Do you ever ask what your skin wants? What it really, really wants?
Like deciding which Spice Girl you were while karaokeing with friends as a kid, maybe you found a skin identity that rang true and it just stuck. You return again and again to it—like dressing up as the Spice Girls for Halloween 20 years later and still insisting on being Baby Spice.
Here’s the thing: There’s a little bit of every Spice Girl in all of us. And we’re not forever fixed as one skin type.
Skin varies day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year. There are so many factors that can affect complexion—some that we can adjust ourselves (diet, exercise, sleep, stress) and some out of our control (weather, hormones, genetics, aging).
The skincare industry subsists on telling us who we are and what we need. A lot of this is well-intentioned, but when we’re each one of a million potential customers we’re never actually going to be taken personally and treated individually. It’s so much easier to put people in boxes!
At Mirra, we don’t believe in skin types—in fact we’ve banned the term because we find skin types reductive and limiting as they discourage people from being able to thoughtfully consider their unique needs.
Instead, we think in “skin moods.” These come in waves, they change, they pass, and we can read them to get a handle on things before reacting. The ubiquitous handful of blanket skin types don’t suit everyone’s situation, and they limit paying attention and thinking for yourself. Instead, we aim to empower with knowledge about skin and ingredients in skincare products while bolstering confidence to make informed decisions.
So what’s your skin mood right now? Only you can know! Take a second to step back and actually consider your skin.
Everything you know is great, and you’ve been living in your skin a long time. But how much of what you think about your skin hasn’t been questioned in a while? Are you holding on to something someone told you once years ago? Did you determine your skin type and never look back? When’s the last time you reevaluated the rules you’ve been abiding by? Maybe it’s time to let some things go.
Consider your skin right now without getting stuck in the past. What do you see when you look in the mirror? How does your face feel? How do you feel about your face? Take a moment to check in, give some attention, and understand your skin as it is right now. Clock a couple makeup-free selfies—they’re good to track changes and because why the hell not?
Much of personal care is force of habit. That cleanser that made all the difference years ago might still be in rotation because, well, that’s just the cleanser you use. But what would you like from skincare products right now? Products should be on par with your current skincare desires, not chosen only for familiarity, brand loyalty, or because that one influencer won’t stop posting about it. Identify your key concerns at this moment and go from there.
Remember that skincare is rooted in “care.” Make sure you’re taking care of your skin—not punishing or inadvertently hurting it. Irritation shouldn’t be part of the process. That’s your skin telling you something’s wrong. There may be some underlying issue or products in your routine with sensitizing ingredients that could be doing more harm than good and keeping your skin in a less-than-ideal state. Aim to nix ingredients that could be culprits and products that just don’t seem to mesh with you to do best by your skin barrier. Maintaining a healthy skin barrier helps your skin do what it’s supposed to do: protect you. Everything else will be easier with a healthy skin barrier.
Change is scary! But it’s inevitable. When winter begins and the air goes cold and dry, your skin will react. It will behave differently and have different needs. Implementing a new product may have ramifications throughout your routine or take some getting used to. You might have periods of not much sleep and whole lot of pizza and beer. (Been there, done that.) The thing here is to know that you can change how you deal too. It’s very appealing to have a hard and fast, all-day-everyday routine, but life is always in flux. What works in one moment may not hold up in the next. Try to go with the flow and adjust accordingly.
At the end of the day, you’re the only one whose happiness in your skin matters. If you’d rather snooze than do a 10-step routine and benefit way more from extra ZZZs, love cheese more than life itself regardless of everyone else giving up dairy in hopes of reducing acne, or find sheet masks slimy and uncomfortable, it’s all good! It’s your skin and your life, and no one knows it better than you.
