Too Much 💩: A Reflection on Skin, Simplicity, and Respect 🌿
It started, like many real lessons do… in the kitchen 🍳🔥
A simple moment—cooking, heat rising, oil snapping—and then…
OUCH 😬🔥
A splash of grease landed on my forehead.
Not dramatic. Not hospital-level.
But enough to send me straight into…
PANIC MODE 😱😭
Because normally… I would KNOW what to do.
💜 Lavender oil.
Lots of it.
Like… a lot a lot.
The kind of “this will heal overnight” confidence.
But this time?
I was out.
Completely out.
Not a drop.
Cue the spiral:
🤪 “What do I do now?”
🤔 “Is this going to scar?”
🙄 “Why didn’t I bring more?”
😬 “Okay… don’t freak out…”
So I did the only thing I could.
I slowed down.
And reached for what was actually there…
🌿 Fresh aloe vera.
Cut it.
Drained it (like we learned).
Put it in the fridge.
Then gently placed it on the burn.
Cold. Calm. Simple.
And honestly?
It worked.
🌿 The Healing (aka the part nobody talks about)
Then came the real process…
The itch 😬
The half-asleep scratch 🤪
The “wait… was I supposed to remove that?” moment 🤔
I gently peeled away what felt like old skin sitting in the creases on my forehead…
And again:
Was that good?
Was that bad?
🙄 Both.
Because healing isn’t perfect.
It’s messy.
It’s human.
🌞 Heat, Sweat, and Reality
No beach for a couple days.
Shade instead of sun 🌴
Also dealing with a dog scratch 🐾 (because… life)
No 10-step routine.
No expensive products.
Just:
Water 💧
Sweat 😅
Aloe 🌿
And honestly?
That’s when it hit me…
💄 We Are Doing WAY Too Much 💩
Too many products.
Too many steps.
Too much fixing.
Blackheads? Problem.
Wrinkles? Problem.
Texture? Problem.
Everything becomes something to correct.
And then…
🔍 The magnifying mirror.
GOOD GOD 😳
Who decided we should look at ourselves like that every day?!
Pores look like craters.
Lines look like canyons.
Normal skin looks… wrong.
But think about it…
We used to see ourselves in:
🌊 Water
🌫️ Reflections
✨ Soft light
Not under harsh zoom and judgment.
🍍 The Pineapple Thought
Yes… pineapple can exfoliate 🍍
Yes… it can smooth
But also?
⚠️ It can sting
⚠️ It can irritate
⚠️ It can damage healing skin
Just because we can…
doesn’t mean we should.
Same with:
🥥 Oils
🧴 Cleansers
💧 Treatments
🌿 The Real Lesson
This was never about:
Aloe vs pineapple
Oil vs no oil
It was about this:
Do I trust my body?
Because the body:
Knows how to heal 🔥
Knows how to shed skin 🍂
Knows how to regulate itself 🌞
What it needs is not control…
But respect.
💭 Reflective Questions
- When was the first time I ever used a cleanser—and why?
- Do I remember ads or messages that made me feel like my natural skin wasn’t enough? (hello Noxema commercials 📺… I remember singing them so much my family shushed me 🤣)
- How much of my routine comes from habit vs actual need?
- What am I afraid will happen if I don’t use products?
- Do I trust my body to heal—or do I constantly interfere?
- How often do I pick, scratch, or “fix” instead of letting things be? 😬
- Has magnification (mirrors, cameras) changed how I see myself?
- What does my skin actually need in my environment (heat, sun, sweat)?
- Am I caring for my body—or trying to control it?
- What would respecting my skin look like… in the simplest way?
Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is…
🌿 Step back
❄️ Cool the skin
💧 Keep it simple
…and let the body lead. 💚
