Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of beauty services. They talk about beauty standards, biases, confidence, and more. Are beauty services worth it?
Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of beauty services. They talk about beauty standards, biases, confidence, and more. Are beauty services worth it?
Main Topics
00:00 Introduction: Beauty Services Debate
01:53 Running The Numbers Segment
03:30 Societal Pressures, Beauty Standards, and Personal Choices
08:02 Attitudes Towards Different Beauty Services
19:05 Spending With Intention on Services
23:48 Health Risks and Trade-offs
27:41 Men and Beauty Standards
34:40 20 Cents Segment
References for Statistics
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/men-personal-care-market.html
Lissa: If you had to pick one, would you rather be an average mid looking millionaire or beautiful and broke?
Lizzy: All right, I'm gonna pick a mid looking millionaire because money can buy you a whole Which is why we're talking about beauty services today. When we talk about beauty services, we mean hair did, nails did, everything did.
Lizzy: Hair, nails, facials, waxing, hair removal, lashes, permanent makeup, lasers, Botox, cosmetic surgery, fillers, tanning. Cosmetic dentistry, hair plugs if you need it. Yep. It is a whole industry. So let's talk about it. Are beauty services worth it?
Lissa: Welcome to Net Net with Lizzy and Lissa, where we analyze hidden costs and empower you to make your own damn decisions. in life. Each episode covers a different facet of life. And at the end of each episode, we each give our take on whether or not we think something is net positive or net negative.
Lizzy: I'm Lizzy, a strategist and consultant with over 17 years in business and investing.
Lissa: And I'm Lissa, a content creator and accredited financial counselor. We're best friends who talk about money and everything else. So are beauty services worth it?
Lizzy: First up running the numbers on beauty services.
Lissa: A Groupon survey says American women spend an average of 3, Per year on beauty products and services, which means a little over 10 a day on beauty.
Lizzy: I’m not going to lie. That feels a little low, right? But it's an average. But men are not far behind the same survey shows that American men spend an average of 2, 928 per year across the same categories.
Lissa: In fact, the men's personal care market is projected to hit 276 billion by 2030. And I have some interesting things to say about men's products and men's branding, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Lissa: We'll get
Lizzy: to it, we'll get to it. Um, in one survey, 33 percent of women said they'd consider cosmetic surgery to maintain a youthful appearance.
Lissa: I'm not surprised. Like, youth is, everyone loves youth. Everyone tells me that I look 22 even though I'm 37 and it's always a compliment.
Lizzy: Man, facts. I got that recently and I was like, oh.
Lissa: In that same survey, 30 percent of women and 21 percent of men said that they often worry about their appearance.
Lizzy: That's real. I think that's the nature of society we live in these days.
Lissa: So unless you're living under a rock or really just don't give a fuck about appearances, there's a high likelihood you've paid for a professional beauty service in the past.
Lissa: So let's talk about it. Are these beauty services really worth it?
Lizzy: This is a loaded topic because one, there's a wide gamut of beauty services that we named. We're Deliberately being very inclusive of a wide range of services. But also there's just a lot of societal expectations that come along with this.
Lizzy: So I think we're not referring specifically to women, but especially for women there is so much pressure to maintain a specific appearance, to maintain a youthful appearance, to be physically attractive and desirable, that for a lot of people these feel like a must. Like you don't have a choice almost.
Lizzy: And there, there is a significant financial cost that comes with that.
Lissa: Well, I think it's interesting because there's one thing to care about your beauty and appearance for yourself, because it feels good. Right. Just because it feels good. And then extending that to looking beautiful. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, right?
Lissa: If you're single, trying to attract a partner, or if you have a partner and you want to, you know, Keep them around. Be some eye candy, right? Like, you know, there's different reasons for it. But as you said, like, there's these deeper, deeper reasons for it. reasons for like keeping up appearances that can affect getting jobs that can affect whether you look older or younger.
Lissa: Like there's so many aspects to keeping up an appearance and caring about your appearance that there's no straight answer initially.
Lizzy: So it's funny that you say that because I am a bit of a contrarian by nature. And so there are certain parts of, the beauty industry or the expectations that I've historically like really balked against.
Lizzy: And that, that's just interesting that some things for me personally are considered normalized and acceptable, which is usually like hair done, nails done. That's pretty typical in my opinion.
Lizzy: Um, but things beyond that for me have been like, I've, I've judged it or, or just kind of. shunned the notion that that should be expected of me.
Lizzy: Um, and it's interesting. You bring up like the effects of appearance on how you're treated in the world. Uh, and it is a real thing. I'm thinking of like professionalism and this idea that you have to be polished and look a certain way to be considered professional. Clearly, I'm not. I don't, uh, accept that notion and I have made a big effort to kind of reject that in my own life of like I'm gonna go and I'm gonna speak on a panel and I'm gonna have tattoos and I'm gonna say fuck and I'm gonna wear what I want to wear.
Lizzy: Um, but, but the reality is that has that been used against me? 100%. Do you think that's a privilege to a degree to be able to do that? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. If I wasn't white, I would not have that same opportunity for sure. And, and other things, I think. I benefit from some degree of pretty privilege. I think, uh, I have a certain amount of experience that enables me to do that.
Lizzy: I can, you know, speak fairly eloquently about certain topics. So yeah, absolutely. Not everyone can make that same move and have the same outcome. Um, but it's something I'm aware of. And, professionally, uh, specifically, caring too much about your appearance can go the opposite direction. You look too young, or you're, uh, as a woman, you're not taken as seriously.
Lizzy: Or as a woman, you're asking for attention that you don't want. Or you're sexualized, which has been my experience many times as well. So, as a woman, you have to ride this very specific line of being attractive enough. But not too attractive, you know, you want to be pleasing but not asking for it, which is wild and this is Not me making these recommendations.
Lizzy: This is the effect of society on women.
Lissa: So you mentioned that there are some beauty services that not so much are like a no brainer, but that are just normalized to you and that you've taken, right? Yeah. Uh, nails, hair. What are some of the ones that you don't?
Lizzy: Sure. Yeah. This is kind of changing because I think I've become more reflective of my own attitudes on it.
Lizzy: Um, And some of it is at the intersection of my financial attitudes. So I have always, um, been okay with getting my nails done. Partially because I bite my nails to the fucking disaster and so I have to. I feel like I have to because I don't want to be judged for that. Um, and, uh, and I've always been okay with doing my hair partially because I, I color my own hair and I enjoy it and it's fun and it's creative and, and whatever.
Lizzy: Um, I have never gotten my, uh, lashes done. This is a specific one that is like my own little rebellion of, I think the more women get their lashes done, the more normalized it is, the more it is expected. Because that's what people think that women look like. And I think that's bullshit. And I don't want to have to spend hundreds of dollars every month just to have the baseline eyelashes.
Lizzy: I think it's silly. So I don't know if I'll ever get lashes.
Lissa: Well, it's interesting you say that because I never knew what eyelash extensions were to like five years ago, because. I saw one of my friends have them, and I didn't know what they were, I just was like, oh my god, like, you're, you look beautiful, but she had them so naturally put on that I thought they were her real lashes, so I thought maybe it's like a mascara, or like, the way she curls them, and so she told me they were extensions, so I was like, ooh, let me, I want to try them, so I ended up Finding someone to do my lash extensions, the homie Lauren.
Lissa: Shout out to Lauren. Yeah, shout out to Lauren, who I'm still friends with to this day. You really get to know your, your lash tech. It's like you are laying there for hours getting them done, so you end up talking a lot of the time. Uh, but anyway, so I had this whole phase of like two to three straight years of getting my lash extensions done.
Lissa: And what I see now in hindsight was, It was partially a confidence booster. It was like, you get to wake up like looking like this, like looking fresh. Um, as opposed to like towards the end when they've like fallen off, like, and you don't have time to get a fill, like I'll show up at places and people will be like, Lissa, like, you look tired.
Lissa: You're tired. I'm not tired. My lashes just fell off and it's time to get new ones. Right. Right. Um, and I didn't put mascara on or whatever. But, so, I went to this, through this phase of getting them consistently because I felt like they made me feel more confident, just, you know, even if I wasn't going anywhere for the day and I was going to You already looked done.
Lissa: Even if I wasn't going to see anyone. It was just me For you. waking up and like brushing my teeth and like, oh, who's, who's that in the mirror? And then, so, but then I don't know if mine became an obsession but it was like I always have to have full lashes, like I always have to get them filled, which started to cost a lot more.
Lissa: Yeah. Yeah. But then now that I think about it, they're, even though they cost more. They also saved me a lot of money because in that in that phase I stopped wearing other eye makeup I wasn't buying like eyeshadows eyeliners and all that stuff. I also wasn't wearing Full face more like right even more and more because just the lashes alone and a little bit of lip gloss That's all you need.
Lissa: Yeah, right you wear way less makeup since you got lashes Going back to your point, though, not to dismiss it, because I agree with it, like the more we normalize that as being the normal look and the normal face. What is it when it is your normal face? What is it when you have nothing on, no lashes, no nothing, and you look tired?
Lissa: How does that affect perception?
Lizzy: Well, I already felt eyelashes. So I already get that normally and most days I don't wear any makeup and uh, I got to a point where I had no issue with that. I like the way my face looks without makeup. I don't feel like I have to to feel good about myself. Um, but then it's, it's the double effect of I don't have mascara on.
Lizzy: So my, I look tired already. And then. I feel like I'm like the only person I know that doesn't have last extensions. And maybe that's also, again, living in a little bit of a bubble, but it is different. Like, people expect it. And to each their own, I have no judgment about people who do it. I think they look beautiful.
Lizzy: Some of them go a little wild these days. Some of them are like Some of them, I don't know how they stay up. Sheesh! Yeah. Yeah. They look heavy. Especially like some of these WNBA players. It's like, uh. Yeah. But you know what? Like, if that's what makes you feel good, it makes you feel good. But that's one of the specific ones.
Lizzy: I also, I think, used to have a lot of judgment around, like, fillers, Botox, that kind of thing. And I've really let that go, um, which I don't think there's a super specific reason other than, Do what you want to do. Yeah. I have one of my other best friends is a dermatologist. I got a little free Botox to try it out and that's the only time I've done it.
Lizzy: But, uh, I definitely felt like, oh, yeah, a little boost. I have hooded eyes and it just like perked me up a little bit. Um, I don't know that I would pay for it personally, but like, I can be kind of cheap sometimes.
Lissa: So that, that judgment you said you used to have on some of those things. Do you think that came from a place of, because I know you.
Lissa: So, I'm just kind of guessing here. To me, it feels like you might have come from a place where like, you know, women don't need that. You are pretty already.
Lizzy: Yeah. So why would you I think it came from that place and also like if i'm being truly honest a place of like Arrogance of like I don't feel the need to do that, but you do And I that's the part I think i've in particular let go of of like Just because I don't want to do it Yeah Doesn't make me better or different than anyone else Because there is a lot of that and I think it's internalized misogyny and I think men feed into it of like You Men wanting all the girls with the BBLs and the crazy fake faces.
Lizzy: But then they want a natural. Oh, yeah.
Lissa: Yeah the the duck lips. Yeah, but so interesting You mentioned the bbl's because I think that's something that I used to have more judgment on too that i've just kind of like All right, let let live and let live like what does it have to do with me if it's something I personally Are are not going to do for myself right now, who knows maybe in five years i'll do something Uh, maybe maybe not but like bbl's like, uh boob jobs, right like other You bigger, I guess more major cosmetic surgery.
Lissa: Like I used to have this big judgment on it because I just felt like, no, like love your body for what it is. But then like with the lashes thing, like my reasoning is because it made me feel confident. For sure. And. Like, it makes me attractive and pleasing to other eyeballs, which is nice for me. Um, what I worry about is the other extreme, right?
Lissa: Because it's so, if it becomes so normalized in, in rap songs and whatever, that women, This is the beauty standard. It's a standard that women feel that they need to have in order to get attention. And then go to extremes.
Lizzy: You know, BBLs are incredibly dangerous.
Lissa:Yeah, especially when you're getting, like, traveling to places.
Lizzy: Yeah, and there are real health risks. And the crazy thing is that is the extreme that many women, not just women, but many people feel the need to take their, their Beauty efforts to in order to maintain, you know, some sense of fame in that case, or, you know, it's just one thing.
Lissa:. I think it's a mix. That could be a part of it, but it could also be because someone just really wanted it.
Lissa: Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. And we shouldn't assume. Yeah. Yeah.
Lizzy: So what, what about you, are there limits? Do you put these in categories? What has been your experience with beauty services?
Lissa: So beauty services to me are not like a I do this all the time and I'm going to do it for the rest of my life. I go through phases.
Lissa: Sure. So there are certain things that I've learned. I hate doing myself. Like, um, you know, waxing and plucking my own eyebrows, uh, doing my own nails. So when, two years ago, when I got laid off, it was okay. It's okay. Don't worry about me. I wanted to get laid off. She was about to quit, y'all. She came up. But when I got laid off, And I had a set amount of money to fund my life and to fund this business that I'm building.
Lissa: And I still wanted to maintain my lifestyle to in certain ways. Like I didn't want to move to a smaller place. Like there were certain things I wanted that I cared a lot about. I wanted to keep traveling to see my long distance boyfriend at the time. There were things that I decided I wanted to change and a lot of those came in the beauty category.
Lissa: Right. So, cool. My every two to three week eyelash extension fill. I stopped doing that. And I started doing lashify, which are these lashes you put on yourself. They last a couple of days, even though they're kind of pricey for like having to keep buying product. They, I did the numbers. I ran the numbers.
Lissa: They come out to like less than half what I was paying for extensions. There was a lot of things that I downgraded. I stopped going to get professional services and I instead did them myself. to save money for that period of time. For sure. I've since gone back to some of these services. One, because I have more cashflow, like I have the money to do it.
Lissa: And two, because I realized that's where I learned that I don't like doing certain things. Sure. Some things I'm. Find do. Oh, another one is, I, I stopped getting highlights in my hair for like two years. Oh yeah, you did? Yeah, I went natural all black and then now I finally, I like that though. But it looks good.
Lissa: Yeah. Yeah. Then I colored my hair, switch it up. So I think as long as, uh, what, you know, I'm a financial counselor when I work with people, we talk a lot about non-negotiables and like, what are the things that you can stick to in your budget, because. You know, if something brings you joy and you don't want to cut that because it'll like you, then you'll get unmotivated to keep, you know, building wealth and, and sticking to your budget.
Lissa: And a lot of times women's non negotiables are like, no, I have to get my manicures. Like I have to do them and we'll find ways to keep it in the budget. It just might mean like, all right, pause Netflix for, for the foreseeable future.
Lizzy: I'm going to. Get a fill, wait a week to get a fill.
Lissa: Yeah, wait one extra week, whatever. There's ways, there's ways to do it. So I, what I like to see is when people are intentional about their services and they don't do it just because it's a recurring, regular thing, intentional because they know why it matters to them, not to other people, right? Like, so that's where I kind of land with all beauty services for myself, as well as like for clients is like, what is this doing for you?
Lissa: What is it, what does it bring to your life?
Lizzy: Do you think, or have you seen in your experience? That women in particular have a lot of negative emotions or shame or guilt or embarrassment associated with What they spend on beauty services.
Lissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, everyone feels bad. Like, okay, not everyone some people some people are Unapologetic about it and probably shouldn't because they should probably Spending a little bit, but there are other people who have the money for it But won't get you know, gel nails instead of regular because it costs ten dollars more and with inflation It's like Up to 15, 20 more and I'm like, but what about the stress caused when you chip your regular manicure paint in the same day you got it versus gel, which won't chip for two, three weeks later.
Lissa: Right. And it's, you know, the trade off there is like, we're not thinking about the financial costs anymore. We're thinking about what does it do for you? Like, does it bring you happiness? Does it bring you less stress to get the more expensive thing?
Lizzy: Right. Right. Right. Right. So that resonates a lot with me of this kind of very recent journey that I'm on of recognizing all of the ways where I minimize my own needs and don't.
Lizzy: invest in my own self and I've always been pretty frugal and i'm absolutely a diy girly. I love a diy So there's always been that element for me. I similarly I bought the whole gel like the The complete gel, like acrylic basically, kit, I actually really liked doing them, but they wouldn't stay on. I couldn't get them to last as long and so then it just became a waste of time because they take forever.
Lizzy: Um, but yeah, I've colored my own hair. I've done all my own stuff. And part of that is because I like the process, but I think inherently there was this unconscious Uh, belief that I didn't deserve to spend that money on myself. And, um, so I had to minimize the costs. And I, I think now I'm in this position of going the opposite direction of fuck.
Lizzy: Yeah, I deserve that. If I want it, I will spend it. Um, and. Kind of in a new season of deliberately putting money into my own self care in those ways for the sake of kind of turning a corner in that regard. But I completely relate to those. And it's complex because it's hard to decipher between what is it that I want, what is, um, what is valued, what is seen as frivolous, um, what is like, oh, this is what you should spend or shouldn't spend.
Lizzy: And I think, um, There's this interesting element of society that says you have to be this way, but you have to make it effortless. You have to be gorgeous and young and look glamorous, but you have to make it look like you didn't try. Like you rolled out of bed like this, like you didn't spend a dime on it, because those things are frowned upon.
Lizzy: And those make you high maintenance, and, you know, they make you a silly girl.
Lissa: I always laugh when you watch the TV show and like, let's say it's a woman. I don't know, police officer or someone who just came out of like, uh, um, a car chase fighting. And then like, even though they have like a couple scuffs on them, like their lashes, their brows, like others, parts that are no, like there are parts that are perfect because of their face.
Lissa: Yeah. That's just like, yeah, how big. And, and so I think the media has a, You know, we can go all day about, like, the media and, um, the beauty standards, but, like, it feeds this mentality, like you said, that, that's the norm. But, no, no, the norm, I'll show you, maybe one of these episodes, I'll do A breakdown? No, like, fresh face, nothing.
Lissa: Oh, yeah, yeah. That's
Lizzy: the norm. That's the norm. The norm
Lissa: is, like, not this Low key,
Lizzy: I considered it today. I considered it.
Lissa: Let me tell you why there won't actually ever be a norm like that for me because I have, um, Uh, powder brows, that's like permanent makeup, right? I also have, um, dental veneers, so it's like permanent, um, so I can't undo all that, so there is no looking at natural me, um, but that's something, something I wanted to touch on as I'm thinking of all these services I do now, is, we talked about the financial costs, there's also social costs, what about, what about the health costs, health risks?
Lizzy: I think that can be significant. And it depends, obviously, um, to some extent on how invasive the services are, but even what I historically have considered the more acceptable, you know, there's a lot of chemicals when you're getting your nails done, you're putting them under UV light if you're doing gel, you're, uh, if you're getting your hair colored, like you can't get it colored when you're pregnant because of the effect of the chemicals.
Lizzy: Yeah. Um, so. The reality is we're exposing our bodies to all kinds of bullshit, even if we're not, you know, going under the knife or injecting something. And those, I think, are often just expected. Like, we're just supposed to eat those risks.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: What do you think? What, what's your take on the health costs?
Lissa: I think you hit it spot on. Like, I think about that all the time. When I was getting eyelash extensions, they started to, um, irritate me Not so much. I know some women get irritation from the chemicals and will get like puffy eyes and red eyes and things like that. My eyes weren't affected, but my nose would get affected and be like allergies and so I'd have to like take a Zyrtec, but even then it would take like two days to like subside.
Lissa: And then I finally, you know, I talked to my lash tech about it, and she switched me to a more sensitive glue. Right. Which worked for the, like, less impact on my allergies and stuff. But, and it cost the same, but they didn't stay on as long. Right.
Lizzy: So that's a trade off.
Lissa: So that's a trade off, because then I'm going more often.
Lissa: I'm going more often, meaning I'm paying more for lashes, and I'm going more often, which is more time. Like I said, you're laying there for a couple hours, like, getting it done. Sure. So I think the, there's the health costs and all the other costs, sometimes you, it's, it really comes down to like what you think the trade offs are.
Lissa: Is it really worth it to like get my daily confidence because I have lashes or do I not risk chemicals near my eyeballs? That is wild. Yeah. Um, the
Lizzy: time thing I think is really interesting and it can, Feel like a full time job. I remember I, um, I worked with a woman, an executive, and, uh, we were trying to set up a really important meeting with a potential partner.
Lizzy: And she was like, I'm unavailable at that time. And then to me privately, because we were very close, said, I have a hair appointment and I am not going to like rearrange my hair appointment for anyone because this is part of what makes me feel like me. And it's also part of my appearance is part of what gets me respected as a female executive.
Lizzy: And that just resonated with me. The, the need to fit your services that feel required to make you a functioning. an acceptable human Into your busy life. Yeah, and sometimes that's a joy, right? This is a time for me I love getting my nails done. It feels like like I can just chill relax. Yeah, but sometimes that's a stressor I'm getting my hair done tomorrow
Lissa: And i'm like, but you have you have other things to do.
Lissa: I have so much to do, you know,
Lizzy: and I it it's like All right. I have to carve out this time And that is a cost that I think women You Uniquely bare or certainly more so than men.
Lissa: Great segue because I wanted to talk about men. We've been talking a lot about women and beauty services for women. But I think we discount that there are some things that men also do as well.
Lissa: I think the biggest one that I can think of is like haircut. Because it's. They go more often if, like for guys who do get their hair cut?
Lizzy: Yeah, they go more often. You know, a really clean cut at like a nice barbershop can be like a hundred bucks. And you're supposed to go, I have a good friend who goes every week.
Lizzy: Every week! That's, that's a lot.
Lissa: That's a lot. That's more than we get like our nails done. And you know, I can make a haircut last for like six months. I mean, I haven't been since December.
Lissa: This is more on the beauty product side, less so beauty services for men. But what do you think about men's products? Like beauty products being branded as like, cause like all the brands are like this black and white sleek.
Lizzy: You know what I, as a branding person, having spent most of my career in, in branding, um, I think it is very strategic and very smart.
Lizzy: Um, like you walk into Target and you see all of these very, now, new, pretty recently, very clean, thoughtful, composed, modern looking brands targeting men and moving away from the three in one, you know, shampoo, body wash, conditioner, um, to getting men to be really thoughtful about these things. It is certainly capitalism and consumerism at its finest.
Lizzy: However, I think the reason I can just laugh at it is because we've had to deal with so many years of like a pink pen being for women and that kind of silly marketing of a typical unisex product for women by making it pink, but I'm like, go ahead, men get to experience this.
Lissa: So interestingly, so that's with products.
Lissa: Now, I think. Major brands are catching on and saying like there is a market in men for in in beauty because They have hair too. They have skin too. They have things that they, what, what do you see as far as beauty services for men? Like we talked about haircuts and barbers, but do you think there will ever be an increase in men, I don't know, getting facials or getting, you know, pedicures and things like that?
Lizzy: I think I have a unique perspective relative to the larger population, partially because of where we live. Like living in. adjacent to the entertainment industry. Um, I mean, I think the reality is so many men get Botox. I, I mean, I can tell you that. Think of many that I know personally. Um, I think increasingly men get facials and, you know, care about their skincare.
Lizzy: One of our, our best friends, shout out D Walk, uh, is a skincare connoisseur. And man, you can tell, uh, he has excellent skin. Baby soft. Baby soft. Uh, I think it's becoming more normalized as a form of. self care, which is an interesting difference. I think for men it's more about caring for themselves and for women, it's more about being hot.
Lissa: So you think for men who do those types of things, it is just to feel good.
Lizzy: No, I don't think, I think that's the, um, the message we get. That's the message we get. I think it's becoming more acceptable. Now the reality is there's so people who are like, That's effeminate or have those kind of toxic masculinity judgments around it, metrosexual and all that.
Lizzy: Um, Many of the men that I know personally, I think, are rejecting that. Yeah. You know, they're, I'm going to get cosmetic dentistry. I'm going to invest in a hair transplant if I, because I want to feel good about myself.
Lissa: So is this good or bad? Because like, you know, women historically, they call it the pink tax.
Lissa: Yeah. It's this ex, so women already, generally, Have historically gotten paid less than men. And then because of this pink tax on certain things like beauty related expenses have more expenses than men. Absolutely. So what do you think for men? Like as this increases, is that, is it cool? Is it fair? Is it whatever?
Lizzy: I think it kind of comes back to why you're doing it. If it makes you feel confident. So the, the friend that I mentioned that, uh, gets a haircut every week. It makes him feel crisp, like he looks his best every week. And so it is worth that extra cost to have that confidence. And if that's how you feel, and it makes you feel good about yourself, feel like you are the best version of yourself.
Lizzy: Fuck yeah, go for it. Or feel like you're taking care of your skin, or you're taking care of your body. The, the line I think for men and women, comes in when you feel like it is an expectation where you have no choice, because you need to keep up with this standard, um, that you have no say in. Or when it comes from a place of insecurity.
Lizzy: Which is really challenging, um, and I think that is very common and it's just kind of an unfortunate reality of, you know, I don't feel good about myself so I'm going to try to do these things and, uh, it doesn't necessarily heal the deeper wound there.
Lissa: Yeah, because like when it comes to spending money on beauty services, like, I mentioned getting my eyebrows waxed earlier, right?
Lissa: Like, you don't have to have perfectly lined up eyebrows to, let's say, look professional going to work, right? So, now it's, it's, it's not about, uh, keeping up appearances so that you get somewhere in life because of them. It's really because, like, Oh, when I look in the mirror, if my eyebrows are not matching and they're crooked, it bothers me.
Lizzy: Or other women are going to judge me.
Lissa: That's true.
Lizzy: I think that's another interesting element. We've talked a lot about the challenges that women face from kind of society at large, often male driven lens, but women are hard on each other as well. You know, especially when it comes to hair, makeup, we have expectations of what it looks like when it's well done and there is that extra pressure that we put on each other.
Lizzy: It's hard out here, man.
Lissa: It is hard out here. Moving on to 20 cents. 20 cents is the segment of the show where both Lizzy and myself, Lissa, get 60 seconds to give our two cents on today's topic, whether we think it is a net positive or a net negative. Where does 20 cents come from?
Lizzy: Because you get the opinion of two dimes.
Lissa: It gets cornier every time you say it.
Lizzy: I like it more every time.
Lissa: But I like it. Alright, Liz, you have 60 seconds on the clock. Are beauty services worth it? Let us know.
Lizzy: Whew! Okay. For me at this point in my life, I am really emphasizing putting energy, investment, resources, time, and money into myself for the sake of actively demonstrating to myself that I am worth all of those things.
Lizzy: And prioritizing myself when I have previously Undermined my own needs. So, for that reason, I am leaning in to beauty services right now. This may not last forever, but I am leaning into hair did, nails did, everything did. If I want a facial, I get massages all the time. If I want to get some waxing, you know, whatever it may be.
Lizzy: I'm about to go for it, um, because there is a deeper meaning for myself in, you know, showing myself that I'm worth it. Um, now I'm also letting go of my past judgments around it. So for me, t
Lissa: This is the first time that you've not made it in a minute. All right, for you
Lizzy: Net positive.
Lissa: Net positive. You barely made it.You made it.
Lizzy: All right, all right. What about you, my girl Lissa? Where are you at today? Are beauty services worth it?
Lissa: All right, so let me start by saying a year ago, easy net negative because I was trying to save money, didn't have the budget for it, tried to DIY a lot of it, which leads to obviously today I'm going to say net positive.
Lissa: And that's primarily because it does fit within the budget. I, I've learned a lot more about myself and what I like doing and what I don't like doing. And I'm very clear on. What it makes me feel to do certain things, like for the most part, I'm doing it for myself. I'd be lying if I said I didn't care what it looked like, you know, for my partner, for people around me and for being on screen, filming YouTube videos every week.
Lissa: Like I do care about appearances to that degree, but to me, it's more about confidence. And so for me right now, beauty services. Oh, I still got some time. Net positive. You're showing off. Gloating about extra time. So remember, this is what we think at this moment in time. We are both net positive for beauty services, but for you, no one can make the right decision, but you.
Lissa: So what do you think? Are beauty services worth it?
Lizzy: Hit us up. Let us know what you think. DM us on Instagram at net net. Podcast or email us at hi@netnetpodcast.com. And if you want to follow us individually, here's where you can find us.
Lissa: I'm at wealthforwomenofcolor on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram
Lizzy: And you can follow me on TikTok and Instagram and live_well_lizzy
Lissa: All references, statistics and resources mentioned can be found in our show notes. This podcast is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only and should not be constituted as financial advice. Remember to always do your own research, consult a professional as needed, and feel empowered to make your own damn decisions.