Skincare is not self-worth
A short reflection on the line between skin care and self-worth.
1 min read reflections #reflections
Somewhere along the way, clear skin became shorthand for discipline, health, even virtue. It is none of those. It is skin.
The pressure is quiet but constant: a breakout reads as a failure, a wrinkle as neglect. That framing sells product, and it borrows your self-worth as collateral. You can decline the loan.
What skin actually reflects
Skin responds to genes, hormones, sleep, stress, and age — most of which you do not control. A good routine helps at the margins. It does not, and cannot, measure whether you are trying hard enough as a person.
Care for your skin the way you would care for a houseplant: attentively, kindly, and without moral stakes. It will do better, and so will you.
