I’m admittedly guilty of checking myself whenever I happen to pass by a mirror. 90% of this knee-jerk reaction is due to the fact that my teeth are perfectly set to catch any and all food, but the rest is out of pure concern for my appearance. Is my hair getting too flat? Is my eyeliner smudging? Why is my nose constantly peeling throughout the summer?
How would my preoccupation with monitoring my image fare if I challenged myself to avoid mirrors for maybe a day or two? How about one year? That’s what bloggers Autumn Whitefield-Madrano and Kjerstin Gruys did and the change was remarkable. Click through to learn more about their experience and how the media is taking it.
Autumn Whitefield-Madrano told The Guardian that she took on this “mirror fasting” project when she realized she had developed the “mirror face”.
Whenever I saw my reflection I’d open my eyes a little wider, suck in my cheeks a little and tip my chin down in an effort to make myself look more like I wanted to. It made me feel really vain.
After this discovery, she set out to change her self-conscious behavior. For a month, she strayed from all mirrors “… to see how much my mood was affected by the way I perceived my looks.” It wasn’t easy displacing an element she was naturally used to, but after that month, she felt “calmer and more serene.” Now she plans on partaking in mirror fasting annually.
Whitefield-Madrano’s friend, Kjerstin Gruys, also tried out mirror fasting after her wedding preparations put pressure on her self-perception and shopping for a dress “triggered a renewed – and very unwelcome – sense of vain insecurity.” But Gruys took it to the next level – no mirrors for an entire year leading up to her wedding. She even refused to look at photographs of herself! How did her experiment leave her feeling?
I’ve managed to better separate my looks from my self-esteem. This is probably the most powerful secret to feeling beautiful.
Many news outlets have confronted the idea of avoiding mirrors head-on. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor, posited that checking the mirror is an affirmation, not a chance to pick out imperfections. “Make no mistake about it, this is a visual society, and how we present ourselves opens up the doors for job interviews, dating, etc…”
Tyra Banks made a guest appearance on Good Morning America to discuss the mirror fasting trend and disagreed with the experiment right off the bat. “I’m not for that. I always tell women that the mirror is not the enemy.” She believes that imperfections are beautiful, and by avoiding your own appearance, you are letting the image-obsessed media win. Watch the entire discussion here.
Although I do think that the detractors have a point concerning the advancement of careers and open-minded concepts of beauty, I can’t see any harm in the act or any risk these women are taking. It is their prerogative to better themselves and the mindsets that they felt were on the brink of overtaking them wholly. To have gotten to this point, they must have been unhappy with how hooked onto their appearance they were. Detoxing insecurity has many methods, and this extreme take was solely for them, not everyone else, to confront their struggles.
Experts suggest that mirror fasting could provide a temporary improvement in mood towards your appearance and it will eventually stabilize back to your usual state of self-consciousness. So if you plan on embarking on this unconventional project in self-improvement, you could take the advice of Whitefield-Madrano and revisit mirror fasting once a year.
What is your take on mirror fasting? Would you try it and for how long?
guest
what if you have something in your teeth?
guest
I don’t think I can avoid mirrors entirely for a month. I mean, what about seeing your reflection in store windows? Or any shiny surface?
guest
so i’m assuming they didn’t wear make up for that time either? aside from easy application stuff like tinted moisturizer or whatever I can’t imagine that make up would even be a feasible option.
guest
i see no reason to do it. not everyone is that obsessed with how they look.
hydrangea / 64 posts
I am all for the idea except for the fact that we live in a society where your appearance is linked to your success.
I would be able to do this if I were on vacation from my job, but as a teacher, the way you look, especially when dealing with teenagers and parents is a very important thing to keep in mind.
Perhaps, instead of fully staying away from mirrors, lessening the amount of times you check yourself? I could see completely trying to stay away as simply replacing the anxiety or even adding to it instead of ridding it.
guest
Everytime I pass by my reflection, I have to check it as well. I hate how it may make me look vain, but it really is because I’m insecure and have to check to make sure I look alright.
Knowing that I can’t check how I look would probably just make me even more insecure. I could work on looking in the mirror less, but doing it for days? NO WAY.
guest
I don’t really like to look at myself in a mirror so I think I could be fine with doing this haha
guest
Unless you spend hours obsessing over your appearance, I don’t see how this benefits anyone? I wear make-up to work because it makes me look put-together and professional, and not like I’ve just rolled out of bed. I think things like this are a good idea in theory, but in practise it’s a whole other kettle of fish.
daffodil / 1615 posts
I work in a store that sells sunglasses, so naturally we have a ton of mirrors sooooo I couldn’t really do this even if I wanted to unless I didn’t want to work at all
That said, I don’t check myself out every time I pass by a mirror or reflective surface, and when I do look in a mirror, I don’t scrutinize my appearance and pick out every small flaw that I have. So yeah, this would be unnecessary for me.
guest
I’ve done it for 3 months it was the best summer ever!
rose / 934 posts
I did this for almost a month when I had bad acne as a means of helping me to stop pick. I didn’t stop afterwards entirely but I definitely really reduced it, and it made me feel a bit more comfortable with myself because I couldn’t obsess over every single detail – I only had the blurriest of impressions as to what my overall face looked like. Right now I avoid looking in reflections when I am out of the house UNLESS from a distance because I still have red marks and some scarring so I don’t want to upset myself in public if I don’t like how it looks. If I do see myself I only check myself out if I am fixing my hair/outfit. At home I will look in the mirror but I want to get to a place where I only use the mirror to see my whole body and not up-close (I still zoom in and examine my face and pick at clogs
) and then using a compact for eye makeup application. And I want to be able to not need the mirror if I am not going out or not wearing makeup, at most using it just to fix my hair.
It actually DOES help psychologically to not look in the mirror that often.
guest
I read an article in a Whole Living magazine of someone who did a “mirror fast.” Not only avoiding mirrors, she avoided looking in store windows, car windows, and etc. She did use a 1 inch square mirror to do her makeup. It was just big enough so she could see one feature at a time.
I would consider doing it. As the magazine article pointed out, we use mirrors to confirm how we are feeling. How many times after we cry do we look in a mirror, like we need to see ourselves and confirm that we actually are upset. Or when we’re having a good time, look in the mirror to see how happy we are, when we’re in the bathroom.