One year into the pandemic, I have some (beauty-related) thoughts
I was keeping a close eye on coronavirus well before our worlds came to a grinding halt March 13 of last year. A dear friend and I talked about it in late January, and I started taking preparatory steps—like making a major Costco run at the end of February (alas, they were already out of toilet paper) and hoarding any disinfecting wipes I could get my hands on. The stress of it all was making me break out even before schools and everything else shut down, so I made it my business to get a HydraFacial on March 10. (At this point I declined shaking hands with the aesthetician, but had no problem with her breathing in my face for an hour.)
All sorts of panic set in once lockdown began, but I wasn’t too concerned about my personal maintenance because (at the time) we all fooled ourselves into believing that it wasn’t going to be for that long. (Even though Florida opened up way early, the only beauty appointments I’ve made since—rather reluctantly—have been two colors and one haircut. That’s it.)
As time went on, we all discovered the impact lockdown was having on our appearance. Our nails, toes, eyelashes, brows, body hair, Botox, fillers, extensions started to go from bad to worse, and many of us (myself included) tried to do whatever we could at home to hold the pieces together. I asked my colorist if she could give me a DIY formula to go darker, and when that wasn’t an option I begged her to come to my house for highlights. (No dice.) Then, after a few months, a strange thing happened… I started to wonder if I really ever needed to go to a salon for a manicure, pedicure or wax again, and I actually convinced myself I didn’t. (This was obviously some sort of psychological defense mechanism to help me deal with the fact that we had no idea when it would be safe to go back “out there.”)
Fast-forward to now, and I will be fully vaccinated in less than a month. I already feel less anxious being out and about (I went for a smoothie this morning—this was huge for me!) but of course I’m still playing it safe. But I will tell you that the first thing I do two weeks after my second shot is get a pedicure. So, yes, I really do need professionals for my personal maintenance, especially to put all the pieces back together after the dumpster fire that has been the last year. And with that, I’ll share my last DIY pedicure EVER (as long as I can help it):
