It seems like the cost to be "beautiful" is constantly rising with the expectations of how women should look, dress, and be shaped. For the rest of this article, I will place quotations around the word beautiful, because what is "beautiful?" And can you buy it?

People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars hoping to be "beautiful." Is beauty a big butt? An hourglass shape? Long hair? A contoured face? Plumped lips? Long eyelashes? A flat stomach? A size five? A light skin tone?

Referring back to my question earlier, what is "beautiful?" If we can't define the word, then why are we spending thousands of dollars in search of it?

Some might say to be beautiful it costs the amount Kim Kardashian has spent to look the way she does. If beauty is what Kim Kardashian is, then let's add up how much it will cost for an average person to become "beautiful:" A Brazilian Butt Lift averages $8,000-$10,000, liposuction averages $2,971, lip injections average $467-$544 per injection, breast implants average $3,848, and Botox average $350-$500 per injection. This adds up to be a total of $15,636 (and this is on the low-end). This total does not include the cost of makeup, clothes, hair products, nails, and hair extensions. So is this how much it costs to be "beautiful?"

The answer is no. I say beauty is free. You hair, your makeup, your nails, your clothes, your butt, your breast, your skin tone: nothing on the outside makes you beautiful. Beauty is not purchased. Beauty comes from within. A pretty face will get old. An hourglass shape will dwindle. But a beautiful soul will never diminish.

1 Peter 3: 3-4 "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.4. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."

It doesn't cost a cent to be beautiful. Confidence is free. Intelligence is free. Selflessness is free. Gentleness is free. Kindness is free. Quietness is free. Loyalty is free. Smiling is free. What encompasses a beautiful soul is not available on the sale rack.

God gave us a thing called "natural beauty." We are beautiful without the implants, injections, makeup, and weave. These things don't make you beautiful. Society makes it difficult for women to showcase their natural beauty. It's like natural beauty is not "a thing" anymore. I beg to differ. Below are pictures of women I believe who are "beautiful" naturally.

The women above are wearing no makeup, no stylish clothes, are of multiple shades of color, are of multiple body shapes, and most importantly, these women are all confident in their own skin. How much did they pay to look the way they do? It looks to me that they paid nothing at all.

(Side note: I am not against plastic surgery, makeup, or anything else listed in the article. Nor am I saying that any of the things listed are bad.)