Glamour magazine has released 11 covers for its February digital issue showing the changing faces of beauty, including a model with a monobrow and a woman who grew a full beard aged 16.
All the models on the cover of the magazine’s ‘Self Love’ issue for February styled themselves, in the way the wanted to be perceived, and spoke to the magazine about what beauty means to them.
Acid attack victim and activist Katie Piper, was among the faces photographed as well as up-and-coming model Jeyza Gary from North Carolina, who has a rare condition that makes her skin shed every two weeks.
Meanwhile, body image activist and writer Stephanie Yeboah from London revealed the prejudices she encounters as a black, plus-size woman.
Here, Femail looks at five of the 11 cover stars.
Harnaam Kaur: The youngest ever woman with a beard
Now 29, Harnaam Kaur first gained fame at age 16 when she became a body image activist after deciding not to shave her beard, which grew as a result of polycystic ovaries syndrome
Now 29, Harnaam Kaur first gained fame at age 16 when she became a body image activist after deciding not to shave her beard, which grew as a result of polycystic ovaries syndrome.
Glamour describes the Slough-born model as ‘one individual who has completely flipped beauty standards on their head.
The covergirl has also appeared in Porter magazine, and starred in a Channel 5’s documentary and has done an empowering TEDx Talk about embracing beauty.
She told the magazine: ‘All that I am doing is living my life authentically, truthfully and wholeheartedly as I see fit. We live in a society that follows and copies – and what I am doing is going against the notion of what the norm is, and being true to myself by accepting who I am and what I look like.
‘My beard is a part of me just like an arm or a leg, it does not define me. The message that I preach – of living life as a badass and valuing self acceptance – is what is important. Create your own damn rules. I do embrace my body, beard and all. I am in love with me.
Jeyza Gary: Model with rare ‘skin shedding condition’.
Jeyza Gary from Fayetteville in North Carolina, was born with a rare skin disorder called lamellar ichthyosis, which causes her skin to shed every two weeks.
But the 21-year-old doesn’t let it define her. She’s become the first ichthyosis model and has posed for Vogue Italia as well as recently landing a campaign with Target Swimwear.
She told Glamour: ‘You will not catch me apologising for the way I was born. I love the body I was gifted and I try to embody that in everything I do.
‘The biggest challenge I face is owning my confidence. We all know that we have days where we feel so beautiful it can’t be denied. On the contrary, we have days where we just can’t pull our outfit together or our hair refuses to be tamed. This makes confidence a slippery slope.
‘Perception is reality, so, I might think I am confident and fearless, but other people might view my confidence as conceit or haughtiness.’
Jeyza Gary from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was born with a rare skin disorder called lamellar ichthyosis, which causes her skin to shed every two weeks
Sophia Hadjipanteli, model turning heads with her monobrow
Glamour describes 23-year-old Sophia Hadjipanteli’s eyebrows as the ‘most talked about in the world’.
The model, who grew up between the UK and US, is largely recognised for her black monobrow, which has shook up conversation since she started the #unibrowmovement in 2017.
She said: ‘From a young age, most people are taught to get rid of their body hair. People grow up with the mentality that a few extra hairs on our eyebrows are something to be ashamed of. I am so honoured that my #UnibrowMovement has encouraged people of all ages from all over the world, to view eyebrows and body hair differently.
‘My black unibrow and light blonde hair is not a combination for everyone, but it is definitely for me. It always has been and always will be. I am extremely proud to be who I am in a society where we are constantly pressured to be what everyone else wants.
Glamour describes 23-year-old Sophia Hadjipanteli’s eyebrows as the ‘most talked about in the world’. The model is largely recognised for her black monobrow, which has shook up conversation since she started the #unibrowmovement in 2017
Stephanie Yeboah: Plus-sized model, and Author of Fattily Ever After: The Fat, Black Girls’ Guide to Living Life Unapologetically
Author and activist Stephanie Yeboah, 30, is one of the most prominent voices of the body-confidence movement.
She starterd her popular blog popular, Nerd About Town, in 2008 and this has lead to a book deal, with her debut Fattily Ever After: The Fat, Black Girls’ Guide to Living Life Unapologetically set for release this year.
The plus-sized model from London told Glamour that just ‘existing in her body’ is a political statement.
‘Living within a couple of intersections, such as being a larger plus-sized, darker-skinned black woman with an Afro, means that I’ve had to live with a variety of different tropes and stereotypes being forced upon me by society.
‘And by me defying those stereotypes and ideologies put upon bigger/darker women (such as being “lazy”, “aggressive”, “unattractive”, “sexy”, “dominant”‘, “dirty” and “ugly”), I see that as me challenging what the traditional concept of beauty should look like.
She added that she faces unsolicited opinions about her health and that people telling her she’s going to die when shes’s 40 which is ‘the hardest thing to process’.
Author and activist Stephanie Yeboah, 30, has become one of the most prominent voices of the body-confidence movement since she started her blog, Nerd About Town in 2008.
Katie Piper: Acid attack survivor and activist
Perhaps the most famous face of Glamour’s 11 cover stars is Katie Piper, who was thrust into the public eye in 2008, when as a young model she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend.
She was left in a coma, and struggled with her new image so much she contemplated suicide, but she’s managed to use her new platform to turn around her traumatic experience and help others.
Just a year after her attack, she opened the Katie Piper Foundation for burns survivors.
Perhaps the most famous face in Glamour’s 11 covers, Katie Piper was thrust into the public eye in 2008, when as a young model she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend.
Now 36, and a mother-of-two, Katie is also a best-selling author and has made documentaries to raise awareness for the victims of attacks.
She’s even competed in Britain’s biggest show – Strictly Come Dancing – and says that beauty is not defined by what’s on the outside.
Katie told Glamour: ‘I find qualities such as confidence, kindness and compassion beautiful. You’re also never going to please everyone – you can be the juiciest peach in the bowl, but you’re always going to find someone who doesn’t like peaches.’
- Read the full feature in the February Digital issue of GLAMOUR UK here.