A Very Modern Role Model: Carla Dibello Muses Over Our Fascination with Beauty
The entrepreneur and celebrity style insider shares why she opts for the middle ground when exploring enhancements and procedures
Beauty might usually be dismissed as trivial, but to me, it’s so much more than a frivolity. There’s a reason why we seek out and create art, chase sunsets and exquisite landscapes, and work to improve the beauty of our surroundings. Beauty is an avenue; a way of seeing that offers us a sense of inspiration and joy. And with the right mindset, striving to improve how we look can be an act of self-love. While we do not get to choose the features that we are born with, we do have the power to either change them, or learn to love ourselves just the way we are.
These are the two camps of thinking. Those who are against cosmetic alteration often argue that the path to self-love is to embrace ourselves in our natural state. Those who are for medical enhancement speak to the empowerment that can come from taking control of the way we present ourselves to the world.
As I am never an absolutist, I find myself in the middle. I know how effective it can be to make significant changes – whether that be picking up and moving to a new country, or as simple as a fresh haircut. I believe in working to become the best version of myself. But the catch is that it has to be a version of me, and not of someone else.
Know who you are; that is one of the mantras I live by. In business, this helps differentiate you from competitors and fosters a sense of loyalty, as people know exactly what to expect when working with you. In beauty, and especially in a voyeuristic era where we are so overexposed to what everyone else is doing, knowing who we are helps remember who we are not. Social media has made us weak to impulses. We see trends in real time and instantly feel the clinch of wanting them all, regardless of whether it may actually fit our lifestyle. From make-up trends to medical procedures, the more voyeuristic we become, the more we are funneled into a homogenous way of being.
But beauty is anything but one size fits all and we don’t achieve it from changing how we look, but rather enhancing who we already are. To truly stand out, you have to know and love who you are – and that takes discipline – to not jump the bandwagon of every trend as well as remaining consistent in enhancing your own uniqueness.
Discipline is not something that you have; it’s something you have to practice. My own routine starts with the basics. I hydrate religiously and make sleep a priority. I move my body, feed it clean food, and do my best to practice gratitude.
When it comes to external procedures, I research as to how a procedure might work for me personally in regards to my bone structure, skin type, and lifestyle, as well as locating the best experts who treat beauty enhancement as a form of art. My rule of thumb is to find a doctor that would rather do no work than bad work. Who is in my little black book? Dr. Radmila Lukian and Dr. Leonard Josipovic, from Lucia Clinic.
You need to find a practitioner who understands that not every procedure is one size fits all and work with each person to determine the best solutions for the individual. A good example of this are vitamin injections that can rejuvenate the face with a similar effect to Botox – but without risking the degradation of muscles. Morpheus8, a device that combines micro-needling with radio frequency, helps tighten and tone as well as stimulate collagen production; it’s a great alternative to a facelift or other surgery and works with your features, not against them. An alternative to implants or extreme dieting, Emsculpt helps sculpt abs and backside, with results equivalent to 20,000 sit ups or squats in a 30 minute session. And while it should never be a replacement for physical activity, it’s a huge leg up for those who already work out.
Achieving a successful beauty practice is similar to excelling in business; it starts with a strong sense of self and the knowledge that a quick fix is almost never the right fix. Tuning in to intuition to understand when something is meant for you and when to let something pass is the key to taking ownership of your future.
Photography: Efraim Evidor. Styling: Imogene Legrand. Make-Up: Tilly Newman. Hair: Sisters Beauty Lounge
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2024 issue