Recent visitors to Selfridges recently may have noticed some goings on in the beauty hall, for The Beauty Project has come to town. A celebration of all things beauty, the extravaganza sees a packed schedule or workshops, debates, conversations and demonstrations around one of my favourite subjects, with big names in the beauty world appearing on the bill.
One of Sefridges' partners on the project is Dove, which has joined forces with the iconic store to encourage women to recognise their own beauty when they look in the mirror. Running until mid-June, the partnership will explore and provoke a wider conversation about how beauty is perceived in society as a whole with the aim to make beauty become a source of confidence, rather than anxiety.
At the heart of the partnership is Dove’s ambition to help women develop a more positive view of their own beauty when they look in the mirror. Dove has taken over two windows either side of the front doors of Selfridges with distorting and normal mirrors revolving in them. The aim is to highlight women’s complicated relationship with their reflection and to urge them to re-consider negative perceptions of themselves and see their own beauty.
It is in response to new global research* from Dove that reveals 9 out of 10 women feel bad when they look in the mirror, while 1 in 3 feel anxious and hardly ever smile back at themselves. A fifth of women say they have never been happy with their reflection. Furthermore, 30% of British women say they actively avoid looking in the mirror, which is almost double the global average of 17%.
“Women have a very complicated relationship with the mirror and we know this impacts their overall confidence and happiness. Yet women constantly look at their reflection in mirrors, shop windows and lifts to check their appearance. We want to encourage women to smile back when they see their reflection and we are using the iconic shop windows at Selfridges to encourage women to develop a more positive relationship with their beauty.” comments Lucy Attley, Dove UK Brand Director.
The Selfridges partnership is the latest initiative from Dove as it continues to champion and celebrate a wider definition of beauty where how women look becomes a source of confidence, not anxiety. As part of the partnership, a series of six debates will take place exploring the changing landscape of beauty from the impact of social media on self-esteem, to airbrushing to the future of beauty in the coming decade. Panellists taking part in the debates include Cherry Healey, Lucy Mangan, Gemma Cairney and MP Caroline Nokes.
To mark 10 years since it launched its ground-breaking Campaign for Real Beauty, Dove has released a new report, ‘The Changing Face of Beauty: 2004-2024’, which has revealed that according to the women of the UK surface beauty is less important today than 10 years ago. Despite the fact that social media has driven greater insecurity and self-consciousness about appearance, women believe there is a more diverse view of beauty in society today and the everyday woman has become an influential beauty role model.
The report is full of fascinating statistics, including the fact that 69% of UK women wouldn’t consider themselves as beautiful, making initiatives like Selfridges Beauty Project all the more important. Find out more on the Selfridges website: www.selfridges.com/en/StaticPage/the-beauty-project#events
To learn more about the Dove Self Esteem Project, which aims to help more than 15 million girls overcome beauty related pressures, raise their self-esteem and in doing so, realise their full potential, visit www.dove.co.uk/en/Our-Mission/Dove-Self-Esteem-Project-Get-Involved/default.aspx
Love Laurel x
