Dove?s 7-Day No Mirror Challenge wasn?t as easy as I thought it would be
WHEN DOVE?S publicist Annie Ringor invited me to participate in the Dove Seven-Day No Mirror Challenge, a challenge that aims to liberate women from obsessing too much about one?s flaws, I immediately said yes.

I was confident?cocky, even. ?Sure,? I said. ?It will be a breeze. I really go for days without looking at myself in the mirror.?

I had good reason to be cocky?at least that?s what I thought.

Unlike most women, I have no attachment to mirrors. While you will find all kinds of crap in my bag?from old receipts and all kinds of cables to a fistful of Sharpies?you will never see a compact there. When I go to the ladies room, I head straight to the cubicle, do my thing, wash my hands and zip out of there really fast, most of the time without bothering to glance at my reflection.

The only time I ever paid mirrors any real attention was when I discovered The Mirror Project, a website that allows people from all over the world to post self-portraits taken on mirrors and other reflective surfaces. When that website died, my love for mirrors died too.

So when I found out that all I needed to do to participate in the Dove Seven-Day No Mirror Challenge was to wash my face with Dove soap in the morning and at night, shoot daily video diaries and avoid mirrors for seven days, I said, sure, no problem.

This is going to be easy, I told myself.

But I was wrong.

Day 1

On the very first day of my challenge, I found a pink compact on top of my office table. At first I thought someone had accidentally left it there until I found out that my cousin El had sent it to me. Weird. I didn?t know if it was a coincidence or an omen.

Despite the surprise appearance of a mirror, Day 1 was a breeze. I just had to remind myself to keep my eyes closed while washing my face in fear of seeing my reflection accidentally.

We had been given a Dove Seven-Day No Mirror calendar which was peppered with inspiring quotes to encourage us to complete the challenge. ?I don?t need a mirror to know that I?m beautiful in body, mind and spirit,? I read from the calendar on the first day.

Day 2

It was on the second day that I realized that the challenge wasn?t going to be as easy as I thought. I didn?t notice before but we are surrounded by reflective surfaces? mirrors, car windows, laptop and even mobile-phone screens.

A couple of times I freaked out because I saw my reflection in my peripheral vision. It was kind of funny being scared of my own reflection.

I am grateful though that on Day 2, I spent seven hours in a place free of mirrors?I was in the kitchen baking cupcakes. And when you?re that busy, there?s really just no time to think about mirrors.

That evening, I checked the calendar and saw this quote from Sophia Loren. ?Beauty is how you feel inside and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.? The calendar asked me to remember the last time I felt beautiful. I felt beautiful in the kitchen earlier that day, smeared with chocolate and dressed in my faded old apron, making silky Swiss meringue butter-cream frosting.

Day 3

My favorite part of the challenge were those minutes I spent washing my face with Dove. It was a great way to begin and end the day?just me, my bar of soap and the cool soothing water.

Another thing I loved about the challenge is how it made me grateful for things I normally take for granted. On Day 3, I was thankful that my idea of makeup is putting on strawberry Lip Smackers or my favorite CO Bigelow Mentha lip balm. I don?t know how other girls with a more elaborate concept of daily makeup would survive without mirrors.

Walking into unfamiliar bathrooms and toilets was one of the trickiest things about the challenge. I felt like an FBI agent trying to figure out if a room was secure before walking in - and it was a good thing I took extra caution. The ladies room in the spa I went to had two giant mirrors. It was a big mirror attack but I survived.

Every single day of the mirror challenge has shown me that mirrors are everywhere. In coffee shops, in malls.

It was liberating not to have to think about my reflection and how I look because there really are bigger things to think about but it was also hard trying to keep dodging mirrors and acting like I?m almost afraid of them.

Day 4

On Day 4, I failed the challenge.

I lost my eyeglasses so I went to an optical shop and tried on several pairs before picking one.

It was only after I picked a pair of new eyeglasses that I realized that I had used a mirror to check how they looked on me.

The horror.

Still, there are times when mirrors are necessary. This was one of those times.

Another instance when mirrors are necessary is if someone tells you you have something on your teeth. And that?s exactly what happened to me during dinner at a Japanese restaurant. I jumped up and made the beeline to the washroom until I remembered that I wasn?t supposed to look at mirrors. I went back to my seat and sat down.

I wasn?t about to fail the challenge twice in one day.

Day 5

During this entire challenge, the safest hours for me were the hours I spent in front of my computer, just writing away. No risks of accidental encounters with mirrors, no need to dodge my own reflection.

I spent most of Day 5 working on my computer before attending a couple of events. No mirrors there either.

Day 6

On Day 6, I went to the supermarket. I thought I?d be safe from mirrors at the supermarket but I was wrong.

There are mirrors in the dairy section, mirrors in the vegetables section. But I was able to dodge them and get to the checkout line without seeing my reflection anywhere.

Day 7

My Day 7 was also the day of Dove?s Seven-Day No Mirror Challenge lunch at Madison Grill in Greenbelt.

There I had the chance to talk with other women who went through the challenge. A lot of us agreed that it was harder than we thought it would be.

We enjoyed watching the video diaries of Dove Ambassador and TV host Lexi Schulze, model, yogini and radio DJ Raya Mananquil, marketing manager and fitness enthusiast Erin Campos, and Nike Woman ambassador and TV writer producer Mel Lozano because we knew exactly what they went through.

While I was grateful to have been given the chance to reflect about beauty, the time we spend thinking about how we look and the role mirrors play in our lives, I?m glad that the challenge is over. I?ve gone back to my normal ways?not really caring too much about mirrors but not afraid of them either.

The challenge may be over but I still begin and end my days in the same way?just me, my bar of soap and cool soothing water.