Natural beauty means being authentic.  No facades, wearing your marks, lines and scars from life proudly.  Natural in my mind means just as you are.  What you find in nature is altered by the elements and time.  People are like that. Living your life and being proud of who you are is beautiful.  

its the glow of being in the moment and truly enjoying yourslef when your face shows that joy

As someone over 40, my definition of beauty has changed.  What you wear on the outside comes from the inside. 

I Have to completely agree with your comment Vicki, you know I am still young well at least for another few months :-) but I am old enough to realize that the "innerglow" is always more beautiful than what's on the outside.

Some of the most "beautiful"  people (in terms of looks) I know (all will remain nameless) are very ugly on the inside...

I once had a friend who never noticed if you gained or lost weight.  I once asked  her how she could not notice something like that and she replied " My friends are always beautiful to me, because they are beautiful people.  I never focus on the outside".  It still amazes me to this day.  I must admit that it does get harder as you get older to maintain your outer appearence so it becomes even more important to maintain and feel good about your inner one.  In other cultures age is admired and good characteristics are associated with it.  I wonder what it is going to take for it to trickle into our culture?

I wish I knew more people like that, I think the first thing most people say to me is "you look...." 

I think people use the term" you look" to mean" you seem to me".  I know that I do that sometimes.  Instead of saying "you seem to be tired", I say " you look tired."  We confuse how someone seems to us to how they look to us. Sometimes I think we don't even realize we are doing it.  Yes, she was a good friend.

Physical beauty is easy... and can be a facade. But inner beauty lasts forever and what is on the inside shines through to the outside. I'd rather be thought of as a "beautiful soul" than a "beautiful woman."

My son made me a mother's day gift in school.  One of the questions on the sheet was "what has your mom taught you"?  he answered " not to judge people by their appearance".  I was so proud.  He got it!! It's about what is on the inside.  he's just 9 and already he is ahead of the game.

The Divas www.TheDivaCast.com

I agree with what has been conveyed here. I also think it's okay to improve your appearance along with striving towards inner growth and beauty. Do any of you ever see your reflection and say, "Who's that? Oh, that's me"? Sometimes, I battle with those furrows and sagging skin, because on the inside I feel so much younger and vibrant...as Vicki said earlier about "looking vs feeling/seeming tired". Sometimes, because of aging, we appear tired, when truly on the inside we still feel very vibrant and young. When our outer appearance doesn't reflect that, it can be disheartening and I try not to judge those who make subtle changes to reflect inner youth...Now, major plastic surgery is a scarey thing. Not to mention folks who can't show true expressions and smiles, because they've Botoxed to the point of paralysis ~ Then, it's definitely time to go within and reevaluate.

I believe that if someone has true self confidence that their natural beauty shines through. This is something that I have been working on for a long, long time and haven't quite got it yet. I still wear some make-up but that is just to cover up the low self esteem issues that stay with me to this day. Maybe someday I will have conquered this demon and won't have to spend time and energy on make-up.

Mother Nature provides the truest example of natural beauty. Be comfortable in what God has given you to work with but by all means take care of yourself. Love yourself - love the skin you're in:)

what is beauty, beauty is how I see people from within. At any given time beauty would be defined as pretty, pleasant to the eye or what is portrayed by tabloids and the media. All these points brought up are good ones, the southern charm of the south, sophistication of the east coast, carefree nature of the west coast or the down to earth nature of the midwest, it can be labeled any which way. Interacting with people and getting to know them from within allows you to see beauty. If you see people this way you can see their "beautiful soul" whether its man or woman. Having friends who don't criticize your weight gain, hair color is exceptional, we need more of them. If we had the simplicity of kids we might be ok. Kids don't worry what they wear, do or say. They still have the innocence that hasn't been compromised by our cruel world. When we think on those terms, maybe we can be young at heart and not worry about how we look, say or do. Take a look at teenagers and it would give you a clue why we got to this point. We make it complicated as we get older, probably because of fear. We are a young nation and the thought of aging scares most of us. When we can get past the cosmetic surgeons and accept the aging process as natural and part of life, then maybe we can be like kids. Maybe then we can love ourselves and the skin we are in. Look at Grandmothers, they are all beautiful. Life and experience made them like that and that's why they're beautiful. We see the inner beauty. When one can see a cherry blossom for it's simplicity and beauty and see that same process in a person, you have become BEAUTIFUL!