felt those ways.However it was a mistake because that would just push me deeper into my emotions and I would stay sad. So I feel like the healthy thing would give yourself time to go through the feelings but at some point you need to stop listening to those sad songs and play music that reminds you how good you are and reminds you what you are capable of. Everyone has their preference in music, I feel like I like everything besides country because I go from Yungblood to Selena Gomez, Melanie Martinez to Ariana Grande, Cardi B to Lizzo and then listening to old songs I grew up with. My hype playlist of 2020 is :

Soulmate- Lizzo

Level up- Ciara

7 Rings- Ariana Grande

Press- Cardi B

God is a woman- Ariana Grande

You need to calm down- Taylor Swift

Work bitch- Britney Spears

Applause - Lady Gaga

ICY GIRL- Saweetie

Pissed- Saweetie

Badass Woman- Meghan Trainor

On a roll- Ashley O (Miley Cyrus)

Run the world (Girls) - Beyonce

That’s my girl- Fifth Harmony

Rare- Selena Gomez

Confident- Demi Lovato

Salute- Little mix

Look at her now- Selena Gomez

Dance again- Selena Gomez

You should be sad- Halsey

Don’t start now- Dua Lipa

Good as hell- Lizzo ft Ariana Grande

Majesty- Nicki Minaj ft Labrinth & Eminem

When I grow up- The Pussycat Dolls

MONOPOLY- Ariana grande with Victoria Monet

Lunch box friends- Melanie Martinez

The man- Taylor swift

Formation- Beyonce

Clout- Offset ft Cardi B

20/20- Lil Tjay

Motivation - Normani

I forgot you existed - Taylor Swift

You should see me in a crown-

Heartless- The Weeknd

Sue me- Sabrina Car

Just Dance- Lady Gaga ft Colby O’Donis

Salt- Ava Max

Mood 4 Eva- Beyonce, Jay-Z, Childish Gambino

Without me - Halsey

Hate me - Ellie Goulding ft Juice WRLD

Die for me- Post Malone ft Halsey & Future

Circles- Post Malone

Really Don’t Care- Demi Lovato ft Cher Llyod

Don’t call me up- Mabel

Wassabi- Little Mix

Only Human-Jonas Brother

High Hopes- Panic! At The Disco

On somebody- Ava Max

Underdog- Alicia Keys

3. Get more sleep

Getting more sleep leaves you happier and looking more and feeling energized. In my experience I get more things done when I go to sleep between 10pm - 11pm and wake up 4:20am - 5am. I want to go into how to become a morning person in another blog post and I will leave tips for getting more sleep and becoming a morning person.

4. Drink more water

This is probably one you are sick of hearing but honestly it is such an effective to achieve all your health goals. If you want clear skin, water helps flushes toxins out of your system and you are breaking out less because you would be having less sugary drinks. You can also lose weight by having less sugary drinks. Additional benefits are: it prevents you from getting kidney stones, helps fight fatigue so you'll come off as more energized, maximize physical performance such as intense workouts and prevent and treat headaches since headaches could be caused from dehydration.

5. Improve your health

Honestly this a more general tip that connects to the last one. There are so many ways to do this but it is specific to you. Sometimes people are under weight and they need to strive to be a healthy weight but that is rarely talked about in media because although beauty standards are shifting, people with a slim figure are still the majority so when someone looks that way they get comments like " you're so lucky", "I wish I was like you", "you can eat anything" etc. when in reality they could be struggling to be healthy. Just like people assume a girl that is thicker isn't healthy when she could be work out or do some form of physical activity 3 times a week but then eating wise could be restricted because she's allergic to mainly fruits and vegetables (one of my best friends who is allergic to so many fruits and vegetables so it's really possible). This is something I feel so passionate about but I'll probably save my thoughts for another post.

6. Update your skin routine

Updating my skin routine was something essential to my glow up. Growing up I felt so ugly because kids could be really cruel and racist at the school I went to. So I struggled for awhile being comfortable in my own skin. As humans at least once we go through a bad acne phase. Mines started young because I ate really unhealthy and on top of that the middle school I went to brought a lot of stress. With the health of a dermatologist, I was able to achieve healthier skin. Of course it still has it's bad days but it is definitely more manageable so I could feel comfortable without make up or wearing things to try to hide my face.

7. Change your hairstyle

This sounds weird but growing up my mom always said " your hair is your beauty" which was her way of saying if your hair doesn't look good, you won't either. I used to not get it until I had to go for a job interview and you have to look a certain way for them to consider you as shallow as that is. However, having a different hairstyle just changes your entire mindset. When I started messing around with my look last summer and changed from getting braids and weave to wearing wigs, it changed me by boosting my confidence. In my high school we were only allowed to wear natural hair colors. I broke that rule a few times because I had dark blue hair but it was so dark it blended with the black and I had black and gray braids. Technically gray is a natural hair color though because when you grow old your hair turns gray and if they would've tried to get me in trouble for it, that's what I would've said. Back to the point, when I was forced to have natural hair colors I also felt like it limited my creativity so I couldn't fully be myself.

8. Wear outfits that make you feel confident

I was listening to a podcast once and the girl wanted advice on how to wear the new clothes she bought confidently. As a girl extremely into fashion, I felt like clothes always say the words couldn't or was just a way to express myself. When I choose an outfit, I am choosing which version of myself I want to be and a lot of the time my emotions play a roll in this. I constantly change my style: Some days I wear high waisted leggings, a sports bra and loose but cute t-shirt to be motivated to work out; Other days I wear tighter fitted clothes because I feel confident about my figure that day; I also dress in looser clothing because maybe I don't feel 100% about my body that day and I want to feel comfortable and not worrying about people judging my body. However, even on those days when I just am wearing looser clothing (most likely joggers and a t-shirt), I still look cute. A major rule about fashion is it isn't about what you wear, it's about how you wear it. If a person shows up in a baggy sweat shirt and leggings they can still turn something casual into something cool by carrying themselves with an attitude that says "you many not like what I'm wearing but I do". If someone doesn't like your style, it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, it goes on your body and you spent your money on it.

9. Pick up a hobby to be passionate about

Having a hobby brings so much joy to you and as a result your mood will change. The people around you will notice you being much happier because you found something the fulfill your needs. There are a lot of hobbies you can take on this year. You can have a hobby where you are creative like drawing, photography painting, writing (short stories, poetry etc.), you can choose a hobby that's more hands on like playing an instrument, cooking, sewing ,building things, doing hair or a hobby that's more physical like yoga, dance, hiking, running etc. Just choose something that energizes you everyday to keep going back to it.

The media presents glowing up as transforming your appearances but why not make glowing up be a lifestyle? I feel like when someone is happy, healthy and living their best life is the ultimate glow up. If you grow to be so comfortable with yourself from how you look to the actions you do because you are doing your own thing, you are absolutely winning. When you feel like that, all the people who is trying to bring you down can't even touch you. You are on a completely different level that just their negativity can't reach so let your happiness shine through and the best way to get back at the people who put you through bad situations is to show the world how unstoppable you are no matter what life has to throw at you.

That's all for today! So be sure to like, comment and share this blog post with friends and family if you feel like you've been inspired and also check out other parts of my blog such as my gallery to motivate you and to learn more about me. I hope you are having an amazing morning, day, night etc. whatever time you are reading this and I hope you continue this year with so much happiness, self love and excitement.

Until next time,

xoxo Lay 💋