“We’ll see you next at your wedding,” a close friend’s mother tells me at her daughter’s wedding. With no groom in sight, a mere 10k in my bank account, and the rest in (sk)investments, I want to snap back and tell her I’m nowhere close to marriage. But she interrupts my internal monologue, “You’re 30 in a few months no? About time, you get over this ‘I’m not getting married’ idea of yours,” she wags her finger at me, continuing to ramble on about starting a family, buying a house and taking care of my parents.
Starting a family? The only thing I’m starting this week is retinol in my skincare routine. And safe to say I’m nervous about it. As a millennial who spends all her money on unnecessarily cute things (mugs, ceramic cutlery, plants, expensive bags, and lots of skincare and makeup), my priority has not always been me.
Do You Really Need That?
“You don’t need another Barbie you already have one,” they told me while my brother played with his fifth red Hot Wheels car. “But do you really need three different highlighters?” the close friend’s mom asked as I touched up her daughter’s makeup before she walked down the aisle.
Yes, so I can shine bright in spite of your remarks, I wanted to say. “No. I want them so I got them,” I said instead.
Save, Don’t Splurge!
Coming from a middle-class family, spending money on myself was something I had to talk myself into. I bought my first MAC lipstick (a splurge of Rs. 1300) at 20, with my first paycheck, and got flak for it. But hadn’t I worked hard to make that money and didn’t I deserve to indulge, maybe even pamper myself? The thought helped me tune out the background negativity.
Today after spending 10k on my Sephora order, I hear nothing but the butterflies fluttering in my stomach in anticipation for my order to arrive.
The journey to get to where I am was an uphill one. But so what if I’m nowhere close to getting married right now? I was apparently too late to start my skincare journey at 27 but that’s working out just fine, maybe everything else will too?
Here’s what my latest splurge included:
Retinol, because God forbid I actually look like a 30-year-old rather than 27.
A highlighter to give my skin that other-worldly (where age doesn’t matter) glow.
A sunscreen to block the sun’s harsh rays, since I can’t block Aunty’s harsh words.
A serum and moisturiser combo to give my skin that Raja Beta treatment it actually deserves.
A perfume that costs as much as the electricity bill that would give my future husband a panic attack.
Featured Image: Instagram
