The idea of beauty – skincare in particular – functioning as a tool of wellness has taken off in the past few years. We’re all seemingly sheet-masking, jade-rolling and moisturising our personal traumas and daily stresses away, and brands have readily capitalised on the trend. You can book specially designed, ‘mindful’ facials that promise to slough off dead skin, while leaving you completely stress-free or ease yourself into a peaceful, pastel-hued state of mind with the simple purchase of a bath bomb. 

Despite clever marketing ploys designed to convince us that we can paste over the cracks in our psyches with bought, temporary fixes, many who’ve faced their own fractured mental health will recognise that there’s neither an easy fix, nor a temporary delight that can effectively stave off the real issue. 

This isn’t to say your favourite aspect of the beautification process can’t function as a personal form of self-love. It simply means we have to be careful not to buy into prettily, packaged promises of self-care that make light of the time and work that goes into bettering ill mental health.