The other day my friend posted the cutest little sign in his Instagram Stories that said, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” It was a simple sign but it made me smile. Living in a heavily populated city like Los Angeles, I have definitely had my share of frustrations and being “not kind.” I’ve been frustrated at traffic, annoyed with too many people walking on a street, and irked when I’m starving and the food seems to be running late. Look, we’ve all been there, but in general I like being a nice person.
A while ago – I’m not sure where – I read that if you compliment a person it instantly lifts not only their mood, but yours, too. So, I decided to make a conscious effort to compliment people, particularly if I found myself in a grouchy state of mind. I’m not here to say that you should give fake compliments a la Regina George in Mean Girls, but I bet you’ll find that if shell out some legitimately nice words, your day (or hour, or moment) actually does end up being better.
If I like someone’s lipstick color, they’re going to hear about it. If that really was the best hamburger I have ever tasted, I’ll definitely tell the server. I’m great at giving compliments to others if I like something, and genuinely enjoy doing it. However, there’s one person I’m terrible at giving/accepting compliments to, and that’s myself. I have a sneaking suspicion based on the many awkward, “Oh, really?” questions and unsure “…Thanks?” responses that I’m not the only one who needs some work in this department.
We all know that accepting a compliment is easier said than done. You know that feeling when you get a compliment and you instantly self-deprecate, thinking, “Oh you’re wrong,” “But my skin looks terrible,” or my personal favorite, “No way, I feel fat”? Yeah you do. I decided no more of that and to stop the internal hating on myself by partnering with Kopari skin care for their #CoconutCompliments campaign.
Take a moment to think about – and even document – how you feel when you receive a compliment. Accept it! Don’t over think it. Just say thank you, but mean it. Yes, you do look good in that top! That color is totally you! Your hair does look awesome today! Then channel all of that happiness and acceptance by passing it on, encouraging your other lady friends to do the same. Strength in numbers is key here, and this takes women a step closer to not being our own worst critics.
I’m going to be blatantly honest here, I wasn’t so sure at first how to connect this compliment-receiving challenge to skin care. But I have to say after a little over a week of using a handful of Kopari skin care’s coconut-infused items (the coconut rose toner is my favorite), this challenge finally clicked and made sense to me. My skin has in fact gotten noticeably glowy-er. Although I’m not one for tons of makeup, I started to feel like wearing even less of it. You see where I’m going here, right? They had me walk before I ran by learning to accept compliments first. They knew after using their stuff, I’d be getting a lot more compliments than before. I SEE YOU, KOPARI. Well played. And you know what? All those compliments received a very confident, “Thanks!” from me, with no internal voice.
While my skin does feels happy and refreshed, I learned something really important with this campaign. Sure, I’m used to complimenting to others, but this helped me utilize grace and confidence to believe what other people had to say about me. And that, my friends, is just as gratifying as giving a compliment. Try it, you’ll thank me!
SHOP KOPARI SKIN CARE
You’re like really pretty