April 2015 Issue

JESUS.

MUSIC.

FASHION.

ANGELIC APRIL 2015

THE NO SUE IS P U E K MA

ANGELICAPRIL 2첫15 10 18 19 20 28 29 30 40 41 42 52 54 62 64 74 75 76 84 86 87 88 89 90 95

Jessica Lawson Testimony My Identity Had Become How I looked My Gorgeous Wife Kelsey Albright Photographer Feaure Beauty New Beginnings Kelsey White Photographer Feature Bobby Lester Testimony Sydney Taylor: Living For Christ, Working For Fashion Jamie Allio Photographer Feature Beneath Her Makeup Luana Sam Photographer Feature Dancing In The Deep Places Amber Bryant Photographer Feature Ilona Romanova Testimony Beauty Is Christ Trina Lynn Photographer Feature Real 30 Day Challenge 30 Days No Makeup He Sees You Beautiful @angelicmagazine Aubrey Smith Musician Spotlight COLORS Ministry Spotlight Killian Rose Photographer Neale Gilbert Model Interview

JESUS. MUSIC. FASHION.

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EDITOR'S LETTER N O M AKE U P//RAW B E AU TY

I

had a man tell me the other day, it’s great what you’re doing for women.

If you know me, you know me, but if you don’t, you probably assume I’m a woman myself.

I’m not, I’m very much a guy and when I created Angelic Magazine I never intended it to be what it has become.

It just kind of happened that way and here we are doing an issue where every fashion photoshoot is featuring no makeup to illustrate God’s natural beauty in a woman.

I’ll be honest, I never pictured myself getting behind something like this, actually being excited about being a part of a no makeup issue, but to tell you the truth, I’m thankful that I am.

The women who are featured in this issue, from the writers who are a part of my team, the women sharing their testimonies, the photographers we are featuring in this issue and the women who allowed themselves to be photographed with no makeup, I have such admiration and proudness of them all.

As a guy, these women are more than just objects for men to view them as, but they’re strong women, women with stories, women who have courage and women who have faith. I’ve grown to respect women by leaps and bounds by doing Angelic Magazine simply because I’ve learned to look past their surface and see them for who God created them to be. Every woman featured in this issue is a true reflection of God’s natural beauty.

I hope you enjoy this issue.

www.ANGELICMAG.com

ANGELIC

NO MAKEUP CHALLENGE TAKE TH E C H ALLE N G E F OR THE MONTH OF APRIL U PLOAD A SELFIE ONTO I NSTAGRAM WITH THE HASHTAG : #NOMAKEUPANGELIC TAG @ANGELICMAGAZINE WE ' LL POST YOUR NO MAKEUP PHOTO ON OUR INSTAGRAM THEN TAG 3 FRIENDS TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE .

THE PURPOSE IS TO SHOW THE WORLD YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND CONFIDENT WITH OR WITHOUT MAKEUP.

#N O M AKE U PAN G E LI C

model: j styling:

essica lawson s ofi a ve rd u g o

JESSICA LAWSON

PHOENIX // NURSE

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I’ VE COME A LONG WAY FROM THE BROKEN

B Y JESSICA LAWSON GIRL I ONCE FELT I WAS TO THE CHILD IN was never told that following Jesus and C HRIST I AM TODAY. I’ VE COME FROM A taking up my cross would end up being one of LONG ROAD OF PUTTING JESUS SECOND AND the hardest, most exhilarating experiences of TAKING THE DRIVER’ S SEAT IN MY LIFE. my life. When I was asked to write this article and take pictures bare-faced, I immediately this world. I started going to a youth group with a felt that this was an opportunity I could not friend. I remember they were playing a song by pass up. I feel it is such an empowering and Tenth North Avenue and I felt God speaking to inspiring concept. God is the Ultimate Creator me. My spirit was filled and my heart was and made us all in His image. “So we do not overwhelmed with a sense of peace. I ended up lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting rededicating my life to Christ that night. away, our inner self is being renewed day by I began having dreams and certain feelings of a day,” 2 Corinthians 4:16. path that God wanted me to head down. I was I’ve come a long way from the broken girl I living my life on the sidelines and unable to truly once felt I was to the child in Christ I am let go of the controls. I lost myself in a today. I’ve come from a long road of putting relationship and was looking at things from Jesus second and taking the driver’s seat in behind a blinded filter. I was realizing that God my life. I grew up with a mother who loved had plans for my life that were bigger than what I Jesus and a loving father who had no interest was caught up in. I was beginning to feel small in Christ. I did accept Jesus into my heart at a tugs and words from God. My life was going young age, and I would never have imagined down two different roads and I began thinking of it leading me to where I am now. how many times He has heard me cry out, yet I I grew up looking at Christianity, not as a was reminded that God says, “But to each one of relationship, but as a set of rules. My heart us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it,” was hardened toward a God that I did not Ephesians 4:7. believe could heal my cracks. I went through I chose to take a leap of faith with God. My much of my teens going through the motions relationship with that boy ended and God mended and unable to see outside my own little world my wounds. I was standing on a road that I didn’t that I had created. After my parents divorced, plan, yet I felt reassurance and still do.

I shut out reality and became caught up in Last December, I felt God pulling me to mission drugs and alcohol. I lost my innocence and work and I decided to go on a mission trip to was self-medicating my wounds with my Guatemala. My heart was set on fire. After school worldly desires. I was always teetering on the this spring, I’m going to be going on a trip to the verge of letting go and giving my heart back Philippines for three weeks. to God. If you’d like to hear more about my trip or I eventually became tired and felt God check out my fundraising page, you can take a tugging at my heart. I was trying to hear look at this link: above the noise and search for my place in http://www.gofundme.com/kmokwo

Myidentityhadbecome howIlooked

BY CHELSEY COOPER IfmybeautywaspurelybasedonwhoIam,myheartandhead andpitfallsandattributes,wouldpeoplestillwantto complimentme?WouldIstillbeGod'smasterpiece?

Beauty. It's something every culture values and puts emphasis on, and what is defined as beautiful changes in

every culture. But for those in Christ, how do we—how should we—define beauty?

To realize that while hair, makeup, and fashion are fun ways to express yourself, is that all that makes a person beautiful?

I refuse to believe that being aesthetically pleasing is the end all, be all in life, and, for those who have a relationship with God, we know it's not. My road to this lesson wasn't a straight or easy one. I've never been the thinnest, am physically incapable of tanning, and to this day choose not to wear shorts in the Arizona summer heat.

Yet I've always been told I was beautiful, and as I grew up I relied on this fleeting trait more and more. It started to be the only compliment I would hear, and I still didn't believe it. But it was the only compliment I'd hear.

My identity had become how I looked and I had the thought one day, "If this is fleeting, what will I have to offer when I'm older?" I remember praying, "Lord, if the whole world was blind, would they still think I was beautiful?"

If my beauty was purely based on who I am, my heart and head and pitfalls and attributes, would people still want to compliment me? Would I still be God's masterpiece?

I realized that although the Lord had made me a much deeper well, I was living as if I was only a shallow pond. I had put so much stalk in my outer appearance that I'd neglected my inner value—I didn't even see it anymore.

I remember the Lord answering my question with another question, "Who did I make you to be?" I felt Him pressing me to list aloud who He made me to be, individually and from His Word, things that aren't determined by hairstyle or clothing labels, things that will not pass with age—and then I was free.

We are The Lord's creation, every part of us, including physically. Our bodies are just shells to contain our souls until we go home to Heaven. They are husks to take care of, but they don't define who we are—we can't even take them with us when we die.

I often think about when Jesus is telling His disciples, “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it” (Matthew 13:16-17 NLT).

He's talking about how He is standing right in front of them—the "righteous" people—and they don't see Him, they only see His flesh and blood body and not the King of Kings dwelling inside. I think it's the same for the world today, not just in how people see God but in how they relate, rate, value, and idolize other people and themselves.

My prayer and deepest hope is that you will realize that you are beautiful and valuable because Jesus sees and made all of who you are. I pray that we would not define ourselves purely by the shells we've been given; after all, it's the pearl on the inside that contains the most worth.

A MARRIED GUY'S PERSPECTIVE: "MY GORGEOUS WIFE"

I

B Y NATHAN COOPER believe raw beauty is how God sees all His daughters—perfectly designed individually and in His own image. He makes no mistakes.

My wife is gorgeous. At times she chooses to wear makeup, certain “dressy” clothes, or even heels. Sometimes she does this for her, and, sometimes, it’s for me. However, she does not need these things. She was beautiful before them, and she is beautiful without them. I know her physical beauty is only a piece of what creates her raw beauty.

Raw beauty is a diamond in the rough. Any man can walk by a diamond embedded in other minerals and remark on its beauty, but he will continue to walk. A geologist walks by the same diamond, recognizes its physical beauty, and then picks it up and puts it in his pocket to be treasured. Why? Raw beauty isn’t about looks. It’s about value.

My wife is so valuable to me. Her humor makes life fun. Her love for me is powerful, unconditional, and moving. Her heart for God is deep and always visible to those around her.

Her soul is unconsciously giving. Her strength is below the surface and ready at a moment’s notice. Her ambition is creative and exciting. Her support for me is unending. She grieves when I grieve, and she celebrates when I celebrate. Her complexities are infinite and I am learning them every day.

God has given me the ability to see her value, and it grows as we grow in communion with God. I love you, Chelsey.

For all the women reading this, any man can remark on your beauty. Wait for the man that understands your value—you will be treasured.

Kelsey Albright ORANGE COUNTY, CA // PHOTOGRAPHER KELSEYALBRIGHTPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PHOTOGRAPHER BLURB: THOUGH THE EMPHASIS WAS ON NO MAKEUP, I WANTED TO ADD A LOT OF JOY TO THE PHOTOS ! WHEN ALL BUT C HRIST IS STRIPPED AWAY (AS SHOWN BY NO MAKEUP) WE NEED TO CHOOSE JOY!

M

y twenty-five years of life so far have been an incredible journey, and I feel privileged to be on it with Christ, my sweetest friend. What I love about how I came to Christ is actually how it brought my parents to church.

You see, I had a friend down the street who was in the church choir. All I knew as a five-year old is that she got to sing in front of people, and I wanted in. Her mom started a friendship with mine as they carpooled us to and from choir practice, and it eventually lead to my mom accepting Christ!

Though I was young, I remember my mom suddenly reading the Bible with me and asking me questions about Jesus. I love how God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Something as simple as wanting to be a kid rock star started the salvation and eternal joy of an entire family line. God = WOAH. Since then, it’s been a game of spirit and flesh that struggles and fights within me. Am I really accepted by the one true God? Is God really still good through the pain and suffering that this world brings?

Though I’m a sinner, does God really see me through the forgiving blood of Christ? These questions are quick to penetrate straight to the weak parts of me. “Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan means serious harm and wants to literally eat us alive. He succeeds when our lives are safe, when we put limits on the amount of influence we have, and when we fear the unknown.

At the beginning of our marriage, my husband challenged me to pray that my vision would become that of God’s. Taking the limits off of myself, I actually got to dream about what our limitless God wanted to do through me.

You mean this life isn’t about me?! That’s correct. Photography was always a hobby of mine. It was something I loved but was too scared to pursue professionally. It wasn’t until I realized that my life wasn’t really mine that I received an immense amount of peace about becoming a…gulp…photographer.

God knew my innermost desire, and you know what? It was His desire for me too.

Now, I stand amazed at the healing work our God has done through me. Have I faced adversity? Yes. We are promised that tough stuff is headed our way in James 1:2-3. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

I am encouraged to know that whatever this life has for me, God is there. I will take delight in God’s love. And here’s what’s just crazy: He will take delight in me.

B EAU TY WH AT

I S B E AU TY T O Y O U?

B Y KATI E M AY

I

NO

M A K E U P P H O T O B Y W R I T E R,

KATI E M AY

f I say something is beautiful, I really mean it. For a song to be beautiful it has to be well done, well written, and something I can listen to over and over again and never get sick of.

If I find a dress that’s beautiful, it needs to be completely breath-taking, making me not want to take my eyes off it. If I look back on a beautiful memory, it was something that was absolutely perfect; lacking no flaws and full of joy.

I’m thankful God gave us all these things in life that we can enjoy including music, fashion, and moments spent with people we love. But God’s greatest creation was man and women. So what makes a human beautiful?

I asked a couple people close to me what they think “beauty” is, and my favorite was, “an unmolested reflection of God’s character”. This forced me to think about what that even is or looks like.

Sin unfortunately tainted everything that was once completely beautiful and flawless on earth.

Conversations, careers, hobbies, and relationships will never be as pure as they once were intended to be. Knowing we will never be free of sin on earth, and will never attain God’s perfection, how do we pursue being beautiful people?

I think to consume beauty, it is to look like Jesus. Though we can never be Him, we have the ability to be genuine, encouraging, selfless, gracious, forgiving, kind, and loving. Look at the fruits of the Spirit, at how Jesus was as a disciple, and look at your personal relationship with God and all He has shown you of His character.

I see pure, truly good things when I think of who God is. We have the choice every day to decide to get out of bed, pray, work hard, and make a difference in someone’s life. In everything we do, we choose beauty… or sin. I believe the more time we spend with God in prayer and reading the Bible, the more easily these characteristics flow out of us. The more we allow God to work in us, the more He will reflect his character through us.

Imitating true beauty is like a movie trailer in anticipation of a great movie, giving others hope of what is to come in eternity with Him.

NewBeginnings EASTER

"IT HUMBLY REMINDS ME THAT JESUS DIED FOR ME, HE SUFFERED FOR ME, AND HIS THOUGHTS WERE OF ME WHEN HE WAS ON THAT RUGGED OLD CROSS. "

I

B Y ANNAMARIE DORRIS f you were to ask me what my favorite time of the year is, my answer is always the same: Spring.

I love the parallels of new life and new beginnings that it brings. Every day is a new day, and, to me, spring brings with it the beautiful reminder of a fresh start.

Lamentations 3:23 says, “Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” These new beginnings are going to look different for each of us individually, yet there is also one that is the same for us all. That is the free gift of Jesus Christ who died for each of us and all our sins—past, present and future—so that we may get to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. Spring also brings my favorite holiday Easter. I love every part about it. It humbly reminds me that Jesus died for me, He suffered for me, and His thoughts were of me when He was on that rugged old cross.

Just as He was thinking of me, He was also thinking about you. Being that He was fully man and fully God, He was able to do that; something I do not understand, but I am so thankful that He knows my deepest suffering and my extensive joy.

I love celebrating Easter with my family. My family is very large, so family that I don’t always see comes and celebrates Easter with us.

After going to church, we all meet at my aunt’s house in the early afternoon. We have a huge Easter egg hunt that all the cousins are a part of; different parts of the yard are for different age groups.

The Easter egg hunt became such a fun adventure for us growing up over the years that

our family decided to let us keep doing it. Now, instead of a bag full of eggs, we each get two and they are expertly hidden.

Last year, one was so well hidden by one of my uncles that even he forgot were it was! The Easter egg hunts, along with Luke18:16-17, remind me about the importance of having childlike faith to enter into the Kingdom of God. I am thankful for the egg hunts because of their reminder of how much Jesus delights in the childlike spirit I still carry with me as an adult.

My grandma, who passed away last year from a grueling battle with Alzheimer’s, loved Jesus.

Every Easter before we would gather and eat a delicious feast, everyone would come together and listen as she would read something that was important to her, a devotion with some scripture along with a prayer.

It was always important to my grandma that she pointed her family towards Christ. She cared about her family and made sure her children and grandchildren got the opportunity to know Jesus.

Whatever holiday we were celebrating, she delighted in sharing with us the real meaning of the holiday we were celebrating. My aunt now uses my grandma’s Bible and notes to continue the tradition my grandma started many years ago.

Easter is a day for my family that is filled with egg hunts, devotions, homemade food, and relaxing afternoons spent together remembering the blessings of family and simply being ourselves because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to let us do so.

29 ANGELICMAG.com

A SINCERE GIFT

BY KELSEY WHITE PHOTOGRAPHER STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO WWW. ONEOAKPHOTO. COM

I

" I PRAY THAT WE CAN ALL FEEL COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE IN IT. FEEL COMFORTABLE IN IT KNOWING THAT IN HIS EYES WE’RE PERFECT, AND WHAT’S SEEN BY HIM IS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS."

see natural beauty as a gift, one of the first amazing gifts that God gave each of us when we came into this life. A very personalized gift, indeed.

For He has twisted and twirked our insides, darkened and lightened our outsides. He’s chiseled every nook and cranny, freckled us if He believes it to be fit.

Quirked our personalities and stuck a quiver in our voices. No person the least bit the same, each person exactly who He wanted us to be. He gave us the gift of who we are, sticking us together in just the right way so that we can get to where we are going, so that we can achieve exactly what is needed of us.

He knew what He was doing while sitting in the studio, dreaming up who we are today.

I hope that we are each able to take this gift that we were given, this gift of natural beauty, and embrace it with all that we have. I hope that we are able to enjoy who we are, be accepting of who we are, and, most importantly, be completely grateful and thankful for who we are. For the gift that was given to us was wholeheartedly made and handed over with love.

The “flaws” that we each hold I hope can instead be seen as blessings. They were, after all, purposefully constructed out of love, with no negativity in sight. There was a reason for each and every seam that was used when we were sewn together.

Although sometimes the evidence and answer to “why me?” isn’t easily seen, it’s there. There’s no reason to question why; God knows exactly what He’s doing.

I hope that we can each take this gift of natural beauty and enjoy it! Have fun with it. Dress it up, or dress it down. I pray that we can all feel completely comfortable in it. Feel comfortable in it knowing that in His eyes we’re perfect, and what’s seen by Him is all that really matters.

Accept and enjoy the inside just as much as the outside of this gift. It is equally as beautiful as the wrapping paper that it comes in. Your soul, your mind, the beating of your heart; your thought process, your learning ability, your creativity and your lack thereof; you are who you are, and it’s beautiful.

Every chance you get, remember to thank God for the gift that you have been given! Thank Him for the work of art that He has created in creating you. “Christ is more of an artist than the artists. He works in the living spirit and the living flesh. He makes men instead of statues.” Van Gogh.

I

BOBBY LESTER DALLAS // MUSICIAN

"CHRIST HAS MADE ME NEW AND MADE MY FAMILY NEW, AND, NOW THAT HE LEADS OUR JOURNEY, THERE IS MORE HAPPINESS IN OUR LIVES"

B Y B OBBY LESTER have been a follower of Christ for my whole life and a musician for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t until I completely gave my life to Christ that I began to discover the kind of musician I can be.

I was raised in the church, attended regularly on Sundays, went to a Christian school from kindergarten through middle school, and was active in my youth program in high school. Then, like many, I went off to college and found myself further and further from the church every year. I was in secular bands at the time, playing and writing a lot of music, and I thought my life was headed in the right direction.

Everything changed when God blessed my life with an amazing woman and a child. My whole world was turned upside down, and I had to learn to live a life not for myself, but for others.

I gave up playing in bands, and my wife and I moved to be closer to family. As our family was forming, we could feel something missing in our lives and knew that we needed to find the Lord and become active in a church community if we were going to be the family we wanted to be.

We tried several different churches over the course of a few years, and we finally found a church home at a small church of about 500 people. The services were traditional and the messages were easy to understand and digest.

We slowly began to get connected and volunteer in areas of the church that we were passionate about, specifically the youth and young adult programs. We thought that we were where God wanted us. My wife became the youth pastor at the church, and I began working with the young adult pastor to form a contemporary worship service.

We were becoming leaders in the church, but something was still missing. We weren’t being challenged spiritually, we weren’t being asked the tough questions necessary to connect to the word and grow with it. After some leadership changes happened at the church, my wife and I felt God moving us in a different direction. We followed His call, left the church, and began the search again for a new church home.

After lots of prayers and visits, we finally found where God was leading us. For the past two years, I have grown closer to God than I knew imaginable and it has changed my life.

In November 2014, my wife and I celebrated our ten year anniversary, and, for the celebration, we got baptized together and then renewed our vows. It was important to us that we were baptized before renewing our vows because we wanted to begin the next chapter of our lives by putting Christ first in all we do and put ourselves second.

I am more active in my church life then ever, playing guitar Sundays for services and Wednesdays for the youth worship. We have started a home group with the friends we have made through church in order to grow together and connect, and hold each other accountable.

I have started writing music again; something I haven’t been able to do for the last decade having no inspiration for new songs. Christ has made me new and made my family new, and, now that He leads our journey, there is more happiness in our lives, more opportunities, and we are willing to take more risks because of the trust we put in Christ knowing that He will lead us right where we need to be.

LIVING FOR CHRIST, WORKING FOR FASHION LOS ANGELES // SYDNEY TAYLOR

W

B Y S YDNEY TAYLOR

orking in the fashion industry had been my dream since I was a little girl. As a kid, my best friends and I would spend hours upon hours playing dress-up and rearranging my entire living room to set up make-shift desks, pretending that we worked at Vogue.

As a teenager, instead of pop-icons and movie stars, I looked up to people like Anna Wintour, Diana Vreeland, and Oscar de la Renta. I am relentlessly infatuated with the power that clothing provides as pure freedom for expression and the way that fashion both affects and reflects so many other aspects of life.

Born and raised in a small beach town on the Southern Gulf Coast, being Christian and going to church was sort of just what you did. I was raised in the Presbyterian beliefs, and growing up I always knew that God was the Creator and that Jesus saved me from my sins.

But I knew it in the way that we know that there are other planets in space. Everyone says they are out there, and I believe them; I even know their names—Saturn and Mars and Venus. But just because I know they’re out there doesn’t mean I’m doing everything I can do to make the journey through space to get to them.

Knowing they’re out there doesn’t change how I spend my everyday life. That also pretty much sums up how my relationship with God had been, although, when I was about seventeen, I began to understand that being a Christian was about loving God and allowing Him to take control of my life.

As I began establishing a relationship with Christ, my outlook on nearly everything changed—the things that are important in life, the kind of person I want to be. Everything, that is, except for my dream of working in fashion.

I ended up getting on a plane two weeks after graduating high school to move to California and follow my dreams of making it in the fashion industry. To be totally honest, for a while I felt

guilty about choosing to work in fashion, like maybe it wasn’t important enough, and maybe I was just feeding into the glamour of it all.

During my first year as an apparel marketing student, I spent a lot of time wondering if I was wasting my time. I was thinking that maybe I was spending all of this time and effort doing something that was selfish and something that God wasn’t going to be stoked about. I prayed a lot about it over the course of that year, asking God to point me in the right direction if I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, hoping that one day I would just wake up and know what I was meant to do with my life.

I’m not really sure what happened or brought it about, but something sparked in me one day, and, suddenly, instead of being anxious for God to point me in the direction He was calling me, I was consumed with thoughts of all of the ways He had intervened and enormous obstacles He had led me to overcome, that placed me in the exact spot that I was.

I believe that God has a calling for each and every one of us, but that He sculpts that calling around our talents and interests so that we can spend our lives not only honoring Him, but also in doing so in our own unique way. To me, that is the most beautiful thing about our God I live in Los Angeles, a city branded with greed and false conceptions of status, and I work in an industry that feeds on vanity and materialism, but I know that God is alive here.

I have faith that God has placed me where I am to be a light, and that He has plans to use me, whether in grand gestures of revolution or simply providing a refuge of kindness to someone in need. Either way, I am so stoked for all the opportunities this life will bring, working for fashion, living for Christ.

JAMIE ALLIO

PHOTOGRAPHER // PHX

"NO AMOUNT OF MAKE- UP CAN

CREATE THE GLOW THAT RADIATES FROM A GENUINELY HAPPY PERSON, AND REAL BEAUTY CANNOT BE FABRICATED. "

T

he unfortunate reality for our generation is that most of the time we appear at our best, our most beautiful, without ever realizing it. We don’t often recognize those moments where our true selves are illuminated.

Why? Because looking good often trumps feeling good. So we focus on things backwards. We worry about how updated our wardrobe is compared to the ultra trendy people we follow on social media.

We stress out about the most mundane things like a hair out of place in a photo or chipped nail polish after we’ve shaken someones hand. We drown ourselves in products and services that promise to bring us one step closer to the tangled idea we have of physical perfection.

Meanwhile, we neglect to appreciate all of the things that make us TRULY beautiful as individual; our character.

When I think of someone’s beauty, I think about all of the tiny traits that make up their personality. The way they handle hardships. The amount of energy they put into others. Their smile when their heart is at ease.

Their capacity for forgiveness and understanding. No amount of make-up can create the glow that radiates from a genuinely happy person, and real beauty cannot be fabricated.

It’s within us, all of us, and when we allow ourselves to live our lives how they are meant to be lived by letting our spirit shine rather than forcing ourselves to appear a certain way - that beauty pours out of us, onto everything and everyone around us.

I’m lucky enough to know a lot of really beautiful women. Women that lift each other up. Women that are continuously taking inventory of their lives, and throwing out all of the things that hold them back from being the most excellent version of themselves.

Women that are overly ambitious, fearless and assertive. Women who are unapologetically themselves, because they know no other way to live.

One of these women was gracious enough to step in front of my camera and bare her true colors. Not one to wear make-up, and never one to shy away from being herself, she allowed me to capture her in an effortless and truly organic way. No fuss, no glitz. Just her . The real her. I’m not only proud to call this woman my friend, but I’m inspired by her to be confident in who I am at the core of my being.

She is a natural beauty. And that can never be bought or faked. Ever.

ph otograph er: j ami e a m odel : j i l l i an barkl ey

llio

BENEATH HER MAKEUP A GUY'S OPINION: WHY SHE IS BEAUTIFUL

I

"I REALIZE THAT ONE DAY WHEN I WAKE UP AND SHE’S BESIDE ME, WHAT I FIND BEAUTIFUL ABOUT HER IS BENEATH HER MAKEUP. HER BEAUTY ISN’T DEFINED BY MY SIGHT BUT HOW SHE MAKES ME FEEL IN MY HEART. "

B Y JESSE ANAYA

want to be able to look at her and know in my heart she’s the most beautiful woman in the world.

I want her to look at me and have her know by reading my eyes that I didn’t settle.

I want her to know that she’s beautiful to me.

And I don’t want her to question it.

My definition of beauty has changed through the years and what I find beautiful now isn’t what it once was.

She’s beautiful because she is honest.

She’s beautiful because she has courage.

She’s beautiful because she is kind.

I tend to be the hopeless romantic type. The type that will swim oceans to get to her because she means that much to me. The type that will stay up till 3am writing her a song because she evoked that much emotion in me. The type that wants our story to be the greatest love story of all time.

But my hopeless romantic label doesn’t attach itself to just any girl or to whoever’s available, but to her only. The beautiful one.

She is beautiful because she forgives.

She is beautiful because she is wise.

She is beautiful because she doesn’t fear confrontation but handles it with grace.

She is beautiful because she is bold.

I realize that one day when I wake up and she’s beside me, what I find beautiful about her is beneath her makeup. Her beauty isn’t defined by my sight but how she makes me feel in my heart.

Her beauty isn’t in the shape of her chin or the length of her eyelashes, her beauty is my peace when I wake up beside her and see her every morning.

Her beauty isn’t in fashion or the size she wears, her beauty is in my love for her. And my love for her doesn’t come from the physical, it comes from our hearts connecting.

I won’t love her because she counts calories, I will love her because of the dinners we ate together. I won’t love her because of her social media following, I will love her because of our posts to each other.

My affinity and affection for her doesn’t come from the show we put on for others to see, but for the quiet moments spent with each other that no one else knows about.

My love for her isn’t so people will think we have a happy marriage, my love for her is so He knows we’re honoring Him through sickness and in health.

She is beautiful because she loves Jesus.

She is beautiful because she talks with me about scripture.

She is beautiful because she prays with me.

She is beautiful.

p h o t o g r a p h e r: l u a n a s a h a i r : p a u l a ro d e r i c k - v o i model: emilyl.

m sembert

LUANA SAM PHOTOGRAPHER // BOSTON LUANASAMPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

PH O TO G RAPH E R I N TE RVI E W:

5

QUESTIONS

1. You're from Italy. What's the greatest difference between the US and your home country?

There is definitely a big difference in the lifestyle in general, from what we eat to how we dress. In Italy the bonds between family and with friends are very strong. There is also a different balance with work and free time, one never denies taking a break if a friend is visiting for coffee or for the 5PM aperitivo.

2. What’s your favorite part about capturing fashion?

Working in the fashion industry allows me to be in contact with and meet incredible artists from all over the world. It is amazing what people are capable of creating! I also was raised in a house of tailors where I learned the importance of craftsmanship and how to pay close attention to details.

3. Our magazine blends Jesus, Music, and Fashion. What are your thoughts on how religion influences fashion?

The fashion industry is a worldwide melting pot of inspiration that draws its ideas from everywhere, even religions. Stylists like Dolce & Gabbana, singers like Madonna, and even the punk rock movement frequently use Crosses and Icons as fashion accessories.

4. What’s the best part about living in Boston?

With all the universities that Boston hosts, every year there are "fresh" talented people with great ideas and new points of view, excited to share them out loud. Museums and galleries are also keeping the flow of art moving; this is why Boston is such a great city for artists.

5. One day when your legacy is fully written, what do you hope the last sentence will say?

Imogen Cunningham once said, "Which one of my photographs is my favorite? The one I will take tomorrow." And I definitely agree with her!

DANCING IN THE

"S O WHEN I READ THE MAGAZINES AND WATCH THE NEWS AND THAT THE CREATION OF BEAUTY IS NOT DEFINED B Y KELSEY ACH - COUTURE 31 MINISTRY WWW. COUTURE31. ORG f I pulled back my skin you would see scars.

On my bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles you’d trace them. The scars tell stories of my past, whisper words of my present. Scars show where I’ve been, whom I’ve loved, how I’ve lived. The scar stories reveal my deepest places.

And it’s in these scars that I am reminded of who I am, but more importantly, Whose I am. I am reminded that not all of life amounts to the beauty that I put onto this stretched pale canvas, but beauty originates in the deep places created by my Glorious God.

I

“Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot… came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at His feet, weeping, raining tears on His feet. Letting down her hair, she dried His feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. ” Luke 7

I think of the woman that knelt at His dusty feet.

Daughter before Maker. Her hair falling soft around her knees, she wept from her deep places, crying to the One Who knew her pain. He spoke to a woman that thought her skin scars defined who she was, but our skin scars never speak of the truth within, so He made sure to bring out the deep places. Her tears fell like the rain as she anointed His Heavenly feet with her human deep places. We can hear His words hitting our eardrums now as they hit the air thousands of years ago, I forgive your sins. We experience the rest as He redeems our own deep places, as He brings beauty from ashes.

“Then He spoke to her: ‘I forgive your sins. ’” Luke 7

I ponder the account of this woman and my heart catches. How often the world has defined me the same: done, over, worthless, sinful, marred, scarred, not enough. I think on the scars beneath my skin, the truth that waits to be brought out, the me that I keep hidden. I think on beauty and what is defined as such in the world outside my skin. You see, I can look at my fingernails and eyes, my hair and skin, feel my heartbeat and breath, and I know with certainty I was once held in eternal arms.

I remember that my beauty was crafted before I even took in air on this world of dirt. So when I read the magazines and watch the news and scroll through social media, I verbally remind myself that the creation of beauty is not defined by men that die, but by a God Who lives. Human hearts run out and minds grow stale. Who are we to set the boundaries of what is acceptable, true, beautiful? Honestly, can we even fathom the grandeur that is the beauty of God and His magnificent creation of human life?

And so, beauty, we realize, is not so much of the outward appearance but of the created inward soul. The scales and mirrors are poor reflections of what can only be spoken of with hushed and holy tones. Daughters of Heaven are to be respected and revered with the utmost honor for their Maker. The inward soul, that of the deep places, is the space where only God and I dance.

It is the space where expectations of the world fade and my heart is at rest and confidence is high because His is the only voice I hear and it speaks, Beautiful One.

HE

DEEP PLACES

SCROLL THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA, I VERBALLY REMIND MYSELF

BY MEN THAT DIE, BUT BY A GOD WHO LIVES ."

NO

M A K E U P P H O T O B Y W R I T E R,

KE LS E Y AC H

And it’s true that this dirt world has made me strive for a perfection that was only met in the Man on the tree. It’s true that human interaction has made me hold my stomach in hate. It’s true that women have tried to tear down the vessel that God created. It’s absolutely true that beneath this skin are rust stains from the tears I’ve cried.

But this silhouette is just a poor trace of who I really am. The beauty that is true and sure and eternal is this: hearts that dance with Jesus, souls that twirl with their Father. That is what the knelt-daughter knew as she cried. That is what she held onto. And our Jesus will dance in the deep places with the woman broken by death. He will dance with the anorexic, the bulimic, the abused. He will twirl with the daughter that has lost her way to alcohol, promiscuity, and drugs. He dances with the girl just hoping for some clarity and direction. And just as He looked the knelt woman in the eye to whisper forgiveness, hope, and beauty so He does today.

And this Jesus, this One we look to and admire, the One we long for, He still dances in the deep places. He’s dancing with you and me even now.

Amber Bryant: Dare to go bare

PHOTOGRAPHER // ZIONSVILLE, INDIANA

A

I WAS THE GIRL AT A PARTY, LOST IN ALCOHOL AND DRUGS, TRYING TO FIND MY IDENTITY AND SATISFACTION FROM BOYS, RATHER THAN A GIRL SITTING IN THE PEWS AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY.

s a woman, going without makeup is a hard thing to do. Showing yourself at your most vulnerable state, where you aren’t masking or manipulating anything about yourself or your features, is sometimes uncomfortable.

That’s how I felt when I was asked to share my testimony. I felt afraid, like I wanted to cover up everything I was. It is like letting people see the raw parts of me.

Raw in photography is a type of image; an image completely unretouched, unprocessed. It is a digital negative. Raw means it is in a natural state; not yet processed or purified. So letting you see my Life in the Raw, even if it is just a tiny layer of the onion that is my life, and showing you how Jesus purified me and is purifying me, is hard.

The truth of the matter is, testimonies are messy, but I also think that's what makes them so beautiful.

In telling our stories, we take ourselves off of the pedestal and shine a light onto Jesus, the one Who deserves to be glorified.

I had to come to terms with the fact that it is not what people will think of me but what people will think of God and what He's done through me and my mess. We are to tell the good news that Jesus is the redeemer of our stories, and that, because of Him, I have found a new joy in my heart.

I wear many “hats.” People call me a youth pastor’s wife, photographer, server, some call me family, and others call me friend. I am, in fact, all of those things, but what I truly am is a sinner saved by grace.

I am “an imperfect person preaching a perfect gospel.” I am a person with scars, which means I am someone who is flawed, who sins and falls short but whom Jesus redeemed. Those scars I show are my battle wounds, but scars also show that I’ve survived and that I have lived through the battle and am continuing to live through the battles of this life.

If you had told me as a teenager that I would be a youth pastor’s wife, I probably would have laughed in your face. I grew up in a Christian home, but in my life I wanted nothing to do with this “GOD” everyone kept trying to force on me. I was the girl at a party, lost in alcohol and drugs, trying to find my identity and satisfaction from boys, rather than a girl sitting in the pews at church on Sunday.

After years of trying to fill the void in my life, I finally reached this desperation. I hit my low point.

At the bottom of that pit I made of my life, Jesus was there. He saw me. He saw me at my worst, He saw me at my most vulnerable state, He saw every mask I held onto desperately, and He peeled them away.

The craziest thing was that He saw me and loved me despite the mess I was in. I was on a straight path of self-destruction, but Jesus came into my life radically and had other plans for me. When no one else could see past my sins, Jesus did and still does.

He now is using me to share my stories. He turned my burdened past into a blessing for others.

Being open and vulnerable for me isn’t easy, and it’s not something that naturally flows for me. Maybe that is why God put this task in my lap, because I’m not the most qualified to be talking about being open.

God has taught me so much through peeling back my masks, and He is still teaching me. I think a lot of us believe that we will have only our one testimony and that’s it, that we won’t ever struggle like that again, that we have arrived at our “happily ever after.”

After Jesus changed my heart and I became a Christian, I honestly thought that life was going to be easier. I believed that I wouldn’t struggle anymore. To tell you the truth, I lived in a false reality because being a Christian is hard.

Being transparent and letting people see the raw parts of me became harder; I cared more and more

what people would think of me and became crippled by my insecurities.

Honestly, some days I still am. A wise friend once told me, “We don’t graduate in this life.” I was discouraged yet curious by that phrase. I think once we realize that this life is a never-ending learning experience, where Jesus is peeling back one layer at a time to mold us and shape us into who He created us to be, we can have peace and stop trying to be perfect.

We can stop trying to seem like we have it all together—we can DARE TO GO BARE.

ILONA ROMANOVA NEW JERSEY / /

I

B Y ILONA ROMANOVA was brought up in a Christian home, going to church twice a week, singing in the choir, praying and reading the bible. I thought I knew God. I thought I knew His love for me. I also thought that meant that my life would just go smoothly, as I planned it.

When I was 23 I married a man that I had dated for a few years. We went to the same church and I was sure it was the right choice.

Soon after we began to have issues (for the sake of keeping it brief, I will skip all the details). I never EVER entertained the idea of divorce. We were Christians, and that just doesn’t happen! My ex traveled a lot for work and one morning I woke up to a text saying it was over. He was done.

I was shocked, I thought it was a sick joke or a way to get a reaction out of me. I soon learned that he was in fact very serious. My mind just went into a million places. Nothing made sense, how was this happening? Why was this happening to me? At first I tried to keep it to myself in hopes that he would change his mind until one day I couldn’t hold it in and in a hysterical cry I told my parents. Soon the news spread to everyone we knew and our church.

Despite my pleas to try and go to counseling or do whatever it takes, he wouldn’t.

The following months were filled with days and nights of me crying until I felt like I physically couldn’t shed another tear. My friends and family tried to comfort me but the truth is they couldn’t.

They had no way to see the pain that I was feeling. They couldn’t know how abandoned I felt. No one could understand how alone and judged I felt coming into church and sitting at the pew we used to sit in, except now it was just me.

There were times when it took everything in me

"ONE

MORNING I WOKE UP TO A TEXT SAYING IT WAS OVER. HE WAS DONE. "

to get through a service and not burst into tears.

The enemy used this opportunity to fill my thoughts of being worthless, ugly, and broken. I started to believe the things I was told and felt like there was something wrong with me and that no one could ever love me.

In those moments when I felt alone and broken I turned to God. I would cry and pray for hours just begging Him to take the pain away.

I started reading the Bible more and more and slowly began to heal. I would read scripture that told me that God is enough. That He will never leave me or abandon me. That He will take care of me and that I am so precious to Him that He gave His only son, so that I may have abundant life.

Through the most painful tragic time in my life I really came to know God and formed a relationship I never had before. I now knew Jesus as my comforter and friend.

Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I didn’t have that complete change in my life. As difficult as it was I am so grateful because now I know no matter what comes my way, I will never be alone.

I know that there would be no way that I could have survived without God restoring me.

I just hope that maybe if you are reading this right now and are feeling unloved, abandoned, and broken that you turn to the one who can mend your heart, will always be there, and can take something ugly and make it beautiful, just like he did in my life.

N

beauty is christ

PHYSICALLY, I COULD (AND OFTEN DO) FEEL " FAT" AND " UGLY" EVERY SINGLE DAY. H OWEVER, PLACING MY SECURITY IN C HRIST ALONE HAS GIVEN ME AN EDGE. THE EDGE IS THAT I SEE RIGHT THROUGH THAT MIRROR AND SOCIETY

BY CLARE TUCKER

-

ANCHORSANDCROWNS . COM

ot too many years ago, I was struggling badly in my faith, or lack thereof, and I was so lost and broken by the world and myself. My cousin and sister in Christ, Jayne, would always tell me that in God's word He promises that He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 20:4) I remember saying to her, "Well, I don't have a successful relationship or a man and He knows that's all I want, so why isn't He giving it to me?” and “Why did He even give me what others see as physical beauty if no one wants to be with me, anyway?” I mean that was my ultimate desire after all, at that time.

Wow—pause. See, looking back now, that time of brokenness was when God was carrying me and molding, or softening, my heart to look like His. Clearly my vision, faith, and, most of all, my heart, were blind to His beautiful plan for me.

I honestly believed that God's plan for my life was directly linked to aesthetics... Okay, really?! So, Jayne responded quickly to my harsh questioning of God. She began, "He will give you your heart's true desires, Clare, in His timing!” (Psalm 37:4) She continued, “You have to have faith that He loves you and wants what's best for you, and His timing is not up to you, but it's always perfect." I started to feel defensive, as many of us do when feeling convicted.

So I came back with, “Okay, I understand that. I mean every Christian knows that truth, and I do have faith that He can give me what I want, but I don't know if He will…” She combatted that with a simple, “You just need more faith, and you need to look inside yourself to see if you are getting His desires confused with worldly desires.” She was so right.

I see now how the way my mind and heart worked back then, and I just can't believe that He so graciously and readily pulled me from that dark pit.

I made many mistakes in my past, and I could have even lost my life on a few occasions. If it were left up

to me, and how I saw myself, I would say I was broken, dirty, unworthy, and deserving of death (harsh, but I’m just being honest with you).

Instead, I'm very much alive and so in love with my merciful and gracious God and His beautiful gift to us—Jesus Christ, my Savior. He is my friend and my Healer.

I love the time I've had getting to know Jesus and learn how He sees me. He doesn’t see aesthetics; He finds beauty in my heart and my soul as His creation.

It’s not easy being patient as God's plan unfolds for me, but never in my life have I felt more beautiful. You see, the validation I was craving from men and relationships and what I saw in the mirror on the surface, only God could give me.

Here in this place, face-to-face with Jesus every day, I know I am flawless as His creation. I am beautifully, and fearfully, and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)! The mirror doesn't tell me that nor does society or the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

Physically, I could (and often do) feel "fat" and "ugly" every single day. However, placing my security in Christ alone has given me an edge.

The edge is that I see right through that mirror and society.

All my dissatisfaction dissolves when I think, “What does God think I look like right now?

Because I think I look awful and I don't want to feel like this anymore!”

I hold His promises close to my heart, and I will tell every woman who's hurting and feels worthless or ugly that she should, too.

I will tell her she is beautiful and she deserves this amazing life in Christ, no matter how she sees herself or what she’s done before. Maybe that's why I'm still here. And that is beautiful.

75 ANGELICMAG.com

TRINA LYNN PHOTOGRAPHER // NASHVILLE, TN

Natural Beauty

B Y TRINA LYNN atural beauty is defined by society as the girl who we all envy walking down the street in the rain on a windy day, her hair is still flawless, makeup is natural and yet enhances every curve in her smile.

What it doesn't describe is her insecurities. Her past. Her struggles. Being a natural beauty is embracing everything about you all the way down to the scar on your chin, you're acne you so desperately try to hide, or even your heritage and upbringing that you don't always want to show.

A Natural beauty is the girl that embraces life and all the imperfections that come with it. She is strong, beautiful and confident.

Minnie (the woman in these photographs) and I had no real plans for this shoot our only statement was, be you! So we brought a blanket and didn't worry about hair or makeup or clothes, and we went and found an empty field.

We talked about life, her heritage, her travels and moves all over the world, and the feelings that went along with this photo-shoot. We talked about what she wished she could change about herself, and that all I could see is this natural beautiful girl with radiant eyes sitting in front of me.

I believe a natural beauty is the girl who accepts her imperfections, and smiles at everything life throws at her.

Natural beauty comes from within, and that is what shows in these photographs.

Not her scar or her acne. All you see is Minnie, this beautiful amazing girl. Because that is who she is on the inside.

N

real30day challenge REAL30 DAYCHALLENGE. COM

BY LEAH BALL - FOUNDER OF REAL 30 D AY

Very good.

Let those words remain in your mind, in bold print, as they are here. These are the words of the Absolute Creator – the first ever Designer, Artist, and Visionary – the One and Only, whose hands and breath were the first things to come into contact with your flesh. They were among some of the very first words He spoke into the world He had created, and those words revolved around you and me.

We know this as the story of creation, but the part we often overlook is that we were the crown of creation, the icing on the cake, the final encore in an astounding performance – “saving the best for last.” He formed us with His own hands, breathed His very breath into us, and then gave us a standing ovation – “THIS is very good!” Look around you – take in the vast wonders of this immense planet – and still nothing compares to the beauty and wonder of you and me. He said so.

So…why doesn’t that stick with us? It’s usually the last thing on our minds or the first thing we forget. After we rise from our beds, whether we’re brushing our teeth or surveying the bedhead “damage,” one of the first things we do is check the mirror. Suddenly our faces become twisted. Our eyes roll, we shuffle off, and out comes an array of bottles and brushes. The makeup goes on, then the hair products. We may try on one or two or twelve outfits before we settle on something we can stomach. Then it’s back to the mirror to check up on ourselves as if we just stepped out of a time machine.

But we’re still not satisfied. “As good as it gets” becomes our normal. We leave our houses with that attitude looming over us like a dark cloud. As soon as someone “prettier” walks onto the scene, oh, how that cloud rains. It pours. I wish I was

taller. I wish I was shorter. I wish my nose didn’t cur didn’t break out this much. I wish I didn’t look tired In an instant, we’ve forgotten about our debut onto what God celebrates, we mask it. Instead of letting m for the “bad.” Instead of realizing that we were desig been there. You are not alone in feeling this way.

The women you see in these photos have felt this wa Day Challenge. The first day of that Challenge was t a stand one day and tell their followers over social m the makeup and photo editing tools are various skin crafted ON PURPOSE, made in the glorious image normal, imperfect human beings. But one day they turn to do the same.

Take off your makeup. Step away from the mirror. eyes. Wake up and realize that this is who you are. F Father doesn’t make junk. He doesn’t make mistake believe the words He penned about you in His Book was very good.”

rve like this. I wish my smile wasn’t crooked. I wish my eyes were blue. I wish my hair were blonde. I wish my face all the time. I wish…I was someone else. the creation scene. Instead we rain oceans of insecurity and inadequacy down on ourselves. Instead of celebrating makeup be an accessory, we treat it like an antidote. Instead of highlighting our good qualities, we overcompensate gned to look and play a specific part, we play the comparison game. We all go through it. We’ve all been there. I’ve

ay, too. They are the faces of REAL women who took part in a social media photo challenge called The [REAL] 30to take a “fresh-face selfie” – no makeup or filters, just raw and real beauty. Each one of these women chose to take media, “Makeup doesn’t define me. Filters don’t define me. I’m beautiful as I am. This is who I am.” Underneath all n tones, eye colors, hair types, and face shapes. They’re all different but all alike in one way: they were uniquely e of a God who only makes and gives what is good. They’re not superheroes or models or celebrities – these are decided to stop giving into the lies that tell them they aren’t beautiful and start believing the Truth. Now it’s your

Delete all 57 selfies inside your phone. Stop checking the celebrities in the magazines or in the media. Open your From the very beginning, you were created with the sole purpose of having an identity like your Father’s, and your es. He doesn’t hold regrets over His choices. He always does what is right and good. Do you trust Him enough to k? Do you believe that you are beautiful? If not, go back to the beginning of your existence and read His words: “It

30 DAYS NO MAKEUP JOIN NATALIE & SARAH! INSTAGRAM @30DAYSNOMAKEUP 1.WHAT IS 30DAYSNOMAKEUP?

Let's start with what it's not.... 30DaysNoMakeup is not a “feminist, anti-girlie, anti-cosmetics” movement. Quite the opposite, actually… In fact, we love makeup – especially mascara. Name brand mascara. However, we are bent on observing all areas of our lives that we may use to hide, or to fill some sort of need to please, or to meet an expectation outside of ourselves.

We ask, “What’s beneath that? What if we care more about what we think of ourselves?

We are launching an open invitation to a bigger, personal conversation about identity and worth.

2.HOW DID IT GET CREATED?

Sarah and Natalie have both had an attachment to makeup and cosmetics throughout their lives. Both discovered that makeup provided a mask to hide their insecurities and to feel socially accepted, but it became a roadblock to deeper layers of self-love that couldn't be mined down to any other way other than facing extreme vulnerability and healthy risk. The experiment literally changed their personal lives and left them more changed than they imagined! It started after Sarah had a sleepless night as this dream graced her; the next day she called Natalie and the two were off and running. Within 72 hours a website and Instagram were established and participants started flocking. The first official campaign ran November 15 through December 15, and it's been ongoing with women starting any day they chose. It's a beautiful process!

3.WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?

30DaysNoMakeup is a global movement platform inviting women everywhere to "bare" their faces for thirty consecutive days. Our dream is to see women give culture back its messages about beauty and provide an opportunity for women to experience their own self-love through this experiment. 30DaysNoMakeup exists to free women from cultural expectations, personal attachment to makeup and its acceptable way of hiding, and grow into a new experience of what it means to be truly beautiful. We are 30DaysNoMakeup where The Brave Ones Face Themselves.

4.HOW IS JESUS REFLECTED IN YOUR MINISTRY/ORGANIZATION?

We believe that anything that enhances someone's self-love is absolutely a reflection of Jesus and God's love for us. The conversation of identity is rich through Scripture, and we believe this is a real, experiential way that women can dig into their very real fear and shine the light of truth on it, that they are enough and they are loved just the way they are.

5.BIG PICTURE, WHAT TYPE OF IMPACT DO YOU WANT TO MAKE WITH 30DAYSNOMAKEUP?

We want to see women everywhere embrace their natural beauty and, more importantly, their worthiness. We want to see a generation of truly brave women take ownership of their hearts and live out of a positive lens on themselves.

We are in the process of writing a book on 30DaysNoMakeup (out 2016). We want to partner more with female brands to move this movement farther, especially to rehab and/or addiction treatment centers. Mostly, we just want to see women spreading their own messages of self-love any way possible!

You're invited to start your personal campaign of 30DaysNoMakeup any day! Check out 30daysnomakeup.com for stories and news about what's happening with the movement. Also see us on Instagram @30daysnomakeup.

Y

HE S EES YOU B EAUTIFUL

B Y MAEGAN DOCKERY RUNNINGWITHRANDOM. BLOGSPOT. COM

“ ou have a really great personality, but I prefer " YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT your friend because she’s a lot prettier than you.” I PERSONALITY, BUT I PREFER YOUR wasn’t sure I heard him correctly, trying to make out FRIEND BECAUSE SHE’ S A LOT his words over the sound of my shattering heart. For a PRETTIER THAN YOU.” seventh grade girl, there is nothing worse than getting rejected by a boy you like. A real boy said this to me I WASN’ T SURE I HEARD HIM on the last day of seventh grade, and, since I can CORRECTLY, TRYING TO MAKE OUT remember it like it was yesterday and it happened over HIS WORDS OVER THE SOUND OF MY ten years ago, clearly it left a scar.

SHATTERING HEART. I have never thought I was particularly pretty. I’ve never really met society’s checklist of beauty, tell me what to look like and who to try to please and including but not limited to silky blonde hair, perfect completely forgetting that I have a God who made me skin, and a thin body. When I was in elementary in His image. I have a God who created me from dust school, I remember praying to God to make me skinny and when I was formed, smiled and said, “It is good.” overnight, like my own warped version of 13 Going I have a God who is by my side every single day on 30, but dealing with body image rather than age. trying to remind me how beautiful and cherished I am.

Spoiler alert: I always stayed the same size that I’d Isn’t it a shame that I was completely ignoring Him? I been the day before. had society’s volume turned up so loud that God It’s hard struggling with your weight in a world that wasn’t able to shout over the noise. is always offering the Next Best Thing in weight loss, Since seventh grade, my weight has fluctuated a lot, like it’s so terrible and grotesque to have a little excess and who knows if I’ll ever be fully happy with my skin. I’ve always had a friendly, outgoing personality, size? But last January, I decided it was finally time to so why did I have to feel bad about myself for being a work hard on losing weight and getting more active. little chubbier than my friends? Who cares?

The difference this time was I wanted to do it for Unfortunately, I cared. I used to think, “When I’m myself, but, more importantly, I wanted to do it to smaller, I’d like to do this…” when I should have gone honor God and show Him that I loved and respected for whatever it was at that point in my life. I have had the temple He’s so graciously given me to live in an awesome life so far and gotten to do so many great during my time on earth. things, but who knows what I held myself back from Society is still loud, but I’ve turned the volume just because I was worried about what people would down. God loves me just the way I am, and He loves think of me? you, too. Are you blonde? Do you have acne? Do you That’s really what this all comes down to, in my wear glasses? Are your bangs cut weird? Are your case. I was so consumed with what everyone else was grades not where you’d like them to be? Are you taller thinking about me, I didn’t even consider the fact that than all your friends? Do you have a really loud I was okay with who I was. I saw thin models in laugh? No matter what you deal with (because we all magazines and thin actresses on television and knew deal with something!), never forget that God did that that there must be something wrong with me. But, on purpose. He doesn’t make mistakes, and He sees honestly, the only thing that was wrong with me was how beautiful you are, even if you can’t yet. Trust that I didn’t love myself enough. I was letting society Him and don’t let anything hold you back.

SINGER / SONGWRITER COOKEVILLE, TN

S

he applied for a job with the magazine.

Through the countless resumes, cover letters, emails and strangers applying, something stuck out to me.

Her email. It said something about singing, or at least that's what I remember.

We filled her position just prior but I felt the impulse to investigate.

I googled her name. Nothing appeared to come up showing who she was. But then, I saw it.

A YouTube video of someone singing the national anthem was posted. I clicked it. I listened.

And she belted. The girl could sing.

We are Jesus, Music and Fashion. I looked back at her resume and saw she went to Belmont University, a college in Nashville, a Christian college.

Was she a Christian singer?

I reached out. She responded. I said let's feature you, you can sing. And here we are.

Meet Aubrey Smith, a singer/songwriter who has the big dream of traveling and singing music around the world for Jesus.

WHY JESUS? I've always known Jesus. I grew up in a Christian home and my mom was real important in me having my faith. When I was in junior high I experienced something sort of traumatic and it changed how I viewed God. It brought me closer to Him and ever since, I've decided to really live my life for Him. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO SING? I've been singing since I could remember. There's even a photo of me when I was 2 years old singing. It's been something that I've also done and wanted to do?

SO WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO MAKE MUSIC FOR JESUS? I'm inspired to write songs for Him. I get my greatest inspiration when I write music for Him and it's what I'm most passionate about. I want to write and record music that reaches young girls and it instills in them a knowing of their worth and that they're loved by God. That's the message I want to communicate through my music.

COLORS

ATLAN TA

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F RE E D O M I N F AS H I O N . C O M

5 F A C T S: 1. COLORS is a social enterprise that sells handmade crocheted scarves and hire women in the Atlanta area recovering from sex trafficking/prostitution, drug addictions, and homelessness. We pride ourselves on selling fashionable products that make a difference. Our missions is to empower these women to lead creative, sustainable, and healthy lifestyles.

2. Outwardly, we are a strictly secular company, but inwardly, our team culture is completely Christ centered. We do what we do because Jesus asked us to be his hands and feet. Jesus himself spent most of his time with people in the margins, and we believe if we can focus on empowering and extending opportunities to women in the margins, we will honor & glorify him and his calling for us as the church.

3. They can buy our products! More demand for work creates more job opportunities. You can buy our products at freedominfashion.com. We would love to extend a coupon code to your readers for 20% off their next purchase from us. Use coupon code: Angelic 4. In 5-10 years I would love to see COLORS hiring between 10-20 women working full time and selling all aspects of fashion. (Clothing and accessories.) We have a vision of being a fashion forward company while maintaining our main ideals of people first, earth second. We want to leave a small footprint on our Earth but a ginormous footprint eternally.

5. The most satisfying part of our job is walking through life with the women we work with. We have walked through court dates, children and parents reuniting, sickness, and spiritual healing. We have watched confidences grow and personal goals be reached. This is so incredibly rewarding.

ph otograph er: model: neale gi

ki l l i an rose l bert

KILLIAN ROSE I

P H O T O G R A P H E R / / L E X I N G T O N, K Y

B Y KILLIAN ROSE

KI LLI AN RO S E . C O M

t was the summer of 2014 and I was sitting with my toes in the sand on a beach in Puerto Galera, Philippines. A purple and pink sunset was painting the sky as I was surrounded by thirty precious Filipina women worshipping and pouring out their hearts to the One who makes all things new.

Serving alongside twenty other American women, I had the privilege of helping with an all expenses paid retreat getaway for these precious women who had been trafficked in the sex trade.

This week we would pour out a love that wanted absolutely nothing in return, a love that they had never experienced before. This would be a week full of hope and joy restored. A week full of new dreams, laughter and freedom. A week that would forever change my life. That was the week I met Love face to face.

On the girl’s getaway in the Philippines, I was able to see God’s promise of redemption in a way I had never experienced before. Seeing His truths wash over hearts that had been broken time and time again sparked something within my soul.

Seeing women who had been deceived, making new friendships and hearing women dream and hope again began a work deep down in my core. That week I was not only seeing God restore their stories, but He was restoring mine.

I love personally knowing a God who doesn’t just see the pain in the world, but He invades it and restores it. He gives meaning to our messes and picks us up no matter how many times we have fallen. Standing on that beach with my Filipina sisters, God declared His grace and goodness over our hopelessness and our messy lives.

That is the week that I began to dive into the depths of His heart like never before. Only when we do that, do we begin to discover our true selves. It’s in Him that we find out who we are and what we are living for.

Photography is a way that I can capture the beauty of God and His people. I have a love for black and white photography because without color to distract, the eye is forced to look straight into the emotion of the photo.

That is where I believe true beauty resides, in the depths of our souls and the raw and real emotions that come as a result of that. Through my photography, I hope to express what I believe raw beauty to be.

A beauty that isn’t dependent on how thin or tall you are. A beauty that isn’t found in what others say about you or by how many instagram followers you have.

Instead, this beauty is found in just being. It’s a beauty that was intricately formed and fashioned before the creation of the world.

Before Facebook, before diets made us obsessive and before makeup was ever created. It’s a beauty that was weaved into our very core when God breathed His life into our lungs.

By being a child of God, we possess this beauty just because we are His. The fleeting “beauty” of this world fades away to nothing, but the beauty we possess as His child is eternal. It is a part of His nature that He has given us to display to this world.

I want my photos to express the natural beauty of a woman, and how each and every one of us has a special part of the Father’s heart He wants us to share with this world.

Model Interview:

Neale Gilbert Killian Rose: What does having raw beauty mean to you?

Neale Gilbert: Raw beauty means that I can feel gorgeous without makeup or a perfect outfit because this is exactly how God made me. There is something beautiful about looking in the mirror with a clear face and being confident because Jesus sees me for who I am and loves me even at my worst.

KR: What is an obstacle you have had to overcome being in the fashion world, and how did you overcome it?

NG: One of the main obstacles I have is prioritizing outward appearance versus internal beauty.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the standards of the world and having the latest lotions and potions and clothes to make you feel good about yourself. I have to overcome this daily by surrounding myself with ways to see Jesus—in the things I read, the people with whom I surround myself, and my frame of mind.

KR: What is one thing you want women everywhere to know about true beauty?

NG: I want women to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an interest in fashion and beauty. I’m probably the biggest enthusiast of them all. It’s not shallow or vain.

There is nothing wrong with wearing makeup or feeling beautiful. But knowing that true beauty is living in your heart because Jesus lives in you is the most beautiful thing about you.

KR: What are your thoughts on modesty and fashion?

NG: I have never thought it was a bad thing for women to be proud of their bodies and liking the way they look. Modesty does not mean to cover from the neck to the feet. What is important about modesty is respecting yourself and your body. Don’t sell yourself so short that you only let people see your body and not your beautiful mind.

KR: How has becoming a follower of Jesus changed your perception of beauty and fashion?

NG: Being a follower of Jesus means that the pressure is off to conform to the world’s standards of beauty. I can still be passionate about beauty and fashion, but my focus has changed. Knowing that my identity is in Christ and the Creator of the Universe made me in His image is more than enough to make me feel beautiful.

KR: Who is Jesus to you?

NG: Jesus is the reason I live every day. As cliché as it may sound, Jesus is my everything. He is my Great Redeemer and the keeper of my heart. He is the maker of all beautiful things. There is no simpler answer than to say—Jesus is my Lord.

ANGELIC MAGAZINE ECCLESIASTES 3:11 "HE HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME. HE HAS ALSO SET ETERNITY IN THE HUMAN HEART; YET NO ONE CAN FATHOM WHAT GOD HAS DONE FROM BEGINNING TO END"

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