Let’s be clear here – we’re not saying every woman does this.
But thanks to misguided modern ideals, too many young professional women are convinced they need to be dropping hundreds – and even thousands – of dollars a month on how they look.
Not sure what we’re talking about? Here’s a breakdown of what it’s (literally) costing some young professional women to keep up appearances.
Worth it?
You tell us.
1. Eyebrows
As if plucking wasn’t bad enough, with today’s modern woman, the darker, the bigger, the more beautiful. This leads not only to plucking – but waxing, threading, tinting, trimming, and more.
Approx. $20-55+ per month
2. Skin (tanning)
We’ve all learned about the harmful effects of tanning beds, so many fairer women opt for self or spray tanner. This basically consists of paying between $40-80 a session to dye your skin a darker shade for 5-7 days. The idea here is that men find women with a ‘glowing tan’ sexier. Idea being the key word here…
Approx. $12-300+ per month
3. Nails
Mani/pedis, the dagger trend, nail art, extenders, stick or paint on nail designs, or UV lights for a longer lasting polish. The options – and cost – are seemingly endless.
Approx. $40-400+ per month
4. Lips
We thought that spending money on lip scrubs, sticks, glosses, liners, and plumpers was bad enough, now some are even considering lip injections as a common beauty procedure. Puckering up just got depressing.
Approx. $10-50+ per month and approx. $1,600+ per year
5. Eyelashes
Mascara, falsies for dramatic effect, eyelash extensions, and new products to drop on lashes such as Latisse and Lumigan. Suddenly, not batting an eyelash just became impossible.
Approx. $10-200+ per month
6. Hair
Haircuts, bang trims, highlights, ombré or full head, blow outs, clip on extensions, permanent extensions, hair growth vitamins, and this doesn’t include hair accessories… you get the hint.
Approx. $15-400+ per month
7. Face
First there’s washing and exfoliating, then make up removal, then toner to remove surface oils and dirt that didn’t come off with the wash, then vitamin C oils, moisturizing sprays, gels, and creams. After this, eye cream and spot treatments for any breakouts. Oh, also facials, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and IPL laser treatments. Tired of reading? Good. Now imagine actually dealing with it every single day.
Approx. $20-3,000+ per month
8. Body
Because of today’s unrealistic expectations, women often spend an immense amount of time and money on gym memberships and personal trainers, wear push up bras and now waist trainers and in more extreme cases, some women even go through surgeries to change their bodies to feel content.
Approx. $60-1,200+ per month and $8,000+ for surgeries
9. Fashion
Men can get away with wearing the same jeans and a T-shirt, or keep the same suit for 15 years, while it’s been estimated that the average women spends between $125,000 to $200,000 on clothing in her lifetime. Seems fair right? Especially when you remember that many are investing in purses and high heels that cause back problems.
Approx. $140-400+ per month
10. Makeup
In Style reported “the average woman drops a cool $15,000 total during her lifetime on products, with $3,770 of that going toward mascara alone”. They also claim that women spend $2,750 on eye shadows and $1,780 on lipsticks in a lifetime. That’s a university education on eyes and lips.
Approx. $20-150 per month (depending on a woman’s love of make up)
11. Body Hair
Plucking, shaving, waxing, or laser. Choose your battle.
Approx. $15-120+ per month and $3,000+ for laser hair removal
#NOTABLE
Cover image from: istock.com/IngaIvanova
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