Do you feel extra attractive on certain days and not so attractive on others? If you do, know that it is completely normal! The trick is to treat yourself well on the days you feel attractive so that your bad days don’t seem so bad.
In this post, I will be talking about these “pretty days” and “not so pretty days” as well as how to take advantage of them.
What am I even talking about?
When I say, “pretty days,” I am talking about those times when you look in the mirror and see yourself as attractive (and you are!). Those times when you feel confident in your skin and want to show yourself off to the world.
When I say, “not so pretty days,” I am talking about the opposite feeling. Those times when you don’t feel like you look good in any outfit or where you feel like your face looks ugly. You might even avoid looking in the mirror and/or not want to be seen.
We have all had these types of days.
Is there science behind them?
As you may already know, hormones rule us! If you did already know that- congratulations! I think you are one of a relatively few number of people who are aware.
Hormones can have an influence on everything about us- the physical and mental.
In the past, it has been said that our face changes during our menstrual cycle because of our hormones. There were some studies done that talked about our faces actually getting more or less symmetrical depending on what our hormones are doing. They concluded that around ovulation was the time that our faces are the most symmetrical.
The theory on facial symmetry being caused by the hormone levels (high estrogen) that occur when we are supposedly the most fertile, came as result of analyzing pictures of women that were taken in all phases of their menstrual cycle. These results were debunked recently though, as a new study showed no changes in facial symmetry.
So why have people rated faces as more attractive during fertile windows? Well, it may be that scientific testing right now is just not sensitive enough to catch any facial changes that do happen. Or maybe it is something that just can’t be tested- a sort of secret that only our bodies know when we see ourselves and others.
Another thing that has been studied is whether or not the fertile part of menstrual cycles causes one’s skin to look “nicer.” Quite a few sites will say that our faces will be clearer and have more of a glow. You will also find studies that say there is not much proof of this as well as anecdotes of people’s skin actually getting worse around ovulation.
Just as skin gets worse for some people around ovulation, it is even more likely to happen shortly before the period starts. One may experience acne breakouts, oiliness, dryness and/or dullness of their skin
Since, there is strong scientific evidence behind hormones affecting the skin in the aforementioned negative ways- it could definitely explain some of the “not so pretty days.”
There is also science behind hormones affecting one’s moods-both positively and negatively. The positive feelings could make one experience confidence in their physical appearance and the negative feelings could make one experience a dislike of their physical appearance.
It is not even just hormones that do this to our moods and the way we see ourselves-regular life stuff can have an affect as well. If we are on top of the world with things in our lives- we might be happy with the way we look. If things are not going so well in our lives- we might not be so happy with the way we look.
Our hair is another thing that typically plays a role in our pretty and not so pretty days. On our pretty days, we may be happy with the way it looks and enjoy styling it. On our not so pretty days, we may think it looks terrible and that it does absolutely nothing when we try to style it.
Some medical experts have said that hair changes during menstrual cycle which can cause one to think it looks good or bad at certain times. There is no actual scientific evidence to support this, however.
One last thing! Moods tend to shine through and cause a vibe to be given off in the company of others. If you are feeling good about yourself, others may be able to sense this and find you attractive. If you are feeling bad about yourself, others may be able to sense this and not find you all that attractive.
Taking advantage of your “pretty days”
Okay, so whatever the reason- these days happen. Now, let’s look into how you can take advantage of them. The following are some things that you can do for yourself on those days:
- Get cute and go on a walk- Put on a cute outfit, que up a podcast episode and get walking! You can flaunt your beauty around and you are sure to get some looks. Don’t forget your sunscreen and maybe a nice sun hat!
- Journal about it- Write down how great you feel about your appearance. You will have the pages to look back on when you are having a “not so pretty” day.
- Start a new skincare routine- Even if you are feeling good about yourself, you may still recognize that your skin has some problems that you want to clear up/reduce. Starting a new skincare routine during your good days may make you feel like there is hope that things will get better. It may also help you look at things more rationally when you go to find products to buy (ex. you don’t really need that $200 eye cream, your under eye area isn’t that bad).
- Learn makeup application- Learn how to put on flattering makeup on these days. On your not so pretty days, you can apply makeup as you learned and possibly feel better about yourself.
- Start a new workout routine- Just like starting a new skincare routine during these good days, you are less likely to feel hopeless about getting in better shape and you will look more rationally at things when choosing a new routine. You are going to need to find workouts you will stick with for a while and these days are the best times to do just that.
- Start a healthier diet- When you are already feeling good about the way that you look, it is easier to start eating healthier if that is what you have been wanting to do. It will get you off to a great start so that when you get to the days where you do not feel so pretty- you will be able to keep going with your plan. It is hard to start a new way of eating when you aren’t feeling good about yourself.
- Show yourself off to your partner- If you have a romantic partner, why not show yourself off to them on your good days? You can put on something cute and parade yourself in front of them. This may also help to strengthen the relationship. Confidence is sexy!
- Do some self-care and pampering- You are already feeling good about yourself, why not feel even better for a day?! Get your nails done, do a DIY facial , relax with some at-home acupressure, get a massage etc.
There are probably many other things you can do to take advantage of these wonderful days but this list gives you a good amount of ideas.
My “pretty days”
The days where I feel extra pretty are usually on days 7-15 and 20-26 of my menstrual cycle. I will look at myself in the mirror and smile. My flaws are there but I am not bothered by them.
When it comes to taking advantage of them, I do two things- journal and connect with my husband.
I have always loved writing so journaling has been a daily thing for me. I love to use my Women’s Health Journal and Planner to do this. In it, I write about how I am feeling each day and some self-love inspirational quotes. I also put down little notes for myself about my self-worth and beauty. This helps me when I look back on these days during my not so pretty ones.
When I am feeling like I look great, connecting with my husband is something I really like to do. I show him the confidence I have in my face/body and drive him wild! This in turn helps make it okay that I have my not so pretty days because he knows that they will pass and I will feel confident again.
In the past when I wanted to start on a journey of eating healthier, one of my pretty days was when I did it. I felt that I already looked good and that eating healthier would lead to me looking and feeling even better! This solid start led me to staying the course and now I maintain a relatively lean body all while getting a lot of the nutrients I need.
In conclusion
These “pretty days” are not always constant. As you can see there are quite a few ways that you can take advantage of them to lessen the impact of your “not so pretty days,” though. My hope is that you will do one or more of the ones I listed the next time you have one of these days!
Do you have any of these days? If so, do you know if they occur during certain parts of your menstrual cycle?
Thanks for reading!
Some sources-
https://flo.health/menstrual-cycle/health/period/oily-skin-before-and-during-period
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31310761/
https://www.livescience.com/25457-fertile-women-attractiveness.html
https://helloclue.com/articles/cycle-a-z/hair-and-the-menstrual-cycle
#pretty #beauty #skincare #homeworkout #fitness #diet #menstrualcycle #fertilewindow #facesymmetry
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