Are you ‘flawsome’?
Wondering what that is? Read on to know more…
Over the decades, we’ve been brainwashed by brands and television and publications to believe that beauty looks a certain way, a certain colour, a certain size and is absolute perfection. Today, we know better.
At the core of DHC’s beauty philosophy is the ancient Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, according to which each one of us is ‘perfectly imperfect’. But what does this really mean?
Wabi sabi, in short, is accepting things as they are, knowing that even imperfect things are perfect and beautiful in their own way. The idea is to embrace one’s imperfections and find beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature and our lives.
In fact, the Japanese also have an art form known as kintsugi that in a way defines what ‘perfectly imperfect’ stands for. This consists of fixing broken pottery pieces back together with lacquer mixed with powdered gold or silver to signify not only the embracing, but the celebration of flaws and imperfections.
Another example today is the concept of painting a mother’s stretch marks with gold paint to celebrate the miracle of childbirth and ‘earning one’s stripes’, rather than trying to cover these up.
There are so many more examples of wabi-sabi and ‘perfectly imperfect’ around us, we only have to look carefully to realise it. How about that uneven ceramic bowl you made at a pottery class? Now think about that versus a perfectly-glazed store-bought one, which one would you appreciate more?
Similarly, the wrinkles on a comfortable linen shirt, an aged wooden dresser or bookshelf, dried flowers in a book, your much-loved scuffed pair of shoes, cherished findings from a flea market, your favourite mug that is slightly chipped, your signature homemade cookies that are misshapen over packaged ones. Wabi-sabi is all around us.
But what has this got to do with beauty and skincare, you ask? This philosophy teaches us that there is beauty in imperfection and our imperfections and flaws are what make us extraordinary. DHC, as a company, aims to celebrate these imperfections and what makes each one unique.
Today, beauty magazines around the world run editorials with models flaunting their freckles, acne, gap teeth and more. Designers are choosing ‘normal-looking’ models and supermodels with so-called ‘imperfections’ to walk the ramp wearing their designs, be it Winnie Harlow who is a spokesperson for vitiligo, and plus-size model Ashley Graham who is promoting the importance of normalising all body types. Beauty is no longer defined by a specific body size, colour, shape or gender.
Wabi-sabi suggests that chasing perfection in our lives is an illusion and there are things we can’t change and we should instead, accept these with all our heart. Acceptance allows you to go beyond physical imperfections or differences and can in fact, be the key to a happier existence. This truly makes us ‘flawsome’ – that is, aware of our flaws but with the knowledge that we’re awesome regardless!
As the famous Canadian singer-songwriter and novelist Leonard Cohen once said, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”