Britney Lee Through the Lens

Bare Model Feature

‍

Britney Lee In Frame

Our first photo shoot together a few months ago was unforgettable. When we decided to create something new, the images moved with a quiet energy I didn’t expect. Britney Lee has a look you notice instantly. The red hair. The freckles. The softness in her curves. The same softness seen in Alejandra’s Denver portrait. The calm presence. When I met her, she felt like the embodiment of a Bare Model. No makeup. Real shape. A natural silhouette with texture and ease. Her body is fully her own, from the curve of her hips to the cellulite that catches the light. A reminder of Bianca’s sunlit stretch mark study — raw skin in daylight.

A Bare Model In Natural Light

Photographing her felt effortless. Every frame carried the feeling of an editorial portrait rather than a posed moment. The final edits surprised me in the best way. They captured britney lee photos that felt honest and modern, the kind of quiet beauty that belongs in a bare model feature. Once I saw everything together, I was genuinely in awe. I cannot wait to share our third shoot soon.

Read Britney’s full Bare Model feature →

How a Raw, Bare Vision Became a Movement: The Story Behind SMV’s $20,000 Kickstarter Triumph

‍

Test test

‍

‍

With more than 140,000 followers back in 2019 and over 37,000 posts on the #SundayMorningView hashtag reaching over 300,000 people SMV became more than a magazine. It became a community.

‍

How a Raw, Bare Vision Became a Movement:

The Story Behind SMV’s $20,000 Kickstarter Triumph

A Movement Was Born From a Raw Vision

On November 19, 2023, a 30 day Kickstarter campaign quietly crossed the 20299 mark an extraordinary milestone for a small independent publication with a big rebellious vision. SundayMorningView (SMV), once the underdog of digital media, transformed overnight into a natural beauty movement that redefined what an online magazine for women could be. The video that powered the campaign raw emotional unfiltered did what glossy ads could never achieve. It told the truth.
And that truth resonated.

A New Kind of Magazine Emerges

When SMV launched in 2015, it started with one revolutionary idea.
A new kind of online magazine for women one that inspires women to be natural sexy strong and wholly themselves.

Mainstream beauty culture had long trained women to believe their value was conditional dependent on how much they could retouch reshape or cover. SMV pushed back. The mission was never to fix women but to free them.

Welcome to our Kickstarter campaign the founders wrote.
Here you can help us raise funds to become the magazine that helps women feel beautiful.

Their message was radical because it was real.

Why the World Needed SMV

Fashion magazines and media outlets relied on fabricated beauty airbrushed skin softened bodies and curated illusions. SMV created a counterculture rooted in authentic women’s empowerment and a return to real beauty standards.

Instead of manipulation it celebrated natural beauty.
Instead of perfection it celebrated truth.
Instead of insecurity it celebrated confidence.

SMV became a home for humor education health travel relationships sensuality and above all real women photographed with no makeup no retouching and no digital body manipulation. Every story became an act of rebellion against the idea that only one type of woman is worthy. The movement reflected a powerful body confidence shift that women around the world needed.

The Rise of the SundayGirl

Every Sunday one woman was honored not for fitting beauty standards but for breaking them.

No dresses. No heels. No extensions. No filters. No makeup. Just her.

The SundayGirl became a symbol of courage self acceptance and unfiltered femininity. These portraits were not just photographs they were declarations.And women listened.

A Global Community Emerges

With more than 140000 followers and over 37000 posts using the SundayMorningView hashtag in 2019 SMV became far more than a magazine. It became a community a sanctuary and a home for women who needed to feel represented in a real and unfiltered way.

A home for the woman who thinks she is not beautiful enough
The woman with cellulite or stretch marks
The woman with extra weight
The woman who feels unseen
The woman sun kissed in every shade

SMV was for all women.

2019 statistics made the mission urgent.
Only 4 percent of women consider themselves beautiful
72 percent of girls feel pressure to be beautiful
54 percent of women admit they are their own worst beauty critic

SMV made one truth undeniable. This had to change.

The Kickstarter That Shifted Everything

The mission was bold. The goal was ambitious. The timing was uncertain.
And yet the community showed up.

Every pledge did more than fund a magazine. It fueled a new chapter in the natural beauty movement and helped future generations see themselves differently.

Funds helped SMV hire editors and writers grow a photography studio expand the magazine’s infrastructure and launch global campaigns. One of the most impactful was the I Woke Up Like This series where more than 300 women submitted morning videos with no makeup to celebrate real confidence and unfiltered storytelling.

SMV also produced empowering events with Ulta Beauty Capital One Café and Gillette Venus each one designed to elevate natural beauty and authentic women’s empowerment.

Our Ulta Beauty “no-makeup makeup” event, featuring top beauty brands such as MAC Cosmetics and Dermalogica, who provided skincare and makeup products while teaching women how to achieve a natural, no-makeup makeup look through expert tutorials.

‍

Our exclusive women’s entrepreneur event with Capital One Café in Glendale, California at The Americana at Brand brought together over 300 women, offering real support and resources to help aspiring businesswomen launch their ideas, grow their startups, and get their feet off the ground.

‍

We hosted free photoshoots at Pepperdine University to help college women feel naturally beautiful. Women came together to be photographed, celebrate their real beauty, and embrace confidence in their own skin.
‍

Backers did not just give money.
They gave women hope.

A New Chapter SMV Becomes OBARE

Today the original vision evolves.
SMV the magazine that taught women to love their raw beauty is now OBARE.
A new identity. A new era. The same unwavering mission.

The Magazine That’s Real

OBARE believes beauty is not created it is revealed.
A woman without makeup can be just as beautiful as a woman with it.
We reject the manufactured ideals pushed by traditional magazines and media ideals built on cosmetic surgery, heavy makeup, and airbrushing.
We reject a world that edits reality.

Instagram censors our truth for going against their guidelines, while allowing AI-generated distortions to thrive.
But we refuse to hide what is real.

The Magazine That Is Real

OBARE believes beauty is not created it is revealed.

We reject manufactured ideals heavy airbrushing cosmetic illusions and a culture that edits away reality. Social platforms censor bare skin and real bodies while allowing artificial distortions to thrive. OBARE refuses to hide what is real.

Why We Rebranded

The shift from SundayMorningView to OBARE was intentional. Going bare means stripping away the fake and returning to truth. The O represents a camera lens our perspective our gaze our clarity.

OBARE celebrates women exactly as they are unfiltered natural and honest.
Finally something that is real.

Bare Models Who Are They

Bare Models are the embodiment of OBARE. They are not conventional fashion models. They are everyday women baristas students mothers athletes each carrying a story worth telling and worth celebrating within the natural beauty movement.

Their sensuality is not manufactured. It is self owned. Whether in lingerie topless or captured in artistic nude Bare Models choose how they express themselves. Confidence itself is sexy.

They are not selling an illusion. They are celebrating the raw unfiltered beauty of real women reclaiming their power.

What OBARE Stands For

Holistic Beauty
We believe in nourishing the body the mind and the spirit until confidence becomes a natural state.

Cultural Diversity
Representation shapes identity and gives women permission to be themselves.

Health and Fitness
Beauty thrives when you honor your entire body not through diets but through movement strength and intention.

Community
We are building a space where women and men uplift each other. Becoming your best self is not the exception here. It is the expectation.

OBARE The Magazine That Is Real

The Kickstarter was not just a fundraiser.
It was a promise.
A commitment to build a world where women feel seen celebrated and powerful in their natural form.

And now the journey continues. The movement grows. The vision expands.
OBARE is here.
And beauty will never look the same again.

The Curve of Alejandra

Bare Model Feature

‍

A Summer Session Begins

It’s July 18, 2022, and I’ve been in Denver, Colorado for a few days now. It’s been hot and a little muggy, and by 11 a.m. the day finally came for me to meet and photograph Alejandra in person. But the moment we arrived at my studio, the AC went out. Four hours later it was fixed, leaving us only two hours to shoot. We went straight into work mode, and somehow, we still captured some stunning images.

The Presence of a Bare Model

Alejandra’s body is unique. Her curves are full, her waist is slim, and everything about her is natural, exactly as it was intended. From the moment she stepped in front of the lens, she felt like a true Bare Model, the kind of woman whose presence doesn’t need direction or performance. This was an editorial portrait session shaped entirely by her natural beauty and the quiet strength of her silhouette.

We started shooting against a large window and a single blue wall. Most of the images were created right there, manipulating the natural light with different fabrics and angles. The room became a canvas for intimate visual storytelling, and she carried the entire frame with ease.

Bare Skin, Real Confidence

I remember how excited she was to go bare, no clothes, just her skin. Her confidence was like no other. She fully embraced her body, and it shows in every frame. She is powerful and poised, feminine with undeniable sex appeal. She is a goddess.

The Shift That Changed Everything

A Turning Point in Her Life

Inside the quiet and deeply personal shift that led Romy Dya toward a new body, a new sound, and a new beginning.

At thirty three, Romy Dya stands in a place where her life feels newly shaped. Her work, her identity, her body, and the direction she has chosen for herself all carry a different clarity than before. A mother of two and an artist from the Netherlands, her evolution began in a moment of complete honesty with herself.

For many years, Romy’s relationship with her body was molded by the comments of others.
“People always told me I was fat, and I grew ashamed of myself,” she explains. Her earliest memories of insecurity were linked to mirrors, music studios, and the constant pressure to present a polished version of herself. Even during a period when she lost weight and received a wave of attention, something inside her remained unsettled.

“I could not look in the mirror. Especially at my stomach,” she says. Stretch marks, cellulite, and the marks left by pregnancy became symbols of a body she believed did not meet the expectations placed on her. Yet the deeper discomfort came from a place within herself.

The Beginning of Her Inner Shift

Everything changed in 2018.

After the end of a twelve year relationship, Romy booked a last minute flight to Los Angeles. It was not a dramatic escape. It was a choice made quietly and firmly, a decision to step into a life she had not allowed herself to imagine.

“Going to Los Angeles was the best choice I ever made,” she says. “It was the first time I truly chose myself.”

The years that followed brought difficult moments and long periods of rebuilding. Romy learned to reflect, to sit with her thoughts, and to listen to her intuition. What began as discomfort eventually softened into self trust. Little by little, she reconnected with the woman she had once pushed away.

“I began standing in front of the mirror and telling myself, you are strong, you are beautiful, you can do this,” she recalls. Over time, the stretch marks and curves she once tried to hide started to feel different. They became a record of where she had been and what she had survived.

“I see them as art now,” she says. “They tell my story.”

A New Sound, A New Foundation

Her music transformed alongside her.

Songs that once came from pressure and expectation began to emerge from honesty and emotion. Romy first shared a song with OBARE, formerly known as SMV, in 2020. She now prepares to release her new single in August of 2025, a reflection of the life she has rebuilt and the voice she has reclaimed.

This is not a story of perfection. It is a story of a woman choosing a direction that felt true to her. Emotionally, creatively, and physically, she created a new foundation and allowed herself to grow from it.

Today, Romy continues to write, produce, and create from a place of clarity. Her work carries the weight of her past, the depth of her experiences, and a vision for the future that feels entirely her own.

Connect with Romy Dya
Instagram: @romydya

Here is another sneak peek of her new song.

Here is a beautiful song Romy wrote for OBARE, formerly known as SMV, back in 2020.

Her Garden Portraits as a Bare Model

Continue to the full article →

Apolonia Calleja Through the Lens

Continue to the full article →

The way she looks when nothing is added

Continue to the full article →

A quiet moment with her real self

Continue to the full article →

A Moment with Sharon

Bare Model Feature

‍

Spending the afternoon with Sharon felt like stepping into a quiet pocket of honesty. No trying to be anything. Just her, the warm light, and the way her body naturally moved in front of the camera. What you’re about to see isn’t styled or staged to fit an idea of perfect. It’s simply Sharon as she is in that moment, relaxed and present, fully owning her natural body. These images are a glimpse of that truth.

Continue to the full article →

A look into natural beauty with Gibson

No fancy hairstyle and no makeup just Gibson in her natural light in Los Angeles

Continue to the full article →

A quiet study of form

Continue to the full article →

Your Body’s Sending You Subtle Hints (a.k.a. Please Sit Down for a Minute)

There’s a point in every hustle where your body stops requesting and starts demanding. You know the stage when your eyelids feel heavier than your ambitions, and your brain’s idea of “focus” is re-reading the same text 12 times. The truth is simple: your body whispers before it shouts. And right now, it’s probably hoarse.

The Whispers Before the Breakdown

It starts small you skip breakfast, sleep feels optional, and you’re proud of surviving on caffeine and chaos. You tell yourself this is “discipline,” but your body calls it what it is: a slow crash in progress. The dark circles aren’t badges of honor; they’re little love notes from your nervous system saying, “Can we rest now?”

But you keep going, because stopping feels like failure. Meanwhile, your body’s over there scheduling a revolt.

The Emotional Overdraft

Burnout doesn’t always scream. Sometimes it sighs loudly every time someone asks, “How are you?” You say, “Good, just tired,” as if tired is your personality now. You scroll, you overthink, you feel disconnected from things that used to make you feel alive.

You’re not broken. You’re just overdue for stillness. Exhaustion is not your natural state you’ve just been taught to confuse burnout with achievement.

The Brain Fog Stage

Then comes the fog. The mental tabs stop loading. You lose track of time, words, and occasionally, your sense of humor. You start living for the weekend, but even rest feels like work. It’s not that you’re unmotivated it’s that your brain is buffering from overload.

Your thoughts move slower. Your patience runs thinner. And suddenly, peace feels like a luxury you can’t afford.

The Soul Wants In

At some point, even your spirit checks out. The music doesn’t hit the same. Creativity feels forced. You crave quiet but don’t know what to do with it when it arrives. The body that’s been carrying you is begging you to be here.

You don’t need another productivity hack. You need to remember that rest is productive. You don’t grow by pushing harder you grow by pausing with purpose.

How to Recalibrate (Without Burning Down Your Life)

So, how do you recover from the edge of exhaustion without quitting your job, moving to Bali, or deleting the internet?

Because your body’s not betraying you it’s communicating. It’s the soft voice that says, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” And when you finally listen, you’ll realize rest was never the reward it was always the requirement.

You Don’t Need a New Body You Need Better Habits

The Modern Woman’s Wellness Rebellion

Most wellness lists feel like punishment disguised as self care.
Wake up at five in the morning.
Meditate until you levitate.
Eat chia pudding that tastes like regret.

This is not that.

These habits are for real women. Women who work. Women who cry. Women who heal and scroll and glow and fall apart and get back up again.
Think of this as your soft power fitness manual. Stronger legs. A calmer mind. Better boundaries. No burnout.

MOVE Because Endorphins Are Free

Walk for ten minutes after each meal even the late night one.
Get sunlight in your eyes before ten in the morning. It is the simplest mood supplement on earth.
Strength train three times a week. Lift something heavier than your emotional baggage.
Take the stairs. Elevators are for existential crises.
Do twenty squats before your shower. The cheapest pre workout you will ever find.
Move your lymph with dry brushing or rebounding or honestly just shaking your body like a song is stuck inside you.
Dance to one song a day. Choose joy not the sad playlist.
Track progress by how you feel instead of how you look.

MIND Reprogram Your Inner Dialogue

Your thoughts shape your posture your tone and your presence.
Talk to yourself like someone who deserves respect.

Start your morning with gratitude not your phone.
Write three things you feel proud of. Surviving the group chat counts.
Replace the phrase I have to with I get to. It is a small shift with a big impact.
Take one day each week off social media. Your mind will relax in ways you forgot were possible.
Practice doing one thing at a time. The world will not collapse if you stop multitasking.
Read ten pages of something that feeds the soul not the anxiety.
Keep promises to yourself. That is how self trust becomes real.
Speak with kindness toward yourself because your cells hear everything.

SLEEP The Real Flex

A full nights rest is not laziness. It is a luxury that changes everything.
Glow requires rest not endless caffeine.

Go to bed and wake up at consistent times even on weekends.
Dim the lights for an hour before bed.
Keep your room cool and dark. A cave for dreams not doom scrolling.
Avoid caffeine after two in the afternoon unless chaos feels appealing.
Read or journal before bed instead of investigating your past.
Place your phone far from the bed. Buy a six dollar alarm clock.
Skip the late night scrolling. Save your dopamine for the daylight.
Treat rest as productive because it absolutely is.

EAT Fuel Do Not Punish

Your body is not a battle. Food is not the enemy.
Restriction steals joy and energy. Nourishment builds both.

Drink water before your morning coffee.
Eat protein at every meal.
Do not skip breakfast. Your hormones will thank you.
Include fermented foods for gut health because a happy gut creates a happier mind.
Eat until you feel satisfied instead of stuffed.
Cook with olive oil ghee or butter.
Choose local and seasonal foods whenever possible.
Limit alcohol and try bone broth instead.
Give your digestion a full twelve hours to rest overnight.

THE TAKEAWAY

Wellbeing is not built overnight.
It is built breath by breath and habit by habit.
Small choices create noticeable change.
Care always works better than control.

The moment you stop treating your body as a project and begin treating it like a partner everything shifts.

You do not need a new body.
You need better habits.
And you deserve the kind that make you feel alive.

The Feel Good Detox

How to Rebuild Real Joy in a World Addicted to Quick Hits

There is a kind of joy that cannot be clicked, bought, streamed, or scrolled. It sits deeper than a notification or a like. It lives inside the body, in breath, in movement, in the small electric moments that remind you that you are alive.

If life has felt flat or heavy, you are not broken. You are overstimulated, under nourished, and disconnected from the real sources of pleasure that your mind and body respond to. This is an invitation back to yourself. A return to real joy, real presence, and real dopamine.

The Modern Dopamine Problem

We live in a world overflowing with instant rewards. Every swipe, every refresh, every click offers a tiny spark of artificial pleasure that fades almost as quickly as it arrives.

The real thing is different. Real dopamine comes from sunlight, laughter, novelty, nature, movement, connection, and meaning. It comes from the moments that breathe life into your nervous system instead of draining it.

Real dopamine is not extracted. It is experienced.

Chase Curiosity Like It Matters

Curiosity wakes up the mind. It lights the body from the inside. Try the thing that makes no sense on paper. Explore the hobby you secretly think about. Begin the creative idea you keep postponing. Curiosity is nourishment.

Love With Your Full Attention

Half present love leaves the heart hungry.
Put the phone down.
Meet someone’s eyes.
Listen with your whole presence.
Connection is one of the most powerful dopamine sources you have access to.

Eat for Energy and Not Escape

Your brain is alive and physical.
It needs minerals, nutrients, hydration, and whole foods.
Feed your body with respect and it will begin to return that respect back to you through mood, clarity, and joy.

Be Where Your Feet Are

Presence is a form of power.
Every moment you return to your breath, you return to your life.
Joy grows in awareness, not distraction.

Follow the Spark That Keeps Calling You

There is something you love that you keep saving for later.
Start now.
Your nervous system lights up when you move toward something meaningful.

Give Without Needing Anything Back

Generosity softens your entire system.
A compliment.
A smile.
A small act of care.
Giving creates connection, and connection creates calm.

Let Music Move You

Play a song you love. Let it shift your mood. Let your body move. Let yourself be carried for a moment. Movement changes emotion almost instantly.

Step Outside

Nature is medicine.
Sunlight. Air. Space.
Your entire body responds to the natural world.
The glow you chase in products often begins with time outdoors.

Grow Every Day

Growth does not need to be dramatic.
A small shift. A small act. A small decision.
Become a little more yourself every day.

Leave Spaces Better Than You Found Them

Your presence creates impact.
Bring gentleness. Bring clarity. Bring care.
These small acts build self worth in real time.

Rest Deeply

Rest is not an indulgence.
Rest is repair.
Rest is clarity.
Rest is the medicine your mind has been craving.

Move Because It Feels Good

Movement is not punishment.
Movement is celebration.
Move to feel alive, not to shrink or control your body.

Sit With Silence

Silence is not emptiness.
Silence is a beginning.
Your next chapter often starts when the world becomes quiet enough for you to finally hear yourself.

Real dopamine is not a high.
It is a return
to your body
to your clarity
to your joy
to your life.

Choose presence instead of distraction.
Choose movement instead of numbness.
Choose joy instead of judgment.

This is the feel good detox your mind has been waiting for.

THE REAL REASON YOU WAKE UP EXHAUSTED

A Mineral Most Women Overlook

You know the feeling: the alarm goes off, your eyes open, and there’s a heaviness that sleep didn’t touch.
It’s not laziness. It’s not a lack of discipline.
And it’s not always about getting “more hours.”

There’s a quieter reason many women wake up depleted: low potassium.

The Mineral Behind Your Energy

Potassium is one of the body’s most essential electrical minerals.
Your cells rely on it to move fluid, fire nerves, contract muscles, and maintain steady energy.

When levels are low, your body has to work harder to perform basic functions which is why even eight hours of sleep can’t “fix” the fatigue.

The symptoms are subtle but recognizable: a kind of morning heaviness, a low-grade exhaustion, faint muscle weakness, a touch of irritability, and that fog you just can’t shake.

Most adults don’t reach the recommended 2,600–3,400 mg per day.
Not because they’re doing anything wrong but because modern diets are naturally depleted.

Where the Fatigue Comes From

Potassium acts like your body’s internal current.
Without enough of it, your cells can’t:

It helps your body move nutrients efficiently, regulate hydration, support muscle contractions, and maintain stable energy.

The result: your body wakes up already behind.

Coffee can mask it, but it can’t correct it.
Stimulants spark the mind minerals support the system.

The Foods That Restore You

The simplest fix isn’t a supplement. It’s food.

These potassium-rich options support morning energy naturally:

Spinach is high in potassium and iron to help oxygenate your cells, broccoli delivers potassium and vitamin C for balanced energy, sweet potatoes offer slow-burning carbs with steady mineral support, bananas give quick and reliable electrolyte replenishment, oranges keep you hydrated with mineral-rich juice, and kiwi adds a small but powerful dose of potassium and antioxidants.

Pairing these with mineral water or coconut water creates a noticeable shift: steadier energy, clearer focus, fewer dips.

The OBARE Perspective

Your body doesn’t need more stimulation it needs support.
When minerals are restored, the morning changes.
Energy stops being something you chase and becomes something you naturally create.

Give your body what it’s been missing, and it will meet you with clarity, strength, and presence.

Seven Psychology Shifts for a Softer Happier Life

Happiness is not built from highlight reels, achievements, or constant motion. It grows in quieter places. In how we return to ourselves after long days, in how we connect with others, and in how we choose softness over pressure.

At Obare we celebrate women in their full, unfiltered form. That includes the mind. The more we studied the psychology of happiness the clearer it became that joy is not an accident. It is a practice. One women can shape on their own terms.

Below are seven evidence based shifts that can help you reconnect with a life that feels lighter, calmer, and more alive.

1. Choose Real Connection Over NutraSweet Connection

Social media gives the illusion of closeness. Notifications, likes, quick messages. They feel sweet for a moment but do not truly feed us. Studies from long term research at Harvard show that the strongest predictor of lifelong well being is meaningful human connection.

Try this: replace one scrolling session today with a real human moment. A call. A walk. A conversation that breathes.

2. The Social Prediction Error

We often misjudge how good social interaction will make us feel. Psychologists call this the social prediction error. We expect exhaustion. We often get relief.

Try this: if you are tempted to cancel plans give yourself thirty minutes. Show up and see how your energy responds. Joy hides in the things we resist.

3. The Peak-End Rule

We do not remember experiences evenly. We remember the peak moment and the ending. One laugh at dinner or one quiet moment before bed can shift how the entire day lives in your memory.

Try this: end your day with intention. A song. A short reflection. A breath of fresh air.

4. The Dopamine Rule

Instant gratification chases quick stimulation. Lasting fulfillment comes from effort followed by reward. Neuroscience shows that dopamine feels richer when it is earned.

Try this: pause before the quick hit. Ask yourself what kind of reward would feel meaningful after effort.

5. The Gift and Curse of Adaptation

We adapt to everything. Highs settle. Lows rise. This is part of being human. Awareness interrupts the cycle. When you savor simple moments you stretch happiness over a longer period.

Try this: hold on to the warm parts of the day. Coffee in your hands. Sunlight on your skin. The sound of a friend laughing.

6. Redefine Success Through Ease

Success has been tied to pressure for too long. Hustle culture teaches us to grind until we collapse. Ease teaches us to align. The most fulfilled women we meet are not pushing harder. They are living with intention.

Try this: replace the question what more can I do with what can I release.

7. The Mirror Rule

How you speak to yourself shapes how you move through your day. Neuroscience shows that self directed compassion activates regions linked to trust and safety.

Try this: each morning say one kind thing about yourself that is not about appearance. I am resilient. I am growing. I am patient.

Happiness is not a destination. It is a rhythm. Some days it rises easily. Other days it hums quietly under the surface. What matters is returning to it with gentleness.

Women deserve lives that feel real and unbeautified. These shifts will not fix everything but they can guide you back to the parts of life that feel nourishing and true.

How to Love Deeply Without Losing Yourself

When Empathy Turns Into Overwhelm

It starts innocently enough caring too much, feeling too deeply.
One minute you’re holding space for someone’s story, and the next, you’re carrying the weight of their heartbreak in your own body.

When Lily first began teaching, she thought it was compassion the way she could feel everything. A student’s grief, another’s frustration, someone else’s loneliness. By the end of the day, her body felt like a sponge, heavy and tired without understanding why.

It took years to realize that empathy without grounding isn’t compassion it’s self-abandonment.

What Psychology and Spirituality Both Know

Psychology calls it emotional enmeshment.
Spirituality calls it leaking energy.

Either way, it’s a sign your boundaries are made of love, but not yet of strength.

To truly hold space for others, you must first root yourself in your own energy. Otherwise, compassion becomes confusion love becomes depletion.

Sensitivity Is Not a Flaw It’s Sacred Awareness

The world often tells sensitive people to toughen up, but the truth is: you don’t need to harden to protect yourself.
True protection is softness anchored in awareness.

When your heart is rooted in your own energy, compassion doesn’t drain you it nourishes you.
That’s the quiet strength of an open-hearted person who has learned to stay grounded.

3 Practices to Stay Open and Protected

1. Anchor Your Energy

Before stepping into a conversation or crowded room, place a hand on your heart and breathe deeply.
Say silently: “My energy stays with me.”
That simple intention reminds your body where home is.

2. Sense Your Body

When listening to someone, notice your breath or your feet on the ground.
This subtle act keeps you present in your own field — not drifting into theirs.

3. Release What’s Not Yours

After an emotional interaction, stretch, shake your hands, or visualize rinsing invisible dust from your body.
Say gently: “I return what’s not mine, with love.”
Release without resentment. That’s how softness becomes strength.

You’re Not Broken for Feeling Deeply

Feeling everything doesn’t make you weak — it makes you awake.
But awareness without boundaries is like light without a lamp: beautiful, but uncontained.

Learning to stay open yet rooted is a lifelong practice. It’s how empathy turns from exhaustion into empowerment.

Because when your heart is anchored in your own energy, you don’t just protect yourself —
you amplify your presence.

The Lesson Beneath It All

Love that depletes isn’t love it’s a call to return to yourself.
Sensitivity isn’t something to fix. It’s something to refine.

When you stop carrying what isn’t yours, you don’t close your heart.
You finally make space for your own light to shine through.

The Bare Model Approach to Aging Well

Skincare begins long before anything touches the surface. The women who work with us know that the most powerful beauty routine starts in the kitchen. Their secret is simple. They choose foods that keep inflammation down, collagen strong, and skin bright from within. These are the quiet staples that support a face and body the camera never misses.

Below is the core list Bare Models return to every day. Each one plays its part in supporting youthful skin and slowing the signs of visible aging in a real and lasting way.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive oil is the anchor. It keeps the skin plump, nourished, and supported. The healthy fats help maintain elasticity, while the antioxidants defend the skin from environmental stress. A spoon a day, a drizzle on everything, or mixed into warm dishes is enough to make a visible difference.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are quiet protection. They are rich in lycopene which helps defend the skin from sun damage and supports a smoother, more even look. Raw or cooked, they build long term strength in the skin barrier.

Papaya

Papaya brings a natural brightening effect. It contains vitamin C and natural enzymes that support collagen production. This is the fruit Bare Models lean on for a softer glow and a smoother texture, especially in the morning.

Blueberries

Blueberries work behind the scenes. They are loaded with antioxidants that fight the oxidative stress responsible for early aging. A handful added to breakfast can help the skin stay firm and clear over time.

The Pattern That Matters

The secret is not perfection. It is consistency. These foods work because they support the body every day. They encourage clear skin, even tone, and long lasting radiance.

Bare Models do not chase miracle routines. They build quiet habits that show up in every photo.

If you want youthful skin that feels strong and alive, start with what you eat. These foods are simple, timeless, and proven. Beauty grows from the inside long before anyone sees it from the outside.

Radiance Rituals: Small Habits That Help You Glow Naturally

Radiance is not a product. It is a rhythm.
A way of living that honors your body, your mind, and the small choices that shape your presence.
These are the quiet rituals that keep the glow alive, long before any serum touches your skin.

The Subtle Art of Slowing Down

In a culture that glorifies speed, stillness becomes a luxury.
Yet the truth is simple: your skin reads your life. Stress shows up as dullness, tension, breakouts, and the kind of tiredness even makeup cannot disguise.

Slowing down is not a retreat. It is a return.

Deep breaths, intentional rest, long pauses between obligations.
They soften the edges of your nervous system and restore the clarity your skin needs.

Even the way you shower matters. Very hot water strips the skin of natural oils that protect its texture and tone. Keep it warm, let your skin breathe, and watch your natural radiance return.

And smoking… it steals more than your glow. It restricts oxygen, tightens the complexion, and dimishes luminosity. Letting it go is not just a health decision. It is a commitment to your future face.

The Beauty of Routine

Consistency creates beauty, not complicated rituals.

A gentle cleanse once to twice daily removes the day without disturbing the skin’s balance. It becomes a moment to reconnect with yourself, to wash off the noise you carried.

Screen-free nights matter more than most people realize.
Blue light disrupts the hormones responsible for repair, leaving the skin fatigued and uneven by morning.

And the foods you eat speak louder than any product.
Choose colors. Choose whole foods grown from the earth.
Every vibrant bite supports cellular repair and long-term brightness.

Repeat this to yourself:
Count chemicals, not calories.

Hydration and Sleep Bring the Glow You’ve Been Looking For

Water is beauty’s quiet architect.
Mineralized water hydrates the skin at a deeper level, helping it stay supple and reflective.

Pair it with two essentials:

Nightly cleansing
Daily sun protection

But protection does not always mean sunscreen.
If you are outside for brief moments, wear a hat and greet the sun. Vitamin D is a healing force. If you plan hours under direct light, choose a clean mineral sunscreen that honors your skin’s barrier.

Build these habits and you create the foundation for ageless skin.

Move, Rest, Repeat

Movement is celebration, not punishment.

A simple thirty-minute walk increases circulation, brightens the complexion, and delivers the kind of glow no bottle can mimic.

Rest completes the cycle.
Aim to sleep before ten at night when the body enters its most restorative phase. This is when the skin repairs, collagen renews, and the glow is woven back into your features.

And let your meals be clean, simple, and alive.
Skip processed options when you can.
Your skin will always reflect the care you give your body.

The OBARE Beauty Philosophy

At OBARE, we believe radiance is lived, not layered.
It rises from intention, nourishment, movement, stillness, and the grace of showing up for yourself every day.

Aging gracefully is not about resisting time.
It is about meeting it with softness, with awareness, and with the quiet confidence that comes from living in alignment with who you are becoming.

Your glow is not created.
It is revealed.

Your Skin, Decoded

At Obare, we see skin as more than surface. It’s a living system that reflects your habits, your environment, and the way you take care of yourself. True radiance doesn’t begin with foundation or filters. It begins with understanding what your body is asking for.

What Is the Acne Face Map?

Every breakout has a cause. The acne face map links different areas of the face to internal or external triggers, helping you understand what might be going on beneath the surface.

Forehead and Nose: stress, haircare residue, or touching your face throughout the day.
Cheeks: dirty pillowcases, makeup brushes, or frequent phone contact.
Hairline: buildup from gels, waxes, and pomades.
Eyebrow Area: excess makeup, low water intake, or skincare residue trapped in brows.
Jawline and Chin: hormonal changes or shifts in your diet.

Learning the “map” helps you treat the root cause instead of the symptom.

1. Simplify Your Skincare

Wash with raw honey or aloe vera for a natural, gentle cleanse.

Use rosehip oil to restore glow and softness.

Add a clay or sea moss mask twice a week to detox.

Always finish with a mineral sunscreen, even indoors.

2. Nourish from Within

Your glow starts inside. Eat foods rich in vitamin C, zinc, and antioxidants. Add moringa leaf powder or collagen peptides to your morning routine. Drink two ounces of tart cherry juice at night to support overnight repair. Stay hydrated with eight to ten glasses of mineral water daily.

3. Prioritize Rest and Mindfulness

Stress often shows on your skin before you feel it. Meditation, deep breathing, and slowing down reduce cortisol, one of the main hormones behind inflammation and breakouts.

"When you calm your mind, your skin follows."

The Obare Way: Confidence Without Concealment

Obare celebrates women who show up as they are. Natural skin, freckles, and texture aren’t flaws. They’re the details that make you human. Healthy skin isn’t about hiding. It’s about paying attention — to your habits, your hydration, your rest, and your relationship with yourself.

Glow naturally. Listen closely. Your skin has been speaking to you all along.

A Closer Look at the Daily Date Ritual

A quiet daily ritual shaped by nature, supported by science, and rooted in the way real women nourish their strength from the inside out.

There is a reason the date has lasted across centuries while modern superfoods rise and fade. It was never a trend. It was nourishment woven into the rhythm of women’s lives long before wellness had a name.

Grown under desert heat and rich in natural fiber minerals and polyphenols the date carries a simplicity we rarely see today. No performance. No filters. No rush to perfect anything. Just quiet reliable strength.

At Obare nourishment is part of a woman’s lived reality. It is how she supports her digestion her energy her skin her hormones and the body she moves through the world in. A small ritual like eating two dates a day may seem simple but inside the body it creates a real shift. It changes how the body functions responds and restores.

This is what truly happens when you make this ancient fruit part of your everyday rhythm.

Day One to Three A Gentle Shift in Digestion

Your body responds almost immediately. Dates deliver natural fiber and polyphenols that support gut motility. This is the quiet system that keeps everything moving with ease.

A clinical trial published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that people who ate dates daily for three weeks experienced better bowel regularity and reduced gut toxicity. A simple fruit creating a grounded internal reset.

Study Eid N and colleagues Cambridge University Press 2015.

Day Four to Seven Lower Stress Inside the Gut

As your system adjusts internal stress markers begin to change. The same research recorded reduced stool ammonia and lower genotoxicity which signals less strain on the colon.

This is not a harsh detox. It is a natural realignment of the body’s own rhythm.

Study Eid N and colleagues 2015.

One Week In Balanced Blood Sugar

Dates are sweet but their sweetness behaves differently.

Because dates contain fiber the sugar releases slowly. A 2020 clinical study found that moderate date intake did not spike blood glucose levels. The body knows how to work with sweetness when it comes from something real.

Study Alalwan and colleagues Nutrients 2020.

Two Weeks In Lipid and Heart Markers Improve

Over time dates influence metabolic markers in measurable ways. Researchers noted lower total cholesterol and LDL without negative shifts in blood sugar. A rare combination in nutritional research.

Your body recognizes whole foods. And responds to them.

Study Alalwan and colleagues Nutrients 2020.

Long Term Ritual Strengthening the Gut Microbiome

Reviews from 2015 and 2024 show that dates act as natural prebiotics. They feed beneficial gut bacteria and support colon cell integrity.

This is where nourishment becomes identity. A supported gut affects energy skin clarity emotional steadiness and the way a woman inhabits her body.

Studies ResearchGate Review 2024 and Cambridge University Press 2015.

Wellness does not have to be loud. Some of the most powerful habits are the small ones. The steady choices that support the body that carries you.

Two dates a day is one of those choices. Simple. Natural. Steady.
A ritual that honors the body without making it perform.

Where Belonging Actually Begins

There is a quiet moment in every woman’s life when she realizes this truth:

not every room is meant for her. Some spaces expand you. Others narrow you. And the difference between the two is often felt long before it is understood.

We spend years trying to belong, adjusting our voice, trimming our edges, softening our presence. It feels easier to fit in than to ask whether a space actually supports the woman we are becoming. But belonging without alignment comes at a cost. You start shrinking in ways you barely notice.

Real belonging is rarely loud. It is the way your ideas land without being filtered. It is the conversations that make you feel awake. It is the lightness you feel when you do not have to translate yourself. These are the moments where genuine personal growth begins because the space invites you to expand rather than compress.

How to Recognize the Spaces That Support Your Growth

The rooms that grow you feel different. They do not require inauthencity. They do not reward your smallest version. They meet your ambition, your questions, and the edges of your identity without resistance.

You feel more awake in these environments. You think more clearly. You speak differently. You breathe differently. Expansion is quiet, but you notice it.

Why Some Environments Make You Feel Small

We have all stayed too long in places that preferred the quieter version of us. A job that valued predictability more than potential. A friend group where ambition felt like a threat. A relationship where your evolution was mistaken for distance.

These are the spaces where you feel yourself shrinking even when no one says a word. Your ideas feel heavier. Your energy feels muted. The room asks for less of you than you naturally are.

Feeling small is not a misunderstanding. It is information.

The Difference Between Belonging and Performing

Fitting in is easy. It only requires you to hide the parts of yourself that make other people uncomfortable. Belonging is different. Belonging allows your full identity to exist without negotiation.

You do not have to monitor your tone. You do not have to explain the way you think. You do not have to collapse your depth to stay close to someone else’s comfort.

Belonging is spacious. Performing is exhausting.

How to Choose the Rooms That Match Your Becoming

Growth happens in environments that challenge your patterns and nourish your identity. These are the rooms that encourage you to explore who you are becoming, not who you used to be.

The right spaces feel like possibility. They sharpen you. They reflect you. They allow you to evolve without asking you to shrink.

You do not outgrow people or places because you are changing too much. You outgrow them because they are staying exactly the same.

Why Personal Evolution Depends on the Spaces You Enter

Choosing yourself is an act of clarity, not rebellion. When you protect your attention, your ambition, and the quieter parts of your inner growth, you return to the woman who never needed permission.

Your personal evolution depends on the environments you move through. Every room either mirrors your expansion or restricts it. Once you feel the difference, you cannot ignore it.

How to Know When a Space No Longer Fits You

You know a space is no longer aligned when you leave feeling smaller than when you walked in. Your curiosity feels unwelcome. Your ideas feel too big. Your presence feels misplaced. Your inner rhythm starts dimming to match the room.

Nothing dramatic needs to happen. The mismatch speaks for itself.

Outgrowing something is not loss. It is direction.

Creating an Environment That Honors Your Identity

You do not have to stay in places that require you to disappear. You do not have to prove your worth in rooms that never saw you clearly. You do not have to negotiate your identity to remain close to people who only understand past versions of you.

Go where you feel expansive. Go where the conversation moves you forward. Go where your presence feels like a match, not a compromise.

Where you are seen, you grow. Where you are small, you leave.

A Simple Way to Get Your Mind Back in a Noisy World

Let’s be real for a second. Everyone feels scattered right now. Our attention spans are cooked, and it's not because you're lazy or undisciplined. The world is just loud in a way our brains weren’t designed for.

(Video by Joshua Malic)

Think about what a single morning looks like now. You wake up to eight-second reels, twelve notifications before breakfast, and five tabs open while you try to reply to one email. Your brain is just trying to survive the chaos.

Here’s the truth: you can’t completely unplug from the internet. You can’t ditch your phone or pretend the digital world doesn’t exist. But you can absolutely get your focus back. Your mind is still in there. You just need a few simple habits that make space for it again.

1. Build focus like a muscle

Start small. Really small. Set a five minute or ten minute timer and work on just one thing. When your mind drifts, gently bring it back. If you lose the thread, restart the timer and try again. After every solid session, add a little more time. This slow build is exactly how focus grows. Your brain responds to repetition and consistency.

2. Redefine your relationship with your phone

Your phone is not your enemy, but it has too much access to you. You do not need to go back to an old flip phone, but you do need a little distance. Try limiting time on distracting apps. Charge your phone in another room. Switch it to grayscale. Keep it out of reach while you work. You are not cutting it out of your life. You are just giving yourself room to think again.

3. Periodically fast from stimulation

Your brain needs real silence sometimes. Actual boredom. It sounds strange, but boredom resets your mind. Try taking a walk without headphones. Eat a meal without looking at a screen. Wait in line without picking up your phone. Every time you resist the urge to fill the moment with noise, you rebuild your natural attention span.

4. Close your mental tabs

Once a week, write everything down. All the unfinished tasks, unread messages, small errands, and random thoughts you keep storing in your head. For each one, decide whether to take action, schedule it, or let it go. It feels exactly like closing a bunch of open tabs on your computer. Suddenly your mind feels lighter and clearer.

5. Begin a reading challenge

This one is simple but powerful. For the next one hundred days, read something small every day. A poem, a short story, or a short essay. Just five or ten minutes of concentrated reading. This slows your brain down, stretches your attention, and helps rebuild the focus that constant scrolling wears down.

6. Protect your focus

This might be the most important part. Protect your peace. Unfollow accounts that drain your energy. Step away from projects that no longer matter to you. Stop trying to stay updated on everything happening everywhere. The pressure to keep up with everything does nothing but scatter your mind.

Here is the final thing to remember. Focus can be trained. Your mind can become steady again. And the small choices you make each day really do add up. Tiny habits like walking without headphones or closing your mental tabs once a week can completely change how clear and grounded you feel. Small steps can create big results.

Josefine’s Signature Glute Workout

Strength for Josefine has never been loud. It’s quiet and steady, something she has built one controlled movement at a time. Her glutes define her silhouette, not from trends or quick programs, but from years of paying attention to form and how her body naturally moves. “I have always been drawn to the glutes,” she says.

‍
“They create shape but they also anchor how a woman moves.”

When you talk to her, you feel how deeply she respects this part of the body. It is not only about appearance. Strong glutes change everything. They shape how you move, how you hold yourself, how grounded you feel, and even the kind of presence you carry when you enter a room. Josefine keeps her training simple, and that is exactly why it works. She cuts out the noise and replaces it with focus. Her strength comes from intention, from control, from knowing her body well enough to let the work speak quietly for itself.

Less Is More, Better Is Better

You only need to spend three days per week in the gym or with weights at home, plus two short optional band-only days, which are enough to transform your glutes if done with intention and focus.

Fun fact: research shows strong, well-shaped glutes aren’t just eye-catching—they help you walk taller, lift heavier, and prevent injuries.

Her Glute Routine

Frequency for lifting: 3–5 days a week - 2-3 for Glutes/Legs
Duration: 45–60 minutes for full workouts, 15–20 minutes for optional home sessions

Sample Day 1 – Full Legs & Booty:
    1. Machine Hip Thrusts – 4x10
(Alt, barbell, dumbbell, band)

(Tip: Tuck your chin slightly and keep your ribs down to maintain a neutral arch in your lower back. Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes at the top.)

2. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift – 4x12
(Alt, barbell, band, bodyweight)

(Tip: Keep a soft bend in your knees and push your hips back until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Maintain a straight spine and keep the bar close to your legs.)‍

‍
   3. Lying hamstring curl – 4x15
(Alt, banded or bodyweight)

(Tip: Control the movement and keep your body pressed firmly against the pad. Maintain constant tension, moving slowly and deliberately so you feel your hamstrings working.)

‍
    4: Seated Hip Abductions – 4x20
(Alt, mini band)

(Tip: Lean slightly forward to enhance glute activation. Focus on squeezing your glutes at the end position instead of pushing too fast or too far.)

"Form over everything. Your mind-muscle connection is the secret to seeing results."

The Science Behind Glute Training

Training your glutes is about more than curves it’s about body composition, metabolism, and performance. Strong glutes activate your hamstrings, quads, and core, creating a high metabolic burn that extends long after your workout.

"Genetics play a role, but they don’t dictate your potential."

With consistent, mindful training, you can sculpt glutes that look rounder, stronger, and more athletic regardless of your starting point.

Mindful Muscle Work and Focus

Your glutes grow when you actually feel them working, not when you rush through your sets or chase heavier weight. Real shape comes from control and presence. Josefine always says, “Obsessing over perfection won’t get results. Focusing on what you can control will.” She trains slowly and intentionally, paying attention to every part of the movement. When you watch her lift, you can see that she is fully present, mind on the muscle, no distractions, just clean work.

The Habits That Shape You

Josefine’s strength did not come from secrets. It came from simple habits done consistently. Real effort, steady practice, and patience are the things that change your body over time. They also change the way you carry yourself. Her approach is proof that discipline does not need to be loud to be powerful.

Nutrition and Recovery

Your body responds to more than the work you do in the gym. It reacts to how you eat, how you sleep, and how you let yourself recover. Josefine keeps her routine simple. She eats enough protein, chooses whole foods most of the time, and maintains a balance that feels steady instead of extreme. Rest is part of her process because she knows her body grows when she gives it space to recover.

The Bigger Picture

Your glutes are the largest muscles in your body, and they support almost everything you do. They help your posture, protect your knees and lower back, and give your movement more stability and power. And yes, they shape your silhouette in a way that feels strong and feminine. Josefine is not teaching you how to chase a look. She is showing you how to build something that works for your body and stays with you long-term. Every session counts. Every moment of intention adds to the shape you are creating. It is not fast and it is not forced. It is something you build with awareness and consistency.

This workout was created in collaboration with strength coach Josefine Holmberg. You can follow her training and her journey at @iamjosefineholmberg.

Share this with someone who would appreciate learning how she builds real strength and shape.

Five Movements That Build the Modern Woman

We know that confidence isn’t about the number on a scale

it comes from strength, poise, and the joy of what your body can do. This full lower-body kettlebell workout is designed to tone your legs, lift your glutes, and define your waist all while enhancing your natural curves. Each move is crafted to strengthen, stabilize, and sculpt, helping you fall in love with your body from the inside out.

Below are five powerhouse exercises to help you build, sculpt, and celebrate your curves plus, they come with videos so you can follow along with perfect form.

1. Kettlebell Swings

(strength coach Josefine Holmberg)

Primary Muscles: Glutes (gluteus maximus), Hamstrings
Main Focus: Posterior chain, explosive hip power

Kettlebell swings are all about power and posterior strength. They fire up your glutes and hamstrings while teaching explosive hip drive and improving posture. Bonus: your core gets a serious workout too, and your heart rate gets a boost, giving you a full-body glow. Think of it as sculpting your backside while feeling unstoppable.

2. Goblet Squats

(strength coach Josefine Holmberg)

Primary Muscles: Quadriceps
Secondary Muscles: Glutes, Hamstrings
Main Focus: Lower body strength, posture, core engagement

Goblet squats are a classic for a reason. They strengthen your quads and glutes while keeping your core tight, all in one sleek move. The deep squat enhances hip mobility and posture, sculpting legs and defining your waist. And let’s be real — if you’ve ever dreamed of a lifted, round, head-turning booty, goblet squats are your best friend. This is strength that celebrates your curves, not hides them.

3. Static Curtsy Lunge

(strength coach Josefine Holmberg)

Primary Muscles: Gluteus medius & minimus (side glutes), Gluteus maximus, Quadriceps
Main Focus: Glute isolation, balance, stability

The static curtsy lunge is your secret weapon for toning the outer glutes and improving balance. By isolating the side glutes, this move lifts, sculpts, and shapes your hips, giving you a curvier, more defined silhouette. Bonus: it also challenges your stability, making everyday movements feel easier and more graceful.

4. Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs)

(strength coach Josefine Holmberg)

Primary Muscles: Hamstrings, Glutes
Main Focus: Posterior chain, hip hinge control

Romanian deadlifts are posterior-chain perfection. They strengthen hamstrings and glutes while teaching proper hip hinge mechanics, improving posture and giving you a taller, more confident stance. Strong hamstrings and glutes don’t just look amazing they carry you through your day with power and ease.

5. Reverse Lunges

(strength coach Josefine Holmberg)

Primary Muscles: Glutes, Quadriceps
Main Focus: Unilateral leg strength, stability, glute activation

Reverse lunges focus on each leg individually, improving balance, stability, and glute engagement. They sculpt your glutes, tone your legs, and enhance your natural curves. Strong legs and a sculpted core not only improve posture but make you stand taller, move stronger, and radiate confidence wherever you go.

Why This Workout Works for Confidence & Curves

Focusing on strength shifts your mindset from appearance to ability. Each kettlebell exercise here isn’t just about sculpting glutes and legs — it’s about celebrating what your body can do. Strong, sculpted muscles lift and define your curves, improve posture, and heighten overall body awareness.

This routine is more than just a workout it’s a celebration of your natural beauty, a boost to inner strength, and a way to cultivate confidence that shines from the inside out. When you train with intention, you’re not just building a physique you’re building a powerhouse.

Workout curated in collaboration with strength coach Josefine Holmberg. Follow her journey and get more tips at @iamjosefineholmberg.

Rituals Writers Use to Think Clearly and Live Slowly

What some of the world’s most imaginative minds can teach us about calm, flow, and creativity.

1. A Day in Patti Smith’s Life: A Lesson in Destressing

Patti starts her day with gentle stretches to clear her mind, then spends a few moments with her cat small rituals that center her. With notebook in hand, she steps out for coffee, writing wherever inspiration strikes, whether it’s a cozy café or a quiet park bench.

She lets herself wander, giving her mind space to breathe until “something good is on TV.” At home, she enjoys writing in bed, a comforting way to process thoughts.

Why it works for you:
Following a similar rhythm mixing movement, small mindful tasks, and unstructured wandering can help you clear mental clutter, reduce stress, and spark creativity throughout your day.

2. Jack Kerouac’s Writing Routine: Flow to Destress

Jack Kerouac lived by the motto, “First thought, best thought.” He carried a notebook everywhere, capturing ideas or quick “sketches” as they came. Mornings were reserved for free-flow writing, letting intuition guide him without editing. Afternoons and evenings were for refining and revising his work.

Why it works for you:
Embracing a similar approach writing freely without judgment in the morning can help you release mental clutter, relax your mind, and let creativity flow naturally before tackling the day’s tasks.

3. Haruki Murakami’s Routine: Repetition as Calm

Haruki Murakami starts his day at 4 a.m., writing for five to six hours before heading out for a 10-kilometer run, a 1,500-meter swim, or both. His afternoons are filled with reading and listening to music, and he’s in bed by 9 p.m.

He calls this disciplined rhythm “a form of mesmerism,” where repetition lulls him into a deep, focused state perfect for writing.

Why it works for you:
Following a steady, intentional routine mixing work, movement, and quiet moments can calm the mind, reduce stress, and help you reach a flow state in your own creative or daily tasks.

4. Toni Morrison’s Writing Routine: Finding Calm in the Morning

Toni Morrison began her day before sunrise, savoring a quiet coffee before children or phone calls could interrupt her. She wrote steadily until noon or until life called her away.

She often imagined her ideal routine: nine uninterrupted days to write, free from distractions, allowing her creativity and mind to fully settle.

Why it works for you:
Starting your day in peaceful solitude, even briefly, can help reduce stress, create mental space, and give your thoughts room to flow—turning mornings into a sanctuary for focus and calm.

5. Henry Miller’s Routine: Balancing Work and Life

Henry Miller dedicated his mornings and afternoons to writing. On groggy days, he jotted down notes to keep his mind active. Evenings were reserved for what he called “Keeping Human”—meeting friends, reading, painting, biking, or discovering something new.

He watched movies sparingly and visited the library weekly for inspiration.

‍
Combining focused work with enriching activities and meaningful social connections can reduce stress, keep your mind engaged, and maintain a healthy balance between creativity and life. Try it—it does wonders.

I Had Never Seen Stretch Marks Like Hers — Part II

Bare Model Feature

‍

That day the sun decided to shine over Los Angeles for the entirety of our shoot and it turned capturing her stretch marks, also known as her tiger stripes, into pure art.

The image below unfolded naturally for both of us. I told Bare Model Bianca, “I want you to feel sensual, embody your curves, your beauty, and feel something real,” and she delivered effortlessly.

One of my favorite shots was of her standing as her left thigh curved into the frame at a soft diagonal, creating a beautiful angle that opened the eye to her stunning hips. The smooth arc of her derriere, skin, and texture paired with her bare upper body added a sense of quiet allure and unposed honesty that captivated me. It was a moment I couldn’t look away from.

The images that follow were taken as I told her to be in the moment. I said, “Don’t pose, just flow with your body and your sensuality.” I especially love how the sunlight reflected on the shower door and against her thighs, creating a beautiful atmosphere that day.

Right before we ended this scene, I saw her standing still and I quickly toggled my settings and snapped this image of her. The stillness in this frame, combined with her body and the natural light, brings me back to 35mm film and cinema. It truly feels like a movie shot captured in one still.

← Back to Part I

The Quiet Joys You Only Feel When the Screen Is Down

The World You Miss When You Scroll

A Study in Presence

We live in a world that wants our eyes more than our attention. The phone glows, pulls, promises stimulation and quick escape. Hours disappear. But the moments that stay with us rarely come through a screen. They happen when we look up, when our hands are free, when the world feels textured and close.

This is not about productivity or detoxing. It is about returning to the body, to the senses, to the physical life that waits patiently behind every notification. These are ten moments the phone cannot replace. A quiet exploration of real presence, written for the woman who wants to feel her time again.

1. Walking Without Noise

Walk without music, without podcasts, without distraction. Notice how your breath finds rhythm. A bird overhead. Sun landing on skin. The mind loosens its grip when it has nothing to hold. This simple act is mindfulness without instruction, nervous system calm without the app.

2. Growing Something With Your Hands

Planting herbs in a small pot. Tending to basil and mint. Watching new leaves push through the soil. Gardening is proof that life responds to patience. It teaches rhythm and waiting. Growth offline is slow and real and rooted in time, not content.

3. Reading Ink Instead of Light

A book with weight. A story that unfolds one page at a time. Reading interrupts urgency and replaces it with curiosity. Literature is a different kind of connection. It feeds a deeper place than scrolling ever could. Quiet focus becomes its own pleasure.

4. Moving the Body with Intention

Not workouts for output. Movement for sensation. Hip hinge. Breath expands ribs. Muscles warm under skin. When the body leads, the mind follows. Strength is not loud. It is built slowly, rep by rep, inside presence.

5. Seeing Your Thoughts on Paper

Handwriting reveals what the phone hides. Journaling is not performance, it is witness. Spill the mind onto paper and watch clarity rise. Sometimes the pen knows you before you do. This is reflection in its rawest version.

6. Dinner Without Screens

A table, warm light, conversation unbroken. Forks and voices. No photos. No proof. Just presence. This is connection when it is real and embodied. Offline relationships breathe differently. They taste different too.

7. Viewing Art in Real Space

A museum. A painting that holds you. Brushstrokes like fingerprints. Texture, color, scale. You stand in front of something made by another human hand. Art reminds us what attention can build. What presence allows.

8. Watching Daylight Leave the Sky

A sunset is quiet but not passive. Gold dissolves into violet. The world slows without announcement. There is no post that matches this pace. Looking up becomes its own form of meditation. A reminder that endings can be beautiful.

9. Creating Something Imperfect

Clay, ink, thread, camera. Hands move, mind softens. Creativity is not about mastery. It is about making something that did not exist until you touched it. Offline creativity builds confidence from within, not from likes.

10. Doing Nothing at All

Stillness is uncomfortable because it is honest. Sit. Breathe. Let boredom stretch. This is where intuition speaks. Where new ideas are born. A blank moment is not empty. It is space. Presence rediscovered.

Why Looking Up Matters

Life is textured when it is lived, not consumed. You do not have to reject your phone to reclaim your attention. You only have to choose when to enter the physical world again. Presence is not dramatic. It is subtle, sensory, slow. But it is the place where you feel yourself most.

The next time your thumb reaches for the screen, pause. Inhale. Look around. Ask a quieter question.
What is happening here, in your body, in your world, right now.

Because when you look up, the world looks back.

How My Body’s Quiet Transformation Carried Me Into Myself

Bare Model Feature

‍

The First Time I Noticed My Body

I didn’t think much about my body growing up. In middle school I could eat anything without gaining weight, and nothing felt complicated. That changed in eighth grade. A family trip to Mexico shifted everything. I gained around fifteen pounds almost overnight and those pounds settled on my hips and thighs. With them came stretch marks and cellulite and a new awareness of my body that I hadn’t felt before.

I still remember asking my mom when they would disappear. She told me they wouldn’t. I didn’t understand then that these marks were not temporary or wrong. They were just part of becoming a woman. They were proof that my body was changing and carrying me into a new version of myself, even if I didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

Seeing Other Women Like Me

As I got older I began noticing how many women’s bodies looked like mine. I saw the same texture on my friends. The same faint lines on women I admired. The same softness and very real skin that I once thought belonged only to me. Those marks weren’t flaws. They were history. They meant growth. They were stories written into the body.

Learning to Be Seen

During the pandemic I tried a FaceTime photoshoot just for fun. It was simple and imperfect, but it felt honest. Later, after moving to Los Angeles, I walked into a real shoot and let myself be seen without shrinking or tightening or posing away my softness.

Photography helped me look at myself differently. Seeing my stretch marks and cellulite through the camera made me realize they were not things to fix. They were part of me. Being photographed as a Bare Model gave me a place to stand in my own skin without apology. It let me say, This is me. This is my body. This is what it remembers.

‍

What My Body Holds

Society still tells women to smooth everything out. We are taught to erase the evidence that time passes through us. But these marks don’t need permission to exist. They are not something to correct. They hold memory. They carry weight and movement and the years that shaped me.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is to speak to myself with the same kindness I offer to others. I used to stare at every tiny detail. A line here. A dimple there. But most people don’t see us that way. They see laughter. The way we move. The energy we bring into a room. The marks become part of the story, not the headline.

Still Growing

My relationship with my body is not finished. It changes, and I change with it. Confidence rises and fades and returns again. But these marks remind me of where I’ve been and who I am becoming. Women’s bodies are meant to shift. To grow. To carry memory. My skin is a record of living.

Find Bare Model Gibson on Instagram at @itsgibsonross

Returning to Herself: A Photographic Series

Bare Model Feature

‍

When Sharon stepped onto set as one of our Bare Models, she carried the kind of presence that makes you pause. A presence that makes you wonder how a woman like this exists in the world. Her beauty felt both familiar and undefinable, an effortless blend of strength and softness. Her curves radiated with a quiet power, and for a moment the entire room felt pulled into her orbit.

The Weight of Being Told to Shrink

For years Sharon lived in a world that expected her to shrink in every way. Shrink her body. Shrink her voice. Shrink her presence.

The pressure found her in dressing rooms in relationships in social media and in her own reflection. Everywhere she looked she felt the message that her worth depended on how small she could become.

“I spent so much time believing my body was the problem,” Sharon said.

But the problem was never her body. It was the belief that she needed to fit a shape that was never designed with her in mind.

The Real Meaning Behind Every Mark

During our bare shoot with no lashes no filters and no digital softening Sharon finally looked at something she had spent years hiding. Her own skin.

The stretch marks she once resented shifted into something new through the lens. They no longer reminded her of insecurity. They reminded her of life lived. They showed growth softness expansion and survival.

These marks were not mistakes. They were a record of her becoming, a map she no longer wished to erase.

Changing the Voice in the Mirror

The most powerful part of Sharon’s evolution did not happen in front of the camera. It happened in her mind.

“I started talking to myself the way I talk to people I love,”

she said.

With softness, with honesty, with grace.

The mirror stopped being a place that demanded perfection. It became a place where she met the real version of herself. A place where she chose compassion instead of criticism. A place where she returned to herself rather than abandoning herself.

This was her quiet revolution.

The Beauty of Coming Home to Your Body

Today Sharon carries something far deeper than confidence. She carries gratitude.

She thanks her legs for holding her, her stomach for softening when she needed softness, her arms for carrying the people she loves, her body for remaining even when she doubted it most. The self loathing is gone and what remains is appreciation. What remains is home.

A Story For Every Woman Who Has Ever Questioned Herself

Photographing Sharon was not simply a session. It was a witnessing.

Her strength is subtle, her beauty is lived in, and her presence feels like someone who has finally come home to her body.

Sharon’s images remind us why Bare Models are creating a movement. They show what women look like when they stop shrinking themselves.

“Natural beauty begins the moment you stop apologizing for being yourself.”

Find Sharon on Instagram
@sharontheclaw

Ryley Gordon’s Bare Moment

Continue to the full article →

The Woman Behind the Freckles

Bare Model Feature

‍

When Bare Model Britney first stepped in front of Karlo’s camera back in 2021,

the first thing you noticed were her freckles catching the light, soft, distinct, and completely her before she even settled into a pose.

When Bare Model Britney first stepped in front of Karlo’s camera back in 2021, the first thing you noticed were her freckles catching the light—soft, distinct, and completely her before she even settled into a pose.

When Breath Softens a Woman Into Herself

But even with that natural presence, she did what almost every woman does without realizing it. She held her breath a little, just enough to tighten her stomach and make her posture feel slightly controlled. It was that quiet instinct so many of us have learned over the years, the one that tells us to make ourselves a bit smaller and a bit smoother without even thinking about it.

Then something simple happened. Karlo told her “Just breathe. Let it be natural.” It was not emotional or dramatic, just an easy reminder, but the moment she exhaled everything shifted. Her freckles softened into the light. Her curves settled into their real shape. Her eyes stopped performing for the camera and started to actually look into it. It felt like when a friend finally relaxes around you and suddenly you see who they really are, not the version they think they need to be.

From that moment on, the photos were no longer poses. They were her. Her presence. Her softness. Her shape. Her freckles. All of it showing up without hesitation. What makes Britney memorable is not that she walked in confident.

Real Skin Holds More Power Than Perfection

It is that she allowed herself to be seen without trying to control every inch of the moment. She did not force a message. She did not try to be bold. She just showed up honestly and honesty always reads clearly on camera. Later she told us,

“I'm beginning to truly understand that it’s perfectly normal to have tummy rolls, whether they’re small or large,”

and the way she said it made the moment feel even more real. It was not a slogan or something rehearsed. It was the kind of realization that comes from finally breathing in your own skin.

Her curves, the part she used to second guess, ended up giving the images their strength and softness at the same time. And her freckles, the ones she once covered or blurred, became the very thing that makes her unforgettable. None of this happened because she pushed herself. It happened because she stopped trying to fix what was never broken in the first place.

A Bare Model Who Let Herself Be Seen

Britney shared.

“Cellulite and curves are not flaws but unique features that make you, you.”

(Britney’s BTS moment: proving that cellulite isn’t a flaw, it’s just her butt’s natural sparkle.)

Britney’s photos stand out because they feel like a real woman on a real day, someone you could sit with and talk to. There is something comforting and grounding about that kind of presence. Maybe that is why she remains one of the most memorable Bare Models we have photographed. Not because she arrived ready but because she allowed herself to be real.

Find Britney on Instagram: @__babybrit__

A Quiet, Honest Look Behind the Lens With Bare Model Kendall

Bare Model Feature

‍

Some shoots stick with you for years, not because they were perfect but because they were real. That is what happened with Kendall back in 2022. She arrived with the same quiet weight so many women carry. That whisper in your head that says, I hope I look okay. Do not let anyone see the parts you do not love. I am trying, but it is hard.

Kendall was not just a woman showing up for a shoot. She was a Bare Model stepping into her own study of shape and confidence.

The Body She Worked For

There was pride in her curves and she meant every bit of it. Her butt. Her little tummy. The cellulite she never apologized for. She joked about it, but underneath the laughter was ownership. She earned her silhouette through mornings she did not want to run, through squats that left her shaking, through consistency that does not make it to Instagram.

This part of the shoot was about that. The curves she loved. The softness she was still learning to accept. The real skin texture women are told to hide. Yet these are the things that make a body cinematic. Unfiltered. Lived in.

There is something deeply sensual about confidence that does not need to be loud. It is a hum, not a shout. The kind of self regard that says this is me, without needing permission to exist.

When She Stepped In Frame

It was one part of her body she genuinely loved and it showed. Even while she was figuring out the rest. A Bare Model in process. Strength beside softness.

And when she stepped in front of the camera something shifted. Not a dramatic moment. Just a calm settling into herself. A deep breath. A soft exhale. Like she said, Alright. Let us do this. This is me.

A portrait does not always need fireworks. Sometimes the most powerful image is a woman choosing to be seen.

Angelina Love on Confidence Comparison and Becoming Herself

Bare Model Feature

‍

Angelina Love has the kind of presence that enters a room before sound ever follows. When she moved from the East Coast to Los Angeles her intention was simple and unshakeable: pursue modeling without shrinking herself to match expectation. As a Bare Model her story reflects resilience shaped long before the camera turned toward her.

Growing up Angelina often felt slightly outside the beauty ideals around her. Her curves her texture her curls her voice. She was never the version she was told she must be. The same differences became the center of her strength.

Leaving home and crossing the country meant letting go of comfort. The auditions the rejections the opinions. They came with the territory and pushed her deeper into herself. The more the world tried to define her the more she insisted on defining her own expression.

“Loving myself was not instant,” she says. “I had to learn what it meant to put myself first.” She remembers the moment she realized confidence must rise from within or it will never hold. That shift rewrote the direction of her life.

Today Angelina is signed in LA working on music and building a career guided by her voice. She knows people always have opinions. She no longer edits herself to soothe them.

The Body She Grew Into

Q: How have you struggled with your body over the years?
“I have heard everything. Too big. Too short. Too skinny. Too much. Not enough. I stopped letting those comments define how I saw myself. Beauty standards change every season. I do not.”

Where Confidence Truly Begins

Q: What do people misunderstand about confidence?
“That it comes from outside. It does not. People assume I never doubt myself because of my shape or my photos. They have no idea how long it took to feel grounded in my own skin.”

During her shoot Angelina stepped in front of the lens without makeup. No contour no distraction. Only the architecture of her face and the softness that makes her recognizable anywhere. Shooting bare revealed what she had not fully seen before. Imperfection became detail. Detail became texture. Texture became beauty.

(Angelina ditched the makeup, kept the glow, and reminded us that confidence is the real contour—oh, and her booty deserves its own spotlight.)

Shooting without makeup gave her a deeper appreciation for imperfection.

“Seeing imperfections is powerful — in yourself and others. It was challenging at first because we are our own biggest critics. But I learned to love my imperfections — my dark circles, my curves, my body as it is.”

A New Kind of Comfort in Her Skin

Then came the moment she posed topless for the first time.

“At first I was nervous. I had never done anything like this in my modeling career. But facing that new territory made me more confident. I learned to pose with my body not hide behind materials. I felt empowered knowing my story could inspire women worldwide facing similar struggles.”

And topless? That brought a new kind of love.

“I’ve always been self-conscious about my breasts, but now I love their shape… cute little things.”

Her message remains simple and clear

‍
“Someone somewhere always has an opinion about you. The real power is choosing your own.”

For more from Angelina Love find her on Instagram @chingona_777

The Vulva Unedited:

A Story of Vulva Insecurity and Real Anatomy

Growing Up With Vulva Insecurity

When I was 12, I avoided tight jeans and gym shorts because the outline of my vulva showed through the fabric. I was told it was something to hide.

At 14, I wanted labiaplasty, not because I understood the procedure, but because I believed my labia were wrong. Too visible. Too present. Too real.

At 18, a partner said the words that stayed with me longer than they should have.
“It’s weird that it hangs.”

At 19, the adult entertainment industry taught me that hair was not desirable. I shaved everything. Razor burn. Red bumps. Pain disguised as beauty. For years, the only vulvas I saw were symmetrical, hairless, pale, tucked-in, and edited into sameness. Bodies curated to meet someone else’s idea of acceptable. Mine was never that.

Insecurity Has Memory

I tucked my labia inward with my fingers before intimacy as if transformation could happen in seconds. I wanted to disappear the parts that made me different.

Many of us know this feeling even if we do not say it aloud. We learn to curate our bodies before we ever learn to inhabit them. Vulva insecurity grows quietly and stays.

The Body in Its Real Form

This is what vulvas actually look like. Dangling labia. Puffy labia. Labia that tuck and labia that unfold. Skin that shifts from pink to brown to deep wine. Texture. Folds. Hair. Asymmetry. A prominence of hood. A softness of curve. None of these are flaws. They are texture. Variation. Anatomy. The truth of a real vulva when no one edits it.

A New Lens

Vulvas exist in contrast and in softness. Hair grows. Patterns form. Shapes fold and expand. Some bodies hold light like silk. Others darken into shadow and grain. All are real. What you see here is not perfection. It is truth. No smoothing. No removal of hair. No manipulation of shape. Just a vulva. Unedited. As it exists on a real woman in real light with no permission asked.

Not every vulva looks alike. Not every vulva wants to. Sometimes the most honest body is the one that exists without apology.

A Study in Softness

Dimples lace my thighs and stretch marks frame my hips.

A layer of softness sits at my stomach and along the curve of my back. These things are not imperfections. They are simply features of a living body. My body. A human body that has carried me through every year and every version of myself.

"These things are not imperfections. They are simply features of a living body that has carried me through every version of myself."

What you see here is not a flaw. It is texture and movement and softness. It is evidence of being alive.

Growing at Every Stage

I spent years shrinking myself. Covering softness. Avoiding mirrors. Waiting until I was smaller or tighter or more acceptable. I see now how much life I wasted in that holding pattern.

"I spent years thinking I needed to hide until I was smaller or more acceptable and I see now how much life I lost in the waiting."

You do not have to treat your body like a problem. Care for her. Feed her well. Move her. Let her breathe outside. Show up the way she has always carried you.

Learning the Body Instead of Fighting It

Taking care of the body is presence not control. When I run or stretch or dance she feels like mine again. The more I move the more I inhabit myself instead of hovering above my own skin.

"Taking care of the body is presence not punishment."

I touch the softness at my stomach with less urgency now. I see the texture of my thighs without critique. This relationship is slow but real. It is happening.

The Body Wants to Be Your Home

I used to believe my body was something to fix. Something to manage. But she has been waiting for me. Not perfect. Not smaller. Just present.

"My body is not asking to be perfected. She is asking to be lived in."

She wants movement and sensation and breath. Not control. Not surveillance. When I return to her she meets me with softness instead of resistance. I think she always would have. I just wasn’t ready.

I love her. Not as performance. As truth. She is the only home I have ever had.

Follow Bella Davis on Instagram @BellaDavis

Learning to Be Alone

power of solitude

Being alone can feel especially hard when loneliness hits, but these moments can become a sanctuary of self awareness and clarity. Slowly and quietly, solitude begins to open doors inside you. Over time it evolves into something rich and grounding. The power of solitude becomes less about separation from others and more about returning to yourself. It softens the noise of the world until you can finally hear your own voice again.

A Beginning of Quiet Discovery

It is not easy. The process can be vulnerable and uncomfortable. It may bring emotion to the surface you once kept buried. Yet there is beauty in sitting with yourself without distraction. In solitude you witness your own thoughts with tenderness. You learn the shape of your mind and the texture of your emotional landscape.

My journey began when I left a small California suburb for a college town outside Philadelphia. I knew no one. Privacy disappeared overnight as I shared a room with six other girls. Being alone brought anxiety and the silent weight of imagined judgment. I kept myself busy. Headphones in. Thoughts quiet. Eventually I realized I did not know what others thought and more importantly I no longer cared. Errands. Walks. Quiet afternoons. They became easier. The shift was internal.

Trying New Experiences Solo

The real test came when I began saying yes to experiences alone. Night art markets. Clubs and raves. Tango classes. Waves breaking beneath a surfboard. Restaurants where the only company was my own presence. Fear returned with every new step yet each moment revealed something. My anxiety was not about other people. It was about meeting myself in unfamiliar spaces. The power of solitude taught me that my discomfort was simply a doorway.

Turning Fear Into a Companion

In time I gave my fear a name. A voice. A seat beside me rather than in front of me. Fear wanted to protect me from rejection. Anxiety wanted certainty. When I learned to acknowledge them gently I carried less weight. I no longer begged for validation or searchlights of approval. I became softer with myself and stronger in my choices. Connections deepened when I no longer needed them to complete me.

A Relationship Built From Within

Human connection matters but everything begins with the self. Solitude offers introspection. It teaches awareness. It sharpens the senses through moments of stillness. I am still learning. Still unfolding. I uncover a new layer every day and solitude remains one of my greatest teachers.

The power of solitude did not isolate me. It returned me to myself.

Sometimes my mind won’t stay still

Inside a restless mind

Anxiety moves quietly. It arrives as tight breath as restless thinking as a body that cannot quite settle into the moment. For many people it becomes a constant hum beneath daily life. Racing thoughts. A heart that rises before anything has happened. A sense of being present yet slightly out of frame. There are ways to soften it. Not solutions. Practices. Approaches that bring the mind back into place.

Mindfulness as a return to the moment

Mindfulness meditation teaches the body to sit with what is happening rather than react to it. When attention returns to the present the grip of anxious thought loosens. Studies show that regular meditation changes how the brain responds to stress. Over time it builds space between thought and reaction. A pause long enough to breathe. This is not perfection. It is training. A slow reorientation toward calm.

Movement as a regulator

Exercise supports anxiety management through chemistry and rhythm. When the body moves endorphins rise. Mood shifts. The nervous system lowers its shoulders. Even twenty minutes of walking or yoga can bring relief. Movement also improves sleep which becomes essential when anxiety is loud. A tired mind is a volatile mind. A rested one can negotiate with fear.

What we consume and how it affects the mind

Caffeine sharpens anxiety. Alcohol numbs and returns with more force the next morning. Both alter the nervous system. Both require attention. Awareness of intake becomes part of managing the experience. Less stimulation means fewer spikes. The mind can find steadier ground.

Sleep as a stabilizer

Seven to nine hours of uninterrupted rest allows the brain to process and file the day. When sleep is fractured anxiety grows teeth. A simple routine supports recovery. Light off. Screens away. A warm bath or slow breathing before bed. Routine signals safety. Safety signals calm.

Breath as an anchor

Deep diaphragmatic breathing activates the body’s natural relaxation response. Slow inhale through the belly. Slow release. It brings oxygen. It slows the heart. In moments of panic this is often the fastest doorway back into the body. A reminder that the mind can be guided. Anxiety is not the only voice.

There is no single answer for anxiety. There is only practice. Meditation. Movement. Sleep. Breath. Awareness of what enters the body. These are tools not cures. Some days they work like a key. Some days they feel like a whisper. The goal is not perfection. It is returning. Again and again. Until the blur softens.

A Cultural Portrait of Forty Black Women

“Sexy Shades of Black” was created as a space where Black women could stand in their own light without being shaped or softened by the world’s expectations. The moment the forty women stepped into formation, the energy was undeniable. No choreography. No matching direction. Just women claiming their place, their shade, their form, and their definition of what sexy looks like on their terms.

A Study of Shade Form and Presence

The frame holds more than a gathering. It captures the many ways Black womanhood refuses to conform to anyone’s idea of beauty. Each woman carries her own expression her own skin tone her own silhouette shaped by her own life. Nothing moderated. Nothing diluted. Just presence grounded and unfiltered.

Forty Bodies Forty Realities

Across the line you see deep tones golden hues natural textures soft curves sharp edges and bodies that exist exactly as they are. The women do not mirror each other. They do not match. They stand as individuals who know that their shade their body and their identity have never needed permission.

A Collective That Does Not Ask To Be Understood

What forms between them is a quiet recognition. A sense of belonging that does not need explanation. It is the power of seeing yourself reflected in others who refuse to conform to the narrow ideas society once tried to hand them.

This photograph is not a statement.It is a record.A moment where forty Black women stand as themselves owning their presence defining sexy in their own language and shaping a frame that belongs entirely to them.

She Showed Up Unfiltered

and Completely Changed How We See Beauty

Back in 2018, I traveled to the vibrant streets of Miami. Sun kissed beaches, rich culture, stories waiting to be told. My mission was simple but powerful, capturing women in their most natural form.

One session stood apart. Gabriela, a stunning Latina woman, walked into the shoot without hesitation, without filters, without concealing anything. She showed up as herself. Curves, cellulite, hip dips, every quiet detail of her body. That moment shifted my understanding of beauty. It was not just a photoshoot. It was a celebration of a woman in her full expression.

Gabriela and the Courage to Be Seen

Gabriela lived many years under the weight of self doubt. The world told her her body needed to be corrected, softened, reshaped, hidden. Cellulite should be erased. Hip dips should not exist. Curves should be sculpted into something smaller.

But Gabriela wrote a new page in her story that day. She stepped in front of my camera and into her own acceptance. She offered her body as it was, without apology. During wardrobe check we made sure her curves had their own spotlight, and she carried them proudly.

(A little BTS from our shoot, during wardrobe check… making sure her curves had their own spotlight.)

"Her confidence radiated. It reminded me that beauty is not about perfection. It lives between what society calls imperfect and what we call ourselves. Gabriela’s cellulite is part of her story. Her hip dips make her uniquely her. To me, these are some of the most beautiful aspects of a woman’s body. They create balance and harmonize her beauty, making her authentic and one of a kind. To me, that is beautiful." — Karlo

Cellulite and Hip Dips as Natural Body Features

Nearly ninety percent of women have cellulite. Still it remains one of the most judged features on the female body. Hip dips too carry misunderstanding. They are natural curves that many women feel pressured to change through training or surgery.

Gabriela choosing not to hide them was powerful. At OBARE we celebrate these natural forms. Every body is meant to hold its own shape, its own lines, its own story.

The Power of Authentic Photography

This session reminded me why authentic photography matters. No heavy makeup. No airbrushing. No digital reshaping. Just real skin and real form. Art that does not correct the body but reveals it.

Authentic photography becomes liberation. A refusal to erase what the world has deemed imperfect. It shows beauty in its true balance, where the raw and the refined exist together.

Gabriela’s courage revealed a quiet truth. Real beauty lives in ownership of self. Cellulite included. Hip dips included. The woman included.

A New Lens on the Female Body

Gabriela gave herself a stage through the lens. Her story reminds us that transformation begins with courage. When a woman shows up unfiltered she shifts the narrative for all of us.

No more hiding. No more shrinking. The world is ready for real women and the camera is ready too.

The Ancient Math Behind Why We Can’t Stop Admiring Women’s Curves

There is something undeniably captivating about the natural curves of a woman’s body especially her butt. These curves are often celebrated for their beauty, but they may also be connected to something far deeper a mathematical phenomenon found throughout nature. The Fibonacci Spiral.

The Fibonacci sequence forms the Golden Ratio. A pattern present in seashells, galaxies, weather spirals, and the curvature of the human body. The way a woman’s hips and buttocks round and flow can be understood through the same mathematical harmony seen throughout the natural world.

The Golden Ratio and the Female Form

The Fibonacci Spiral does not only exist in plants and oceans. It appears in the elegant curves of the human body. A woman’s back arches into her hips and flows into her butt with a fluid pattern that mirrors the spiral. Studies suggest that people perceive curves as more attractive when they align with symmetrical Golden Ratio proportions. Which may explain why the eye instinctively follows and admires these shapes.

This connection is even more apparent in the hourglass figure. A form historically associated with fertility and strength. The curvature of the hips and butt aligns with the Fibonacci flow. A natural rhythm echoed in seashells. Spiral staircases. Storm systems. Patterns that repeat across time and space.

Why We Are Naturally Drawn to Curves

Attraction to curves is not only cultural. Research shows it is biological. Humans are drawn to symmetry and proportion because the brain interprets it as balance and health. The hourglass figure is admired through history because its proportions echo the Fibonacci Spiral and the Golden Ratio. The waist to hip ratio plays a significant role in perceived attractiveness. A subtle mathematical cue the mind responds to even without conscious awareness.

Natural Beauty in Every Curve

Understanding the Fibonacci Spiral in relation to the female form offers a fresh way to view beauty. Your curves are not random. They are reflections of the same mathematical elegance found in galaxies and ocean tides. To struggle with body image is to forget that your body already reflects nature’s design. The curves you see in the mirror are mathematically harmonious. A record of growth strength and form.

The Golden Ratio teaches us that perfection is not rigidity. It is balance. Harmony. Women’s bodies with their range of shapes and silhouettes reflect this balance every day. From the roundness of the hips to the natural line of the butt each body tells a story of evolution rhythm and beauty. In a world that promotes narrow standards the Fibonacci Spiral reminds us that bodies are already perfect by nature.

Apolonia Calleja The Woman In Her Own Form

Bare Model Feature

‍

Navigating the path to confidence in one’s body can feel overwhelming but for Apolonia Calleja, aka Apples, it’s a journey she lives every day. As a seasoned fitness trainer, gym owner, and Bare Model, Apolonia Calleja embodies what it means to live within one’s own form. Her life reflects resilience and, more importantly, shows how to find certainty in the face of challenges.

A Journey Of Acceptance

For Apolonia Calleja, this didn’t come overnight. It developed through years of dedication not only to fitness but to accepting her body as it naturally evolves. She explains:

‍
“As I get older, I am learning to accept how my body changes. If you continue to love and pour into yourself, you will always accept what changes your body is making and embrace it.”

Her story is a reminder this isn’t a destination it’s a continuous journey. The more effort we put into ourselves, the more we learn to cherish the unique changes our bodies undergo..

Fitness As A Lifestyle Not Just A Look

Fitness for Apolonia Calleja is more than a workout it’s a way of life. As a trainer and gym owner at LIV FIT (@livfitgymfacility), she inspires others to see movement as a gift, not a chore.

‍

“Being able to stay active and just move my body is a blessing.”

‍

Her drive comes from a deeper purpose:

“I want to live a long life and be the best I can be for my son and future kids!”

Fitness for her is about vitality, longevity, and celebrating life not just achieving a certain look.

Confidence Born From Hard Work

Apolonia Calleja’s certainty shines because it is earned. She embraces her body proudly, recognizing the power in persistence:

‍
“The female body is remarkable, and recognizing that gives me confidence.”
‍

And she celebrates her achievements joyfully:

‍
“After all those squats, why skip the bikini? No way—I’m rocking it!”

Her story proves that confidence grows from honoring the effort we put into our lives.

Balance Kindness And Compassion Toward Herself

Part of Apolonia Calleja’s philosophy is maintaining kindness toward herself while pursuing her goals. “With all the hard work, I do my best to still treat myself.”

Her approach combines discipline with joy work hard for a time, enjoy life fully, and avoid unnecessary self-misery. Listening to your body and savoring the process, she says, is the key to lasting fulfillment.

Her Message Stop Comparing Start Celebrating Yourself

For women hesitant to reveal themselves, Apolonia Calleja offers this advice:

“Work hard! You know what is good and bad for you. Stop comparing yourself to others and love on yourself!”

She reminds us that certainty comes from focusing on personal progress:

“If you are doing all the things that serve you, you will eventually find the confidence to be happy and proud to show off your beautiful body!”

Her words are a call to action honor your journey, and celebrate the unique beauty that is yours alone.

Embrace Your Body

Apolonia Calleja’s story is not just about fitness it’s about transformation. It’s about overcoming doubt, finding strength through discipline, and discovering certainty through acceptance. Her journey as a Bare Model shows us that self-respect comes from honoring our bodies and celebrating progress.

For anyone on the path of growth, Apples offers one final reminder:

“stop comparing yourself to others, start celebrating yourself, and embrace your body in every stage of life.”

Find Apple's on instagram: @apoloniacalleja

The Choice That Rewrote Her Body Story

The Beginning: A Woman Growing Up Against Her Reflection

In the vibrant city of Orlando, where sunshine paints the streets in warmth and magic hangs in the air, we meet Courtney Faith. She is twenty four. A woman who spent years wrestling with the mirror.

For much of her life, insecurity lived quietly in her shadow. Like many women, she felt shaped by society’s expectations. Filters. Diets. Standards that moved like shifting goalposts. Kindness toward herself was rare.

Her experience is familiar. It is the silent uncertainty in dressing rooms. The invisible comparison while scrolling through strangers online. The private discomfort we rarely put into words.

When She Stopped Looking at Her Body and Started Using It

Courtney shifted her attention. Instead of chasing an image, she began exploring what her body could do. She moved. She trained. Dance classes, boxing, running, pole work. Each new practice built stamina in her body and clarity in her mind.

Affirmations became part of her daily routine. Not romantic slogans. Not forced positivity. Simple honest language. Small promises she could honor. Her relationship with her reflection began to soften through action, not perfection.

The Bold Choice That Rewrote Her Narrative

Her turning point was not a transformation of her body. It was awareness.

Instead of shrinking herself, Courtney decided to inhabit the woman she already was. Curves. Freckles. Lines. Every story written across her skin. She stopped waiting to become worthy. She stepped into worth.

Speaking to herself with the care she once reserved for others gave her room to breathe. The freedom she found was simple and powerful. She lived unfiltered. Real.

Why Her Story Matters

Confidence is not lightning. It does not arrive suddenly. It grows in consistent choices. Courtney’s story mirrors what many women know intimately. The struggle. The shift. The slow reclaiming of self.

OBARE exists for this truth. Women in their rawest form. Not perfected. Not corrected. Women who stand in their own frame without asking permission.

The Lesson She Leaves With Us

Worth is not earned through filters or numbers on a scale. It is recognized.

Courtney’s story is one woman’s story. But it echoes everywhere. Women choosing themselves. Women rewriting beauty standards. Women returning to their bodies as something to live in, not to battle.

To see more of Courtney follow her on Instagram @thecourtneyfaith

She Battled Anorexia at 17

then Picked Up a Camera and It Changed Everything

Meet Zoe Waechter

She Battled Anorexia at 17 Then Picked Up a Camera and It Changed Everything

Meet Zoe Waechter, a 23 year old French woman born in Bastia, Corsica, with Kabyle and German heritage shaping her identity. This is how photography became the tool that helped her reconnect with her body and eventually step back into visibility.

Anorexia at Seventeen and the Lens that Changed Perspective

Zoe’s relationship with her body was not gentle. Like many women she grew up under the weight of beauty standards that rewarded smallness and obedience. At seventeen anorexia took hold. Her body became a battlefield and her mind sharpened itself against her own reflection.

Growing up in a culture that worshipped a narrow ideal Zoe pushed herself toward it even as it hurt. She chased the silhouette she was told to want until she nearly disappeared into it.

Then she found a camera. Photography became a new way of seeing. The lens offered distance and clarity. It let her step outside herself just long enough to witness her own shape instead of judging it. Over time she explored her body in portraits angles light shifts and captured herself as subject rather than flaw.

How Photography Became a Form of Anorexia Recovery and Self Returning

Through the lens she began to see herself differently.

‍

Photographing her body from different perspectives helped interrupt old narratives. It reframed softness became texture. Bones became structure. Skin became light rather than measurement.

It was not instant. It was not linear. It was practice. Photo after photo she learned to meet herself rather than punish herself.

Greece and the Quiet Shift Toward Belonging in Her Skin

Zoe’s turning point arrived when she moved to Greece. In the quiet rhythm of that place she found space to breathe without comparison. October sunlight and water moved through her days and she felt a sense of belonging she had not known before. Her body no longer felt like an enemy. It became her home.

She Loved Her Eyes First

When asked about her favorite feature Zoe does not hesitate. Her eyes.
“They are the windows to my identity my mood and my emotions.”

Where thighs and stomach held tension her eyes remained truth. They never left her even when her body felt distant. They anchored her in the mirror during years where she was unsure whether she deserved to exist in the frame at all.

For Women Still Learning to Live in Their Bodies

Zoe shares this message for women who feel disconnected from themselves. Your relationship with your body can change. The process of returning to yourself may be slow but it is possible. Life shifts. You shift. You grow. You come back to the body you once abandoned and learn to inhabit it without apology.

Reconnect with what brings you joy. Allow curiosity to replace comparison. Let your body be more than an ideal. Let it be a place.

(BTS of Zoe before shooting)

‍

To see more of Zoe follow her on Instagram @zoewaectr

An intimate view of the artist who becomes the subject she once painted.

Georgia was eight when she first recognized beauty.

Not the polished kind but the kind shaped by presence and stillness. An M and S Christmas advert caught her eye, the women holding themselves with quiet intention. That moment stayed with her. It was her introduction to form, to the body as art, to the subtle language of shape and gaze.

Now twenty seven, Georgia moves between canvas and camera with an instinct that feels almost inevitable. She paints bodies the way memory holds them soft edges blurred color suggestion instead of detail the early roots of a contemporary female photographer and painter emerging long before she knew the path.

Becoming the subject she once searched for

When she steps in front of the lens she becomes the woman she once studied on canvas a female artist who paints and photographs her own body unfiltered and direct. She says,

"I've never called myself a model before. Maybe I should start? I don't know. All I know is I'm a girl who loves to be in front and behind the camera. It's freeing," she reflects.

The studio where memory becomes form

Her work is not about perfection. It is about truth. The truth of flesh. The truth of curve. The truth of being seen without performance. In her studio she studies the body. In front of the lens she offers it. Both versions are her.

Her studio holds its own quiet language. Canvases rest against the wall. Thin layers of color settle across the surface. Her paintings feel like memories not replicas the atmospheric style often found in body focused contemporary art more than technical realism.

Through painting she learned that insecurities often live louder in the mind than in the body. She discovered that what she notices about herself is not always what others see. That realization shaped her work and the way she views her subjects.

Between artist and muse

Photography is where Georgia feels most present. She becomes both the observer and the observed the duality common among modern women creating self portrait art. There is a soft confidence in the way she holds her gaze. A quiet knowing.

"You have to stop caring what other people think,"

Simple words but they settle with truth. She learned to choose what feels right on her body instead of what looks right to someone else. Joy became the foundation of her presence in front of the lens.

A body that lived. A body that gave.

This part of her work is not about seduction. It is about softness. A moment where the body becomes shape light and breath. She does not overperform. She allows the viewer to be still with her.

Motherhood changed the way she sees herself. She honors the body that carried her daughters and fed them. She sees strength in the places that once caused doubt. Not framed as empowerment but as fact the beautiful truth of a lived body a female artist whose work studies motherhood and form.

The mirror is another part of her studio. Not for comparison but for recognition. She meets her own reflection the same way she meets a blank canvas. With curiosity instead of critique.

This is where she becomes her own muse. Not through confidence. Through presence.

Courage first. Confidence after.

Georgia lives by one thought.
She says,

"First comes courage then comes confidence."

For her this is not a motto. It is a practice. A way of stepping into the frame before she feels ready. A way of trusting that confidence grows from action not the other way around.

Her story is a portrait of a contemporary female photographer and painter studying her own form and honoring what she finds. A woman creating art from the same body she is learning to see with clarity. A woman becoming the muse she once searched for.

To follow her work and see more of her photography connect with her on Instagram @_giababyy

Arielle As She Really Is

Bare Model Feature

‍

A No Makeup Photoshoot That Revealed Something Real

Discover how stripping away the filters reveals the kind of beauty you have always had. In a time when beauty trends change like weather, Bare Model Arielle Lopez stands steady with a quiet glow that feels timeless. With roots Guatemalan Dominican Italian and German she carries a blend of worlds in her skin and shape. She hopes her presence encourages others to see their own reflection with honesty rather than comparison.

From Guatemala to Los Angeles and Into Her Own Skin

Arielle moved from Guatemala to Los Angeles at six years old. Now 28 she looks back on years of comparing her curvy petite body to ideals that were never made for her. Skinny legs. Flat stomach. Thigh gap. All the measurements she thought defined beauty. Over time she learned that chasing those shapes only blurred her own.

Strength Not Perfection

(Her Instagram workout video offers a look into her typical training day.)

Fitness became her turning point. Not a punishment or a chase for thinness but a practice of strength and resilience. Her body 5 foot 1 and 107 pounds with curves and softness began to feel powerful rather than inadequate. She no longer wished for a body that was not hers. She built one she could recognize.

(Pull-ups in progress… booty looking blessed)

The No Makeup Bare Shoot

Her most defining moment came during her OBARE no makeup photoshoot. No foundation. No retouch. Just skin and light. She stood topless raw and unfiltered under the camera and for the first time she saw herself without construction or cover. The image was not made to flatter. It was made to see.

(Arielle removing her makeup for our no-makeup photoshoot.)

In that quiet moment her body became a canvas. Curves and stretch marks and soft texture became evidence of a natural woman’s form instead of flaws to conceal.

What She Learned When Nothing Was Hidden

Going Bare gave her clarity. Her body did not need to be edited or minimized to be beautiful. Confidence was not created. It was uncovered.

“These natural aspects are beautiful testaments to the realness of the female body,” Arielle says.

A Message For Woman

For anyone struggling to love their body, Arielle’s advice is simple but powerful:

“Embrace your uniqueness, for you were born perfect.”

Her story is a reminder that identity is not built by trends but by truth. Natural beauty lasts longer than perfection ever will.

(A little BTS — with Arielle's natural curves stealing the show.)

Find Arielle on Instagram: @ariellelopezzz

The Beginning When Her Voice Became Too Loud to Ignore

The Beginning

It starts the way it does for so many women. You are young, you are fourteen, and the world suddenly feels too bright and too aware of you. Locker room lighting, swimsuits, and side glances turn every curve into a question and every stretch mark into a spotlight.

That was Bailey.

Growing up around music did not mean she felt comfortable in her own skin. Her body felt like a place she had not yet learned to inhabit, and her voice felt like something she needed to monitor. Religious rules and social expectations told her to soften, shrink, and stay quiet. So she did. Not her body, but herself.

A Return to Voice

Years of Unlearning
Time has a way of revealing the parts you once hid. Bailey began noticing her curls, her natural skin, her cycle, and the shape she once judged. Nothing changed dramatically. It was a slow and steady return to her own presence.

Music became her anchor. Not a performance or an escape, but a mirror. A place where she could finally be honest without interruption. This is where finding your voice as a woman began for her. Not loud. Not performative. Just true.

A Voice That Became a Mirror

When she wrote Simply The Best, she did not write it to impress anyone. It was a message to herself, a reminder that the best version of her was not a distant achievement. It was already here. Singing it became a practice of showing up rather than hiding. A way to exist in her own voice instead of shrinking from it.

What She Wants Other Women to Know

BBailey’s message is simple and grounded. Your perspective matters more than permission. Your happiness belongs to you. Who you already are is enough. Stop letting the world negotiate your identity.

She speaks from lived experience. She knows what it feels like to disappear and what it requires to return.

The Life She Is Building

Bailey imagines a life shaped by clarity and creativity. She envisions a small cottage, a garden, music filling warm rooms, and a family raised with honesty and presence. It is not a performance. It is a life lived in alignment with who she is.

Discovering OBARE

In 2019 Bailey found OBARE. Formerly Sunday Morning View. A space where women were photographed without correction, without filters, without perfection. For the first time she saw herself reflected honestly and stepped into that truth completely.

This is the Bailey that exists now. Present. Grounded. No longer shrinking.

Her Reflection

“Who we were as children is who we still are, but often deeply buried under layers of conditioning, trauma, responsibilities, and so much more.”

Bailey believes the work is not becoming someone new, but returning to the girl you once were and finally letting her speak. She did not simply find her voice. She returned to it one song at a time.

(Bailey Rushlow reflects on healing and self-discovery. A reminder that finding your voice as a woman rarely begins loud. It begins with listening, with remembering who you were before the world told you what to be. Video adapted from her words on Instagram @baileynrushlow.)

Find Bailey on Instagram: @baileynrushlow.

Where softness replaces perfection

A moment with her body as it truly is — unguarded and real

Bare Model Feature

‍

Natural Beauty and the Unretouched Female Body

At twenty three Alejandra stands in a soft spill of window light. A woman shaped by Dutch and Mexican heritage and now shaped by her own gaze. For years she learned to see her body through other peoples eyes. Today she sees it through her own and the shift feels unmistakably hers.

Her Form Unfiltered in Natural Light

In person Alejandra carries a quiet grounded presence. There is stillness in her shoulders a natural softness along her curves and a deliberate way of moving that feels intimate rather than performative. Nothing about her asks for permission. She simply exists exactly as she is.

Struggling with Beauty Standards and Comparison

Alejandra candidly recalls feeling objectified and pressured to conform to societys narrow definition of beauty. For years she tied her self worth to physical appearance longing to fit a specific mold for acceptance. Over time she realized that true confidence cannot come from external validation. It rises instead from an inner knowing of self.

Shifting Perspective Into Self Recognition

The turning point came when Alejandra realized that no compliment or attention could fill the void inside. Seeing herself through others expectations had diminished her value as a strong woman. By celebrating her God given curves and recognizing her beauty at every stage she unlocked a deeper sense of worth.

(BTS of Alejandra, owning her curves with a playful jiggle.)

Embracing Her Body In Its Natural Form

In a raw unfiltered photoshoot with OBARE Alejandra went Bare without makeup. Capturing her as she is challenged the notion that women must be made up to be seen. Her presence says clearly that natural beauty and unretouched skin hold a quiet power of their own.

Nude Photography as Recognition Rather Than Display

Alejandra explored nude portraiture as an act of respect toward her own body. Not for objectification but as documentation of form shape and lived experience. Through this intimate session she embraced her curves softness and emotional release.

A Message for Women Learning to See Themselves Clearly

To women who feel at war with their reflection Alejandra speaks gently. Beauty standards shift like weather. The body is not a trend to chase. It is a place we inhabit and carry life through.

(More BTS, with Alejandra laughing out loud as Karlo tries to keep up with her fun energy.)

Reframing Fitness for Health Not Aesthetic

She shares how the gym once deepened her body dysmorphia. Over time she let go of sculpting herself into an ideal and chose strength mental peace and consistency. She treats movement as nourishment not correction.

Looking Forward

Alejandra hopes to inspire women to return to themselves. To see the natural female body as whole complete and worthy without alteration. Beauty is not performance. It is presence.

"May we all embrace our unique beauty recognizing it as a force capable of changing the world one woman at a time."

Find Alejandra on Instagram: @divinely.ale

The Beauty of Being Seen A Photo Essay on Curves and Stretch Marks

Alexandra Renee

A Weight Gain Transformation In Real Time

Bare Model Feature

‍

She trained like an athlete yet still felt as if she was losing until something shifted.
During our trip to Phoenix Arizona we photographed Bare Model Alexandra Renee in warm light and open space.

("Me and Alexandra laughing as we tried to recreate a previous pose... nothing but fun! These black-and-white images we created are truly timeless." — Karlo Gomez, Photographer)

Her body, her skin, her presence reflected a woman who no longer hid behind makeup or filters. She stood bare and unpolished, a body shaped by time discipline and change. Her arrival at this point was not effortless.

Alexandra Renee’s Weight Gain Transformation

“Most of my life I was thinner because of soccer but in the last two years I gained over 25 pounds” Alexandra shared.
“At first I hated it. Eventually I started to see myself differently. I later dropped the 25 pounds and where I am now feels right. This is a body I choose to maintain rather than criticize.”

Her transformation was not sudden. It looked like repetition, long weeks at the gym, meals that supported her training, and a slow return to strength. It was the kind of change you notice when jeans feel different and photographs start telling the truth. A body lived in not controlled.

Stretch Marks Became Proof Instead of Flaws

High school made her hyper aware of every mark on her skin. Stretch marks felt loud and unforgiving and she wanted them gone. That perception shifted with time.

“I used to hate them. High school was rough. Now I look at them and think this is actually a beautiful feature. They show where I have been.”

‘Damn, this is such a pretty feature to have.’ They show my progress, my growth, my story.”

Bare Skin, No Makeup, Nothing Hidden

Shooting without makeup felt familiar for her.

‍
“I rarely wear makeup so photographing with nothing on my face felt good and natural.”‍

Even posing partially nude turned into a quiet breakthrough.

“At first I was nervous but the longer I stood there the more natural it felt. My body looked like itself. It made sense.”

Comfort arrived through repetition the same way muscle grows.

Strength Is Something You Feel, Not Something You Look Like

Her relationship with the gym holds both tension and relief.
“Sometimes I felt like I did not belong because my body did not look like everyone else. But when I lift I feel strong. When I hit a new PR I feel capable.”

Progress became the weight she could move, her grip during deadlifts, the way her legs shook on the last rep of squat sets.
Strength lived in sensation rather than reflection.

Where She Is Heading Next

Alexandra continues to build herself through training, discipline and presence. “I want to keep transforming my body and pushing limits. Through personal training and Instagram, I hope to inspire others and maybe become someone people look up to. ”She shares workouts online as record rather than performance. It is a woman documenting her body as it changes in real time.

(Leg day with Alexandra: strong quads, sore hammies, and the eternal struggle of putting on pants the next day)

‍

Find Alexandra on Instagram @alexandra_renee17

Willow Johnson Nothing added nothing hidden

Bare Model Feature

‍

A no makeup Willow photoshoot that felt easy and real

No makeup. No filters. Just Willow a Bare Model at OBARE. Tall athletic calm in her body. The kind of woman you notice without effort. She walked in and felt familiar almost instantly like someone you could laugh with or sit beside while talking about life for hours.

("During my session with Willow, she showed off her radiant personality and natural beauty while celebrating her hard-earned body. Proof that confidence is the best filter.” — Karlo Gomez, Photographer)

“I used to hate my rolls when I sat down or how my side profile looked” she told us.“Now they just feel like part of me.”

Most women know that feeling. That tiny thing you stare at in the mirror that no one else even notices. She did not dramatize it. She talked about it casually like something she finally stopped fighting.

She trains she moves she lives in her body. It changes it softens it holds the record of effort. She does not try to erase any of it. Even with strength and tone cellulite stays and she does not treat it like a flaw.

“I can be fit and still have cellulite. It is normal.”

Height is part of her beauty now

There was a time she wished she could take up less space. Now she stands tall shoulders open with presence that feels effortless. You look at her now and wonder how she ever wanted to be smaller.

A no makeup Willow photoshoot in soft light

Bare face fresh skin nothing covered. No foundation no concealer. Just skin and light. Pores texture tone. The tiny details that filters erase were the same things that made her interesting to look at. When the shoot shifted into more revealing images she stayed with it. A little nervous but still there. Still herself.

“I was nervous at first” she said
“but the photos surprised me. They felt beautiful.”

Not perfect True.

Why she belongs with OBARE

Willow does not hide the parts women are told to fix or smooth or reduce.
She lets them be visible. Soft natural normal. That is why this no makeup Willow photoshoot matters. It is not about confidence speeches or lessons. It simply shows a woman in her own skin without decoration.

“I was nervous about how my body would look or if the shots would turn out good—but I was shocked and so happy with how beautiful they came out.”

Her message to women is clear:

“There is only one you in the whole world. Take the differences you have from everyone else and embrace them. You are beautiful, and the ‘flaws’ on your body are beautiful. I hope young women see my photos on OBARE and feel inspired to love their own natural body.”

This is Willow a Bare Model with real skin long lines soft strength and nothing forced.

Find Willow on Instagram @Willowj4.

Apples In the Body She Built The Slow Steady Way

Bare Model Feature

‍

You know when you meet someone and you can just tell they are grounded inside. That is Apples. She did not build her body in a month and she did not rush a transformation. She built it slow. She built it steady. The kind of strength that lasts because it was earned over time through consistent training and a daily routine that became part of her life.

The body she built through slow strength work

When she steps into natural light you see everything real about her. The soft texture of her skin. The muscle she put on month by month. Lines along her legs. Fullness in her glutes. Her back defined but still feminine. This is not quick change fitness. This is long term training that shapes the body slowly like clay. Years of showing up. Small progress stacking until one day she looked in the mirror and there she was.

She trains the way some people breathe. It feels natural to her now.

‍

“Discipline feels better than motivation”

she said. And she is right. Motivation disappears the second life gets hard. Discipline stays.

A Bare Model in natural form

During her Bare Model shoot she did not pose or try to look like anything. She stood there as herself. Real skin. Real muscle. No filters. No angles chasing perfection. The reason the images hit is because she is exactly who she is in front of the camera. A body built through time and strength training instead of quick results.

“I train because it makes me feel grounded”

she told us. And you can feel that when you are around her.

Glute growth and body development through routine

Her progress came from quiet repetition. Strength workouts done on the days she felt good and on the days she did not. That is the part most people never see. The heavy lifts when no one is watching. The slow glute training that builds shape over months. The muscle that forms when you do not quit after two weeks.

Her glutes her legs her back her full silhouette did not appear overnight. Resistance training. Time under tension. Rest. Food. Consistency.

“Curves do not come from luck” she said. “They come from patience.”

Slow progress strength that stays

Apples carries a quiet confidence. The kind of confidence that grows when you build your body slowly and know you earned every inch of muscle. You feel it when you see her move. You feel it when she speaks. Strong inside. Strong outside. Steady.

Apples story reminds you that real progress is slow steady and lasting. The long game always wins. She built her body through consistency and dedication one painful but enjoyable workout at a time and she will keep growing the same way. No rush. No shortcuts. Just a woman in motion.

Find Apple's on Instagram @apoloniacalleja.

Gibson: The Journey to Loving Her Natural Self

Uncover how celebrating your real self can shift your mindset and make you unstoppable. When we first connected with Gibson back in July 2020 for a FaceTime photoshoot, the world was still learning to adapt to new ways of connecting. Even through a virtual lens, Gibson’s radiant natural beauty shone brightly. Her authenticity left us eager for the day we could capture her in person.

Fast forward to today—Gibson is now in Los Angeles, where we recently had the honor of photographing her, celebrating her natural beauty, soft curves, and undeniable confidence. As a Bare Model, Gibson embodies the spirit of OBARE—embracing her body exactly as it is: her naturally gifted curves, her cellulite she proudly celebrates, and her freckles that add to her beauty.

“It’s just part of who I am,” Gibson says with a smile. “I’ve learned to love every inch of my body.”

Embracing Your Natural Beauty

Q: How do you feel about your curves and cellulite?
“I’ve learned to love every inch of my body. Curves, cellulite, and all—it’s part of what makes me unique. Being a Bare Model helped me embrace my natural shape and feel confident in front of the camera.”

Q: Freckles are part of your signature look. How do you feel about them?

‍“My freckles are part of what makes me unique. They remind me that beauty isn’t about perfection—it’s about embracing what makes you different.”

Q: How has being photographed changed your perspective on self-love?
“Being photographed unfiltered, without makeup, helped me realize that confidence comes from self-acceptance. It’s about loving the skin you’re in—not changing yourself to fit someone else’s idea of beauty.”

Gibson's mindset now fuels her unapologetic approach to her curves, her cellulite, and all the features that make her feel like the best version of herself.

Gibson's Advice for Women

Gibson “Don’t try to hide what makes you unique. Celebrate it. Whether it’s cellulite, freckles, or curves, loving yourself as you are is the first step to true confidence.”

Why Gibson Inspires Us

‍
Gibson’s story is one of transformation. Her journey from uncertainty to radical self-love is inspiring. The media over celebrates artificial beauty, but women like Gibson inspire us to love our own natural beauty—without filters, without shame, and without hesitation. She reminds us that beauty isn’t about perfection—it’s about authenticity.

Find Gibson on Instagram @itsgibsonross.

A Study in Real Skin — Part I

Bare Model Feature

‍

Bare Model Bianca natural skin texture stretch marks in light

Shooting Bianca going bare was a moment I will not forget. I remember the first moment I saw her stretch marks. I had never seen anything like them.

Natural skin texture in motion

The way they wrapped around her curves and caught the light stayed with me. Her skin tone looked like charred honey sprinkled with dandelion, warm and glowing in a way that didn’t even feel real. There was something powerful about her without her trying to be.

A portrait study of stretch marks and curve

Just the way she placed her hand along the angle of her thigh while she shifted said everything. In that moment she was in motion and I watched the way her body formed itself without effort. It is in those natural flowing moments when you see a shape she herself has never seen. Those are the shots that create authentic art.

Her stare quietly intense and bold

The image below holds the intensity only a woman can give you through her eyes. The arch of her foot guides your gaze along her body and the frame feels graceful with a touch of Latin spice.

Lines like script along the chest

Later I had her stand by a concrete wall. She simply stood there and I was drawn to every line from her hips to her torso. It was beautiful to me, something I could not look away from.

In a lifetime it is rare to see lines this striking across a woman’s chest. They felt like a tattoo carved by God, symbols of growth climbing upward, the flowers beside them reading like part of the same story.

What the lens saw a study of real skin

These images reflect what my lens the O saw that day.

She was bare and that made her powerful without speaking. The silence the emotion and the depth in her skin is what carried everything.

Read Part II →

Bare Model Ryley Gordon and the Return to Herself

Bare Model Feature

‍

A woman returning to her face without makeup. Ryley Gordon’s journey is not reinvention. It is a slow return to herself and a remembering of what beauty feels like when it is allowed to breathe. It begins with something tender, removing her makeup for our shoot and letting her face exist naturally.

The Fashion World Shaped Her, Then Stripped Her Down  

She spent years inside the commercial modeling world where agencies told her she was too short, needed to lose weight, or that she did not fit the mold. Trying to become what others wanted left her self conscious and unsure of her value. Her story continued long after that chapter closed and she realized there was another way to exist in her body without shrinking herself to meet it.

California Sun Paints the Woman She Became

Ryley grew up surrounded by ocean air, plant based food, paint, and art. She has always studied the human form, how it curves, how it moves, how it says things without speaking. Surfing, hiking, yoga, and dance grounded her and slowly she shifted from caring how her body looked to caring how her body felt.

A Voice That Reminds Her to Be Gentle With Herself

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You are doing great.”

Through daily affirmations she reminds herself she is allowed to change and allowed to soften.
I am beautiful.
My body is meant to change.
My confidence shines through stronger than my dress size.

She Knows She Is Not Alone in This Experience

Ryley knows many women feel the weight of social media edits, diet culture, plastic surgery ads, and anti aging marketing. It teaches women to believe they are not enough. She believes honesty and vulnerability are the counter narrative and when shown without filters it creates space for others to breathe in their own skin.

“Most of what you see online is curated. Even fitness influencers show only their best angles. Remember that we all change, we all evolve, and we all experience highs and lows. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re doing great.”

The Chapter She Chooses Now

Today Ryley chooses softness. She chooses her face without makeup and her body without apology. She is learning to live inside herself without asking for permission and she hopes her truth reminds other women they are more than numbers, more than filters, more than expectation.

Find Ryley on Instagram @ryleygordon

Dominique Muscianese on Confidence and Going Bare

Artistic photographer and Bare Model Dominique Muscianese is a woman who lives fully in her creative world. Whether she is exploring new places, spending time with her dog, or shooting portraits for her photography page @DOMONIZIAPhoto, she is drawn to moments that feel honest, and beautifully unfiltered.

Her journey in front of the camera did not begin with certainty. Like countless women raised on impossible beauty standards, Dominique once struggled with comparison. Before modeling professionally, she questioned whether she had the right look, measuring herself against supermodels who seemed to define beauty for an entire generation.

Everything shifted when she moved to Los Angeles and began experimenting with artistic shoots. Instead of chasing perfection, she let herself be seen. That single decision changed everything. Dominique began to recognize her own appeal, the angles curves and expressions that made her distinctive. She embraced her individuality as a statement of her own rather than an imitation of someone else.

Her evolution is one many women relate to. Stepping out of self doubt. Learning to occupy space with confidence. Allowing the body to be seen as it is.

From Hesitation to Confidence

Dominique believes confidence is built through practice and presence. Her approach is simple. Acknowledge your strengths even on days when they feel distant. Treat yourself with respect. Remain close to people who sharpen your energy rather than take from it.

Her perspective is rooted in a truth she carries proudly. A woman’s body is the closest thing there is to magic.

Q and A with Dominique Muscianese

What do you love most about your body

“I love my curves my skin tone my eyes and my lips.”

What makes you feel confident

“I enjoy taking photos of myself and learning my shape. Discovering angles that highlight who I am helps me appreciate myself. Many women dislike how they look because they have only seen their bodies through awkward or unflattering angles. When you learn your curves everything changes.”

Any rituals that help you feel grounded

“Give yourself a compliment even on days when confidence feels far away. Take a shower. Get ready. Present yourself to the day. It shifts everything. Stay close to people who hype you up.”

What message would you share with women who struggle to appreciate their bodies

“There is no shortcut. Loving yourself means choosing yourself. Tell yourself you are beautiful during both highs and lows.”

What are you building next

“MODXDOM. A posing service I created to teach people how to appreciate their bodies and move with confidence. It is a community built on empowerment. Come join us.”

Dominique reminds us that confidence is not a performance. It is a quiet agreement you make with yourself. A decision to let your body be seen without apology. A willingness to stand in your own light even on the days it feels faint.

Her story is a reflection of what OBARE stands for. Real bodies. Real presence. Real women choosing to be visible in their own way.

Find Dominique on Instagram @dominique_muscianese

A Bare Model’s Journey of Self-Love Empowerment

From an early age, she struggled with body image — constantly seeking validation that she was beautiful and worthy. As a mixed-race woman, athlete, mother, and model, she faced challenges unique to her journey. She was bullied and shamed for her skin tone, athletic build, racial ambiguity, and even her maternal status. Even within her own family, she endured judgment over the way she dressed and wore her hair. Acceptance, she realized, had always been something she longed for.

(BTS of capturing magic  — vitiligo as art, and Bailey's beautiful curves as poetry.)

Finding Strength Through Others

‍Everything shifted when she began connecting with and uplifting other women.

“Hearing myself lift others up changed me,”

she shares. “It reframed my inner dialogue and helped me embrace my own body fully.” Participating in artistic shoots as a Bare Model became a powerful practice — an opportunity to honor her body, and her story.

Learning to Love Her Body

‍“I love how strong my body is and the constant flow of energy I feel moving through it,”

she says. “I love how grounded I feel in my own skin and how my body has served me through thick and thin. Physically, I love my spots — my skin is an ever-changing work of art I get to explore every few months.”

The Meaning of Self-Love

‍
For her, self-love is both a mindset and a practice. “Self-love means embracing every part of myself while honoring the things I love about my body. More importantly, it’s not allowing others to make me feel guilty for the things I don’t like as much. It’s about unfollowing trends that don’t serve me and doing what makes me feel the best.”

Her work as a Bare Model has reinforced this belief — that the human body, in its most natural form, is a masterpiece worth celebrating.

Advice for Women Struggling with Body Acceptance

‍“It’s okay to struggle — it’s perfectly normal, and you are not alone. Struggling is part of the process; it’s your body and mind telling you that you are ready for change.” She continues, “I can’t tell you exactly what to do — that’s for you to discover — but I promise that when you intentionally seek ways to love yourself, those small steps add up to big shifts. If you fight through your difficulty, you WILL reach the other side. Queen, it’s amazing here. I wish nothing but to meet you in this place of liberation — from others’ opinions and even your own harsh judgment.”

Tips for the Journey:

• Find what works for you
• Take one intentional step at a time
• Be patient and give yourself grace
• Expect challenges
• Listen to your body
• Don’t fear lessons from failure

For those of you wondering, Bailey’s skin condition is called vitiligo — a condition where the skin loses its pigment cells, often resulting in white patches. Vitiligo can develop due to genetic factors, autoimmune responses, or sometimes as a result of skin trauma, and it can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, or skin type.

Find Bailey on Instagram: @TheQweenBayOfficial.

Asia McKinney: On Confidence, Curves, and Growing Into Her Own Skin

Asia McKinney moves through the world with an ease she had to earn. In middle school she felt out of place among smaller classmates, unsure where her own curves belonged. Now in her early twenties she carries herself with a quiet confidence that speaks louder than any performance. When Asia walked into our studio as a Bare Model that confidence felt anchored, lived in, shaped by real experience rather than trend.

Growing up taught her something different. Her body was never the problem. The problem was the lens she was taught to look through.
Now in her twenties, Asia moves with a grounded presence, a softness that does not apologize, and a confidence that rises quietly from within.

Learning To See Herself Clearly

Middle school was the first place Asia learned how sharply people compare themselves. She remembers looking around and feeling different, bigger, too noticeable. Her thighs and hips made her want to hide, and every glance in the mirror deepened the habit of questioning her own reflection.

What changed everything was her mother. Her voice was steady, patient, and certain. She reminded Asia that the features she wanted to hide were the very things that made her beautiful. That message stayed with her.

Owning Her Presence

As she got older, something shifted. Asia began to notice other women admiring the curves she once tried to hide. It made her pause and see herself through a new perspective.

“I can walk outside without makeup and feel like I am that girl,”

she says.
Not from ego, but from a calm certainty that no longer depends on validation.

Her confidence is not loud or forced. It is earned. And it shows in the way she stands, the way she speaks, and the way she carries her body with ease.

Rituals That Keep Her Grounded

Asia supports her confidence through simple rituals. She practices yoga, schedules facials, takes long warm baths with essential oils, and uses journaling to stay connected to her thoughts. These habits are not for show. They are small ways she stays centered and steady.

The Moments She Still Questions Herself

Even with her growth, Asia is not immune to doubt. She faces those moments with patience and a willingness to see herself with the same compassion she offers others.

When she looks at the softness in her arms or the dimples on her thighs, she does not flinch. “It is okay to show it,” she says. “This is who I am.”

Her Favorite Feature The Thighs That Once Made Her Hide

If there is one part of her body Asia loves without hesitation, it is her thighs.
The same thighs that made her feel out of place at thirteen are now the ones she celebrates.

She laughs about the summer thigh rub, the strength they give her in yoga, and the curves that make her feel powerful.

‍
“Who needs a thigh gap when your thighs can crush watermelons,”

she jokes.

When she sees photos of her curves now, she feels strong, beautiful, and fully in her body.

‍
“It reminds me that my body is art,”

she says.

A Message For Anyone Still Growing Into Confidence

Asia’s story is not about perfection. It is about permission.
Permission to show your body as it is.
Permission to move toward what makes you feel good.
Permission to let go of rules that were never made for you.

Her hope is simple.
That more women stop shrinking themselves.

Because confidence does not arrive all at once.
It builds. It breathes. It grows.

Find Asia on Instagram

@asiaa.rose

The Girl and the Ghost of Her Childhood

Dear Me

There are pieces of us that still breathe inside the shadows of our childhood. The girl who learned to brace for impact. The girl who tried to earn love like it was a reward for perfect behavior. The girl who carried the weight of a home shaped by violence, silence, and the kind of unspoken generational trauma that lingers even when you grow older.

You survived a childhood built on fear and expectations. A childhood where innocence had no room to grow. You learned early that love could be loud and unpredictable and often painful. You learned to read the room before you could read a book. You learned to make yourself small so others could feel big. This is the story of a child who became a woman shaped by memory, anxiety, and the long slow work of inner child healing.

You were never the problem. You were a child in a storm you did not create.

For years you tried to outrun what happened. You tried to be the girl who pleased everyone.

You poured your heart into the wrong people hoping they would fill the emptiness that your family never could. You confused attention with love. You mistook chaos for passion. You pulled away from the ones who were gentle because gentleness felt unfamiliar. You were afraid of being truly seen, unsure how to receive safety when you had only known survival.

PTSD, anxiety, bulimia, and depression moved in quietly. They became roommates you never invited but somehow learned to tolerate. The pain lived under your skin, whispering stories that were never yours to carry. This was not weakness. It was a response to childhood trauma that never had space to be spoken. Yet you kept going even when you felt like disappearing. You held on through every moment you thought you would break.

My dear younger self, you did your best with what you knew. You protected me with the only tools you had. You built walls when you needed shelter. You pushed people away when you feared losing them. You kept me alive through every season where healing felt impossible.

Thank you for that. But now it is my turn to take the lead. I am ready to choose a life that does not revolve around old wounds. I am ready to let go of beliefs that convinced us we were unworthy. I am ready to rewrite the story and step into emotional healing with a softer voice. I am ready to heal the present and the future with the love you never received. This is where recovery begins and where the woman I became steps forward for both of us.

You can rest now. You no longer have to carry the burden alone. I promise to build a life that honors you. A life where peace is not a stranger. A life where love is not earned through suffering. A life where memories are gentle and safe and full of color. A life where the inner child is not hidden but held. You were always enough. You are still enough. You will always be enough.

With love
The woman you grew into

You’re Not Alone: Why Video Calls Make You Anxious

Living With Video Call Anxiety Through the Lens of Self-Perception

The Mirror on the Screen

It has been a year into the pandemic and while many people talk about Zoom fatigue like it is a shared joke, there are others like me who feel something sharper beneath the surface. When the camera switches on, there is not just a meeting. There is a mirror. My face in real time. Every angle. Every movement. My attention splits between participating and watching myself participate, a loop that feeds quiet self-criticism and video call anxiety.

In meetings I catch myself critiquing more than listening, noticing details no one else likely sees. A strand of hair. The curve of my mouth. A shadow beneath my eyes. Coworkers look composed and effortless. I wonder if I appear the same, or if I am simply the only one who notices.

When Gallery View Feels Like Being Watched

There is something unsettling about being seen and watching myself simultaneously. The gallery fills with faces and suddenly it feels like a room of mirrors. I speak while monitoring my expression, unsure whether silence means uncertainty or nothing at all. A moment stretches longer than it should. Doubt fills the gap.

Even when alone, I still feel watched.

“Video calls are strange mirrors. We hear ourselves speak, but we also watch ourselves exist.”

Small Changes That Make Space to Breathe

I minimize self-view. Some days I use audio only. I schedule breaks so I remember I am more than posture and pixels. I shift attention away from how I look and toward the words being spoken.

Grace arrives slowly. Anxiety does not disappear, but it softens. I speak without rehearsing. I show up without shrinking. I exist without constantly watching myself exist.

Learning to Be Seen Without Flinching

Video calls reflect versions of ourselves we do not always recognize. They hold us still long enough to study our face, our pauses, our discomfort. But we are not alone in this feeling. Many of us are still learning how to look at ourselves without bracing for impact, to be seen without shrinking.

Some of us are still learning not to flinch when we meet our own gaze.

What Happens

When You Stop Fighting Fear and Start Listening to It

Fear shows up before anything else. We enter the world trembling, startled by noise and light, leaving behind the quiet darkness we once knew. That first moment of uncertainty becomes our earliest lesson in fear, and it stays close, a companion we spend our lives trying to understand.

Fear can be intense. Fear can be confusing. Fear can be protective. Fear can also be a mirror.

Despite what we are taught, fear is not the villain. Fear is the first truth teller we ever meet.

Fear Arrives When You Step Into Something New

Fear appears in the smallest decisions and the biggest ones. It meets you at the doorway of every change. It rises when you consider a risk or even when you place an order at a coffee shop. Fear takes ordinary moments and gives them weight. It widens the imagination, sometimes beautifully and sometimes wildly. It blends possibility with fiction and makes it difficult to see where truth ends and story begins.

Its presence is meaningful. It often signals movement toward something that matters.

For SEO: fear is often the first signal of growth, a whisper that something new is unfolding inside you.

Fear Protects You, Even When It Overreacts

Fear keeps you safe. It pulls you back from an edge. It sharpens your senses at night. It pushes you to pay attention. But it can also grow too loud. It can create tension where there is none. It can make you flinch at your own shadow.

During the global shutdown, fear motivated people to stay inside and protect one another. That moment revealed something important. Fear can create care. It can make us act with awareness. Fear is not always here to harm. Sometimes it arrives to remind you of your responsibility to yourself and the world around you.

Fear Tries to Keep You Away From Failure

Fear behaves like an overprotective parent with good intentions and terrible precision. It wants to pull you away from failure, embarrassment, or rejection. But failure is part of growth, and clarity often comes after mistakes.

Fear tries to shelter you from the experiences that shape you, yet what fear protects you from is often the very thing that would strengthen you.

Fear Creates a Veil Over Reality

Fear blurs your vision. It overlays simple moments with imagined futures and makes life appear more complicated than it is. When the veil lifts, the truth is often surprisingly gentle. A single task. One next step. A clear moment. Nothing more. You do not need to remove fear to move forward. You only need to see what belongs to the moment and what belongs to fear’s imagination.

Fear Held Me Back for Twenty Six Years

Fear silenced my passion for writing for more than two decades. It convinced me that speaking my truth was dangerous. It told me my voice was not enough. So I hid. I changed paths. I looked everywhere except inward for validation.

Years passed. Fear kept its grip. Eventually life became heavy enough to open my eyes. I started to see the cost of staying small. Those years became lessons. They shaped me. They built resilience. They revealed that fear had been trying to protect me even as it restrained me. Today I no longer run from those lessons. I move with them.

Fear Does Not Need to Disappear. It Needs Recognition

Fear wants acknowledgment. It wants to know you are paying attention. The goal is not to eliminate fear. The goal is to understand it.

You can tell fear:

I hear you.
I see you.
I am moving forward.

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the willingness to continue while fear walks beside you. When you begin to see fear as information, as insight, something shifts.

You become clear.
You become steady.
You become ready for whatever comes next.

What Cellulite Really Says About Your Body

Cellulite is not a flaw. It is a natural part of the body and almost every woman has it. Many of us were taught to fear it, hide it, or feel ashamed of it. We asked Bella, a woman who speaks honestly about real skin, to share her experience and what helped her stop apologizing for the way her body looks. Her perspective offers a reminder that softness, dimples, and texture do not require correction. They exist as part of being human.

Q and A with Bella: Cellulite, Real Skin, and The Body

How did society shape the way you saw your body?

I used to hide my cellulite. I used to want it gone. I tried every cream and every lotion. I walked down beaches with a towel around my legs. I worked out to exhaustion hoping it would disappear. I cried when I saw my reflection. I let the world convince me that something natural made me flawed. I believed I was ugly. I believed I was wrong.

How do you feel about cellulite now?

I no longer angle or twist my body to control how it shows. I always have cellulite and I cannot hide it even if I tried. It is part of who I am. It is part of who most of us are. This is my reality. This is normal. When I look at my cellulite now, I see what it truly is. Beauty. Softness. Texture. Strength.

What would you tell women who struggle with cellulite?

You never need to feel ashamed of your cellulite. It does not depend on weight, size, or shape. Nearly every woman experiences it. It is normal. It is not a flaw. It never was. This is my body. It is not broken. It is simply a body. Skin does not require smoothing. Skin is meant to have texture. Lumps and dimples do not need removal. They mark the truth of a body that lives.

Try not to resent the parts of your skin that you were taught to fear. The dimples, the softness, the marks, and the scars. They exist on all of us. What you call imperfections are often the features that make us human.

Your body is not the thing that needs to change. What needs to change is the way the world talks about it.

How does being a body image creator shape your perspective?

Being a woman has taught me to honor my natural body including cellulite. I no longer hide. I no longer apologize for my curves. I feel grounded knowing that my skin reflects real beauty for many women.

You can find Bella on Instagram at @isabelladavis6

Stretch Marks Tell a Beautiful Story About Your Body

Stretch marks tell a beautiful story about your body that is unique to you. They show that our bodies are capable of surviving incredible change and transformation. These marks carry history, growth, movement, and life. They trace where you have been and quietly reflect who you are becoming.

Here are seven reasons to embrace and appreciate your stretch marks.

1. Everyone Has Them

No matter your weight, height, size, or shape, everyone has stretch marks. They are a universal part of the human body and not a sign that something needs fixing.

2. They Are Incredibly Cute

There is something soft and tender about the way stretch marks move with the skin. They can be delicate, subtle, and visually striking in the most natural way.

3. Our Bodies Are Meant to Change

Our bodies are supposed to change, and the changes we experience are incredible. From puberty to muscle growth to pregnancy, the female body adapts and expands. It is something to be recognized for its power and ability—the body is amazing for what it carries and survives.

4. They Come in Different Colors and Sizes

Stretch marks appear in a spectrum of shades and patterns. Some are silver, some are pink, some fade, some deepen. Each has its own tone and form.

5. Each Stretch Mark Is Unique

No two are the same. Each line, each streak, each ripple is specific to the life you have lived. They mark chapters, transitions, and milestones.

6. Gaining Weight Isn’t Shameful

Gaining weight doesn’t take away from beauty or worth. A number does not define the woman or the body she moves through the world in. Softness and growth are not failures—they are part of life.

7. They Are Artwork on Your Body

Nobody’s stretch marks look identical. They are personal artwork carved through time. Your skin is a canvas, and stretch marks are pieces of its story.

Stretch marks are normal, natural, and visually beautiful. They deserve recognition rather than hiding. They remind us that our bodies evolve and continue to carry us forward in extraordinary ways.

Give your stretch marks attention and appreciation today—they have earned it.

For more from Bella Davis, find her on Instagram @BellaDavis.

Become Your Word

You’re Not Lazy. You’re Missing One Habit That Changes Everything

When You Keep Breaking Promises to Yourself

Have you ever said you were going to do something but didn’t follow through?
Maybe you brushed it off, pretended like it never happened, and then it happened again.

Before you know it, you’re making promises that aren’t true and failing to honor the commitments you made to yourself or others.

Then you tell someone your plan, and they give you that look.
“Yeah, right. I’ve heard you say that a hundred times, and I still haven’t seen it happen.”

Suddenly, you wonder why they don’t trust you.
You are not trying to disappoint anyone, but the doubt in their eyes stings.

Why It’s Easy to Walk Away From Accountability

At that point most people think, forget it.
They walk away, leave the promise behind, and pretend it never existed.

But messes do not clean themselves up. There is something to be accountable for here.
When you do not do what you said you would do, the impact is that no one believes you until action proves otherwise. The only way to rebuild trust is to become your word.
Whether it is speaking up when something matters, losing weight, saving money, or simply doing what you said you would do. You can become your word.

How Not Keeping Your Word Weakens Self-Trust

When you do not follow through, that voice inside whispers, just forget it. Move on. This is where so many people get stuck. We stop pursuing the things that matter. We stop knowing ourselves as reliable. That loss ripples into every part of life.

When you are not your word:
• You avoid the small actions that would move you forward.
• You delay goals that could reshape your life.
• You lose connection to your own power.

What It Means to Become Your Word

Imagine yourself as someone who follows through.
Someone who does what they say. Someone who honors commitments both big and small. Someone who meets expectations even when no one else is watching.

What would be possible for you?

Now imagine taking it further. Honoring your word with the dreams you keep hidden.
Those “I wish I could but I can’t” thoughts lose their grip when you become your word with them too.

Where Integrity Begins

A powerful life begins with this: be your word in everything you do. You do not need to commit to things you do not want. But when you want something, your word becomes the doorway to it.

When you honor your word you:
• Strengthen your relationship with yourself
• Build trust with others
• Create access to opportunities and connection
• Become someone who follows through

Staying on the Path Without Self-Judgment

Do not make yourself wrong when you slip. Mistakes will happen. This is a discovery process, not a perfect one. Over time you will see that living as your word brings a deeper steadiness than avoiding the promises you made.

It requires time. It requires perseverance. It requires patience. And the payoff is real.

The Question That Decides Everything

What area of your life is asking you to keep your word? Where are you ready to become the person who follows through?

If this speaks to you, share your experience or connect with the author on Instagram @ambersabourin.

Where the Past Ends and You Begin

The Shaping of Who We Become

We are born untouched, blank bodies with open hearts and soft beginnings. Everything after that becomes the shaping. Family, patterns, old beliefs, and the quiet rules of the home we grew up in begin to teach us how to exist. Some of these lessons become our anchors, and others become our limits.

Traits We Carry Without Choosing

For years, I carried traits I did not choose. Some helped me survive. Some helped me win. Some kept me small without me noticing. The truth is simple and uncomfortable. What shaped us is not required to stay.

Awareness is the first break in the pattern. It is the moment you look at your habits and ask yourself whether you chose them or if they were handed to you without question.

The Versions of Ourselves We Outgrow

One of the traits I have carried is stubbornness. It has been my sharpest edge and my quiet trap. It made me unstoppable, but also difficult to meet, difficult to confront, and difficult to disagree with. So I ask myself whether I want to carry it forward, or if there is a new way of being I am ready to grow into.

Changing yourself is not loud. It is not an announcement. Change is a series of small choices made when nobody is watching.

When Others Still See Who You Used To Be

Sometimes the people around you resist your evolution. That resistance is normal. They met you in an older version of yourself, and it takes time for them to learn the new one.

Growth asks for patience. You reshape quietly while the world adjusts slowly.

You Choose What Comes Next

Your past does not get the final word. You do. You can end what limited you. You can expand what strengthens you. You can become someone new again and again.

The woman you become is chosen, not inherited.

Love always,
Amberly @ambersabourin

You Can Walk Away From Anyone Except the Person in the Mirror

The Hardest Relationship You Will Ever Have Is With Yourself

"The hardest relationship one will ever have is with themselves, because you can never walk away from it."

You cannot walk away from yourself when you feel ashamed of your choices. You cannot escape when you are drowning in guilt or regret. This is where the Universal Law of Correspondence reveals itself. Your outer world mirrors your inner world. As within, so without. The moment you see this, everything changes. Liberation and fear arrive at the same time because once you know the truth, you can no longer blame others for what was born within.

Why We Keep Attracting the Wrong People

Without this awareness, women struggle with the painful pattern of choosing the wrong men, or the wrong people in general. Years of relationships, some brief and some long-term, leave intelligent and well-meaning women with invisible scars. Each ending bruises the heart. Each promise that breaks leaves you a little less hopeful. Emotional pain hides beneath the skin, so we continue forward believing we have learned the lesson. Then we return to love, hoping the next chapter will be different.

The Illusion of Protection

You may wear independence like armor. You may sharpen your intelligence, collect red flags like data, and present confidence to protect the parts of you you cannot bear to show. You may choose the opposite route, turning bitter and guarded, building walls no one can scale. But none of these defenses work if they are rooted in a lack of trust within yourself. Every wound you ignore waits for an opportunity to surface. It always does.

My Breaking Point

I learned this through experience. Two weeks before my thirtieth birthday, I faced the heartbreak that finally fractured me. Pride could not rescue me. Resilience could not stand me up. I moved through anger, resentment, grief, and confusion, searching for a new way to exist. What I found was a pattern. I had attracted emotionally detached men for over a decade. Every unhealed wound resurfaced in my relationships. My fear of intimacy was reflected back to me through their distance. The more I expected my last relationship to heal me, the more destroyed I felt when it ended.

When Brokenness Meets Love

Those who carry old wounds often hope another person will fill them. That was me. When he left, I did not only lose him. I lost the version of myself I had built around him. I had to confront the reflection I could no longer walk away from.

Why This Inner Work Is Difficult

We live in a world built on instant gratification. Social feeds show marriages, rings, wealth, and success. We are told that happiness is proof of achievement. Yet inner work demands patience, discomfort, honesty, and slowness. True growth asks you to:

• Own your shadow as much as your light
• Cut ties with anything that damages your peace
• Trade pride for softness when softness is needed
• Remember who you were before the world instructed you
• Practice emotional discipline instead of emotional escape
• Face your demons instead of distracting yourself from them

Healing is not glamorous. It is intimate. It is private. It is work most people do not see, but it is the only way forward.

Rising From the Ashes

Failure does not define you. Rising does. You will evolve. You will stumble. You will regret. You will be hurt and you will forgive even when it feels impossible. You are not meant to be untouched. You are meant to become. There is no star brighter than the one you carry within you.

Let it shine.
As within, so without.

Three Habits That Build the Woman Quietly

Everyone struggles with self worth at some point. It is sad but inevitable. We all face mornings where getting out of bed feels difficult, let alone reminding ourselves that we are capable and deserving of good things.

What often goes unnoticed is that care for the self does not need to be grand or overwhelming. It can be built through small intentional habits woven into daily rhythm. These moments of personal care lift mood, reshape self image, and create healthy patterns that can be passed on to the people we love.

Below are three simple and powerful habits that can support your relationship with yourself every day.

1. Thank the Earth for Waking You to See Another Day

Waking up is something many of us move through without noticing, yet not everyone receives that gift. A moment of morning gratitude can be as simple as:

• Making your bed
• Doing light stretches
• Reading a chapter of a favorite book

A sunrise is permission to slow down. When you pause to acknowledge the day before it sweeps you forward, you begin with clarity instead of chaos.

(Video courtesy of Herbert Galang)

2. Dedicate Time to Your Passions

Life has a way of pulling us away from what lights us up. A job may look perfect on paper yet leave little room for creativity or joy.

Even thirty minutes spent on something you love can refresh you. A jog. A new recipe. Embroidery. Paint. Music. These small devotions bring color back into routine and give the day something to look forward to.

A passion honored is energy returned.

3. Take Time to Truly Wind Down

It is tempting to fall into bed the moment a long day ends, but a slow nighttime ritual can ease stress and prepare the mind for rest.

Try:

• Calming music while brushing your teeth
• Chamomile tea as you settle into stillness
• A candle or incense lit gently and safely

When you give yourself space to unwind, you meet the next morning with a lighter heart and a clearer mind.

Self respect is not selfish. It is balance.

These habits may seem small, but their effect compounds in ways we often forget to measure. When you thank the day for beginning, honor the passions that live inside you, and allow yourself to rest, you shape a life built on steadiness and quiet joy.

The Quiet War With Your Body

And How to Finally End It

The Secret Struggle of Body Hatred

Body hatred rarely looks dramatic from the outside. It builds quietly through a glance in the mirror, a comparison, a moment of shame. Over time it becomes a private battle you carry everywhere, stealing presence from daily life, work, relationships, and joy, until all you can see is what you believe is wrong. If this feels familiar, you are not alone. You are not broken. I work with women who feel this every day, and I know with certainty that you can rebuild the relationship you have with your body. This shift does not come from pressure. It begins with truth.

1. Bring the Secret Into the Light

The most damaging thoughts are the ones we never speak. Write them. Say them. Let them exist outside your mind. When a thought like “I hate my stomach,” “I cannot stand my arms,” or “I feel disgusted when I see myself” is spoken or written, it loses power. Once truth leaves the mind it softens.

2. Become the Observer, Not the Voice

Notice your thoughts without fighting them, without negotiating, without arguing. When you observe with clarity, you create space. You may simply think “I am criticizing my body right now” or “I am uncomfortable with what I see.” That distance becomes the first moment of freedom.

3. Accept the Truth of the Moment

Acceptance is honesty, not surrender. You do not need to jump to loving your body. You only need to acknowledge what is real right now. Honesty creates space for change. Resistance keeps you stuck.

4. Question the Fear Underneath Judgment

Ask yourself whether you truly know that acceptance would make things worse. Most discover the opposite. Acceptance loosens the grip and interrupts the cycle.

5. The Whirlpool Visualization

Imagine fighting a whirlpool and notice how resistance pulls you deeper. Now imagine stopping the fight, letting go, floating. This mirrors the mind when it shifts into acceptance.

6. Look for the Intelligence Beneath the Pain

Ask what your body might be trying to teach you. The message could be stable nourishment, rest without guilt, awareness of triggers, boundaries, or simply the reminder that you deserve ease. The body is not the enemy. It is the messenger.

7. Go to the Root

Body hatred often comes from old wounds, early criticism, comparison, or fear. Inner child work or breathwork can reconnect you to the younger self who still feels unsafe or unworthy. She never needed perfection. She needed reassurance.

The Real Goal

The goal is not to love your body every day. The goal is to change the relationship you have with your own thoughts and respond with awareness instead of punishment. That shift brings clarity, relief, and the first steady sense of peace.

How Writing Helped Me While Caring for Aging Parents with Cancer and COPD

Writing has always been therapeutic for me. When life becomes heavy with responsibility and fear, I turn to writing to process what I feel and to find a small place of calm inside my own mind. Three weeks ago, my mom’s oncologist told us that her cancer had returned and that she needs more aggressive chemotherapy. During the same time, my dad continues to battle COPD. He is on oxygen eighteen hours a day and uses a nebulizer for six hours daily. His medications are constant and, stubborn as a goat, he sometimes fights us when we try to help.

Learning to Care for Them and for Myself

I am learning how to embrace my role as a caregiver for my parents, but the harder part is learning to care for myself as well. Many caregivers experience a grief that hides quietly beneath the surface. We watch the people who once guided us begin to ask for help. It seems simple from the outside, but inside there is a knot that forms without warning.

The Hidden Grief of Watching Parents Age

We grieve what is changing. We grieve the loss of independence that slowly leaves their bodies. These moments are subtle. I remember noticing my parents age in small ways and occasionally feeling startled by how quickly time moved. Yet I never fully faced the truth of that loss. The pain lived beneath my awareness, waiting.

The Exhaustion Caregiving Brings

My sister and I take turns with doctor appointments. We manage medications. We cook meals and deliver them. We argue with insurance providers. My energy drains easily. My mom was diagnosed with CML leukemia in 2010. She nearly died from the early side effects of treatment, then survived through a clinical trial, fought hard, and lived beautifully. And yet setbacks return. They arrive not only for her, but for our entire family.

Writing a Will and Facing Inevitable Loss

Recently my mom asked me to help her write her will. We had spoken about it before but never completed it. She also asked me to choose items she wanted me to have one day. She handed me papers and pointed to things in the basement for me to load into my car. I stayed strong for her, but inside I felt the weight of what was coming. It felt like a quiet earthquake beneath my ribs.

Anticipatory Grief and the Pain That Comes Before Loss

I learned that what I was feeling had a name: anticipatory grief. It is the pain that comes before death, when we see what is coming but cannot change it. There is also a grief I think of as early grief. It grows slowly and quietly. It is the grief of responsibilities shifting, of independence fading, of losing time for ourselves, for children, for work, for life.

Why This Grief Can Break Caregivers Down

If ignored, this form of grief can wear down both mind and body. It can lead to depression, exhaustion, and a hollow sense of self. Studies show that thirty percent or more of caregivers die before their loved ones. That statistic is not abstract. It is a warning. Early grief is a powerful force, and when it is unspoken, it becomes dangerous.

Caring for Ourselves as Hard as We Care for Them

We need to become friends to ourselves. We need support. Caregiver groups, therapy, or even honest conversations can help keep us from drowning in sorrow we never named. The well of grief is deep. Caregivers suffer too. Their pain deserves space, recognition, and compassion.

To every caregiver moving through this season, I see you. I send peace and steadiness your way. Take care of yourself with the same fierceness you use to care for those you love.

Plastic Surgery in a Beauty Obsessed World

Supervenus and the Unsettling Reality of Cosmetic Perfection

In an era where plastic surgery is more popular, more affordable, and more accessible than ever, artist Frédéric Doazan offers a stark and satirical look at its consequences. His short animation Supervenus uses Photoshop as a scalpel to reveal a progression of cosmetic enhancement that begins comical and quickly turns disturbing. It exposes the darker side of aesthetic perfection and the culture that relentlessly demands it.

(Supervenus by Frédéric Doazan is a satirical time lapse that reveals the risks and extremes of modern plastic surgery culture.)

The Legacy of Plastic Surgery Disasters

For decades the world has been fascinated and horrified by cosmetic procedures gone wrong. News headlines, reality television, and irreversible outcomes continue to shape the narrative. Supervenus draws from that history and critiques the pursuit of flawless beauty and how easily it spirals into distortion.

A Transformation Frame by Frame

The animation begins with subtle corrections. Then more. Then more. Refinement becomes exaggeration. Perfection slips into mutation.

The further she is improved, the less human she becomes. The work echoes the real world risk of enhancement without end where the chase for idealized beauty replaces the original face entirely.

Comedy Sharp Enough to Cut

Doazan blends satire with surreal body modification that is humorous and unsettling at the same time. It is funny, then frightening. Absurd, yet uncomfortably familiar.

The film forces the question
What are we doing to ourselves in the name of beauty
How far will we stretch the body to mimic a standard that never existed in the first place

Beyond the Humor A Cultural Warning

Behind the visual comedy sits a warning. Supervenus is not only entertainment, it is a mirror. It reflects a world where cosmetic enhancement is normalized, where risk is dismissed, where beauty becomes engineered instead of embodied.

The film reveals how continuous reconstruction can erase individuality until nothing organic remains.

Supervenus stands as a visual alarm. A reminder that beauty trends evolve, yet the price of chasing them may last forever. It confronts us with one clear and uncomfortable truth

The more we sculpt, the less we resemble the woman we began with.

Loving My Body as a Radical Act: A Reflection on Belonging

In a world where women are constantly told to shrink themselves,

loving my body has become one of the most radical acts I can commit.

“She wore ill-fitting clothes to hide her substantial womanliness. Bummi never understood why English women did not show off the outline of their fulsomeness. The more fulsome, the better, so long as it was done with decorum. In her culture, a substantial woman was a desirable one.”
— Bernadine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

Like Bummi, I now believe that the fuller and more shapely a woman is, the better. Unlike her, I understand why women in some societies don’t celebrate their shapeliness. Bummi’s Nigerian culture likened fuller breasts, soft stomach, and generous hips to signs of health and beauty. A woman ready to bear fruit.

I share Bummi’s heritage, but I was raised in America, in towns where Black people made up less than one percent of the population. That means most of my perception of beauty, sex appeal, and social belonging was shaped through the white gaze.

Growing Up Tall, Black, and Full-Bodied in a World That Wanted Me Smaller

I have been six foot one since I was thirteen, with thighs, hips, and a waistline that never matched the beauty ideals around me. For years, I held on to stories that told me my height was too masculine and my waist not small enough. My body was judged against a standard I never chose.

But recently, I have been remembering this truth. My spirit and soul are not tethered to my height, my waist, or my curves. My worth is not measured in inches.

Reclaiming My Body Through Music and Movement

When I press play on my dancehall or afrobeats playlist and my soft, strong, flexible waist winds to the beat, my Blackness and my Africanness unearth themselves.

When my long, thick legs twist and jump in rhythmic succession, I feel the inheritance in my body’s movement. It transcends the low vibration of perfectionism and the narrow ideals that once shaped how I viewed myself.

My Body as Celebration

Loving my body is not about reaching a beauty standard. It is about rejecting one. It is embracing the truth that my height, my curves, my strength, and my softness all tell the story of who I am.

My body is glorious simply because it exists. That truth is a celebration. And in a world that asks women to make themselves smaller, that celebration is an act of resistance.

~ Nkem [@Naturallyfree123]