I live on an off-grid farm in Costa Rica – I stopped shaving and wearing makeup but swear by a DIY face mask
A SINGLE teacher in her late 20s said she gave up shaving her body hair — and it helps keep away men who wouldn’t be her type.
She began to reject conventional beauty standards while in college.
Daja Serenidad went viral on YouTube when she shared a video about how she doesn’t shave, wear makeup, or retwist her locks.
The 28-year-old, who moved from Atlanta to Costa Rica, told The U.S. Sun that she grew up in a family that encouraged natural beauty.
However, neither her mom nor dad expected just how much she would embrace holistic living while shunning traditional beauty rituals.
“On a basic level, they were both advocates for being more natural,” Saja said.
“They both told me I didn’t need makeup and my dad always told me that comfort is the most important thing.
“And my mom was the same. She also doesn’t wear any makeup and she’s super natural.
“She has never shaved her legs in her entire life and she’s bald. I always say she was the first to do it.
“It’s kind of popular now to do the really short hair but my mom did that when I was nine years old.
“She’s not super girly and very much like I just want it to be easy, convenient, simple, comfortable.”
Daja said she learned a “little” about beauty and makeup from her godmother.
Throughout high school, Daja said she wanted to experiment with her own look as she saw her friends using beauty products.
“A lot of my friends, once they started to wear things like makeup or do different things with their hair, I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.
“I learned in the first years of college that whenever I tried really hard to be a bad b***h, to be all cute and stuff, I felt really uncomfortable.
“I often wasn’t doing it well.
“I would see other women doing it and looking so gorgeous and they just knew what to do — wearing weaves, extensions, and things like that while looking great.
“But when I tried to experiment with those things, I just never really felt like myself.
“I honestly felt really insecure about it for a while because I wanted so much to fit in.”
BEAUTY BASICS
Daja said she met a “beautiful” woman in college who didn’t shave, didn’t wear makeup, and had locks.
She felt inspired to embrace her natural beauty when they became best friends.
“She’s not trying hard and she looks great,” Daja said.
Men who like the girls with the makeup and all that stuff don’t like me
Daja Serenidad
“I thought that that might be more my style because trying to be something that I wasn’t felt like a lot of pressure.”
Daja described herself as having a “nappy” afro before she decided to lock her hair.
“I would pick it and wear it like that or do twist outs which were hit or miss,” she said.
“Sometimes I failed and my hair looked really raggedy and bad. That was a part of why I was so happy when I finally did locks.
“They were really fitting for me because I struggled with doing my hair.
“I had to find a new way to feel beautiful.
“I learned how to maintain my natural hair without cutting it all off because that was not my journey.”
LESS IS MORE
The natural beauty said she finds it funny how often people ask if she spends more time on her skin since she doesn’t wear makeup.
She explained that her skincare knowledge is limited because she focuses on using “clean” products.
“I live in a very rural part of Costa Rica on my off-grid farm,” she said.
“I just wash myself always using organic soaps.
I like to keep it really simple. I clean my face and I rinse and that’s my whole skincare routine.
Daja Serenidad
“I specifically love African black soap because it’s been the best for me.
“My body has reacted well to it, unlike the soaps that have different chemicals.
“I like to keep it really simple. I clean my face and I rinse and that’s my whole skincare routine.
“Our skin also has to do with what’s going on on the inside so I try to eat healthy, and drink a lot of water, especially coconut water.
“I eat a lot of fruit, a lot of plants, and don’t put anything with chemicals on my skin.
“I sometimes do sugar scrubs where you take organic sugar and you mix it with an oil, like coconut oil, and a little bit of lemon juice and rub exfoliate.
“I do this all over my body, but also on my face.
“That’s really good as far as keeping the skin soft and it’s all-natural, non-harmful.
“And also here in Costa Rica, there’s a lot of blue clay so sometimes I do blue clay masks.
“Take the dry clay, you break it down, mix it with water and then you put that on and let it dry and then rinse it off.
“I’m literally digging that out of the ground and it’s really good quality stuff.”
INNER GLOW
Daja partially credited her glowing skin to drinking herbal teas such as ginger, lemon balm, and turmeric.
She has also removed white sugar from her diet because it would make her skin break out.
She said she confidently uses the same products on her body, face, and hair.
I attract men who like natural women.
Daja Serenidad
However, she has also recently been enjoying a range of natural products sent to her from the Morocco Method.
Morocco Method’s apple cider vinegar shampoo is available for $29 on their website.
Raw African black soap costs $7 on Amazon.
She also uses natural oils to moisturize her scalp and doesn’t retwist her locks.
She revealed that her decision to live off-grid allows her to be surrounded by other people who enjoy natural living.
“It’s too hot here to be wearing makeup all the time,” she said.
“It’s literally 90 degrees right now.
“Most of the people I know don’t wear any makeup or anything, so they don’t comment on me.
ROMANCE DEPARTMENT
“As far as dating, I attract men who like natural women,” she said.
“Men who like the girls with the makeup and all that stuff don’t like me and don’t try to talk to me either.
“I guess that’s like a buffer, keeping the ones I wouldn’t want way away from me.
“I’m not dating anyone at all though.”
CENTER OF ATTENTION
Daja revealed that other women have confessed to feeling more “comfortable” being themselves and have felt less pressure not to wear makeup when they are around her.
However, when she visits other places, she gets looks from strangers, and her family isn’t shy to share their opinions on her unconventional beauty.
I feel very connected to my ancestry through embracing my most natural self
Daja Serenidad
“When I go back to the States, some people in my family will be like ‘Girl, you need to do something about that.’
They’ll say it looks “horrible.”
“And I have to be like, I like how I look. I like how my body looks,” she said.
“I think I’m beautiful.
“My dad has made comments about it. He’s like, ‘Alright if you like it, I love it, but… girl.’
“I love being that representation because there are hairy women out here that don’t wanna shave, don’t wanna remove their hair.
“They need to see other women doing it because it makes you feel safe to be yourself.”
CONFIDENCE 101
“Spend some time in the mirror without anything. Mirror work is a great practice for self-love,” she advised other women.
“Speak some affirmations just look deep into your own eyes, into your own soul, speak love to yourself, and do this regularly.
“It might feel really weird and uncomfortable or like you’re lying to yourself at first.
“But the more you do it, the more you start to let that love in and start to really look at all your features.
“Looking at the little things that you might consider flawed and saying ‘I love you’ to those things. and that self-acceptance grows over time.
“I have a lot more self-love these days. I really accept myself very fully.
“I love who I am and how I look.
“I also look like my ancestors so I don’t want to cover this up. I look like my parents, look like their parents, and their parents, parents.
“I feel very connected to my ancestry through embracing my most natural self.
The products we use run off and go right into the earth
Daja
“I think the more you allow yourself to be your natural self and to be in nature, the more you’re going to feel connected,” she added.
“You’ll feel that you have a purpose on earth without doing a special career or some project to be super successful.
“Just existing in your natural state can be really empowering and it feels really good.”
ROLE MODELS
Daja said it’s “great” to see celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Pamela Anderson go makeup-free.
She recalled not having any role models of natural women growing up.
“I’m not against makeup for others,” she said.
“But I also think there’s so much value in having some representation of women just being natural.
“When you’re young, if all of your representation of women is them being super dolled up and you’re not able to emulate that, it can make you feel like you’re not enough.
“But when you see someone being their natural self, you say, ‘Oh, I can do that too.’
“I think everyone, even if they choose to wear makeup, should also be willing to show their face without it for their self-esteem, knowing that they are valuable without it too.”
Daja said she may be open to having a professional makeup artist apply products to her face in the future, but they would have to be non-toxic.
She’s also willing to shave occasionally as she can accept herself with or without hair.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Along with running her YouTube channel and being a language teacher, Daja hosts quarterly retreats for women who want to heal their inner child and unlock their gifts.
The sessions can be booked on her Find Serenity website.
“We take what we’ve experienced in childhood, learn from it, and grow,” Daja said.
“Also, [we] let go of any patterns or behaviors that we’ve been carrying through our lives based on our traumas and things like that.”