13 Ways To ‘GLOW UP’ Physically, Mentally & Spiritually

We have probably seen ‘glow-ups’ all over social media, our fav celebs showing their glow-ups by posting throwback pictures of when they were in school looking less ‘desirable’ to now where society considers them being beautiful, or stories being shared of coming from ‘nothing’ to having everything they desire. It is important to remember that having a glow-up is more than just physical looks and materialism, in fact, a glow-up is holistic, it’s about our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being and how we transform those to be a better version of ourselves. This in turn creates happier, healthier and joyous people who are loving and accepting of themselves and others.  

How to have a glow up (Physically)

1. Do something different with your hair

They say that your hair is your crown, you can literally look like you got dressed in the dark but if you have pretty hair who cares?!

Getting your hair done can literally do wonders for your confidence and self-esteem, it can make us feel beautiful, sexy and frankly like a million dollars.

The hair itself is not only a confidence booster but you will also likely to compliments, from friends, family, colleagues and even strangers.

You can choose to do something drastic with your hair or something subtle as long as you feel comfortable with it and it makes you feel good and enhances all your beautiful features.

2. Experiment with your style

Maybe your style is bold out there or maybe you prefer plain and simple, although clothes and accessories are materialistic and how look shouldn’t be solely what’s important, how we look is important to a certain extent, for example, if you have a job interview you dress smart to make a good impression or when we go to certain places, we want to ensure we are dressed for the occasion.

‘Glowing up’ can also include changing up your style, whether that be subtly or drastically. It’s important that you wear what feels comfortable for you and suits your figure, this in itself will help you feel more confident and boost self-esteem.

3. Experiment with make-up

Make-up enhances our beauty, as well as our hair and clothes, it can make us feel confident, sexy and beautiful. Many women and men want to look their best and make-up can help us utilize our desired look.

It’s important to wear makeup that matches your complexion and enhances your features but again do what feels comfortable to you.

4. Take care of your body

Having a glow-up isn’t all about hair, makeup and clothes, we have to take care of our body and this includes exercising, eating healthy and drinking plenty of water.

Eating healthily will boost your energy, improve your complexion, prevent illness and diseases. Exercising will help you maintain a healthy weight and be fit and healthy and drinking plenty of water replenishes your body, is brilliant for helping with ance and blemishes.

5. Develop a skin care routine

Healthy skin can be such a confidence boost; when our skin is clear and glowing, we won’t feel like we have to wear make-up, and we will likely get compliments it can boost our self-esteem.

Healthy skin can do the following:

• Prevents your skin from looking dull
• Provides you with a glow
• Manages and prevents acne
• keeps you looking youthful
• prevents hyperpigmentation

It is important to work out a skin routine that works well for you and your skin type, this means you may have to try some products that you find are not that suitable for you. Be patient as you will find the best products for you, and remember that consistency is key!

How to have a glow up (mentally)

6. Love yourself

The best relationship you will ever have is the relationship you have with yourself. Loving yourself (especially when you had little love for yourself previously) is the ultimate glow-up! When we love ourselves, we radiate confidence, are happy and have high self-esteem. We recognise that we are not perfect but we lovingly accept our flaws while actively working on areas that we could improve on.

Loving ourselves also means that we know our worth and will be less tolerant of behaviours, situations and people that do not serve us meaning we attract healthier relationships in all aspects of our lives.

7. Adapt a positive mindset

Adapting a positive mindset can support your glow-up; when we adopt a positive mindset, it can change how we see life and therefore change our experiences.

A positive mindset means that we are more grateful, we focus on solutions rather than problems and you see more good in the world than we do bad.

• You can start and end your day with positive affirmations
• Banish negative self-talk
• Surround yourself with positive people
• Look for positives, even in negative situations

8. Avoid negativity and drama

Have you ever had a friend that brings negativity and drama to your life? You can begin to feel exhausted with all the negative situations happening and it can literally drain all your energy and even get you sick with stress and worry. This can also be true for a negative mindset; we can begin to be overwhelmed by. Like attracts likes and if we are constantly negative we are likely to attract more negativity to our lives.

Avoiding negativity and drama can bring much-needed peace in your life as well as protecting your well-being and energy.

9. Take time for self- care

In our face paced busy lives, self-care is important for our health and well-being and self-care will also support your glow-up.

Many individuals will practice self-care differently, and some may even have interpreted different meanings of what self-care means for them. Ultimately, it plays a crucial role in your glow-up because it enables us to look after our emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. Self-care practices can include: 

• Pampering
• Eating healthy foods
• Treating yourself 
• Meditating 
• Relaxing 
• Doing things you enjoy and that bring you pleasure 
• Retail therapy

10. Build self-esteem

Self-esteem is how we think and feel about ourselves, so it can take a hit if you have been hurt and mistreated and we will likely need to work on building it back up.

Having healthy self-esteem is a component of loving ourselves and glowing up as we are more resilient and able to cope with life’s challenges more effectively.  Having low self-esteem can be harmful to our well-being and also discourage personal growth.  

The NHS  recommends the following to build confidence and self-esteem:

– Learning to say ‘no’

– Giving yourself a challenge

– Being assertive

– Recognising what you are good at

How to have a glow up (spiritually)

11. Emotional healing

Another good way to have a glow-up is to heal from things that have caused us hurt and pain as this can hold us back and keep us from experiencing things that can bring us joy and peace. This hurt and pain can also keep us filled with anger, resentment, distrustfulness, and bitterness, which are all low vibrational emotions which will not serve us in the long run.

12. Doing shadow work

Carl Jung founded the concept of the ‘inner shadow’. He explained how it’s the n dark side of our personality, thus our ‘shadow self’ is parts of ourselves that we do not like and try to hide and often suppress this part of ourselves in our unconscious mind.

As humans, we genuinely want people to see the best in us, we reveal parts of ourselves that we know people will favour and reject the parts that we consider ‘bad’. Our dark side can include jealousy, greed, selfishness, hatred, and resentment and shadow work means working our dark side of ourselves.

There are many benefits to doing this, such as improved relationships with others, greater compassion and empathy, acceptance of ourselves, accepting responsibility, avoiding victim mentality and better regulations of our emotions.

13. Letting go of our need for control

Letting go our need for control is understanding and accepting that we are not in control and that we cannot control everything. Once we accept this then we can live a more harmonious, peaceful life, because we eliminate the fear and anxiety that comes with thinking that we have to control everything. Letting go means desires come to us more easily, we are more content and grateful for what we have and we are less likely to experience negative emotions. We accept our situations for what they are, meaning we are more likely to move forward.

14. Look within

You cannot work on your spirituality if you don’t look within. ‘Within’ lies our true, raw, authentic self, our values, morals, how we want to be seen by others, our weaknesses, and our greatest strengths. Within lies our life purpose and what’s most valuable and important to us.

To look within means to think about and question how we think and feel about things, thus seeking the answers that we cannot find in our external world.  

Final thoughts

Essentially, I guess we could say that a glow-up represents growth and maturity and is subjective, your glow-up may look different to the next person. A glow-up is positive as long as you are doing it for the right reasons, for yourself and not to please others or be someone who society, social media or the internet says you should be.