What Is The Beauty In You Campaign?
The Beauty In You Campaign is a volunteer-based campaign designed to spread love, confidence, and inclusivity to the women and girls in our lives. It currently consists of three parts: free photoshoots designed to showcase your natural beauty, a postcard outreach program that is a simple way to let the women in your life know they're beautiful and put a smile on their faces, and cards, tee-shirts, hoodies, and more designed to start a conversation and spread the message. Proceeds from both the postcards and the merchandise sales currently go into a special account to be donated to a local charity once I find the right one!
How Did It Start?
The Beauty In You Campaign was originally launched when I was in college in 2012. I come from a long line of women who have never quite felt good enough, who always struggled to find confidence in themselves. My mother was a beautiful woman, but she struggled to see her own worth her whole life, and as she got older, it became incredibly important to her to give to others what she was never given herself. She always told me I was beautiful, precious, wonderful, but I grew up watching her poke and prod at her body, dying her hair to cover every grey, and always making sure her makeup was perfect, and it made an impact on my own self-image, an impact that I am still working through in therapy to this day! She told me as an adult, "I never thought I could be beautiful until people started telling me how much you looked like me." That has stuck with me. She is no longer with us, but this studio was started in her name, and this project contains her legacy. I have no children, but I do have nieces and nephews looking up to me, and it is my goal to show them they are beautiful and valuable just as they are... and that starts with positive self-talk and lifting up those around us.
After a long hiatus (the original campaign closed in 2020, but the last photoshoot was done in 2014), I was recently inspired to bring TBIYC back to life, and we are excited to be reopening with renewed vigor and new ways to reach out to others and empower all of the women in our lives!
Are you a photographer who would like to volunteer your services? Apply here!
Why Is This Important? (Trigger Warning)
Trigger Warning: Mention of Weight, Suicide/Suicidal Ideation, and Mental Health Issues.
- Research has shown that around 50% of young 13 year old American girls reported being unhappy with their body. This number grew to nearly 80% by the time girls reached 17 years of age (BreakBingeEating.com)
- Nearly 70% of adult women report withdrawing from activities due to their body image (BreakBingeEating.com)
- 1 in 8 adults have experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings because of concerns about their body image. (mentalhealth-uk.org)
- 40-60% of elementary school girls are concerned about their weight or about becoming “too fat." (now.org)
- Low self-esteem has been identified as one of the most significant risk factors for suicide risk and suicidal behaviors. (frontiersin.org)
- One 2021 study found that over 90% of participants (women and non-binary people aged 18 to 30) used beauty filters or edited their photos. A vast majority (over 90%) also said they feel pressured to post “perfect” photos and look attractive, and that they compare themselves to others on social media. Over 75% reported they feel they will never live up to the images they post of themselves online, and 60% felt depressed because of this. (aplaceofhope.com)
- The only way to change the way our girls see the world and themselves is to lead by example.
Photoshoots
Photoshoots through The Beauty In You Campaign are a fun, free way to express yourself and see yourself through (literally) a different lens! Let one of our photographers help your natural beauty glimmer and glow.
You show up as you are, no makeup, casual clothes that make you feel comfortable and most like yourself, and of course your beautiful smile! We spend an 30-60 minutes taking pictures, and when we've done basic lighting and cropping adjustments, we turn them over to you to keep, as well as posting them on our blog (coming soon!).
Use this form to inquire about your session!
Postcard Outreach
Coming soon! Thank you for your patience as we get everything together to launch this part of the Campaign!
Merchandise
One of the easiest ways to support and spread our message is through wearing our custom-designed merch! All of our merchandise is designed with The Beauty In You Campaign logo to spread the word about loving yourself and finding the true beauty in YOU.
FAQ
Why are you hating on wearing makeup?
We're very definitely not! Makeup is fun, creative, and a great way to express yourself! I myself have TONS and you will very often see me rocking a red lip and some sparkle in other photoshoots or at events! However, this campaign is aimed at making sure we can feel beautiful and confident whether we choose to wear it or not... rather than feeling like we have to have the perfect airbrushed look to be even close to pretty (as so many of us have felt at one time in life or another!).
Are you a body-positive movement?
We like to consider ourselves more of a "body neutral" movement, meaning we believe EVERY body is beautiful. There is room for every woman in our community.
I would like to book a shoot. What do I do?
Please follow the link in the section "Photoshoots" to inquire about booking a shoot with one of our photographers! We are currently only based in Central PA, but we are hoping to expand our network of photographers across the states eventually!
I'm a photographer! How do I join the campaign?
Thank you for your interest! There is a link in the "How Did It Start?" section that you can follow to apply!
What happens to the money from merchandise and postcards?
Once the expenses are paid to produce the items and send them, all remaining proceeds go into an account to be donated to a local charity for women.
Do you have clearances available if you are working with someone under 18?
Absolutely. All photographers who are officially part of the campaign are required to provide clearances before they are listed on our site. These are available upon request!
Contracts and signed social media releases are also required.
How do I find a photographer in my area?
We currently only have one photographer on staff, located at Heart of Dene Studios in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. However, we are looking to expand as soon as possible and will compile a registry once that starts to happen!
