The anxiety of being perceived is omnipresent, but acutely so during adolescence. Beauty influencer Sarah New has undergone a multitude of metamorphoses. “I think it’s definitely been a climb,” she concedes. “I had acne when I was growing up, so as a teenager I was quite insecure about that. I think naturally as a teenager you’re very insecure anyway. I’ve actually had a breakout recently as well. My acne started flaring up again. But I’ve noticed how my growth has changed the way I view it and the way I view myself. I know now that I’m so much more than my skin or even beauty in general. I know the experiences I have and the people in my life, and that is so much more valuable than going outside and worrying about my skin. I’m a lot more confident now in the fact that I don’t rely on looking a certain way or feeling pressured to meet certain standards. I’m just myself now, which is really nice.” Our real opposition often comes from within. We should all strive to ease the harshness of our internal monologue. “No one else even cares if you have a few spots, but for you, it might seem like your whole world is crashing down. We think these pressures are put on us, but it’s us putting it on ourselves.”
Sarah admires her own dedication. She never misses an opportunity for improvement and evolution. “I’m quite a disciplined person. I’m always trying to better myself in different ways, whether that’s pushing myself out of my comfort zone to meet new people or go to new events. I’m actually training for a marathon right now. I just think I’m quite a hard worker, even with content. I have lots of goals to make the quality of my content better, and I have a lot of dreams that I want to achieve this year. I’m the kind of person I believe in. There’s nothing that I can’t do. I’m really willing to work hard for the things that I want, which I quite like about myself.” A thriving support system is key to fueling that drive. Cultivate an ecosystem that nurtures you. “Outside of beauty, I empower myself with the people that I surround myself with. Having a good friendship group is really important and being picky with who you surround yourself with and how they talk and how you feel when you leave them. Then it’s the same with social media that I consume. Who you follow and what sort of media you consume is definitely important.”
Social media can provide a welcoming network at your fingertips if you know where to look. “The beauty community is really nice, specifically because there’s a lot of events that I’ll go to. Working online can be quite lonely sometimes, just being in your room filming content, so it’s nice that I can go out and meet people who have the same interests as me. And even just online in general, I think there is such a community where if there’s a makeup trend, everyone can hop on it and have their own version of doing it, which is so fun. You can find your community. I’ve met some of my best friends that way just through being online, which is so wild. We’re very lucky that we can do that at the moment.”
Sarah is a rose in the midst of blossom. The internet’s favorite shapeshifter has copious tricks up her sleeve. “I’m planning a lot of things. I really want to improve the quality of my content. I want to work on personal things – being kinder to myself and growing with my emotional health and standing in my queerness.” After all, the most dazzling measure of beauty comes from having the full ability to appreciate our greatest work of art: ourselves.
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Makeup Maverick Sarah New Pursues a Softer Self-Perception. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sarah New.
