Some of you may know (but most of you don’t…)
I just started a new part-time gig over at Ulta Beauty and of course with that job comes a lot of exposure to new beauty brands. This one brand in particular called “BETTER NOT YOUNGER” was in the hair section amongst another products titled “anti-aging.” The name of the brand caught my eye. It felt like an act of radical rebellion against the other shampoos, conditioners, serums, and creams trying to tell you that aging was this bad thing that you needed to dramatically try to resolve. Honestly, it was a refreshing sight to see. Better. NOT younger. It was a reminder…
Here’s the thing, as I’m starting to hit my mid 30s, I’ve been having a little bit of “a crisis of faith” (so to speak) about how I look. The beauty industry is not notorious for focusing on embracing your age. In fact, it’s focused on exactly the opposite. We are constantly being pushed to eradicate dots, spots, wrinkles and pores. When you spend all day everyday surrounded by that environment, naturally you starts to consume its messaging of having to look as youthful as possible. I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t been playing that nasty game of comparison to my younger colleague’s and the photos that come up on my memories of years past.
Back to that word: Anti-aging.
That word in and of itself is so paradoxical. You can’t stop aging from happening. Sure, you can slow it down…but to the and stop it? Not a chance. Life comes for us all whether we want it to or not.
So how do I love myself and the beauty of my aging hair, skin, and nails when I am apart of a world that adamantly pushes that should do everything I can to reverse the sands of time?
We recently spoke with Vanessa Chamberlin, a Greyhair Influencer and very much PRO-Aging. Our conversation really made me look at this whole aging thing differently. In our conversation, she said SO many wonderful nuggets of wisdom. But the most profound thi by we spoke about was that we can whose to age however we feel makes us feel good…not what other people are telling us will make us feel good about the skin we’re in. What a concept, right?!
Easier said than done, but completely possible! For me, I look up pictures of beautiful older women who may or may not have had a little bit of work done for maintenance, but mostly ones who are living in their real aged skin. I’m able to see how absolutely stunning these women are even in their 30s, 40s, 50s and above. Instead of trying to turn back the hands of time and make myself look 20 years younger, I look at where I am now and think how can I appreciate the wisdom and the life that my skin has had? So instead of baking in the sun to try to make sure I am keeping up with the latest tanning trends, I put on some SPF and I make sure to nourish my skin so that it can stay healthy. Instead of condemning your body for aging, you use things on it to think it for all of its hard work and to nourish it just like you would with food.
This blog post really is only scratching the surface of how I really feel about this topic. We definitely could go more in-depth about what it means to age and how to do that more gracefully but instead I will leave you with this…
There’s so much beauty in growing old and sometimes it takes having conversations with people older than us to realize that aging is just another beautiful part of what makes living so special.
So cheers to getting BETTER…not younger.
Til next time,
your cycle half Stephanie xo
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