Within Skin and Body

TWO BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

I saw this on and I had to share my thoughts.

I'm both shocked and not shocked at the same time. Shocked because I didn't realise there was this kind of investment going into skin care (obviously LOVE that for everyone). And not shocked because we're all victims of CONSUMERISM AND OVER CONSUMPTION. But that's a controversial conversation I'll save for another day 😂

Here's what I do love about this stat though. Clients are educating themselves. They're researching ingredients, fact checking claims, and walking in already knowing more than ever before! There is no room for bu****it anymore. A therapist can't just talk you into something knowing you don't know any better or at least won't do your own googling. This is great. Transparency is the new standard and we are here for it because this is what we've always done.

What self education can't always replace though, is the deep dive. Knowing which questions to ask, how to read what your skin is actually doing underneath the surface, and how to build a plan around INGREDIENTS (not a hyped marketing claim trending on tiktok) chosen for YOU specifically. This is the stuff that takes years to be skilled in, seeing hundreds of different skins and life circumstances. It all adds up. I think I could look at someone at the checkout now and tell you that they probably have an intolerance to XYZ, they're exfoliating everyday, have a hormonal/reproductive issues like PCOS or Endo. I WONT because I'm not a doctor and it's out of my scope. But I've seen it all and I can recognise a lot after 12 years.

You don't need ten steps. You need the right ones. High quality actives you can trust, pulled back to the minimum your skin needs, always prescribed with skin health at the centre. Not a sale. Sometimes that's only two products and a referral to a naturopath. Sometimes it's more. But it's always intentional.
Stop repeating the same routine hoping the next product will be THE ONE. Invest in guidance from someone who lives for skin science and genuinely wants to get it right for you so you feel your best self.

Just a girl dilly dallying through life with her independence and emotional support water bottle that's as big as she is. Not a clue in the world she's being dragged around the countryside while her mum runs errands for her business.🥺

Fair warning, this caption ended up a long read and it probably sounds like a 'woe is me, life is hard' spiel. IT'S NOT, I promise. Hang in there while I tell a short story long if you can😅

Any mum who works knows the constant pull of two roles that never feel fully fulfilled. Both fighting for your attention, neither getting 100%, no matter how hard you try. Add self employment on top and you've also got that forever to-do list running in the background of your brain at all times, even when you're not working. Because are you ever NOT working? You have to stay on the ball because if you don't, it feels like every sacrifice you've already made was for nothing. The missed moments, the extra TV time you're not proud of, the slap together meals that make you cringe because you want to be the additive free mum baking from scratch, the "can you just watch them for a couple of hours" calls to family because you're trying to squeeze a full time job into nap times and late nights, unsuccessfully. Not to mention the 100 'just wait a minute while mum finishes this off for work' a day. If you don't succeed, it feels like you've failed them and wasted the precious moments on a hobby. The pressure is a lot most days.

Winnie turns 5 in a couple of months and I genuinely don't know how.🤯
I started Within Skin and Body when she was 8 months old. I thought I was doing the sensible thing. Flexibility, financial independence, adult interaction, work I actually love, the ability to grow something that eventually works around my family. And I have all of that. I would never change it. But I didn't account for the guilt.Not guilt, irritation actually. Because when I'm in each role I don't feel guilty about the other. I love working. I love using my brain and the knowledge I spent years building before kids. I love showing them that you can do hard things, that you can be more than one thing. And I love being with them too, the mundane stuff, the imaginative stories, watching them become actual little people with opinions and views on the world (could do without the 3yo boy emotional whiplash though, cause wtf is THAT). I'm not guilty when I'm present with them instead of answering messages. I'm not guilty when I'm working instead of being home other than the commitment others have to make for me to be able to do so.What I feel is irritation. Irritation that it's so hard to have both. That the world wasn't built for a mum to exist in both spaces and actually thrive in them.And I see how dads miss out too, in a completely different way. My partner would genuinely love to be home for the chaos some days and I know he feels that. But that's a whole other post.4 years ago when I opened, I knew it would be hard but I didn't account for this factor. Maybe it's the two extra kids added in short time frames, tripling the emotional needs I'm responsible for. Maybe it's that my goals have gotten bigger and I'm very much an "eh, let's do it and figure it out later" kind of person who then wonders how she got into these stressful situations😅 That kind of irritation can swallow you if you let it. It takes a lot of reframing your mindset and a lot of reminding yourself WHY you're doing all of this.

But I have moments in the chaos where I see it clearly. They're becoming more frequent as we come out of the baby phase and the survival adrenaline of 3 kids, 3 and under starts to lift (you really don't know you're in it until you're not). Moments like today. Dropping the big kids off later than usual because we slept in and played longer than we should have, then taking Romi with me to run a few errands for the clinic. Boring and minuscule in the scheme of big goals. But also exactly the point of all of it. I could be doing this for someone who doesn't care about my family's future, tied to someone else's hours, missing things because I have no choice. Instead I'm here, doing something I genuinely love, for something that's ours.
Which brings me to the actual point of this post.🥱
None of this exists without the support of you all that join us at Within Skin and Body. We've had so many new faces come into our worlds in the last couple of months and I can't tell you how much that means. It makes the late nights and the second guessing of my life's choices feel worth it.
And if you're a working mum, especially a self employed one, I see you. You're doing everything you can and it still feels like it's not enough. But you're not alone, I get it. One day we'll be empty nesters wondering what to do with ourselves and this will feel like a fever dream we'd do anything to get back to. Let's just hope our mental health survives the ride.😂
Thank you for being part of what we're building. Whether you've been with me for 10+ years or you're brand new and get to spend time with Sarah instead of listening to me ramble like this, you're the reason the wheels keep turning. I'm so excited for what's next.

You're putting band aid fixes on a deeper problem. Sound familiar?
Drinking more water, exfoliating more, avoiding heavy moisturisers, skipping active ingredients, blaming your SPF. Anything but seeing the actual issue. And it's totally not your fault, most people are treating the wrong thing because they don't realise their barrier is the problem. You're not alone!

Congestion, sensitivity, breakouts, dryness that never fully goes away- these aren't random. Your skin has been giving you signals and once you know what to look for, you can't unsee them.

If you're feeling like you can't seem to figure out the core of the problems we've listed here, you might need to switch to repair mode before anything else.

If you want a simple starting point, we've put together a 10 day skin reset checklist to help you get your barrier back on track without the overwhelm, ready to tackle the bigger concerns you have!

Comment RESET below and the bots will have it to you shortly🫶🏻

3L of water a day and still dehydrated? Yeah, you're not alone!
Water is good for your skin, genuinely. It supports your organs, flushes out the nasties, and your skin is literally the first place to show what's going on inside your body. Not to mention your organs literally need it to keep you alive. So I'm not here to tell you to stop. Keep going. I applaud you honestly because I am THE WORST.
But drinking a s**t load of water is not going to fix a depleted fatty lipid layer. And if your barrier is impaired on top of that (which if your skin is dehydrated, it probably is) that water content isn't even surviving the night.
Your skin needs fat to hold onto hydration. Not more water. Fat.
Barrier chat coming soon because once you understand it, so much of your skin stuff starts to make sense. 🤍

I'm pretty sure every mum can relate.
It's no wonder 'overstimulated' is one of the most trending words of the decade 😅

Anyway, it's Mother's Day this weekend!
My only requests (for anybody that's asking....🙄) is that I don't have to think for at least 3 hours after I wake up, I can enjoy a hot cuppa and my handmade gifts in bed before the questions start rolling in.
Also wouldn't mind a night in a hotel room solo but I won't get too picky! 💐

Here's to jumping out of your 'normal' for the sake of growth and catching dreams👏🏼
Funny that I'm still posting this after I have eyebrows on but ya know, nobody needs that jumpscare on a Sunday night. 🙃

Did we victimise you here?

Sorry, but not sorry. Some things just aren't as important as you think and some could be your secret skin weapon! Don't get caught up in the hype👏🏼

Personal fave on the ice rolling and guasha incorporated into your daily routine 🤌🏼