So, you know the story of our brand, but you may not know the story behind Cariño.
Cariño is one of my favorite Spanish words.
It is so romantic to me. It rolls off the tongue easily and carries this essence of true love. It isn't just a pet name. It's a loving term of endearment.
I'm talking hair in the wind, black-and-white movies, Casablanca, “Here's looking at you, kid” kind of romantic.
It makes me want to girly squeal, ya know?!
And I know what you're probably thinking.
“If it's so soft and feminine to you, then why the heck is your dainty, romantic, chic-flick word in a man's handwriting?”
GREAT QUESTION.
Or maybe you didn't ask that and I'm just a chronic over-thinker, which is also a very plausible assumption.
Well, I got it in my Abuelo's handwriting because it's somewhat of a metaphor.
Being romantic, soft, and whimsical doesn't equal weak.
To me, it means independence and confidence in a different way.
You know, the kind of confidence a mediocre white man has somehow been allowed to have his entire life.
The audacity.
But really, it's a reminder that softness is strong.
It's a reminder that being strong doesn't have to mean being hardened.
That femininity doesn't have to mean fragility.
That tenderness doesn't mean you are easy to break.
And that strength doesn't have to make you unromantic.
I think we've been taught to choose.
Soft or strong.
Feminine or confident.
Romantic or independent.
Gentle or powerful.
But why?
Why can't you be both?
Why can't you be the woman who loves beautiful things, wears the pretty dress, cries during old movies, collects little treasures, and still knows exactly who she is?
Why can't your softness be the very thing that makes you strong?
Cariño is so much more than a word to me.
It's a deep feeling.
A lifestyle.
A gentle reminder.
A little permission slip to embrace the parts of yourself that the world might tell you to toughen up.
To be soft without apologizing for it.
To be strong without feeling like you have to become hard.
Because maybe the two were never opposites to begin with.
Soft is strong.
Strong is soft.
And I think the two can be interchangeable.
That's Cariño.
xx,
Chalise
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