Eleven is when I shaved for the first time--I was a bit of an early bloomer. It was when I first used deodorant, first started paying attention to my hair, etc. There's a video from CinemaSins, Everything Wrong With Inside Out, and in it, Jeremy points out that Riley's personality and interests went from five basic islands at age eleven to at least a dozen at age twelve because "the age of twelve is magic." (9:37) Riley even got an upgraded, more complex emotions panel and her core memories aren't just happy anymore. She now places value on her other feelings as well.
While I could go a completely different route here, I want to stick to the prompt. For once, I picked the prompt, specifically to express a new interest of mine. Self-care. Something I truly did not care about until twelve years old. At twelve, I got an iPhone and immediate access to the online world of beauty and health. At twelve, I received my first razor and started being conscious of body hair. At twelve, acne littered my face and demanded attention. At twelve, I first started questioning my hair and skincare. Twelve really was magic for me.
Fourteen years old was when I started diving into skin and hair care. At twelve and thirteen, I really just washed my face every night with whatever hand soap I found and warm water. It was nearing the end of eighth grade that I felt the need to go out and get actual facial products. Even then, I just picked up whatever the drugstore had for cheap and started using it however I felt like. Like, there was a time when I would routinely tone after moisturizing. I really decided that toning should be the last thing I should do, without any more moisturizing, ignoring the fact that my first toner had alcohol in them. I know because I remember how horrified I was when I finally looked at the ingredients of my "trusty" toner and saw isopropyl alcohol and realized I was drying my skin out.
Middle of last year, I began investing in hair care research. I began to learn more about my hair, and I realized just how difficult yet simple it was. I learned to be less obsessed with length and more concerned with health. This gradually lead to me noticing I loved to show others what I knew and even help them if I could. My hair love showed amazing results in a couple months and I started to wonder if I could do the same with my skin. Once my school closed down and I had the time to go on these internet spirals, I found dermatologists and skincare specialists on YouTube*, blogs that covered both hair and skin, and started researching self-care brands. I've learned so much and I keep seeing how much there is to learn and I just feel so hungry for more knowledge. I'm genuinely interested and have developed a tendency to share with anyone who will listen. Sometime in May, my mother mentioned dermatology to me as a possible career path.
Which, honestly seems plausible for me. I've already been accepted into a science and tech program, and within it, I was most interested in the biology track. Before this, I was still throwing ideas around and while I would love to go into freelance writing, I think I'd be more comfortable having something a bit more stable to pursue along with it. I looked into it very minimally, and I'm still deciding several things. But, it's definitely something I've been daydreaming about recently. And, a part of me wants to develop a skincare line made specifically to work with melanin and pigmentation. For now, it's all just speculation. But I've been passionate about this speculation recently, so I wanted to share.
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