We should know our own faces better than anyone. We have grown up with them. We see them in the mirror. And yet we often fail to see the beauty that others see in us. As the great psychotherapist Carl Jung wrote, “The most terrifying thing is to accept ourselves completely.” This film, presented by the consumer products company Unilever's Dove brand, explores the difference between self-perception and the way we are seen by others by documenting an interesting experiment: a forensic artist prepared sketches based on the self descriptions of a number of women as well as portraits based on the description of people who had only just met them. The results were eye-opening.

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  • k j tourquise

    You are more beautiful than you think you are and maybe sometimes you should just take some time and appreciate what you are because in today's generation everyone is all about looks, makeup. We have 24 hours a day and maybe just take some time and look at yourself in the mirror and appreciate the beauty you have within you. Everyone is special and everyone has a special type of beauty in them. take some time and notice it.

  • RuthAnnPurchase

    the simplicity of the awakenings; the complexity of the commitments; the gift of the "other" I will definitely have a happier, healthier Native American Heritage Month now. Xeli Wanishi (many thanks) from delaware, usa

  • lynie jane cuico

    very interesting...talk about my self and think about your moves..and i see the differences between my personality.lets accept ourselves Completly , and dont think the negative comments of other just trust your self and you will gain a success...GOD help you and bless you more

  • John

    To all the girls!!! You see,You see,Now You see....Beautiful Don,t sell yourselves short.

  • HKS

    P.S. - Good thing mistakes can be beautiful accidents, because I had a typo in my post ("agree" instead of "are" ;)

  • HKS

    I work with middle schoolers, so I sent this to the staff in my building reminding them of this insecure age in a critical world, especially for girls... and telling them they agree beautiful too!

  • Lori McCollum

    I plan to show this to my clients, adolescent and young adult women in counseling. Great job!

  • Brian

    Thanks Guys. Yup. It's what we got on the inside...1love...peace

  • Sandy

    Be the Beautiful person that you are. See the beauty in others.

  • Kinneri

    A very thought provoking and inspiring video. We always look at ourselves with flaws and this impacts our self image, self worth and self-esteem. Brilliant work to help see ourselves as who we are .... beautiful!

  • Sudha

    Although we hear it a lot that one should be more appreciative of self, this video, very refreshingly demonstrates the same with a practical experiment and the whole point no longer sounds cliched but something to act upon.

  • tj

    Can't we all just enjoy an uplifting video and get the bigger message here without being negative! This is a really good video just with the simple message that we often don't see ourselves as beautiful as others see us. That's it…...

  • michele

    BRAVA ! Nancy! Just to share a hug with you! I have ALWAYS adored olive skin and dark eyed women as FAR more beautiful to me than my own typical "corn fed" blue eyed blond own looks! LOL! I love your comments! You are SOOOOO right about the shame being an epigenetic learned thing. It certainly has been around FAR FAR longer than any cosmetic or female products corporation! LOL In fact, isnt that WHY marketing to women got so big? Learning to be happy and satisfied with yourself is something we ALL need so very much to do! More than anything! Accept yourself, love yourself, and HEAL yourself! <3

  • michele

    I need to correct /edit my last statement! I meant to type " I would rather support the positivity and attempted encouragement of "all" consumers to see themselves and the world in a kinder, less critical and often MORE [not less!] accurate way! - See more at: http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3964 #sthash.qxxrcm6m.dpuf

  • Michele

    I wasnt going to comment here, but after reading the frankly surprisingly cynical and dismissive attitudes expressed I HAD to-felt compelled to actually DEFEND a [choke] Corporations "productions!" Geeeze maneeze! Only one commenter here [Ursula] actually "got it"! I'm wondering how many of the women who felt compelled to respons so negatively to this "project ad" have lived so well never buying or selling anything? LOL I wonder how many of these sourpusses managed to grow up in the USA or any developed world completely detched and "free" from their legacy of consumerism and "self image" marketability? Let me hear from each of you that you never wanted or enjoyed getting pretty dresses, shoes, haircuts and makeup EVER !? How wel these comments point out EXACTLY what this alleged commercial is pointing out! [rahter than selling you ANYTHING!?] Every critic had loads to complain about and criticize! In my opinion, you all completely failed to see the point entirely! You all need to search your OWN self images a wee bit more positively methinks! I am ABSOLUTELY no fan of the corporate consumerism we ALL grew up with and allow to continue to this day! But in MY honest and humble opiion, I have seen several efforts by Dove to change the way we think about ourselves for the BETTERMENT and the positive potential each human has! I think they are being brave and maybe even getting the notion that corproations can be ethical and HUMAN DRIVEN. Isn't that better than the historic "beauty is what WE tell/sell you" approach? And lets face it, they're at least trying [allowing] their potential consumers to THINK ! Methinks these critical women are not seeing the forest for the trees! Is this what you would say to your 12 year old daughter if she showed you this video and wanted to know what you thought? So you'd toss the inherent positie message out for the sake of upholding your own [possibly outdated unchanged since high school] attitudes? I applaud the Dove company for taking the time and spending the money on this project! I dont even use regular soap, and as a child I was allergic to Ivory soap! LOL I would rather support the positivity and attempted encouragement of all consumers to see themselves and the world in a kinder, less critical and often less accurate way!

  • Nancy Di Giorgio

    Shame is epigenetically taught. I went to a consultant to help me enhance my outer appearance:makeup/dress. Feel such gratitude to her NOW finally thanks to your article! She RESURRECTED my TRUE inner appearance. She asked me to describe myself. I said with shame I had olive skin (Icelandic mother's constant mantra). Brown hair/eyes: I favored my Italian father. I was not Nordic looking: alabaster skin/ blues eyes/blond hair. Not acceptable. Shocked,the consultant said YOU ARE FAIR SKINNED! Double whammy: my short Italian father ashamed I was taller than he convinced me I was an amazon. In reality I was anorexic and wore clothes that were two sizes larger. Went on to be the 1st Woman named VP for my 150 year old company. Seeing self as acceptable creates great change in the outer world. I work for love and Peace in the world as I see myself as beautiful and if we all did out world would reflect this as Justice for All.

  • Becky

    This video makes me really sad about the state of some (if not many) women's esteem and body image. I think personal hygiene companies have done a number on our collective esteem, and what should be seen and embraced as the natural aging process. I find it really ironic that a personal product company would create a campaign for beauty, when they have been one of the leaders in the industry, capitalizing on women's feelings of inadequacy. I can see the beauty in the revelation of these women, and I also see the irony of the messenger. I accept my very mixed feelings about this.

  • Cindy

    I totally disagree that this is profit-motivated. Where did they say you should use their products? Seems to me it's simply an instructional experiment in self imaging...and an important tool for all of us to realize we need to stop looking at our flaws and concentrate on those traits that are appealing, both physical and non-physical. I don't use soap at all, but I appreciate this company's willingness to conduct this little experiment.

  • himanshu

    It is a great ad trick in disguise. The maker wants to make you feel that you are better than what you think about yourself. This will make us feel better and make us indulge in buying few more cosmetics and eventually company will get few more customers, who earlier stopped buying things because they thought its of no use. . But again, this is complete opposite of saying "beauty is within". This video wants you to bealive that beauty is on your skin.

  • Donald

    To quote Kahlil Gibran "Beauty is not in the face, Beauty is a light in the heart" and I think the video was attempting to show us that and has an important message for every man and woman. As in one person describing how a person's eyes lit up when talking. We cannot see ourselves in this way and neither can we make our own eyes light up. Only when we are confident and have passion for our beliefs and for the things we love will our faces tell a story that we ourselves cannot see. Thank you for sharing this story.

  • Shannon Page

    I agree that the miracle is within. However, I stand by that this video lacks integrity and offers a poor notion of body-positivity. Sure, this video may not blatantly sexualize the female body in a way that a Dolce and Gabbana Perfume advertisement does, but how is hygiene not connected to sex appeal? Does the video not end with one of the woman being embraced by a man? In this video, Dove is essentially encouraging women to buy into (pun intended) standards of hygiene in order to obtain body positivity. So, by supporting this video on “body-positivity”, we are supporting these standards of hygiene. Yet, we need to ask if abiding by patriarchal-instituted standards of hygiene can sustain authentic body-positivity. Or can the body-positivity that Dove products offer be washed off just as easily as the Dove product itself? This video focuses solely on the women's physical appearances. This implies that all confidence in a woman derives from liking her chin, liking her eyebrows. Yet this is further perpetrating society's fixation on aesthetics. It sends the message to women that loving your physical body will lead to total body-positivity. Yet, body-positivity is not that formulated and simple. Although it is refreshing to see that self-confidence is possibly an intended message for once in an ad, Dove still advocates a rigid and one-dimensional way to achieve that body-positivity. Fixating on aesthetics to obtain body-positivity is just as offensive as fixating on aesthetics to sell a product. It is the fixation on aesthetics that needs to be challenged for the sake of female empowerment.

  • kelly

    I have heard the criticism of this video and campaign and I'm distressed by it. I think this is fascinating, beautiful and brilliant. and TRUE. howe we see ourselves is NOT the same as others see us. We should see ourselves as beautiful!! Dove may be trying to make a profit, but I'd rather give my money to a company that helps raise the positive vibrations than a company that markets blatant sex or something else that is demeaning. Making a profit is not an evil thing. and pointing out that we judge ourselves too harshly is not either. Dove can't change the world over night. The industry, the machine, the culture, the dogma and religion of vanity and self hate is far bigger than one company. It won't change over night. But Dove is doing more than other companies with similar products. How is this different than Nike's just do it campaign? clearly they are implying, albeit subtley, that we need their shoes to reach our personal fitness goals. or that we should all have those fitness goals. wait. should I be offended that Nike is trying to make money off of my inferiority complex!?? THIS CAMPAIGN BY DOVE IS FABULOUS!! THANK YOU DOVE!!!

  • Ursula

    Hey Shannon! So I read your comments, and yes of course, there is definite profit-making motives here. However, that doesn't mean that the message isn't an inspirational one! Let Dove make money - that's their function as a corporation, and hey, people gotta maintain hygiene somehow! But let women for once feel good about themselves! Let women rise above objectification and sex appeal. Every woman is more than their bodies! Nobody needs products to be beautiful - the miracle is within!

  • Shannon Page

    This video was made by the corporation, Dove, to sell their products to women. I'm sad to see it on karmatube. This is a product of capitalism, not body-positivity advocacy. Rebecca Billings sums it up really well in her article from The Ithacan: "When Dove courageously showed us their curvaceous, nude models, they all had luminous, moisturized skin. When Dove sold us deodorant that would make our armpits beautiful, they first had to convince us that our armpits were ugly. And when they let us know that 'We are more beautiful than we think,' they were taking advantage of the fact that we all think we’re a little bit ugly, a fact that has been ingrained in our minds since birth by the beauty industry and by skin and hair care companies that show us close-up images of our dry skin and split ends, then reassure us that their products provide hope to abolish such atrocities. Next time we go to Wegman’s to pick out a body wash that will get rid of our B.O. and our other three million invented imperfections, we’re going to see the Dove logo and flash back to the video that made us realize, on the most insincere level, that we are pretty. We’ll be overwhelmed by that sense of self-love and gratitude for the company that wants our money, and we’ll give it to them." Please think critically about this video and read this article: http://theithacan.org/32327

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  • Watch Gil Zamora, the forensic artist whose artwork drove the experiment, discuss his participation and the lessons he learned.
  • Self-image is often a function of social conditioning. Read the story of the teen girl who forced Seventeen Magazine to stop airbrushing photographs of the models who appear in their pages.
  • Remind your friends that they are beautiful – and remind yourself of the same thing.

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