Je suis une femme de taille forte, aka plus-size et de nos jours je pense qu'il est important de parler de la diversité corporelle et de l'importance d'être bien dans sa peau. Nous sommes, parfois, prisent dans un monde où nous sommes bombardées de standards de beauté : mince, mais pas trop mince, grande mais pas trop grande... non je ne crois pas que le corps peut être basé sur un seul gabarit, nous sommes toutes différentes et c'est ce qui fait notre beauté.
Donc aujourd'hui je parle d'acceptation de soi, de positivisme, de l'importance de la représentation de toutes les tailles, de plus-size fashion et de confiance en soi, tout ça en franglais (but mostly in english) avec la fabuleuse : Kim.
Kim est maquilleuse, modèle taille plus, body acceptance advocate, founder of @montrealplussizecommunity : une communauté Instagram qui prône l'acceptation de soi, and so much more if you want to learn more about her keep on reading!
LRMK : Hi Kim, i followed your page back in 2016 when you was modeling for NiasBoutique (une boutique de vêtements Montréalaise), i loved what you was about: body positivity, self-love and of course plus size fashion, and you also have a YouTube page where you do makeup tutorial. Talk to us more about you.
Kim : I do believe I am an advocate for self love. I think it’s important that every woman love herself, because it’s such an important step, not just in the relationship between you and yourself, but every relationship you’ll ever have. The way you love yourself will determine how you let others treat you.
LRMK : Definitely, i truly believe that when people feel that you are confident they won't be able to put you down.
Can we call you a body acceptance advocate? Do you think that in Montreal we are missing body positivity ambassadors and visibility in the plussize community?
Kim: As far as how to get more visibility, I think we need to make more noise, let the media, the city of Montreal, and surrounding towns and cities know that we ARE here and we have a voice that we’d like to be heard. I hope to bring more plus size events and more media coverage for us : plus size men and women who are constantly being overlooked. We are tired and we want change. We want to see more people like us doing great things in Montreal.
LRMK : You are plus size and you are all about representation, not long ago you started the project: Montreal Plus size Community a place where we as plus size women are represented and I believe that it’s very important. I think, compare to the US, we are behind as far as being well represented in the media what do you think?
Kim: I do feel that if we are comparing things to the US, I’d say yes, but if it’s just a comparison between Montreal past and present, I’d say we have a lot now, more than we did 5 years ago. Now when I go out I see so much more beautiful plus size women doing their thing, living their lives by their own rules and not caring what others have to say. They are not letting society dictate how their life should go based on how much they weight. I love to see it!
LRMK : As a plus size woman of course you inspired me, i would like to know who inspires you on a daily basis?
Kim : To be honest I get inspiration from everywhere and everyone, just people being their 100% authentic self. That is not the easiest thing to do in 2018 especially if you’re a Plus size person. So anyone doing their thing, living their lives, in their truth, It’s so inspiring to me.
My main inspiration however, is my mom. She is my daily, and biggest inspiration. A lot of who I am i learned from her. She is the kindest person I know. She has always encouraged me, she always told me how beautiful I am, she also taught me that the only person’s opinion that should matter in my life outside of God is my own. She is such a remarkable woman, and I wouldn’t be the woman I am today had it not been for her. Shoutout to all the moms that lift their children up. Instead of picking at their flaws and breaking them down. Building up your children from an early age will not only benefit their self esteem but it will benefit every corner of their lives.
LRMK : Absolutely, i think that our parents plays a big role in our self esteem and that's a very important part of our confidence.
LRMK : What would you say are the most important things to know when dealing with body insecurities?
Kim : That you are imperfectly perfect. You don’t have to look like anyone else to be beautiful. If you were meant to look like someone else, you would’ve been born with an identical twin. Also that, everyone is dealing with their own insecurities. It’s normal for us to judge others based on how we feel about ourselves. So why would you let someone else’s insecurity become your own? Why waste another moment worrying what others will think or say. Life is short, we are all battling with something, but at the end of the day, being anything but happy is a waste of a life. Do what makes you happy, wear what makes you feel good. God wouldn’t have created you the way he did, had he thought you were anything short of beautiful. As long as you’re happy, and not causing any kind of harm to yourself, or others, DO YOU!
It helps also to surround yourself with people who have the same thoughts as you. People who think you are awesome. Surround yourself with a positive environment and people with positive energy. The ones that make you smile and forget about the little insignificant things in life.
LRMK : Je suis une plus-size et avoir confiance en soi est une chose assez difficile surtout aujourd’hui où nous ne sommes pas nécessairement les standards de beautés populaires. Quels ont été les obstacles les plus difficiles auxquels tu as dû faire face en tant que plus-size et comment as-tu fais pour les surmonter? How do you overcome insecurities related to bullying, body shaming in the plus size community?
Kim : I think the biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome was myself. You are your biggest critic. So just getting myself to see the beauty in me, in the beginning was difficult. It still is sometimes, because I’m not always mentally strong. It’s still a daily struggle, but when I’m in a situation where I’m feeling insecure I remind myself the only persons opinion that matters is mine and right now I think I’m the dopest and the most beautiful, even when I don’t necessarily believe or feel it. It’s still a struggle to keep my confidence on some days because life can be a rollercoaster. But as long as you keep practicing self love and body acceptance you’ll be ok, even on the days you don’t necessarily feel it or believe in yourself.
I can’t say I’ve had too many body shaming incidents, or I guess it just doesn’t bother me what other people have to say about my body. They are not the ones that deal with the good and bad, ups and downs of my body. It still catches me off guard but it just doesn’t have the desired effect on me. I also feel that because I’ve taken away the power that the word FAT is supposed to have over me, it doesn’t hurt me anymore. I’ve accepted that I am fat. I have taken away the negative connotation from the word. It is just another adjective to describe my body, much like tall or short.
I strongly believe in the law of attraction, I do believe that what ever you focus on is what you attract more of. Focus more on the positive and you will attract the positive. Anytime you get a few idiots through the cracks you cuss em if you have to and carry on with your day.
Bullying is never acceptable and it will never make your problems disappeared by being mean or nasty to someone. I don’t always agree with everything I see but when it comes to any negativity, if it’s not going to change my bank account or my family’s living or financial situation I leave it alone. Life would be so peaceful if the rest of the world thought the same way. Basically everyone should mind their own “funky business”.
LRMK : You've point out a lot of good points there, especially when you say ''focus more on the positive and you will attract the positive'' i see that you also have a Youtube channel and an instagram makeup page; that's a very good way to focus on the positive. Depuis quand as-tu débuté dans le monde du maquillage? .
Kim : Yes I do. I started learning makeup in the summer of 2009.
I saw this girl one day when I was taking the metro and fell in love with her makeup. Before that I use to wear only foundation, maybe a lil blush, so I didn’t know that eyeshadow could be so beautiful. From that day YouTube has been my best friend. I spent hours upon hours infront of the computer screen. Since that first day makeup has always been a passion. I’m always learning and trying new techniques and improving my skills.
LRMK : Tu as beaucoup de talent et le maquillage est une superbe façon de s'exprimer. Entant que Youtubeuse quel a été ton plus beau moment et quels sont tes futurs projets reliés à Youtube?
Kim: I’m just surprised that so many people are subscribed to my channel and watch my videos. My biggest plan for my channel is figuring out how to be consistent with my content. Once I’ve figured out how to balance YouTube with my everyday life, the possibilities will be endless.
LRMK : Yes!!! looking foward for the future for your YouTube channel maybe some lookbook, outfit of the day since you are very into fashion, what is your top 3 plus size brands, where do you shop the most?
Kim : There are so many to choose from now. It’s not like before where the choice were very little. There is too much to choose from.
Plus size clothing stores :
Pretty little thing
Boohoo
Rebdolls
Gs loves me
Shop luv yours
Iheartposhshoppe
Forever21
Torrid
Ashley Stuart
Additionnelle
ASOS
Charlotte Russe
& Soooo many more.
The ones I buy from the most are forever21 and boohoo.
LRMK : My favourite is also Forever21. To conclude the interview Kim can you let us know what is next for you as far as modeling?
Kim : Well I will be modeling for the rip the runway fashion show that will be held on October 6th 2018. Stay tuned if you’d like to know what’s next for me.
LRMK : What!! rip the runway, wow girl you are going places that's awesome! Girl you got my support for sure!
LRMK : Thank you so much Kim for being a part of LaRemarkable today, and thank you for working towards a common goal wish is body acceptance and plus size representation. I'm very honored to have you in the #Remarkable family.
Hey les #remarkables merci d'avoir lu cette entrevue et si tu veux suivre Kim voici ci-dessous ses différentes plateformes, pour les amoureuses de maquillage visitez sa page Youtube !
Contact :
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpwWp6GfaE&feature=youtu.be
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kimiishaasoleyn/
Instagram MUA : https://www.instagram.com/makeupbykimiishaa/
Instagram Montreal plussize Community : https://www.instagram.com/montrealplussizecommunity/
Tickets for Rip the Runway Fashion Show : https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/rip-the-runway-montreal-2018-tickets-48855096910
Disclaimer : Ce n'est pas parce que je prône l'acceptation de soi, la diversité corporelle ou la confiance en soi que c'est synonyme de : je prône l'obésité, loin de là. S'aimer tel qu'on est c'est beaucoup mieux que de se détester, car lorsque l'on s'aime on désire le meilleur pour soi et on désire prendre davantage soin de soi! it's your body, love it and cherish it and forget about negative comments.
i want y'all to know that you are all beautiful in your own way