It was a before & after moment for me … I really wish you could have been a fly on the wall to witness this shift, to feel the energy... instead I am narrating and bringing the energy, bringing the movement and bringing the moment to you.
You know those moments, the ones that change everything for you? The ones you can't go back from...the ones you dont want to go back after realizing? Those times where an idea is in your head and you can never un-think it... or a vision is provided and you can never un see it? Thats exactly what this was.
I didn’t know where it came from - Some higher power, something divine, but I knew it came from my soul. It was a moment I had with myself and this powerful message radiated so powerfully through me, it brought tears to my eyes. Its like time stood still. I was seeing things in a different way. It was revolutionary.
I couldn’t ignore it. And… I had to share it.
I was standing in my bathroom doing my regular nightly routine that I always do…Nothing was different, except for the way I saw myself in the mirror removing my makeup. I took one wipe and removed my mascara, my eyeliner, my eyeshadow … and pulled the cloth away from my face.
I saw one side of my face perfectly dolled up and the other side had smeared make up across it. I literally froze - I just stopped. I saw myself differently. I saw the way beauty was portrayed differently, I saw my industry in a really ugly way. I even noticed the ways I was participating and supporting this... and I was shook. Again, time stood still, I was frozen, but my brain was going wild.
I was instantly brought to the classic ‘before and after’ images.
You know the ones you typically see before and after a makeup application?
Damn it, I thought... I use this in my own practice.... Before and after facial treatment photos.
I was instantly appalled. I was hurt, ashamed, and embarrassed. How have I not seen this before? How have I not felt this before?
WHO AM I to claim someone’s ‘before’?
WHO AM I to claim or put title on their ‘after’?
WHO AM I to do a comparison?
WHO AM I to place a side-by-side, as if one is better than the other?
WHO AM I to display as if there was a wrong or a right, a good or bad ...
Thats what BEFORE and AFTER felt to me in that moment. It also felt that I was claiming the "success" of their skin, claiming the result I was showing. As if before they worked with me they were one way and after working with me they were in another way... a "better" way. oof.. that hit and it hit hard.
It was literally in that very moment that I desired to stop sharing before and after’s in that way.It was then that I thought, there's a better way to show results. There's a better way to honour the change in the individuals but its not up to me to call it
Is it easier to share and show results this way? Yes. But, I doesn’t feel in alignment to me anymore. It’s not where I desire my business and the movement in the beauty industry to go.
It’s been an adjustment period, and I took some time to try to figure out how I could share the services I am proud to provide.
As I am on this intentional journey, the words I choose to use are as well. I now share “pre” and “post” treat*ment. Which has also led me to another revolutionary shift in my vocabulary.
To you, it may not be that different to change the words from ‘before and after’ to ‘pre and post’. But to me, it feels different. I can feel the frequency of these shifts. Pre and Post are providing the result and the skins response from the treat*ment. It doesn't feel I am owning or labeling someone before or after they did or did not do something. Do you feel that?
It is also a declaration for myself and the change I wish to see in the beauty industry. This is where I feel a change needs to be made. And, change usually begins with one person doing things differently.
If that person is going to be me, I accept this. And, I invite you along with me.
To me, beauty and the industry is meant to be empowering. It’s supposed to help build up our confidence and enhance what is already gorgeous - not the opposite. The aesthetics industry is not about comparison or about appearance its about healing.
So, when you look at yourself in the mirror, remind yourself that what you see IS beautiful.
You don’t need to do anything to achieve your ‘after,’ you get to treat yourself, if you desire.
Claim your words.
Claim your beauty - Inside and Out.
Stand with me.
With Love,
Danielle
xx