The Day I ‘Fired’ the Beauty Industry (and hired myself)
Never imagined I’d be buying liptstick to match my hair!
OK, it's time for another confession:
I staged a full-on revolution in my bathroom a few years ago. No, there were no pitchforks or protest signs , but there WAS a dramatic overturning of the established order.
It started on a Saturday afternoon when I was trying to find space under my bathroom counter for a new hairdryer. (The old one I'd had since the girls were in grade school finally burned out).
As I pushed and shoved things around causing various bottles and jars to tumble out onto the floor, I asked myself in frustration: Do I really need all this stuff?? What if most of it is a bunch of crap that isn't "helping" me at all? And what if, instead of helping, it's actually making me look worse?
if I'm honest, I'd have to admit that I'd been feeling a nagging sense of disconnect for a while. Despite having more products than ever (seriously, my bathroom shelves were starting to look like a small Sephora), I wasn't feeling any better about my appearance. If anything, as I continued to move through perimenapause, I was noticing MORE things to "fix."
🍃 And then I did a little eye-opening math:
As I pulled out various products and lined them up, I calculated that I had spent more than $21,000 on anti-aging products and devices in the previous decade. (I'll pause while you pick your jaw up off the floor.)
And what did I have to show for this small fortune?
A bathroom full of half-used products
A recycling bin full of plastic bottles
A brain full of insecurities about my aging face
And a face that, despite all this investment, was still aging! (The audacity!)
This realization hit me like a face full of that $89 exfoliating scrub I was just sure I needed. 🥴
I was literally paying thousands of dollars to feel worse about myself. And the kicker? The whole arrangement was designed to keep me coming back for more—always searching for the next promising product, the next breakthrough ingredient.
That day, sitting on my bathroom floor surrounded by tubes and bottles and jars (not my finest moment, but we all have them), I made a decision: I was firing the beauty industry and hiring myself as my own beauty expert.
I gathered up all those potions and promises and donated what I could. I kept only the few products I genuinely enjoyed using. And I made a commitment to find a different approach—one that would work WITH my body instead of against it, that would celebrate my face rather than constantly trying to "correct" it.
Fortunately, that's about the time that I saw my first face yoga video on YouTube and a new journey began.
Was it a little scary to let go of all those products I'd invested in? Absolutely! There was a little voice in my head screaming, "BUT WHAT IF YOU NEED THAT SERUM SOMEDAY? WHAT IF YOUR FACE FALLS OFF WITHOUT THAT NIGHT CREAM?" (My inner voice has always had a flair for the dramatic.)
But here's what happened instead:
My skin actually improved without all those competing ingredients
I saved enough money to justify paying for an art class I'd been putting off
My bathroom became a peaceful space rather than a shrine to my insecurities
Over time, I developed a new relationship with my face based on appreciation rather than criticism
And maybe most surprisingly, I started receiving more compliments on my appearance than ever before
More than one friend asked me what skin care line I was using, which was hilarious since I'd recently gotten rid of nearly all of them! I'd simply stopped doing so much TO my face and started doing more FOR it through face yoga, targeted massage, acupressure, and basic good health practices.
This revolution wasn't just about beauty products—it was about reclaiming my authority over my own appearance.
It was about questioning the messages I'd absorbed about aging and beauty. About deciding for myself what practices made me feel good rather than following the latest trend. About defining beauty on my own terms rather than accepting someone else's definition.
And it changed everything—not just how I look, but how I FEEL about how I look. Which, let's be honest, is what really matters.
I share this story not because I think my exact path is right for everyone, but because I believe we ALL deserve to question the beauty standards and practices we've been handed and to find approaches that genuinely serve us rather than constantly undermine our confidence.