The thing I finally scheduled at 40 👀

Hi beautiful, ☕

The kids are back in school. 🍂

The house is finally quiet.

And you know what that means…

Refresh season:

• Clearing out the closets

• Organizing the chaos

• Booking the appointment I kept pushing to "someday"

I almost talked myself out of it. (More on that below 👀)

I'm sharing all the secrets this week:

✨ What my skin needs in my 40s (because I'm not 20 anymore)
🌿 My mom's TCM vs. what I do now
👀 The thing I finally scheduled at 40 for my face

What my 40’s skin actually needs

Girl, you are not 20 anymore. (I’m telling myself in the mirror")

Neither is your base.

Here's the swaps that actually stuck:

1. Base that doesn't cake at 40 💄 Full foundation that looked flawless at 20 now sits in every dry patch, and the red spots still peek through. I tap this color correcting primer on the redness first, then press in a skin tint with SPF with my fingers. If your face looks made up by 10am instead of like skin, start here. This is the combo I that makes a tired night look like I slept 10 hours.
Tip: Primer on the red spots. Tint with fingers. Build where you need it.

2. When moisturizer alone stops holding water 🧴 I used to slap on cream and wonder why I was dry again by pickup. At 40 my skin drinks it and still looks thirsty. Once I started using 7% milky ectoin serum, my whole life changed! Babe, I’ll say it again, you should have started using this yesterday. I seal with this soothing collagen peptide cream and my skin looks like it just got a facial.
Tip: Serum on damp skin. Cream while it's still dewy.

3. Clearer texture without the scrub hangover ✨ Scrubs used to be my reset button. Now they leave me red and somehow bumpier two days later. I cleanse with a pore normalizing cleanser, then use a 2% BHA liquid twice a week instead of grinding my face off with exfoliating beads (say bye-bye to St. Ives…IYKYK). Stop scrubbing for "smooth". Liquid is the way to go and the quieter swap that actually cleared my congestion.
Tip: BHA on dry skin. Two or three nights max.

4. Hair that looks fuller at 40 🌸 My mom told me one of her biggest regrets was not taking better care of her hair sooner. So I listened. Every night I massage a few drops of this anti-shedding scalp serum into my part and hairline, and my hair is super thick now. On wash days, I use this long-barrel thermal bounce brush for volume at the roots and soft bend at the ends in one go.
Tip: Apply the serum to a dry scalp at night and massage for 60 seconds.

5. The one I wish I started in my 30s 🔴 Your neck gives your age away before your face does, so I use this red light therapy mask for face and neck while I sit on the couch. Does it actually work? Yes, YES, yes. I wish I'd started in my early 30s. I heard using this 35% vitamin C serum right after the mask is going to do wonders on brightening skin. Babe, if you add one thing this fall, make it this one.
Tip: Clean skin. 3 times a week.

My mom's TCM vs. what I do now

My mom still cooks like beauty starts in a pot.

I still believe her.

I just don't only live in her kitchen anymore.

…but kinda wish I did. 😂 

1. Her goji simmer. My collagen scoop. 🍵 Mom still simmers goji berries and organic ginger like it's medicine. I keep stir in these collagen peptides into whatever I'm already drinking.
Tip: Scoop into your coffee.

2. Her menopause. My perimenopause. 🌿 My mom just winged it and in her words "not a great time." I've been taking these perimenopause multivitamins for exactly one month, the only thing I changed, and my mood swings have calmed way down. Even my husband noticed! 😅
Tip: Add one new thing at a time so you know what's really working.

3. Warm belly rules. My gut stack. 🥣 No iced water, warm drinks only, protect the belly. Mom was right, and I back her up with my daily gut + essentials duo on the chaos weeks. Flatter stomach and way less bloating.
Tip: Warm drinks by default.

4. Her night tonic. My wind down. 🌙 She'd make me something warm and tell me to stop scrolling. I still do a calming herbal night tea, and sleep support when I need lights out.
Tip: Tea to wind down. Sleep support for lights out.

The thing I finally scheduled at 40

Okay. Here's the appointment. 💛

I booked Sculptra.

The injectable that builds your own collagen over time.

Not a quick filler that just plumps and leaves.

I researched before and afters for months. 🔍

What almost stopped me was judgment.

That little voice of what will people think.

I'm in this industry.

I still felt it when I hit confirm on the booking. 😬

Then I remembered.

Women should get to do what they want to their faces.

My whole life, I’ve had people tell me what to do, what to wear, how to act…(the list is endless)

But if it helps you feel better in your skin, strangers' opinions are not the point.

Then a school mom said something I can't shake.

Rude.
Accurate.
Liberating. 🙌

In my 20’s I cared what everyone thought.

In my 30’s I still cared. I just pretended I didn't.

Now I have kids. A career. My own face.

I'm done renting brain space to strangers.

If you've been sitting on something for yourself because of an imaginary opinion.

I see you. 🫶

Do want you want. Or don’t.

Just don't let them be the reason.

See you next week. 💟 

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xo Jen

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