Camille On Beauty.

Meet Camille. She's 19, loves the Dalai Lama, does the New York Times crossword puzzle every day without fail, & is currently learning German. She recently transferred to my all women's college in Southern California from Indiana University, and has met more boys here in the past two months than any of us who have already been here for a year. Camille took a few minutes to talk to me about what she considers beautiful. Here's what she had to say...

What does beauty mean to you?
It’s one of those concepts that is to each his own. Everyone has a different concept of beauty. That’s why its so fun to sit with a group of people and to hear someone say "I think _____ is so beautiful" and have others just not get it. For some, beauty’s on the outside, or inside, or both. There’s striking beauty, then beauty that only comes through once you’ve only really gotten to know someone,and then the beauty that develops…

What makes you feel beautiful?
I think being comfortable. I was going to say happy, but then there have been times where I haven’t been extremely happy but I’ve felt beautiful anyway. And there are some things that are so sad but are so beautiful. It' s a balance. Beauty is an asymetrical balance. If it’s completely balanced symmetrically then it's just there and it's uniform. But beauty to me is not uniformity. It’s so much more.

What is beauty?
It’s holistic. It’s on the outside and the inside, but it’s a complete understanding of the self. It’s how all of your parts work together, how the parts are combined and offset each other. They don’t balance eachother but keep rubbing off on each other and playing off each other. It’s never complete. It’s not perfection. The word beauty itself is an imperfection.

How do you feel about makeup?
It’s an absolutely amazing tool to accentuate your features,but that’s all it should do. It shouldn’t cover you up or completely change you. My philosophy is that I’m never going to wear makeup where I’m unrecognizable when I have it on or when I have it off. I don't want to look different when I'm not wearing makeup. Makeup should be all about you, not about who other people want you to be.

What makes you feel beautiful?
Love. Being confident. Yes, love, because if you love yourself and have love for other people and if other people love you too you just feel beautiful. Also, a person in love is more beautiful than they’ve veer been. They’re all over just look and feel better. It’s that extra glow.

How do you make yourself feel better after having a bad day?
Either talking to someone or just sitting down with a cup of tea and being by myself. Usually it’s some sort of escape, like reading the Dalai Lama’s books or the New York Times, or doing the crossword puzzle! That’s my zen. It’s usually mind things more than physical things.

Who’s the most beautiful person you know and why?
It’s a 3 way tie between my mom, my brother, and my best friend. I think they’re all beautiful people. It’s the love thing. I feel like all three of them have such good balance and they balance me. They’re anchors.They’re really comfortable with their person and we’re comfortable in our relationships. It’s just a really good balance. We offset each other, bump up against each other, make each other stronger. Whenever I talked about any of them I talk about how beautiful they are!

Do you wear perfume? Do you believe in a signature scent or changing it up based on your mood?
I had this perfume that I loved and it was MY SCENT. I wore it all the time. It was Calvin Klein One Summer. I found it in Chicago, but it’s a summer only limited edition! My mom ordered it for me from Hawaii for Christmas and it was the best thing in the world, I wore it all the time. And then this guy confessed his love for me and commented on my “special smell” that he couldn’t just get over. So now I can’t wear it anymore cause now I think of him! So I am on the hunt. And I’m trying but I just can’t wear anything else! Not only has he ruined half of my favorite songs, but my favorite scent too.

How do you feel about boys and beauty?
Men and women are both attracted to feminine features. Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom have such feminine features! If a guy isn’t afraid to say “she’s beautiful”instead of “hot ass” and also to really appreciate their own concept of beauty, then you know they're a keeper. That’s one thing about my brother that I love. We’ll be watching MTV and my brother will see the before pictures on MADE and talk about how beautiful the girl is. Before they put all that makeup on her he saw her beauty. It takes courage in the culture that we have today for a guy to say a person who isn’t conventionally beautiful IS beautiful to them.


What are your favorite beauty products?
They’re so simple! I like plain blue Chapstick moisturizer,or Smith’s minted Rosebud Salve. Bare Escentuals is my staple. I just like the simple stuff. I love being tan in the summer and just swiping on some mascara! I love nail polish. Also, egg white and lanolin soap. It’s Swedish and it’s the best in the world!

Thank you, Camille!