“You’re gonna put yourself out of business”

Take me baaaaaack.

Last month I took an Ashley Sabbatical and flew to L.A. for some sunshine and a two day Rob Bell workshop. It was just what I needed. And in true Ashley fashion, I managed to squeeze in a treatment and a few hours of bliss at my new favorite spa. Folks, I’ve been to some spas. This one thrilled me. If you ever find yourself within 100 miles of Rancho Palos Verdes, it is worth all the pennies.

Also of utmost importance was time with my Cali bestie in the O.C. If you don’t have a friend with whom you can pick right back up after months and miles apart and with whom you can eat and drink and jump from laughs to tears within rambling convos about nothing and everything, you are missing out on one of life’s greatest great things.

All of this to tell you about a text chat said bestie and I had last week, when she asked my opinion on a particular skin care line. See figure 1.1 and 1.2 here:

figure 1.1

figure 1.2

For the record, she asked. And I gave fair warning before beginning the rant. It’s a good thing she loves me.

I’ve had many (MANY) similar conversations at The Maker Counter, although the level of sass and sarcasm varies based on how well I know the asker of the questions.

But what I typically find is, people intuitively KNOW this stuff. Some of my favorite recent tidbits from visitors:

1. “I’d been spending a lot of money on pricey ‘professional’ skin care and then basically took the whole summer off from any products and my skin’s never been better.” (So she came to Milagro just for reassurance and encouragement that this was, in fact, normal. And acceptable.)

2. “I replaced all my products with just the one oil and my skin is thrilled. What else can I buy?” (No. No more things to buy. I will sell you nothing more. Your skin is enjoying some alone time.)

3. “I really think you’re missing out on an opportunity in the beard oil market. The other guys in town sell it for $30 an ounce and yours is better.” (As I ring him for his 8oz bottle for $19. So I did the quick math and charged him $240 instead.)

4. “Turns out my skin’s super happy now that I’m out of that crazy high stress job.” (Yup. Stress = basically bad for ALL your body systems.)

5. “Why do you do facials if you don’t like skin care companies?” (Spoiler alert: spas and facial treatments existed LONG before Big Beauty was born.)

And so here we are. Guests joking I’m gonna put us out of business and me coming home to tell Smitty about all the shoppers I managed to talk out of buying things. Just doing our part to speak up for your skin. And your wallet. And your bathroom counter. And your sanity.