A Late-30s Girl Walks Into Sephora…

Anyone who knows me knows I am low-maintenance when it comes to beauty and personal care products. My holy grail lineup? The CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser (yasss, queen) and EltaMD's tinted, oil-free sunscreen (truly, the G.O.A.T. in my humble opinion).

I’ve always been an acne-girlie, so tretinoin and I have been BFFs for a longggg time. Because of that, I haven’t worried much about “anti-aging,” one of the very few perks of being perpetually acne-prone. But now that I’m in my late thirties, I’m starting to notice that a little under-eye cover-up could go a long way.

So today, I ventured into Sephora. Does that store give anyone else hives? Between the lighting, the endless shades, and the too-cool-for-me twenty-somethings, I felt wildly out of my depth. I stood in front of a wall of Kosas concealers, squinting at labels like “neutral olive” and “light medium cool,” wondering when shopping for makeup became an exercise in self-doubt.

A fellow millennial next to me laughed, equally overwhelmed. We bonded over our confusion, shrugged, and went on our separate ways — one (potentially matching) concealer richer, still none the wiser.

Walking out, I realized maybe that’s what getting older is like: figuring things out bit by bit, celebrating the small wins, and occasionally, standing in Sephora wondering how the hell you ended up there... all while letting yourself laugh through it.

Ask Clara: Why do women feel the need to look "good" all the time?