This is a year of transformative change in my life, like it or not, and that made me realize a few things pertaining to beauty and makeup and self image:
As we grow up, our faces and bodies change. This is a fact. We can embrace it or get mad about it. When I worked for La Mer, I literally had older women (yes, plural) openly yell at me because it wasn’t “fair” how good my skin looked…even though they wouldn’t change their current routines. But I also remember the men and women who I helped develop a solid skincare routine, and their skin began to glow. It’s a choice.
If we don’t like something, we can change it. If we can’t change it right now, maybe we can change it in the future. If we simply can’t change it, we have to adapt. I will never understand women who complain about their wrinkles while demonizing other women who choose to get cosmetic treatments. Plus, like the late makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin said, no amount of makeup can mask an ugly heart. Acting pretty not only makes you a better person, but truly does a whole lot for aesthetics, too.
I’ve started measuring progress in a whole new way. Today was the first time I hopped on the scale and didn’t flinch. My first thought was wanting to be a little lighter just so I could run faster and easier, but, literally, for the first time in my life, it had nothing to do with what I looked like. You can ask my husband, the scale used to send me off sobbing and ruin my entire day. And it feels FREAKING AWESOME to not be weighed down by that negative mental energy, but weighed down by sexy as hell, strong muscles.
There’s a massive “glow up” movement happening on social media right now, people pushing everything from peppermint tea to sometimes dangerous techniques. It strikes me as just another, old-fashioned makeover. We love a before-and-after story. But what my experiene as a makeup artist reinds me is people actually want to feel a certain way, and I know how much makeup can play a role in that experience.
Here’s the irrevocable truth this nearly 40-year-old broad has leaned the hard way: real glow ups come from doing the work and staying in the fight. Not in an angry way, but the way you fight for something you want. You strive towards a goal, you push until you hit the finish line. Nothing worth having comes easily. There is no such thing as an overnight sucess. The real “overnight” success stories are built on years, sometimes decades, of dedication and hard work.
Hope your 2024 is off to a great start, and cheers to mapping out the path to achieving your goals this year!
Appreciate you, mean it. - JY