As the story goes for many of us, Cowen didn't just wake up one day and feel comfortable in her skin — it was a "very long" journey. "When you're young, you just want to look like everyone else and you want to fit in," said Cowen. But her blond eyelashes, red hair, and freckles made that challenging. "I was insanely self-conscious about walking out of the house without any makeup on from middle school through college. I was hiding behind makeup because I genuinely just did not feel beautiful without it."
As she got older, her attitude toward beauty slowly changed and she became more comfortable in her own skin. Now, she feels most beautiful when she's not wearing makeup because she feels more like herself that way. "When I got more used to it, it was actually something that I was really proud of doing for myself."