I'm a Beauty Editor and Here Are the 5 Things I’m Never Spending Money on Again Post-Pandemic

One of my favorite indulgences when I first moved to New York was getting a weekly manicure at the salon. At $15 a pop, it felt like a small luxury I could actually afford, but when you multiply that number by four, and then 12, you realize that you could buy a roundtrip ticket from JFK to Paris with that money. I’ve also become quite adept at painting my own nails over quarantine. In fact, it’s become one of my favorite grounding rituals.

Remember when blowout bars were all the rage? This, too, felt like a somewhat affordable (and almost necessary) luxury for a young professional living and working in a city filled with well-coiffed people. Over quarantine, I found a styling tool that tamed by unruly hair in minutes, so I gladly say goodbye to salon blowouts. (I will, however, leave bang trims to the pros.)

OK, now this is something that could change in time, but for now, I’m still not entirely comfortable with the idea of having someone hover over my face for an hour in an enclosed space whereby nature of the service that’s being provided, you can’t wear a mask. Ask me again in a year. For now, I am going to continue self-pampering as needed with some face massage techniques I learned from the Internet.

And by that, I mean anything with a heel higher than two inches. Or narrow toe boxes. Or excessive embellishments. Heck, I’m done with patent leather, too. I want my shoes to be optimized for comfort and walkability first. Luckily, the sneaker trend is still going strong and for dressier occasions, I’m going with a sensible block heel sandal.

Or constrictive clothing as an entire category. This includes everything from undergarments (if it has an underwire or a seam, I’m not interested) to overly-fitted tops and unforgiving waistbands. From here on out, I’m only buying things in breathable fabrics and generous shapes that I can cinch or tie or otherwise customize to fit my ever-changing body.