Do you accept compliments with a happy smile? Do you tell yourself that you’re beautiful? Or are you like me and you cringe at compliments, shrugging them off? I have a feeling that I might be in the majority here. A study by Dove has actually shown that I share that feeling with a whopping 80% of women. This study was conducted to show us cynics that we are able to boost our own self-confidence and believe that we can be beautiful. A few everyday women were invited to wear a new, custom-made beauty patch that would make them feel more confident and more beautiful. Would you buy into something like this? Well these women did, and by the end of the 2-week study these women actually agreed that this patch had changed their life for the better. They felt more beautiful, confident and happy. They were then all very shocked to discover that the patch actually contained nothing and that their newfound attitude was all but a state of mind. How powerful can our own positive thoughts be? Go watch the video – it really is something to see.

Okay so why am I showing you all these cheesy quotes and inspirational words? I think all of us can relate, or hold onto at least one of these quotes, don’t you think? Like a little mantra we can repeat everyday when we’re about to go do something that scares us. For example when you’re on your way to chat to that cute guy at the bar you can repeat the words in your head. You know like in Ally McBeal when she had her own theme song playing in her head. It always pushed her to do the things she was of afraid of doing. Heck, if all else fails just read the middle one out loud – “Shut Up, I think You Are Gorgeous”.

Hands up who’s doing the #100HappyDays challenge? I am and it’s extremely liberating. I feel happier and I have a daily record of the things that make me feel that way. It’s fantastic. I’m not the most confident person out there and I’m one of those girls that always finds fault with themselves. I actually delved into that topic a bit more personally when I participated in the Dove #RealBeauty campaign. So I’m not going to tell you all about my insecurities and that. This is about feeling beautiful and changing your state of mind. No harping on the negatives! So listen up ladies. I’m going to start a new hashtag for us to follow for 6 days. This will be our own personal hashtag where we can express how we feel about ourselves and our friends. Together we can feel more positive, happy and beautiful. Who is with me? Every day, for 6 days I will ask you a new beauty-related question that I would love for you to answer. You can answer on the post, on Twitter or on my Facebook page. We will use the hashtag #DivineDoveDays as well as the global one #BeautyIs. Check back every day for the new question and you might even WIN a small little dove branded prize at the end. Let’s empower ourselves!

For today’s question you can tweet, comment here or write on my Facebook page using the following sentence – “When I look in the mirror I like my…… #BeautyIs #DivineDoveDays” Also tag me as well as Dove if you post to Twitter. Change your state of mind!