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Valerie Benjamin-Desir

@valala77

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Strength & Courage Activates Resilience Empowering women to embrace inner & outer scars to shine with confidence.
Wear your S.C.A.R 💌 #SCARCHIC

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There were days I couldn’t look in the mirror without crying.
Now? I smile. I swirl my blush. I love what I see — scars and all.
This is softness after survival. This is SCAR.CHIC.
❤️. I’m using Danessa Myricks “Dancing Queen” on the cheeks.
#HealingInStyle #ScarsAreBeautiful #SelfLoveJourney #EmbraceYourScars
#SCARCHIC by @valala77

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9 months ago

Haitians were in full effect on Prospect Ave yesterday for Haitian 🇭🇹Flag 🇭🇹 Day Celebration. Westbury holds so many wonderful memories for me. Celebrations like these always feel like a homecoming. Happy Haitian Flag Day to y’all. 🇭🇹🫶🏾 by @valala77

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4 months ago

People will see the version of you that’s trying to heal, and somehow they will make it about them.

They see you living out loud and turn a story of survival into something superficial because they didn’t see what it took for you to get here.

They didn’t see the battles coming hit after hit.

The self-loathing.
The self-criticism.
The exhaustion.
The days when getting out of bed felt impossible.

They didn’t see what happens when everyone around you looks to you as their source of strength, and somewhere along the way, you start attaching your value to what you can do for everyone else.

From a very young age, I learned how to perform.

And by perform, I mean mask.

Actually, I had a whole suitcase full of masks.

One for every version of myself I thought I needed to be in order to feel safe.

The strong one.
The caretaker.
The dependable one.
The one who always figured it out.

Eventually, I got tired of performing.

I’m not sharing my story for sympathy, attention, or validation.

I’m sharing because too many of us are carrying things nobody can see while convincing the world that we’re okay.

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and it feels like the right time to start talking about some of the scars I kept hidden.

I have scars you can see.

But some of the deepest ones live in the stories I never told.

I think I’m finally ready to tell them.

SCAR.CHIC presents:

SCARS I DIDN’T TALK ABOUT

Some scars are visible.
Some scars live in the stories we never told.

This is me finally telling mine.

#SCARCHIC #SCARSIDidntTalkAbout #HealingOutLoud #MentalHealthAwareness #SuicidePreventionMonth by @valala77

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16 days ago

Plot twist: courage can look like this too. 🐍😂

Lately I’ve been challenging myself to say yes to experiences I probably would’ve talked myself out of before.

Was I nervous? Absolutely.
But I touched the snake anyway.

And somewhere between my daughter threatening to tell her snake-fearing daddy 😂 and me realizing this was my first time touching snakeskin that wasn’t attached to something fashionable, I had a thought…

Growth doesn’t always have to be deep, painful or pretty.

Sometimes it’s laughing, being scared, doing it anyway and walking away thinking, “Wait… I really did that.”

Small moment. Bigger lesson.

Keep giving yourself opportunities to meet the braver versions of you. 🖤

P.S. Still prefer my snakeskin in the form of a boot, bag or belt. 😏😂

#CourageOverFear #TryingNewThings #ConfidenceJourney #CHICintheCity #SCARCHIC by @valala77

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17 days ago

When your presence starts promoting you before you do. 😏#MainCharacterEnergy #StyleWithPurpose #NYFW2026 #CHICinTheCity #SCARCHICStyle by @valala77

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18 days ago

Just a little CHIC in the city. 🗽✨

NYFW energy, pop-up shops, outdoor dining, marketplace finds, cute fits and nowhere to be but in the moment.
Sometimes the experience is the destination. 🖤

#ChicInTheCity #NYCFashion #StreetStyle #CityGirlStyle #NYCAdventures by @valala77

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20 days ago

Yesterday was a reminder: DO TOO MUCH. ✨

Wear the outfit.
Take the picture.
Go to the event.
Post the content.
Try the thing you’ve been talking yourself out of.

I spent too much of my life shrinking, second-guessing myself and worrying about how I would be perceived.

Finding self-love has taught me that I’d rather risk being “too much” than keep abandoning pieces of myself just to make other people comfortable.

So if they think you’re doing too much?

Maybe you’re finally doing enough—for YOU. 🖤

Yesterday, I chose me.

And choosing me took me to NYFW. 😏🗽
#DoTooMuch #ChooseYourself #ConfidenceJourney #BeSeen #StyleWithSCARCHIC by @valala77

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20 days ago

NYFW from the outside looking in… but never feeling out of place. 🖤✨

The fashion. The energy. The individuality. The freedom to show up as loudly, softly, boldly, or differently as you choose.

That part spoke to me.

Because the more I become comfortable with who I am, the less interested I am in fitting into spaces—and the more interested I am in showing up fully as ME.

Yesterday, I wasn’t just watching the fashion.

I was taking notes. 👀

SCAR.CHIC belongs in rooms like this. 🖤

#NYFW2026 #NYFWStreetStyle #StreetStyleNYC #PersonalStyle #SCARCHICStyle by @valala77

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20 days ago

Today’s Assignment: Let all the versions of you exist out loud. #dontboxmein #TakeUpSpace #PersonalStyle #Camostyle #scarchicstyle by @valala77

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25 days ago

Funny how I put on camo after spending so much of my life learning how NOT to blend in. 😏

These days, I dress according to the mood, mix what I like, and let the rest figure itself out.

A little street.
A little chic.
A little “I said what I said.”

Turns out personal style gets a lot more fun when you stop dressing for approval.

Camo on. Invisible? Never. 💚. #SCARCHICStyle #PersonalStyle #StyleOver40 #OOTDInsp #CamoStyle by @valala77

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a month ago

You’re allowed to be more than one thing. I spent too much time worrying about how I’d be perceived. At this stage of my life, I am just enjoying me now. by @valala77

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a month ago

PARK.CHIC 🌿
Learning how to be grounded, not stuck. Soft, not weak. Seen, not seeking.

I think one of the biggest shifts for me has been realizing I don’t have to prove I’m okay, prove that I am strong, or prove I belong.

I can just simply be.

I can be soft without feeling the need to become small.
I can be confident without performing.
Visible without seeking validation.
Grounded without staying in places I’ve outgrown.

And maybe that’s what this season is really about for me; getting more comfortable with who I am, instead of constantly trying to become who I thought I needed to be.

I’m still evolving. Still learning. And I still got a little edge. 😏
I just don’t live on it anymore.

That’s my kind of PARK.CHIC. 🌳🧢

#IDressMyMood #StreetChic #PersonalStyle #StyleWithPurpose #scarchicstyle by @valala77

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a month ago