Beauty is Pain?

Recently, I showed just how clumsy I can be (in case anyone who has ever met me would forget!) by spilling some honey and beeswax hot wax down the front of my leg. Now, don't gasp, this incident could have been really really nasty. Because I jumped back, I was only splattered with the stuff, leaving a few small, quarter sized second degree burns on my left shin and foot. Blisters have formed and I am keeping vigilant watch over them, to ensure safe healing :) In the meantime, however, they are ugly and painful reminders of what lengths I have attempted to endure in order to procure a "naturally" beautiful state. Really, the blister on my foot looks like a boil or an oversized wart. And it is so large that I will not be enjoying nice long run in this beautiful, milder weather we are having... I do not want to endanger it by creating any infection... tis my own punishment!

Because of this incident, I have first of all decided that I do not need to wax my eyebrows. They grow where they grow for a reason, and I am going to embrace this! While applying aloe to the wounds, I was asked if the ordeal was worth the burns, to which I promptly replied, "hell no!" This got me to thinking about my personal beauty image and to what lengths I should go toward achieving such a self-image. Seriously, scalding my body with hot products is definitely NOT worth it... I am gorgeous with or without a few additional hairs!

I have also done some thinking regarding my sustainability values in home remedies and first aid practices. Living with a low impact is important to me, and the decisions we all make have quite an impact on our Earth's valuable resources. Using as little as possible is of the essence to such a value. While I did select an all natural hot wax, the resources used to create the plastic container, the wooden removal sticks, the cloth used to lift both hair and wax off skin, and the cardboard container for the entire product are still contributing to an excess of unnecessary materials that do in fact have a carbon footprint. It is so easy to think that simply buying a natural alternative to a chemical product is doing something great for the environment... but that thinking only takes us so far. I have learned this hot lesson the difficult (and painful!) way.

Additionally, the use of Band-Aids is also a wasteful practice. While I have always used them as a quick fix to "boo-boos" and the like, I had never considered their "carbon footprint." Upon tearing Band-Aid after Band-Aid off of my skin, I realized that it is merely gauze with attached tape. Why not cut out the overly excessive middle man and purchase gauze and tape myself? Why do I need to continue to use individually packaged prefab bandages which are usually too small, or fit awkwardly, when I can create a personally tailored bandage with much less impact? Any future blunders I wreak on myself will be cared for in a more sustainable fashion.

Humans were never intended to have pencil straight or flawless eyebrows. We were never intended to have smooth, hairless armpits, and our legs were never meant to burn when entering the warm salty oceans due to a freshly shaved treatment. We are creatures of the Earth. We are hairy creatures of the Earth, and denying ourselves the true beauty that we exude is to deny the natural beauty in each of us. Beauty is pain? I don't think so. Attempting to cover up the natural me is even more painful.