...asked Snow White's beautiful yet icy-hearted stepmother. "Yes," said the mirror. "There is someone far more beautiful than you." That day was the first day the queen lost her unshakable confidence. Perhaps it was the first day of a life she would lose.

In fact, even fairy tales wanted to tell us how dangerous this beauty myth could be. But we were so immersed in the princess wrapped in cotton, waiting to be rescued by her prince, in her legendary beauty, in the belief that a prince would exist, that one day—surely one day—he would find and rescue us from this whirlpool, that we failed to see the real message being given to us. Or, let's be honest, we simply didn't want to see it.

How strange that I now see this fairy tale, which I grew up dreaming about with delight, from a completely different perspective. Coco Chanel said it so beautifully: "Beauty, what a sweet lie you are." And we became so addicted to that lie that we forgot, constructing all our notions and thoughts upon this fallacy. We fell for the game of 'if we are beautiful, we are valuable; if not, we are not so much.' Even Plato believed that what is beautiful is good and what is good is beautiful, advocating the idea that our visible face mirrors our true, hidden self. And according to Croce, beauty is a concept created by the mind; even Hegel thought beauty is the reflection of the absolute spirit. Yet, when the years passed and times changed, what was the meaning of this injustice we did to Coco Chanel—who said, "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself" and revolutionized the world of women—to all thinkers, to the Creator, and most of all, to ourselves?

How right Sophia Loren was when she said, "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." And how can one not applaud Chanel, whose every word multiplies my admiration: "If you are worried about your appearance, first worry about your heart and soul, for no cosmetics can help you otherwise."

What I mean is, No! I am not trying to convince you; I am shouting out our real worth, which we know but somehow are so eager to forget, until we heal... until we learn to see our happiness through our own eyes, not through the eyes of others; until we stop tying it to fleeting criteria, move away from comparisons and exaggerations, and simplify; until we remember our value and act with this awareness... until we see in our own pupils just how beautiful we are...

Because a woman's beauty is seen in her eyes... Therefore, do not let fear or anxiety dwell in those eyes. Leave hope, confidence, tolerance, and innocence in your gaze. Let it be so that the message you give to the world reaches the Creator, reaches so that true beauties come to find us. Let them find us so that we have no time to forget what is real and what is a mirage. Let the universe shake and embrace you with all its beauty and beauties... And most importantly, be beautiful-hearted so that your beautiful heart comes to life on your face. Do not fear being cliché; shout out loud: a beautiful heart is the true representative of facial beauty.

Now, stand before the mirror and say it until you see it in your eyes:

I am beautiful…

So simple, so basic, and yet so profound...