Women Empowered: Verity Pitts
Verity Pitts is the founder of The Body Confidence Issue, a blog focusing on the reality behind the screen - lumps, bumps, warts and all! The blog’s main focus is encouraging women to be comfortable and confident in the skin they’re in, so we caught up with Verity to see what inspired her to love those gorgeous imperfections.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The fact that no two days are ever the same, growing up with depression I always struggled, I had a lot of health issues alongside this and the hardest part of the day was getting up but ever since I had sepsis my mindset has changed, you’ve got to try and bring the good out of every day because it’s a bad day not a bad life, we’ve all been there felt a certain way and now I feel excited to live, explore, make new memories and just create the life I want to live!
What gets you through tougher moments in the day?
My best friend, hats off to Chelsea, she’s a diamond, she’s been with me at my lowest and she just helps me through anything, she is very good at reminding me that its not going to last and look at the fun and the memories we have already made together!! She always knows what to say!
A nice boiling hot bath, films in bed and facemasks do the trick too! Just that down time that we all forget to take, we all forget to take the me time we need and sometimes this does the trick especially after a pep talk with Chelsea!!
Do you have a motivational mantra? What is it and when do you use it?
Oh yeah, I have a few I think but one I use daily is “one year equals 365 days of different possibilities” it gives me that motivation to continue instead of wallowing in self-pity or feeling sorry myself its gives me the imagination to create something and make something of everyday!! I’ll be honest I downloaded an app that snips one second of your everyday throughout the year and when I get down, I look at it and I’m like wow I’ve achieved a lot!!
You’re a busy woman - how do you make sure you find time for self-care?
This is something I’m not very good at!! I’m always helping other people, doing something, picking up an extra shift because someone can’t do it or is poorly… I don’t ever give myself time to just chill yeah, I go on a few nights out but then I’m still looking after my friends or thinking about something. I want to try and make time for it… I’m not good and calling in sick but when I get super ill and run down, I think maybe sometimes a day where I don’t set an alarm, a day where I just chill is ok… mental health days are ok too… I really want to make them into a thing, if you are struggling it should be ok to take a day off to rest and recuperation.
What is your top self-care advice for busy women, like you?
Make time for it!!!! You won’t regret it, making memories is good for the soul, mind and heart. It's good to go out with friends, have friends over, take pictures, relax, it's all good and well at the end of the year just think about the memories you have made!!! I’m not sure if you would class this as a tip but definitely make sure you make time for it because you need time with pals but you also need time on your own, movie marathons, face masks, takeaway or McDonalds whatever its ok!!
How does beauty factor into your self-care?
I feel with makeup I am this total badass boss women, I love it, it gives me the ability to be creative and for no one to judge it yet as I’m growing I’m becoming more and more confident in wearing mascara, brow gel and a nude lip gloss, beauty is always factored into my self-care because if I’m feeling really rubbish about myself then I'll just pop on some makeup and I honestly feel so so different! Sometimes to factor it into my self-care I have to remember that not everything we see on Instagram is reality not everyone looks flawless waking up without makeup!!
What are your beauty routine non-negotiables?
Drink your water! You can never ever ever be told this enough, drink your water! When I drink less water I see my skin become spotty and dry, my hair becomes frail and I look unwell, always always drink a glass before you go to bed and a glass in the morning when you first wake up, not only is drinking good for your skin it’s also so good for your internal organs it wakes the digestive system up too!
Lip balm, I pick my lips at any given opportunity, no word of a life, stuck in traffic, anxious or just in general pick them, however it never looks nice, all the splits in my lips, the blood or the fact that every time I smile I’m scared I may just rip them again! Lip balm is my go too, always in my bag I must force myself to put it on, but I feel better for it! It makes your lips look plumper and they always look amazing once you’ve popped some lippy on too!
What does your morning skincare routine look like?
It depends, what sort of mood I’m in, if I’m not feeling up to it I just slouch around on my phone for a good 40 minutes, get up brush my teeth and shower and not make much effort, not do a full skincare routine either! However, if I’m super energetic and in a good mood then the full wham bam skincare routine, hot cloth cleanse, wash that off, I will then exfoliate my skin was that off, cleanse again and tone, polish my skin, use my marble roller on my jawline and to tone up my cheeks then I'll moisturise, use a serum and pop on my eye cream! OHHHH and drink loads of icy water!
How does your make-up routine affect the way you feel?
My makeup routine makes me feel super confident, especially when I have faked tanned and look like I’ve spent the last two weeks sunbathing in the Caribbean!! I think if it doesn’t look right or goes the wrong way then I begin to doubt it, doubt myself and my abilities and feel quite bad about myself!
Even when I’m not wearing makeup, I almost always ensure I’ve popped some mascara on and a bit of brow gel, these make me feel fierce and powerful. I know it’s only little things but it is the little things that do wonders.
Which body-care products do you turn to in order to transform the way you feel?
FAKE TAN, if fake tan does not make you feel confident, content and like a new woman then you haven’t lived, a tan in general makes me feel like a whole new woman, I feel content with how I look when I’m tanned. My favourite tan is honestly the Bondi Sands liquid gold foam fake tan in extra dark, Chelsea always helps me apply my fake tan because I can't do it myself!
How do you treat yourself?
I like to think I treat myself all the time, I never treat myself, ok sometimes I’ll go out with the girls for a few glasses of wine or a few cocktails, but I never really treat myself to anything new! I’m getting better at saying yes to buying myself new clothes because I deserve it or treating myself to the odd Gluten free McDonalds once in a while. My mum is very good at saying “V lets treat ourselves and go on holiday…” this is our mantra always!!
What is your top tip for boosting confidence?
GET NAKED, honestly get naked it sounds so cliché but do it, start looking at things you like about your body, if you’ve got nice boobs tell yourself you have nice boobs! No word of a lie getting NAKED helps so so much!! Get some cute pictures of yourself either clothed or naked, instead of picking at what you don’t like start looking at what you do like, it will change the way you think!!
How does the way you look affect the way you feel?
It affects my mood massively, if I look tired and ill you guessed it! I’m tired and ill, if I pick apart how I look it turns into an episode of the self-hatred diaries! I’ll continue to pick at myself, and then I will spiral back into the whole idea of not loving myself and feel rubbish about how I look, I won’t compare myself to others because it ruins me however if I wake up happy or excited or even just refreshed you bet I’m in the best mood going and I feel super proud of how I look. Mood affects everything so let’s try waking up and doing something that is going to make us feel good!
How do you unwind at the end of the day?
Scroll through TikTok, is that an acceptable answer?! No, I’m being serious, I scroll through Socials, watch some Netflix, or the show customs (love love love it!!) chill out have a nice HOT bubble bath!!! I live for bubble baths with a bath bomb and face masks, some snacks and a nice cold glass of water or a diet coke!!! I don’t really do very much to wind down but all in all a little goes a long way!
Tell us about your inspiration to launch The Body Confidence Issue - what do you hope people take away from your work?
The inspiration behind The Body Confidence Issue was the nude catwalk I took part in for an artist called Sophie Tea!! She is so incredible!! I had recently just recovered from Sepsis so for me this was crazy, I wanted to change my own life and I wanted to do something that others would maybe feel empowered by too! Taking part in this catwalk changed my way of thinking, it changed my way of viewing myself and it gave me this feeling of self-love which I had never really felt before!! So, I decided I’d like to do something with it! I’d like to help others and showcase how beautiful each and every single person is…. “we want to embrace your lumps and bumps; we want to show unflattering angles and we want to empower and be empowered by others…” everyone has a story to tell and we wanted to bring that in and create something on social media that embraces these, embraces everything that society does not deem acceptable.
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
Sophie Tea, what a woman, this girl is the reason that The Body Confidence Issue became a thing, she was the one who helped me feel confident and comfortable in my own skin. She has demonstrated how to be an insane boss woman and a total inspiration, she’s so kind and warm hearted, so down to earth and real… honestly no words describe how thankful I am for having her in my life!!! She that best friend you never knew you needed but always wanted!!!
This year’s International Women’s Day Theme is #EachforEqual, what does that mean to you and how will you be supporting it?
We will be supporting women of every single ethnicity, race or religion empowering them to believe in themselves and allow them to create the future they want no matter who they are! We want to know peoples stories and we want everyone to be proud of who they are, each for equal is such an important campaign because it allows us to inspire and empower everyone from every walk of life (as we always should be)!