Undereye Hollows: a DIY Approach

plus, more beauty industry smoke and mirrors?

Welcome readers, old and new!

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A recent story from the beauty industry newsletter CEW Daily got me thinking about the difference between happiness and joy; probably not what the writer had in mind but anyway.

According to the story, Ulta Beauty is taking their sales associates through a program that addresses negative self-talk. Why? Because they’ve determined customers frequently focus on “fixing” perceived appearance issues while shopping for beauty products. (My response to this realization: Duh.) So they’ve been working with a “motivation guru” to flip their customers’ script.

Not to get too into the weeds, but Ulta commissioned what they’re calling “The Joy Study,” which polled 5,000 adults and teens about how they experience joy. Evidently, negative self-talk had a starring role. The results: 73% of respondents used negative self-talk; 70% aren’t conscious of it when they do it; and 91% said negative self-talk is the main reason they’re unhappy. The training teaches salespeople how to identify an inner critic, interrupt the pattern, and inspire more positive self-talk.

Excuse my snark, but this is how I envision a conversation between a salesperson and a potential customer in the skincare aisle:

Customer: I hate my sagging jowls. I need a cream to fix them.

Salesperson: I love your shoes!

If this initiative actually worked, Ulta Beauty stores would go out of business. Because how can you convince someone her negative self-talk is damaging while trying to sell her a product directly tied to her feelings of low self-worth? Kudos to Ulta if they can do it; but this initiative, well-meaning as it might be, sounds like smoke and mirrors to me.

Oh, and about joy: What is the difference between happiness and joy? I don’t expect to find joy in any retail establishment—except maybe a toy store overrun with three year olds. Happiness to me is akin to contentment, while joy has a more immediate, electric, relational aspect, like when you’re listening to a piece of transcendent music. Or looking into the face of someone you love.

Even if you’ve decided to love your own face (or like it, at least), you may find the hollows under your eyes disconcerting. Two readers struggling with that dilemma want to know what they can do about it without resorting to facial filler. Under certain circumstances—best determined by a physician—filler can help mitigate undereye hollows. But if you don’t want to go that route, a couple of expert makeup artists have some excellent suggestions.

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