This is an excerpt from September 2026 Main Beauty
Finding the answer to “What does beauty mean to you?” can become a lifelong journey for many adults. But ask the same question of children, especially young girls, and the answer arrives with a refreshing clarity. Their responses become a valuable reminder that when our own understanding of beauty feels lost or complicated, perhaps we only need to look at it again through the simple, joyful, and wide-open lens we once had as children.
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For four-and-a-half-year-old Cambria, beauty is wonderfully clear. “It’s when my mommy puts makeup and does her skincare,” she tells MEGA. Meanwhile, for three-and-a-half-year-old Faye, beauty is simple. She says, “It’s being happy!” Nine-year-old Jenner, meanwhile, sees beauty in something deeper: the act of giving to others. “Beauty is pain. To me, it’s like having to sacrifice hard work to make lots of people happy.” “Makeup, yummy food, playing games, and being with my family!” Mattie, six, gets a bit more specific about what beauty looks like for her. She tells MEGA, “Beauty is enjoying life and having fun.”
Meanwhile, ten-year-old actor Sienna Stevens offers a refreshingly expansive perspective on beauty. When asked about the things she has recently found beautiful, she enthusiastically shares: “Number one, my sleep! I got good-quality sleep, and I find that pretty! Two, it’s the flowers out in the garden, especially when it is raining. They look so radiant! And three, my sister Sasa! She is so pretty!”
For Sienna, however, the easiest beauty question is who she considers the most beautiful person she knows. Her answer comes immediately. “It’s my mom! Because she is the most loving, kindest, and most caring person in the world, and I love her so much. She does everything for me. And her heart is beautiful! I wish I could be the same.”
Rediscover beauty through the wondrous eyes in MEGA’s September 2026 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Frequently Asked Questions
The children interviewed describe beauty simply and personally: Cambria ties it to her mom’s makeup routine, Faye equates it with happiness, Jenner sees it as sacrifice for others’ happiness, and Mattie describes it as enjoying life.
Ten-year-old actor Sienna Stevens named good-quality sleep, flowers in the garden when it rains, and her sister Sasa as things she recently found beautiful, describing each with genuine enthusiasm.
Sienna Stevens named her mom as the most beautiful person she knows, describing her as the most loving, kindest, and most caring person in her life.
MEGA’s September 2026 issue, which includes this feature on childlike wonder and beauty, is available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader, and Zinio.
Children tend to describe beauty through direct, personal experience — a feeling, an act of kindness, a moment of happiness — rather than through external standards, offering a simpler, more open-hearted lens than adults often default to.
