‘Coming Home’ traces the undoing of the roles I once wore as armour – the ‘cool girl’, the ‘fashion girl’, the version of myself curated for survival in an industry obsessed with surfaces. Beauty was always something I felt drawn to as a littler girl: makeup, dressing up, playful performance. In a deeper way, from the perspective of creating beautiful spaces, respecting and taking care of the body.
However, because of my career, beauty became a blurred concept, that constantly changed – something performed in front of the lens. That which would slowly become all I knew, whether I was in front of the lens or not. Shaped by what others wanted to see, I slowly, completely lost my sense of self. I left dance behind to travel, chasing modelling contracts around the globe.
For years I only exercised to stay fit and didn't set foot in a dance studio. I had opportunity, abundance – but I was miserable.
But sometimes, you need a ‘breakdown’ to ‘break through’. Returning to dance and nature, I began to peel back these projections, reclaiming the body as archive and discovering a beauty that tells a story and is lived – not staged.
‘Coming Home’ traces the undoing of the roles I once wore as armour – the ‘cool girl’, the ‘fashion girl’, the version of myself curated for survival in an industry obsessed with surfaces. Beauty was always something I felt drawn to as a littler girl: makeup, dressing up, playful performance. In a deeper way, from the perspective of creating beautiful spaces, respecting and taking care of the body.
However, because of my career, beauty became a blurred concept, that constantly changed – something performed in front of the lens. That which would slowly become all I knew, whether I was in front of the lens or not. Shaped by what others wanted to see, I slowly, completely lost my sense of self. I left dance behind to travel, chasing modelling contracts around the globe.
For years I only exercised to stay fit and didn't set foot in a dance studio. I had opportunity, abundance – but I was miserable.
But sometimes, you need a ‘breakdown’ to ‘break through’. Returning to dance and nature, I began to peel back these projections, reclaiming the body as archive and discovering a beauty that tells a story and is lived – not staged.
“The less you want to try to make it beautiful, the more beautiful it will be. When someone is embodied in their own expression, present with the sensations in their body, you can’t take your eyes off them.”
My journey offers no simple solution to beauty culture’s complexities. Instead, it invites a return to the body as a source of wisdom, away from performance. In a world increasingly dominated by digital manipulation and artificial enhancement, I feel the need to point towards beauty “as archaeology rather than architecture,” as Sophie Marsh said in a recent interview with me.
About five years ago, after I was sure I had “healed” that part of me. I found myself in a dark place mentally, grappling old thought patterns around body images ideals.
I locked myself in my study, lit candles and put music on. I closed my eyes, took some deep breaths and tried to have a conversation with the thoughts. I moved my body and a vision came to me: a version of myself that was wild and strong, curved with powerful muscles. Seeing her showed me what health and strength truly looked like – that this capable, able, strong and mobile body was my source power, purpose and confidence – not the beauty ideals I still felt I had to adhere to. This experience would become the bones of my Movement Method, Move & Manifest.
The uncovering of what lives and breathes in the present moment. A radical act of inhabiting, fully and fiercely, the life we are actually living, within the body we are breathing, is the key. It is beautiful already – just to be being, a true blessing to even be in a body. When we realise this... What is there left to criticise?
This work belongs within the MECCA Archive as a reminder that beauty is not something imposed, but something unearthed.
Mimi El Ashiry is an Australian-Egyptian dancer, teacher, creative director and content creator. Mimi champions movement, authenticity and sustainability through dancing and her Move & Manifest program. She weaves fashion, dance, wellness and adventure into the tapestry of her life between Egypt and Australia.
Mimi El Ashiry is an Australian-Egyptian dancer, teacher, creative director and content creator. Mimi champions movement, authenticity and sustainability through dancing and her Move & Manifest program. She weaves fashion, dance, wellness and adventure into the tapestry of her life between Egypt and Australia.
The History of Beauty
A timeline of the moments that defined beauty culture from the 1900s to now.
Rethinking Natural Beauty
Elise Loehnen on reclaiming beauty as play, presence and self-expression.
Adorn. Transform. Belong.
Isamaya Ffrench on beauty as art, culture and human connection.
The History of Beauty
A timeline of the moments that defined beauty culture from the 1900s to now.
Rethinking Natural Beauty
Elise Loehnen on reclaiming beauty as play, presence and self-expression.
Adorn. Transform. Belong.
Isamaya Ffrench on beauty as art, culture and human connection.