I’ve lived with pretty severe bipolar disorder I since I was 14 (diagnosed only at age 28, but the symptoms set in far, far earlier than that). I know the pain of being so depressed you can’t get out of bed for days at a time, so much that even the thought of showering is too exhausting to accomplish. I know how it feels to look at yourself in the mirror and feel so worthless that it seems pointless to even try to take care of yourself, because who cares about you anyway? I feel so much empathy in my heart for this girl.

I also work in the beauty industry, as a skincare consultant in a Fancy Makeup Store that has a black and white theme. So many people think that my job and the women who work there are self-involved or vain or that we’re going to judge them for their looks. And I hear a lot of judgment from people who think that the beauty industry is all about vanity in general. But I cannot tell you the number of women (and men, for that matter) who come into our store with exactly the kind of feelings this girl has - whether it’s chronic or acute, from a mental illness or simply a personal trauma - and a lot of the time, they actually apologize for their appearance. “I must look horrible.” “I’m so sorry, my face is so terrible right now.” “I know, this is going to be so hard for you to fix, it’s just been so hard for me to care about myself since my divorce...”

And you know what? These are the clients I love helping the most. There is nothing, nothing in the world, that I would rather do than help these clients feel even a little more human, a little more cared for. I go out of my way to pamper them, whether it’s complimenting their haircut or giving them a quick mini-facial or even just making them a sample of a face mask that they can take home and pamper themselves with. I want every client to feel beautiful, but especially those who haven’t felt that way in a long time and who don’t even feel up to trying. My job isn’t about me, really. It’s not even my main source of income. I do this job because I truly love helping clients exactly like this woman’s client - the clients who just need a little love to help them move forward again.