Time-Tested Beauty Tips

Carmen Kass for Vogue Nippon, October 2005

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,
Reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand,
You'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands,
One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
The figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows,
And the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

--Sam Levenson

This beautiful poem is very often credited to Audrey Hepburn and while it was one of her favorite poems it was actually written by Sam Levenson for his granddaughter. The first passages are the most famous, but the part that resonated with me the most was towards the end. "The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides." Isn't that marvelous?! This poem always serves as a reminder to me of what it truly means to be beautiful. I hope it made you all stop and appreciate your own unique inner beauty as well!