Sarina Zoe is a journalist, qualified yoga teacher, and she is the founder & editor of the blog PRAVAYAMA, The Modern Yoga Lifestyle.

“For 11 years I have been helping people look and feel their best. I’m not a cosmetic surgeon, I’m not a self-help guru, but a makeup artist fascinated by the power of light and shade, contour and colour. Alongside eight years of dedicated yoga practice, I have come to view beauty from a myriad of literal and spiritual perspectives.  

Being a makeup artist-yogi has taught me that beauty is “wholistic”: a simultaneous ritual of connection to our spirit and adornment of our body. It has taught me that when we are in celebration of our whole selves – the intangible and the physical – we step into a synergistic experience of the joy of being human.

I believe that when we get caught up on the aesthetic, we do a disservice to the beauty of being human; we distort the concept of beauty. Working closely with many celebrities and models (women and men) whose job it is to look their best, I have observed how easy it is, for any of us, to slip into fixation on the physical and mistake that for the whole.

These are some of the wholistic ways I have learned to approach beauty: 

Feel beautiful first: 

For me, the most beautiful thing is a post-yoga body-spirit connection. When I’m feeling ungrounded or low energy, I head straight to a vinyasa and sweat it out. Afterwards, I feel every cell tingling with high vibration, I feel so alive, like I’ve stepped into my beauty. And of course, the bonus is glowing skin: the outer manifestation of beauty that comes from this body-spirit connection. 

Recognise patterns of judgement: 

Have you ever felt beautiful at the same time as being in judgment of yourself or others? I know I haven’t. Judgement hinders beauty. It blinds us to the unique beauty in ourselves and the unique beauty in others. I practice greater self-acceptance and celebrate my uniqueness so that I reconnect and step back into beauty. 

Makeup rules should be laughed at:

I eschew every ‘painting-by-numbers’ makeup rule. For example, “You shouldn’t wear bold lipcolour if you have thin lips.” These sorts of nonsense rules stifle creativity and self-expression. I love how Kirsten Dunst rocks a bold lip, she draws attention to a feature many might simply fixate on augmenting. But for me, this self-expression and celebration makes her beautiful. 

It can be a joy to adorn our faces with colour: 

Using natural makeup products to experiment with colour and enhance the essence of our features can be a beautiful ritual. It’s all about our mindset when we apply it. Let’s find the joy in the process of playing with colour and texture rather than ‘fixing’ what we’ve learned to dislike.

Feel into which makeup looks enhance your unique beauty: #

Clients often tell me they want to try new makeup looks but they don’t know what suits them. I tell them to keep it simple: try something like a new shade of lipcolour or eyeshadow. Start with applying a wash of colour, then build the opacity. Move close to the mirror and look deep into your eyes: Does the makeup enhance or distract? You will feel the answer. 

Three of my favourite Ere Perez products and how I use them:

1 .   I swipe Ere Perez cheek & lip in Healthy on my eyelids, it adds a subtle depth and gloss. When you use makeup with safe, natural ingredients there’s more room to mix up the techniques and play around with application you’ve never tried.

2.    You can add a wash of the Translucent Corn Powder over the top for longevity and for a more matte finish to the eyelid. I also use the powder around the outside of the lips so any bold lip colour doesn’t bleed.

3.    I love to use Sesame lip liner Naughty like a lipstick, applying it to the entire lip, then add Holy cheek and lip balm for moisture and a subtle sheen of plum that lasts for hours.”

Article by Sarina Zoe: Pravayama.

To learn more about Ere Perez, click here.

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