When I wrote about my trip to Hawaii last October, I opened up about the body insecurities I have been struggling with all my life. The responses I got were so kind, and often were along the lines of, “you have nothing to worry about; you are tiny!”

To everyone who took the time to comment about that post: first, I wanted to say thank you. 🙂

Those replies, however, got me thinking about body shaming as a whole. Fat shaming is awful, we all know that, and I’m so glad to see the media is really starting to embrace all body types. However, on the flip-side, what about skinny shaming? With the increase of support over women of size in the media, I have seen a lot more hateful comments against women who are thin. I’ve read comments about how models aren’t “real women,” and that “someone needs to feed her a burger!” What’s more, thin women are made to feel like they have no right to even have body woes.

I can’t even count how many times I was told while growing up that I was too skinny, too thin, that I looked unhealthy. I was even given a nickname in high school: “Twiggy.” The girl who came up with that name meant well, but I never told her that it came across as a backhanded compliment.

I don’t think enough people realize that body shaming applies to both ends of the body-type spectrum. And seemingly harmless comments that are meant to be complimentary are not always received the way they were intended. That nickname of “Twiggy,” for example, ended up making me more self-conscious about the body I already was struggling to accept.

And what about the hot topic of thigh gaps? The fact that this has somehow become a beauty standard is RIDICULOUS. In high school, I kid you not: I looked at space between my thighs and thought it was the ugliest thing. Every other girl around me did not have a gap there, and I seriously felt like a freak. Now, more than a decade later, I’m seeing articles like, “Why Women Want A Thigh Gap”, “How To Get a Thigh Gap”, and “What Men REALLY Think About Thigh Gaps” (hint: they don’t like it).

Well, as a girl who has always had this gap and can’t do a thing about it, where do I go from here? Apparently, women are jealous of me because I didn’t even have to work for it, and men don’t like that I have it because “it’s not normal.”

Beauty standards these days are are completely insane! I know it sounds cheesy to say, but I really do think inner beauty is where it’s at. If a person has a good heart, it really does make all the difference, and confidence should start from there. What do you guys think, though? I’d love to start a conversation in the comments.

Wow, I honestly did not mean to get that heavy… let’s get back to something more lighthearted, shall we? 🙂

TULUM WAS SO FUN!!! I’ll go more in-depth about my trip in my next post, but I really had a fantastic time. The soft sandy beaches were the best, and I loved spending so much time lounging under the lounge chairs and catching some Vitamin D. I’ve never spent so many days in a row wearing only swimsuits before, and being my blogger self, I had to accessorize even when I was on the beach, LOL.

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with another one of my favorite brands, Stella & Dot, and style some of the pieces from their new summer collection while I was on vacation. My favorite pieces were by far the earrings and necklace, which I was able to also wear as a bracelet. I also got a lot of usage from the travel jewelry box, which kept all my baubles organized and safe while in transit.

Honestly, I really wanted to love the sarong, but it was too big for me, even in the smallest size. I had to get creative with the tying of it here, but next time I am going to try wearing it as a scarf… I think that will work a lot better for me and I will get much more usage out of it that way!

Unfortunately, my tiny head really does not like to play well with sunglasses. It is a constant struggle to find a pair that will fit me, and I’m sad to report that these beautiful sunnies were no exception, hence why I had to prop them on my head for most of my photos — womp. They are really cute, though, and I love the look of them! The gold detailing on the arms are so pretty and accent the turquoise shell frames nicely.

Sunglasses Giveaway!

Giveaway is now closed and a winner has been selected, thank you to all who entered!

Outfit details

Bikini: Seafolly
Necklace: c/o Stella & Dot
Bracelet: c/o Stella & Dot
Earrings: c/o Stella & Dot
Sarong: c/o Stella & Dot
Sunglasses: c/o Stella & Dot
Sunglasses case: c/o Stella & Dot
Travel jewelry case: c/o Stella & Dot

Photographer: Sarah Padiernos

Note: Stella & Dot is one of the many contributors to this website, and they provided free product in exchange for this post. All opinions, creativity and material expressed are 100% my own. This post (and most others) contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on those links. Thank you for supporting my blog and the brands I love!

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