Glow ups come from inside out. This is something I realised later in life than my peers. Even if you totally change your style, your hair color, your Insta feed… it will just be a makeover. I went from basic & looking like a child (even though I loved alt aesthetics, but didn’t dare to actually try them) to goth (all black clothes, blue or purple hair, dark lipstick, skulls and other goth symbols), but in reality, I was still insecure. I was still hanging out with people who didn’t value me, settling for breadcrumbs. I started partying more, drinking alcohol and arriving home late. But I did that because of FOMO and because I wanted to feel cool.
Now, it’s been a year and a half I got back my natural hair color (honey blonde), I’ve been progressively getting rid of my goth clothes and adding more bright and pastels (though I started by grey and muted), and trying different items and fabrics I didn’t dare to use before.
But most importantly, I became more confident. I faced an abusive boss and being fired in my first job, I got rid of “friends” who were just taking advantage of me and weren’t able to just say no, I worked in my relationship with my parents, I started dancing and found a hobby I love, I stopped being proud of my introversion (shyness in disguise) and dared to socialise more, but with different people. My face looks the same as 10 years ago, maybe more mature, and my body is almost the same except for my breast augmentation (I’m 27F, so I’m talking about my senior year). But now I receive way more compliments, especially from my parents. They say I shine. My haircolor, even haircut, is the same as 10 years ago. My face looks almost the same. But I am more confident, more caring, less people-pleaser, more social and less annoying.
Extra: you won’t see your glow up as much as others do. You see yourself daily, and you see yourself in your worst days (PMS, lack of sleep, sick, and in worn-out clothes). But others see you less often, and most of them don’t see you at home, sick and sleepy. So they will notice your glow up better than you’ll do. Plus, we tend to be super critical with ourselves. This is one of the times where others’ opinions about you do matter!
Comments
I hear you. My glow up happened when I finally started standing tall and not taking crap from anyone. It’s like, once we believe in ourselves, our whole vibe changes, amiright?
Whether you’re an introvert or not I don’t know. But introversion is not shyness in disguise. I’m not especially shy any more, but I remain strongly introverted: that is, socializing drains me rather than energizing me. That doesn’t even mean I don’t enjoy it — in small doses.