In an interview with Mediaplanet, curve model and body positive advocate, Amanda Kay, shares her tips and tricks for self-care and loving the skin your in.
What makes you feel body-confident?
What makes me feel most body-confident is feeling like I look my best. I love fashion, dressing up, and doing my hair and my makeup for a fun dinner or even a wild night out with friends. I know it might seem insignificant, but I feel like when I do dress up, I get to accentuate my favourite parts of my body and appreciate how beautiful I am outward, which makes so much of a difference inwardly. For anyone – no matter what they look like – feeling confident in the skin they’re in starts with how they feel.
What is your self-care routine?
My self-care routine is actually two-pronged: emotional self-care and physical self-care. When it comes to emotional self-care, I like to surround myself with positive and loving people that remind me of my worth and help encourage me to be my best. For me, positivity is infectious, so surrounding myself with it, helps me spread it as well. When it comes to physical self-care, I’m obsessed with Korean skincare. I truly love and see the value in taking care of my skin, and given that it’s the biggest organ of the human body, it needs a lot of TLC! I start and end my day with a 10-step Korean skincare routine; I use that special “me” time to collect my thoughts from the day, reflect and unwind. I also find the process of applying products and massaging them into my face to be so calming! Additionally, I work out six days a week, which helps me maintain my physical, mental and emotional health. It also helps me release stress and just feels my overall best.
Why is it important to practice self-care?
It’s important to practice self-care because it, by nature, prioritizes YOU – the most important person in your life. If even for a moment, it gives you the chance to reset and recharge from everything that’s going around you, which no one – no matter how rich or famous or beautiful – can avoid. I think that by practicing self-care, you become the best version of yourself over time. And by being the best version of yourself, you can go through life sharing that energy with others. I believe there is nothing more beautiful than using your candle to light others’.
What is your best tip on learning to love your own body?
My best tip for loving your own body is to shift your focus. Focus on all the good things that it has allowed you to do, instead of on superficial aspects that you might mistakenly see as flaws. I like to focus on the fact that my body has brought me so much joy and allotted me so many remarkable experiences. I find it helpful to focus on how my experiences have made me feel – like the happiness I feel when I play with my niece or the excitement that overcomes me when I go scuba diving. Once I shifted my mindset to gratitude, I became so much happier with and grateful for my body.
