THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH SPLURGING ON YOUR BEAUTY

THERE’S N OTHING

WRON G WITHSplurging ON YOUR BEAUTY

We spend big on our looks - over $3756 per year for the average woman in the U.S., according to OnePoll for Groupon - with many women going into debt paying for their beauty needs.

It seems we have accidentally created a very high bar for ourselves and each other, when it comes to our appearance. So, why do we also tear each other down for it?

‘You’re so pretty! (Whispers) ‘She’s so up herself.’ ‘I’d kill for your hair!’ (Whispers) ‘Totally has extensions.’ ‘You spend HOW MUCH on your hair treatments?!’ ‘I bet she’s had work done!’

All that precious time and effort women spend on their hair, clothing, nails and other beauty routines is often met with social shame. We even strive for that ‘natural’ look, in a bid to look fantastic without any effort.

Why? Because people are judgey! We use words like fake, vain, shallow, frivolous, stuck up and even worse, plastic, bimbo or barbie, to casually judge another woman’s appearance.

Our society expects women to look a certain way, but then we criticize each other for trying to achieve it. So, why do we do this? Well, we think beauty spending is all about vanity? Here’s the kicker - a groomed and physically attractive appearance has been shown to influence career advancement and potential earnings. How infuriating is that?

The Wall Street Journal asked women how they felt about their monthly beauty spending, and one respondent said, “If you come into the office looking sloppy, people notice.”

Yes, it’s true. Research shows that our looks are a significant factor influencing career advancement and potential earnings. Fair? Of course not. Fact? Unfortunately.

The study found that women who focus their attention on their grooming habits as opposed to, you know, their actual jobs — get paid more in the workplace.

“A truly beautiful woman is one who raises other women up.”

Good grooming is considered an essential part of a sales person’s tool for success and the effort a person puts into his or her appearance signals how much effort he or she will put into other activities, like her job, according to the study.

So, ‘attractive’ people tended to earn higher salaries and grooming practices, such as applying makeup and styling hair and clothing, actually accounts for nearly all of the salary differences for women of varying ‘attractiveness.’

In addition to the growing obsession with social media, filters and image editing feeding the addiction to making ourselves look younger, healthier and more attractive, we also have a pesky little phobia about ageing.

The way we physically present ourselves to the world influences everything from our self-confidence, the way others perceive us, our intentions and let’s face it, our careers.

Women clearly have enough to contend with overcoming career and social bias based on our attractiveness, so let’s do each other a favour - accept and allow others to focus on their appearance as little or as much as they want with any judgement and name calling. A truly beautiful woman is one who raises other women up.