It’s all around us. Everywhere we look, we’re being sold something new, shinier and better than we already have. The message that we’ll be more worthy if we just follow the trends and hop on the bandwagon has been shoved down our throats for as long as we can remember.

Our worth is (seemingly) tied to how well we conform to the norm, how much we consume, and how well we fit the mould. “Try to keep up; you're not good enough yet”. We’ve internalized this narrative and followed this mantra, one that promises we'll find confidence externally by following trends that literally change at the drop of a hat, resulting in a never-ending pursuit. Just when we painstakingly reach the finish line that we were told was so important, in an instant, it gets pushed further away.

In a word, it's nauseating. With the standard constantly changing, how can we ever attain that coveted feeling of beauty? The simple but often overlooked solution first requires us to stop tying our worth to having the best and instead focus on being our best.

gratitude: an underrated tool

The underlying message we receive through media is that we’ve failed if we can’t fit the description of what’s currently considered the most beautiful. This constant comparison fuels self-loathing and drains our energy, leaving us depleted and discouraged. But it doesn’t have to be this way, we can flip the script. Living our lives from a place of gratitude instead does exactly the opposite; it highlights what we already have and encourages us to nurture ourselves so our uniqueness can shine through. It’s nothing new after all, we know that gratitude can be beneficial and has been scientifically proven to make us happier, but life often gets in the way of practicing it. Make an effort to listen to gratitude, and it tells us we are already enough as we are, and cuts comparison to others out of the equation entirely. When we switch to only competing with our previous selves, appreciating how far we’ve come and feeling excited for who we’re becoming, a wave of relief washes over us. The relentless chase has finally come to an end.

We don’t have to look far to realize just how impactful a practice of gratitude can be:

• Gratitude for our natural assets gives us back our power and lets us showcase our beauty on our terms, how we feel most stunning
• Gratitude for how our incredibly protective bodies and skin help us treat ourselves with more kindness and compassion
• Gratitude for our health reminds us just how precious life is and fills us with the joy to love others more attentively and deeply
• Gratitude for our livelihoods excites us to contribute to others and to continue succeeding in the areas that are important to us

beauty & gratitude

Although portia-ella is a beauty brand, at our core we’re a community, a community of Canadian-made, ethical brands, brought together to provide an offering of slow beauty products to those who share our values. Rooted in mindfulness and gratitude for the earth, we’re proud to go against the grain; we embrace the timelessness, resourcefulness, and respectfulness of sustainable practices. Beauty and gratitude don't seem to have much more in common, but beauty means so much more than meets the eye to us; it’s treating each other with compassion, it’s choosing to be gentle with the environment, it’s celebrating the little things, and seeing the innate light in ourselves first, before layering on any skincare or makeup.

So, if for no other reason than to experience that coveted feeling we all deserve, begin a gratefulness practice, beginning this Thanksgiving. Zone in on your special traits, the combination of features that makes you the beauty that you are, just as you are. Celebrate them, and give yourself the love and care you've been waiting to deserve. This is being your best. Before you know it, beauty will radiate from you, inside and out-- it's just what happens when we finally appreciate who we actually are! And the most amazing part? That self-assured beauty we find in ourselves makes way for us to see the same in others, clearing the air, and bringing love and appreciation around for everyone to bask in.

From our grateful hearts, thank you for your continued support of portia-ella. Have a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful fall season,

love, the portia-ella fam