Audrey Hepburn was right to love this quote and we can thank her for helping it soar in popularity, although not for writing it.

Frequently, and incorrectly, credited to Hepburn, she often loved to recite this perfect phrase on beauty by American humorist Sam Levenson, and no wonder.

“For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.”

~ Sam Levenson

Now get out there and enjoy life, you beautiful person you.

Photo credits: Gabriel Jorby/Flickr.

The post The Most Perfect Quote on Beauty by (Not) Audrey Hepburn. first appeared on Jennifer S. White.

Beauty is not only skin deep—beauty radiates from the inside out.

Don’t believe me? Think of the people that you’re drawn to or find attractive, and likely there’s something beyond physical beauty drawing you in.

Charisma, happiness and a warm personality absolutely help boost physical attractiveness. So here are five ways to feel more beautiful—and look more beautiful—(almost) instantly.

1. Exercise. Exercise has physical benefits for your body that show up and help you shine. Working out helps your skin—and inner light—glow (thank all those mood-boosting chemicals). It also helps with weight management and improves self-esteem. Sounds like a good beauty fix to me.

2. Smile. This one is instant. Your heart lightens and it shows on the outside the second you turn up the corners of your lips. Give it a try.

3. Cleanse from the inside. I’m reading a wonderful book about the Yamas and Niyamas in my yoga training. One of the important beauty-related lessons here is that our society is obsessed with outer cleanliness and sadly pays little attention to what’s going into our bodies to keep us clean and pure. Pay attention not only to what you eat and drink but to what you read and who you listen to—and then pay close attention to what you’re saying to others in return. There’s a deep inner peace that comes from living a life of cleanliness—and I’m not talking about stocking up on expensive skin care products.

4. Dress well. I know it probably seems shallow to move from the last tip to this one, but it’s true no matter how you want to count it. Dressing well helps you look and, more importantly, feel better. I remember my twin telling me in high school that on days I was feeling less than stellar I shouldn’t throw on a baggy old t-shirt, I should put on my favorite, form-fitting dress and rock it—and she was absolutely right.

5. Confidence. Wow, this one’s extremely hard to tell you how to accomplish. Still, if you’re confident in yourself (and in more than just your outer appearance), it will show and it will make you more attractive. Again, think of someone you find attractive. I guarantee that physical perfection isn’t part of it, because none of us is perfect. Yet, these quirks, these individual little traits that make you you, actually make you more endearing.

Step 1 in boosting confidence (let’s start one step at a time): stop saying nasty things to yourself. Trust me on this one. Thoughts become words and words become actions. Talk to yourself the way that you would a child—with patience, kindness and love. Developing this sort of soft inner voice will help your outer voice resonate more beautifully—and your outer appearance too.

Don’t get frustrated if you wake up and roll out of bed, and don’t feel at the top of your game. We all have down days. Instead look in the mirror and focus on what you love. Spending time focusing on the positive reinforces these attributes and helps them radiate out into the world. You are beautiful.

So go ahead and hop on your yoga mat to get those endorphins flowing—and give yourself permission to share your beauty with the world today and every day.

Photo: Nikos Koutoulas/Flickr.

This article was first published by elephant journal.

The post 5 Ways to Be More Beautiful (Almost) Instantly. first appeared on Jennifer S. White.

How to have happy nails.

A few readers made the interesting assumption after reading this article that I don’t paint my toenails. Um, no.

I love painting my nails.

It feels like a way to zone out and relax (reminding me of meditation), and I’m not the kind of lady who sticks to neutral, ordinary colors either.

I donned black polish with huge silver glitter to my husband’s holiday festivities at work. I love blue and green and likely any other color you can think of.

Still.

Still, I do love my bare nails.

They feel natural and beautiful and feminine and I absolutely adore practicing yoga with clean, fresh nails as a drishti point (both hands and feet).

Having shared that, when you switch back and forth between polish and no-polish, your nails can become dry or, worse, discolored. (And I’ve found this to be true even when using “natural” alternatives.)

Trust me, too, that I fully understand never caring if your toenails, especially, see the light of day—but it’s good for them and for you to let them breathe from time to time.

So if you’re feeling adventurous and ready to try a real experiment—and have bare piggies and fingertips—then try these tips.

 1. Soak your nails in denture cleaner.

My husband will forever make fun of me for buying large quantities of denture cleaner—and I don’t care.

I’ve tried all of the other suggestions out there (like lemon juice, for one) and none of them work, not like this does.

Also, call me loopy, but I love the ones with tingly mint scents. Moving on.

Unfortunately, this won’t take away all of the discoloration—primarily if it’s from wearing polish without those aforementioned breathing breaks—but it will help whiten your nail tips and take some of the yellow out.

And it’s simple and quick.

I usually just fill my sink of with enough warm water to soak my fingers or toes in (thanks to yoga, it’s not a problem to stand on one leg with the other in the sink, but you could, of course, use a small dish). Then I drop one or two of the denture cleaner tablets in and let them dissolve. I typically only soak for three to five minutes or, honestly, as long as a song or two plays in the background.

2. Buff and shine.

This really does help make discoloration less obvious.

A buffer/shiner can be purchased almost anywhere, but consider that buffing—like the denture cleaner step—won’t take away severe yellowing—but it will help, and the shining step helps a lot as well.

3. Make your own cuticle oil.

This step is crucial.

I’ve used purchased cuticle oil (a few brands) and I much prefer my own.

While you don’t need to get fancy and you could simply just dab on olive oil, for example, I happen to personally enjoy making my own blend. (And I’m not someone who’s generally crafty, so keep that in mind.)

My favorite thing is to buy empty glass nail polish bottles. You can buy these either online (Amazon sells them) or have your local store order them for you. (Many retailers that sell base oils and essential oils also offer the containers needed for custom blends.)

I have several blends that I use, depending, frankly, on my mood, and I’ve never made one that I haven’t fallen in love with instantly.

I’ll share with you my current recipe of choice:

Fill the glass bottle with equal parts of apricot kernal oil, almond oil, argan oil, and tamanu oil. 

Add 5 drops of rose essential oil.

Store in a cool, dark place.

Apply it with a dropper or, my preference, the nail brush that comes with the polish bottle; working the blend into the nail and surrounding skin.

Ideally, use your mixture once a day or more.

I definitely believe in never saying never, but at this point, I would say that I’m a happy flip-flopper between bare and painted nails—on the other hand, I just finished my daily yoga practice and it sure was fun to hang in my forward fold with naked toenails contentedly peeking back.

Photos: Author’s own.

This article was first published on elephant journal.

The post 3 Steps to Beautiful Nails. {Recipe Included} first appeared on Jennifer S. White.