Beauty economics

The world we live today is a harsh world, we have to be successful, we want a big house, a nice car and a fancy title, but perhaps the most important thing right now is beauty. You get judged for your appearance in work interviews, you have your social media telling you that beauty is more important than your brains. The people around you is always telling you (especially if you’re a woman) how good you look - never how smart or witty you are. You even can’t walk by a mirror without checking your reflection cuz your crush (or maybe an ex) might walk by.

So I have been thinking -how does this affect your economy? Let’s get down to it!

Disclaimer if you do nails, extensions, salon waxings and continuously enhance your lips, lashes and brows - you’re in for a bit of a rough ride... 

I’ll try my best to get a fair view over prices and I’ll do this one in SEK (cuz I’m Swedish) if you want to want to translate it to what ever currency you use I use the free app Currency Converter Plus (for Iphone)

So the most common beauty treatments in my opinion are

Eyebrow shaping and color - refreshed every 3-4 weeks
Eyelash lift - also 3-4 weeks
Lip fillers -
Haircut and coloring - every 3 months
Botox - varies from 3 months to 6 months
3D brows - refreshed within 6 months to a year
Nails gel/acrylic - refreshed within 3-4 weeks
Hair extensions - varies but I will calculate 6 months

Not counting various expenses for hair products, makeup, body creams and anti aging treatments.

Not judging anyone I will try to calculate a “normal” beauty regime for one year using mid-range salon prices.

Individual one, let’s call her Sally does her nails, cuts and colors her hair on a regular basis, she goes to the salon for either lash lift or brow shaping and coloring (this example uses brow shaping and coloring) lots of people has this level of grooming and this is nothing out of the ordinary.

Sally goes to refresh her nails every three weeks (adds up to 17 times a year) and she pays in SEK 550kr each time, also her eyebrows gets a treatment with three weeks apart for 330kr. Sally cuts and colors her hair according to the trend and pays 1590kr 4 times a year.

Nails 17 X 550kr = 9350kr
Brows 17 X 330kr = 5610kr
Hair 4 X 1590kr = 6360kr

21320kr is the grand total Sally spends a year on normal treatments. This adds up to 1776kr per month, an amount most Swedes does not put in their savings account each month, nor for pension savings.

Individual two, I named her Bella she’s more of a beauty icon with a job in fashion and more pressure to look a specific way. Her beauty regime is hair extensions full set with hair purchase and moving them up quarterly, Botox every six months, nails (same as Sally), lip injections three times a year. She also does lash extensions with refills when one falls out (price is a calculated from an average new set plus the occasional repair and redoing once more from scratch) Bella tries 3D brows one time this year as well.

Hair 13450kr
Nails 9350kr
Botox 6000kr
Lashes 2000kr
Lip fillers 10500kr
3D brows 4000kr

This adds up to 45300kr which is 3775kr/month - Bella is perhaps not the ordinary person, I used her for reference to point out the yearly costs for the most common beauty treatments.

As a closing point to this blog post I really hope women can in the future be equal to men in the light of savings, to see the big differences in men’s costs and women’s costs - even if our salaries would be 100% equal - our beauty obsession is costing us in the long run. I too have considered some treatments to make my melasma less visible. If Sally instead invested 1770kr monthly in a diverse portfolio the interest effect would over 25 years accumulate to almost 1,7 million kronor.

Efter 25 år, med ränta på ränta, är värdet 1 693 851kr. 

2018 in summary

The blog has been on hold for a few months, moving, changing jobs and managing the ice hockey team took a lot from me, almost to the point of exhaustion - but I’m not here to cry about things.

Recap, I started to look for other work in October, the web shop had grown and my work schedule was too much for me, I wanted a better pay and better opportunities to grow and advance. I got a few interviews and some sounded great but did not offer the pay I was looking for. Finally an opening at a big car brand in after sales came up and the hiring was property quick. Resigning from the web shop was incredibly hard since we worked very closely and we parted with loving words both ways.

The new job came with lots of new things to learn and at times stressful but also better office hours, higher pay and bonus and terms. I hope to advance in the company and my gut get the opportunity in the next few years.

The hockey team is evolving and we are now a good sized team with women of all ranges that enjoy the sport, I took a step back in managing and is now assisting in whatever they might need help in, but I’d rather focus on training and getting my stress levels down (meaning less weight on my shoulders)

The fitness goals I had last year is not relevant anymore, it’s pushing me in a way that is not creating more quality of life. For me the goal is to be strong, healthy and up for any challenge, don’t get me wrong I still work out but more for recreation and building the physique I need to do my favorite sports and hobbies. We had a great summer in Sweden due to a surprise visit from Australia and we took her around the entire southern part of Sweden. Hiking, climbing and sightseeing a lot, with that visit I realized that I want to do more things like this, Mt Kilimanjaro is still relevant and maybe Renee wants to do this with me :) also we are planning to take next summer vaycay abroad and visit the alps to do climbing and Via Ferrata.

One dream of mine is to learn how to freedive, we did a try-out when we last went to Thailand and I now plan to save up to pay to do a proper freediving course.

Financially I’m getting better, the portfolio is really starting to show some good results and the small amount of dividends I receive is being placed in stocks. No I’m not a millionaire yet, but someday I hope to be financially stable to live the life I know I was created for.