Sunday is the sort of day where all you want to do is chuck on a playlist, wear those ridiculously worn shorts you need to chuck out and scroll through the depths of social media. Inevitably there is always a great article on how to 'girl boss' it up, backing you to get rich and independent so you can replace your breakfast bowl with crisp dollar bills to bulk your Instagram aesthetic.
However, it is very likely that somewhere through your scrolling journey, new articles appear. Articles that shift self-care and ambition into beauty talk. "A 'To all the boys I loved before' makeup line just dropped at Sephora", "18 products that beauty editors loved in 2019", oh... and don't miss out on this "Viral beauty trend that looks great in the video but will probably leave you without eyebrows if you try and DIY it at home."
The message?
Be that independent woman but also short change yourself by constantly changing yourself.
As young women today, things aren't as blissful as an apricot filter that sticks butterflies on your face. The looming gender pay gap and bias are still the norm which means getting your money brain on is, even more, a must. However, on the other side of the boxing ring are brands who claim to 'have our backs' while also throwing an endless stream of beauty essentials at us.
The result? There is a cost to being a female.
According to a recent article by Sydney Morning Herald, the 'basic' beauty routine story is far from the 'basic' Sunday shorts you're wearing. If we add up haircuts, teeth whitening, extensions, refills, SNS nails, hair removal, home skin care, spray tans and pedicures finance expert Pete Wargent estimates around $14,000 a year is taken out of the bank.
Lots of us put our earnings and future security on our face or skin to keep up with a society that profits from our restlessness with our own bodies.
The solution, please.
The Didoret Effect can explain this massive splurge. According to this effect, when you buy a new possession you link it to your happiness and then a spiral of more spending happens. Some classic examples of this include:
• You buy a new top and get new shoes to match
• You sign up to a gym and pay for a foam roller, new gym outfit and post-workout toner
• You buy Frank Body Scrub and then lip scrub, moisturiser and glow mask to go with
• You get a manicure and then a pedicure to match
You can see this is not ideal for our minds or our bank accounts. Luckily there are 3 tactics to get in control (for real this time):
1. Limit exposure. Unsubscribe from those 'Get around our new obsession' / 'buy all the things' marketing emails from your various beauty brands. Subscribe to your friend's lives.
2. Don't buy new stuff for a month. Yup. Shift your brains go-to mantra of 'I need to buy something to match this' to 'what do I already have'
3. Set limits (with your mates). Half the time we buy stuff is because we know other people have the stuff we don't have. Sign a wolf pack with your mates to limit how much you spend on beauty to a certain amount. Make a group chat about it. Praise yourself for liking yourself enough to bypass the latest beauty buys. Then give yourself a hi-5 for having awesome humans in your life.
Once you tick of these three, rinse and repeat. The only gold glow you need is in your bank account.
