Hi Jessica!! Thank you so much for the work you do.
I started following you this summer after the TLC BFRB org shared your article about anxiety eyebrows. I have trich too, and have also had my brows microbladed to hide their nonexistence, so I really related to you right away. <3 Then everything you have to say about skincare culture just made SO MUCH SENSE that I was hooked.
I was just listening to this podcast and had a little epiphany. I've thought for a while that trich is a way that our bodies try to communicate our needs. If I've been pulling a lot, I'm probably not taking the best care of myself and could use some more water, sleep, and stress care activities like yoga. It occurred to me while listening to your conversation with Caroline that skin is the same way! If something is going on with our skin, our bodies probably have something to say that's worth listening to. And instead we shut them up with cleansers and toners and serums and creams. It's just another way our system keeps itself firmly rooted — by selling us expensive bandaids so we don't go looking for real solutions, like less miserable lives. I know I'm not saying anything you haven't said before, but I wanted to let you know that I hear you and I appreciate your work a TON. You've given me so much to think about and inspired me to take a real good, hard look at my relationship with beauty and what it means for my actual health. Keep fighting the good fight!
I LOVE this connection between Caroline's work and yours. I'm a huge fan of intuitive eating (it changed my life) and always thought that we needed an analog of that for skincare (and beauty more generally). Like the whole point of intuitive eating is that you don't need to follow any rules, basically just listen to your body and do what feels right, and *trust* that your body will figure it out. Your body doesn't want to eat cookies all day, and if you do that you will probably eventually crave a vegetable, and it will all balance out. Same thing with skincare and beauty. I think people might worry that if they stop following beauty rituals, everything will fall to pieces. But when I stopped using a million products and stopped wearing makeup and stopping fighting my hair cowlick, I looked better and felt better. And I still do some beauty rituals that feel right, that feel intuitive, but I've stopped doing the ones that felt forced. Anyway, love this parallel!
Yessss! That's exactly it. Rituals can be lovely but the same ritual every single day and night doesn't serve you or your skin, I think. Thanks for reading & being here! x
Hi Jessica!! Thank you so much for the work you do.
I started following you this summer after the TLC BFRB org shared your article about anxiety eyebrows. I have trich too, and have also had my brows microbladed to hide their nonexistence, so I really related to you right away. <3 Then everything you have to say about skincare culture just made SO MUCH SENSE that I was hooked.
I was just listening to this podcast and had a little epiphany. I've thought for a while that trich is a way that our bodies try to communicate our needs. If I've been pulling a lot, I'm probably not taking the best care of myself and could use some more water, sleep, and stress care activities like yoga. It occurred to me while listening to your conversation with Caroline that skin is the same way! If something is going on with our skin, our bodies probably have something to say that's worth listening to. And instead we shut them up with cleansers and toners and serums and creams. It's just another way our system keeps itself firmly rooted — by selling us expensive bandaids so we don't go looking for real solutions, like less miserable lives. I know I'm not saying anything you haven't said before, but I wanted to let you know that I hear you and I appreciate your work a TON. You've given me so much to think about and inspired me to take a real good, hard look at my relationship with beauty and what it means for my actual health. Keep fighting the good fight!
Thank you so much for being here! And YESSSSS to that epiphany. I remember when that lightbulb went off for me too — literally life-changing.
I LOVE this connection between Caroline's work and yours. I'm a huge fan of intuitive eating (it changed my life) and always thought that we needed an analog of that for skincare (and beauty more generally). Like the whole point of intuitive eating is that you don't need to follow any rules, basically just listen to your body and do what feels right, and *trust* that your body will figure it out. Your body doesn't want to eat cookies all day, and if you do that you will probably eventually crave a vegetable, and it will all balance out. Same thing with skincare and beauty. I think people might worry that if they stop following beauty rituals, everything will fall to pieces. But when I stopped using a million products and stopped wearing makeup and stopping fighting my hair cowlick, I looked better and felt better. And I still do some beauty rituals that feel right, that feel intuitive, but I've stopped doing the ones that felt forced. Anyway, love this parallel!
Yessss! That's exactly it. Rituals can be lovely but the same ritual every single day and night doesn't serve you or your skin, I think. Thanks for reading & being here! x