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- We caught up with former Miss SA Shudufhadzo Musida at the Nivea Radiant and Beauty range launch that celebrates unique skin shades.
- The former pageant queen says self-love is constant work.
- She tears up during the conversation as she lets us know that her recently deceased grandfather saw a marvel in her and constantly affirmed her.
Self-love starts when we change how we talk to ourselves. It never just happens in a vacuum. It goes beyond the pampering and shopping here and there, but it is what you say to yourself when you mess up, fail, feel down or even have a great day. Yes, even on great days, because imposter syndrome knows how to manipulate our thinking.
We caught up with former Miss SA Shudufhadzo Musida at the Nivea Radiant and Beauty range launch that celebrates unique skin shades.
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On self-love, she says, "Some days you wake up and love how you look, some days you wake up, and you don't like certain parts of yourself. You have a bad day, but you constantly need to reaffirm yourself to tell yourself you are beautiful. Some days you will believe, and some days you won't; that is just part of the human experience. Your conversations with yourself are the most important ones you will ever have."
First portrait: Shudufadzo Musida. Second portrait: Shudu and four other ambassadors of the new range. Image writer's own
As one of the campaign ambassadors, Shudu, as she is affectionately known, says for her, self-love and being comfortable in her skin is constant practice. It is something she had to learn and instil at the age of 19 or 20, after years of being bullied for how she looked. "I could never really show up as myself growing up because I was bullied for so many years, so you can never really show up as yourself in those spaces because you feel like who you are, where you come from is not good enough."
The former pageant queen was bullied for seven years, which affected how she saw herself. "The Shudu that was bullied until she was 15 continued to bully herself until she was 19 and 20, so for that to change as the 26-year-old I am now, it feels good," she tells us.
Shudufhadzo Musida at the Radiant and Beauty launch. Image supplied
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She tears up during the conversation as she lets us know that her recently deceased grandfather saw a marvel in her and constantly affirmed her.
"[Today] It is a full circle moment for me. My grandparents saw it, my grandfather, especially. He saw it, and today is about him."
The full circle moment she speaks of is being able to be part of a campaign that advances conversations around inclusivity and representation. Shudu was able to do this beyond the Miss SA reign.
She tells us that she has been asked about how she has managed to rebrand after the Miss SA crown. "There is no need to rebrand because I was authentically showing up as myself as Miss South Africa and even now. I work on things that matter to me and speak to how I have introduced myself and showed up daily. Mostly, how I show up in the mental health space, taking care of me while I take care of other people."
Shudufhadzo Musida. Photo by Jaco Marais/Die Burger/Gallo Images via Getty Images
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She adds that there is nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own skin.
"When you do something like Miss SA, everyone thinks you are this confident person, but behind closed doors, you need to feel it and say it for yourself.
"You want to be seen by the world, validated by the world, but the only person that can validate you is you," Shudu adds.
Influencer Aisha Baker, singer Shekhinah, beauty and lifestyle creator Vongai Mapho, and Miss SA 2022 Top 10 contestant Anarzade Omar are also the faces of this new range.
