Beauty and self-care routines are personal habits that most people perform every day. While for some it may just mean a shower or skincare routine, others take the practice much more seriously.
These rituals become second nature, something we do each morning or night without much thought, yet many of the habits we consider uniquely our own were first learned from the people around us. Over time, bits and pieces of advice are woven together into something that feels entirely personal.
When I started thinking about my own routine, I realized that many of my habits could be traced back to specific people and moments in my life. I looked closely at the products I use every day, and after a quick glance in my makeup bag, I noticed that every brush or product held its own history.
The person who has influenced my routine the most is my mom. I learned almost everything that I know from her, even the little things like the way I blow dry my hair upside down for volume or highlight my brown eyes with a subtle nude eyeliner, a practice I remember picking up from when she would get me ready for cheer competitions as a kid.
Growing up without sisters, I found myself analyzing my friends’ habits at sleepovers, too. Almost every skincare product that I use came at the recommendation of my close friends.
I took mental notes on every step of each of their makeup routines, hoping to one day achieve what I perceived as their expertise. As I get older, I realize that their “expertise” wasn’t just some natural-born talent. Instead, it was the result of years spent doing exactly what I was doing: watching, learning from and emulating the people around me.
With age comes realization. These discoveries have led me to appreciate the memories attached to advice I have chosen to take over the years; however, not all of them are fond.
There are outfits I can’t bring myself to wear because they remind me of difficult times and a version of myself I have outgrown. I have old perfumes that make me feel as though I have time-traveled and there are lip gloss shades that I can directly link back to different periods of life. In a way, the routines and habits you no longer have are just as important as the ones you craft for yourself.
What strikes me the most is that essentially none of these habits are things I thought of on my own. Every product recommendation, self-care tip or technique was passed down to me by people I deeply admire. What was once just curiosity about little things, like how to get my mascara to hold longer, gradually shaped my preferences and experiences surrounding beauty.
The best beauty advice that I have ever heard was from my mom. She told me, “You are only as beautiful as you are on the inside,” and this piece of knowledge has helped me discover what beauty really means to me.
Although beauty is often presented as something personal, my routine reminds me that we are only reflections of those we hold dear to us. I know that the people who taught me these things may not realize it, but they have helped shape not only how I present myself, but how I understand beauty and self-care, as well.
