Is beauty really only skin deep?

We are all familiar with the popular sayings “never judge a book by its cover" and “it's what's on the inside that counts," but does anyone really believe this anymore? Every time you turn on the TV you are bombarded with ads for acne creams, make-up, hair care products, diet pills, exercise equipment, teeth whiteners, or other things to help make yourself beautiful. With all these products and gadgets, how can we really say that beauty is skin deep? The sad, superficial truth is that the skin deep philosophy isn't practiced anymore. Today, thousands of women and even some men are dealing with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia just to impress others. Many teenage girls are struggling with low self-esteem because they feel like that can’t live-up to the media’s ideals of beauty. My question is how we can communicate to our daughters, nieces, sisters, cousins and friends that healthy is beautiful. Trying to live-up to other people’s expectations and standards is in fact very unhealthy. Looks fade, trends come and go, but good personalities and attitudes can last forever.