Being quarantined at home for months proved difficult for several reasons, many of which ventured far beyond having to adjust to a new normal while wondering if we’d ever be able to return to the old normal. As soon as it became apparent that we weren’t heading back to the office or hanging out at our favourite local with our besties any time soon, our inner selves rose up and called on us to pay attention to the things that mattered: greying roots, misshapen eyebrows, calloused feet, and everything in between that demanded urgent upkeep in the wake of lockdowns that shuttered hair salons, spas, gyms, and every place responsible for our manicured nails and defined glutes.

Our vanity may not have understood why our root touch-up appointments and gruelling sessions with our personal trainers were cancelled until further notice; it just knew that, out of desperation, we’d reach for our credit cards and purchase any and every beauty product that would get us to our former, pre-pandemic selves as possible.

Many of us emerged with full, bushy eyebrows and glowing, vitamin-fed skin.

Lockdown stretched from days to weeks, and eventually months, forcing businesses to pivot to survive. Soon, virtual colour consulting appointments and YouTube yoga sessions were as common as standing in line to buy toilet paper. People took advantage of the time spent hidden away from the public eye and bought at-home beauty treatments that took weeks to produce effective results; many of us emerged with full, bushy eyebrows and glowing, vitamin-fed skin.

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As we shifted between lockdowns to coveted, distanced walks in the park with our friends, I realized that my complex beauty routine seemed best life in my former, pre-COVID former life. It was time to adapt to the new beauty normal.

Every day my pores weren’t caked in foundation was a day they whispered ‘thank you’.

And so began a permanent change to my beauty habits. As I mapped out a daily routine that barely took me further than the living room sofa, I accepted my natural state and said goodbye to my lipstick-fuelled beauty hauls. My skin, used to being smothered in makeup, embraced a fresh, minimalist routine that was bolstered by makeup-free days. Every day my pores weren’t caked in foundation was a day they whispered ‘thank you’.

It’s comforting knowing that one day we will begin a new normal and return to work and, yes, to some of our old habits. In anticipation, I’ve begun to stock up on the loudest, brightest lipsticks I can find in anticipation of a mask-less world where I no longer need to smize my way through conversations. But I’ve also stocked up on a lot of new beauty items that will allow me to stick to my new beauty normal. Alongside my trays of vibrant-hued nail polishes sit serums, moisturizers, and cleansing waters.

The new normal is looking beautiful.

Let every hair flip be fabulous.

XOXO

Le Snobbery

original photo by kaboompics || manipulation by le snobbery