Seems like with most of us under the weather and the toddler camped out on the couch for his hundredth hour viewing Cars is as fine a time as any to take a moment to share some skincare tidbits that I have been meaning to tend to for a while. I do not get particularly inspired to put a personal care post together- it feels mundane and insignificant when I think about it loosely. But always when I take a closer look I find the bits and pieces that light me up and get me jazzed and remind me of why I think any of this matters to begin with. I just forget, ya know.
One of the reasons that I wanted to put this particular post together is because of a really common message I receive from a lot of women in their 40s who have never had a skincare routine and are beginning to feel the effects of a life well lived on their one and only beautiful faces. I love it when I get these messages because that was more or less how it went down for me too. I never had any sort of skin care growing up or through my 20s and most of my 30s. In the year or so before my 40th, I began to cleanse and moisturize my face but without any real consistency. I knew I wanted to get to it but I honestly wasn’t really sure how and I was also overwhelmed with the price tag for most skin care. I think this is a pretty common trope. I loved using oils but wouldn’t ever have used them up before they went rancid and were wasted. When I was almost 40 I splurged on some fancy European skincare that a friend of mine sold at her salon. I went for it because I knew it met clean standards that are important to me but I never noticed much of anything while I used it.
A couple of things that I needed to learn were that natural is not synonymous with safe and that chemical is not the same as harmful. This seems fairly obvious now, and also like something- when I recall my understanding of plants- that I already knew but was somehow struggling to apply. But especially in a world that is broadly under or un-regulated, where words have little meaning and are primarily used as a means for leveraging people’s unconscious biases and assumptions. Shit can be made in a lab and be perfectly safe and gentle for your whole biology, and likewise, you could ingest a benign-looking plant in your backyard and drop dead. Nature is strange and the world is weird. So it goes.
Beautycounter came on the scene for me at a really fortuitous time. I was turning 41 and also pregnant which is a real myth-busting experience in regards to age and aging. I had an almost 13-year-old daughter who was wrestling with acne as well as a desire to experiment with makeup. All of this necessitated safe and effective options. But the real deal maker had to do with the company as a whole and the way in which they were using commerce as a means to drive industry-wide change on the level of policy. Not as just by way of serving their own business, but as a way to overhaul the industry as a whole and assert what safety and health standards we deserve to expect from the products on the shelves of our local drugstores, co-ops, and specialty shops alike. I knew that Beautycounter was up to big things and I couldn’t look away.
Take a gander at the Our Story tab on the Beautycounter website and you begin to get a hit of why that is so true for so many of us. As a certified B Corp, transparency is central to the company's mission, and built upon the five living pillars of Safety, Packaging, Responsible Sourcing, Climate, and Advocacy. There is still a shit ton of work to be done, but we are doing the work; you can read about it here, in the 2021 Social Mission Report. We made huge strides in our 10-year-plus lobbying efforts just this week when cosmetics safety legislation passed in the Senate and is now on its way to President Biden’s desk. The provisions included are: “mandatory recall authority to allow the FDA to act on egregious safety fails like formaldehyde that impacts salon workers from hair straightening treatments; safety substantiation requirements to push the industry beyond rubber stamping of ingredients; fragrance allergen disclosure to protect sensitive populations like those undergoing cancer treatments; registration requirements to learn who and where personal care products are being made; overhauls to good manufacturing practices which have set a very low bar for the cleanliness of manufacturing facilities.” Thank you to Lindsay Dahl for the clarity of this content sharing and for the grit to keep up the fight. This work is full of purpose and power that will have a lasting impact on future generations. It is also a really excellent example of what I believe is the direction that all business, big and small, should be setting their sights. And their elbow grease.
I also am taken with a model of business that utilizes crowdsourcing and personal recommendation and story-telling. I want to know what my friends are into and when I am into something I want to make sure all of my buds know about it too. Whether we are talking about great socks, an amazing book, a well-made swimsuit, a good mug, where to get a sweet deal on a car, or an amazing new cafe, information functions best when shared. I think using social media as a means of sharing information is fascinating and I am into it. Especially when it is personal and direct. I am also enjoying other avenues for this sort of info-pooling such as newsletters and group texts. I was mesmerized by Beautycounter’s use of the personal narrative as their primary mode for driving sales, even when they are well positioned to sell on store shelves. I honestly think that they are really onto something and that commission-driven community sharing has some real advantages for modern commerce. I also like the edginess of it and the way it confuses people and they have to question their preconceptions regarding “one of those companies”. I’m not sure exactly what folks mean by that but I think it is probably MLM or Cult and well, this isn’t a post about either of those things but if you want to dig into what is coming up for you when you think about direct sales, well, I am here for that convo too.
The deal was sealed for true once I began using the products. I have dry, 40-something skin and I noticed a difference immediately. Plus, I could see myself and feel myself clearly. I didn’t feel like I was being catered to as some fancy lady that I have never been, but just me in all of my regular simplicity and day to day imperfections and messiness. I could keep it chill, stay authentic to my nature and my values, and take care of my skin in important and meaningful ways at the same time.
All of this seems pretty straightforward and basic but as a person who had never really washed their face regularly, I began to notice another significant piece as I became regular in this new behavior. It became a mindful pause that bookended my day. A brief ritual in which I made contact with my own self. My eyes on my eyes in the mirror, my hands lovingly on my flesh. And not as some special spa treat that I would gift myself now and then but as a twice-daily moment of direct contact with my attention and my body. This has huge implications not only for my own self-regard but also as I relate to my own inner world throughout the day. I have taken a moment to see myself and care for myself in all of my messy humanity and in the mix of all of the unpredictability of family life. It matters. I matter. I exist independent of all else, even in the midst of my interdependence.
I still love to keep it really simple; an oil cleanser or a balm to wash my face and then some oil or easy moisturizer. I often mix in a toner and/or a serum and I love it, but I don’t think much is really necessary to find a big effect. On occasion, I will do a mask, which I always love, but often just don’t take the time for. I like things extra easy and simple. I am most likely to stick with all things if they can be as basic as possible. Just how I role.
Anyhow, that is probably enough of a testimonial and sales pitch for now. Hopefully, I have further contextualized how this part of my world fits into everything else I share (do, think, am) in the public and not public spheres. I do in fact love helping people find a personalized skincare routine that works for them, so if you ever want to chat about that, give me a shout and we’ll get going. Or if you just want to take a peek at my regular-use items, I made this list. We have a pretty sweet sale happening through the 4th so it is a good time to take a gander.
Love y’all. Go easy on yourselves and stay well. xxx