I started using the term “beauty self-esteem” after a journalist asked me to describe the psychological difference between attractiveness and beauty.
She asked, “Why do some people feel attractive even if they don’t have model-like features, whereas as others — like some fashion models, onscreen actors and others known for their beauty — don’t necessarily feel that way?” I told the journalist physical features are only a part of what makes a person attractive, and her question was more about a person’s “beauty self-esteem.”
You, too, might find this term useful in thinking about how you feel about your appearance. You see, attractiveness is more complicated than meets the eye, an issue I have written about in previous posts here. It is helpful to remember that beauty is both a physical and psychological experience. It is based on three qualities:
How we actually look (genetics)
How we take care of ourselves (health and grooming)
How we feel about how we look (positive self-regard)
The combination of these qualities is what I call “beauty self-esteem.” Having one of them (good genes, for example) without the others (good grooming o