Or, alternative title, Don’t Find Yourself Throwing Out Hundreds of Dollars of Expensive Skin Care Products like me this week.
This post starts with a story.
When I was a young, newly minted Assistant Professor, I went through a phase where I was a connoisseur of skin care products.
I also somehow had more disposable income even though I made less money – I don’t quite understand that math, but I’m pretty sure buying a 100-year-old home and having a child play a role there.
High-quality skin care products are, as you might know, expensive. I have an extensive collection. Ergo, I have a lot of money wrapped up in tiny bottles and vials.
I’d like to take a brief detour on this story to mention that skincare, of whatever financial commitment, is a perfectly fine self-care choice. My obsession was a self-care response to a season of my life where my skin was causing me a lot of stress due to a medical condition. Whatever replenishes YOU is a great self-care choice.
The problem is that because those products were so expensive, I labelled them as “special.” I put myself into a scarcity mindset, and thus, I hoarded them instead of using them.
Fast forward many years…
I recently hired a home organizer to help me purge excess belongings and organize my home in a way that works for me. This is also an act of self-care because clutter overstimulates and distracts me (and thus makes me very grumpy).
You might see where this is going.
It’s time, when she comes tomorrow, for me to address the Expensive Skin Care Collection, lurking, unused, doing nothing but looking pretty and making me feel guilty for not taking better care of my skin in this season of my life.
It’s not even like I can just start using it now…. it’s all old and expired and dried up and etc etc.
This is how I find myself tossing hundreds (thousands?) of dollars of skin care products tomorrow.
The moral of my story: Don’t save the good stuff.
Don’t save the “good stuff” for later. Later is a subjective label and might never come. Self-care means looking after ourselves now, in the present.
Use expensive skin care products.
Get out your nice stationary, pens, and highlighters.
Toss the ones you hate.
Buy the thing you need for your self-care.
Take the vacation.
Look after yourself and rest when you are sick.
Take the leave of absence you need and are entitled to.
Use the good stuff today, don’t wait.
In self-care solidarity,
