loved this! i stopped wearing makeup every time i went out and stopped caring so much about my skincare routine and even tho it didn't make me more confident it did make me feel more like me and less of a fabricated idea of a woman
Brilliant writing, this made me realise all the ways I’ve been trying to look for a state of perfection. Thinking that when my skin clears, I’ll feel alright until I realise that I’ll just look for a new “project” to fix.
This is an amazing read, thank you!! I recognized so many things.. At a young age my friend pointed out my face was asymmetrical and it haunts me ‘til this day. But my first experience with skincare was so awful that I haven’t touched it after (except for sunscreen because otherwise I would burn alive).
this reminds me so much of 'supermarket spirituality' - I forget which theorist coined the term, but women are particularly targeted by this new age ideology that promises us we are merely one product away from goodness/wholeness
I love this - I've also been stripping back my skincare (also heavily inspired by Jessica DeFino!) and wearing less makeup because I realised I was training myself to see my actual face as not really my face, which could only come into being through a specific application of makeup. That said the hyper-obsessiveness with looks is – as you say – so much harder to get rid of in practice, and I find myself still thinking a lot about how I'm presenting myself and how to still look good while not spending the time and money on my physical appearance. I also spent 20 minutes yesterday researching whether maybe this one *specific* retinol that I just *happened* to see on instagram is the exception to my new no-skincare beliefs (it probably isn't).
entirely agree! I’ve been at the point where I actually don’t recognise myself without makeup which is just so unhealthy in every way. it’s so hard to unlearn.
This is written with great clarity and perception. Thank you. Having never done anything similar before, oddly enough I posted a “poem” (or perhaps history) on witchcraft last week. It’s here if you’re interested:
loved this! i stopped wearing makeup every time i went out and stopped caring so much about my skincare routine and even tho it didn't make me more confident it did make me feel more like me and less of a fabricated idea of a woman
thank you! I need to get better at no makeup definitely.
Brilliant writing, this made me realise all the ways I’ve been trying to look for a state of perfection. Thinking that when my skin clears, I’ll feel alright until I realise that I’ll just look for a new “project” to fix.
thank you! my experience too.
Where have you been all this time? Great substack
Thank you so much!
This is an amazing read, thank you!! I recognized so many things.. At a young age my friend pointed out my face was asymmetrical and it haunts me ‘til this day. But my first experience with skincare was so awful that I haven’t touched it after (except for sunscreen because otherwise I would burn alive).
this reminds me so much of 'supermarket spirituality' - I forget which theorist coined the term, but women are particularly targeted by this new age ideology that promises us we are merely one product away from goodness/wholeness
oooh googling that rn
This is totally brilliant Helena, you write so captivatingly
thank you Daniela!! too kind 💘
I love this - I've also been stripping back my skincare (also heavily inspired by Jessica DeFino!) and wearing less makeup because I realised I was training myself to see my actual face as not really my face, which could only come into being through a specific application of makeup. That said the hyper-obsessiveness with looks is – as you say – so much harder to get rid of in practice, and I find myself still thinking a lot about how I'm presenting myself and how to still look good while not spending the time and money on my physical appearance. I also spent 20 minutes yesterday researching whether maybe this one *specific* retinol that I just *happened* to see on instagram is the exception to my new no-skincare beliefs (it probably isn't).
entirely agree! I’ve been at the point where I actually don’t recognise myself without makeup which is just so unhealthy in every way. it’s so hard to unlearn.
This is written with great clarity and perception. Thank you. Having never done anything similar before, oddly enough I posted a “poem” (or perhaps history) on witchcraft last week. It’s here if you’re interested:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomas822/p/magic-number?r=33ghms&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post