inner/outer beauty regimen

Wow sometimes Mark Morford really hits a good chord with me, and today's column was one of those moments. He's writing about the absurdly large sums spent by many women just for weekly beauty maintenance, and has a great column talking about the monetary and emotional cost of it. Below is the link, but the punch is what really got me:

"The great truism remains: By far the sexiest and most desirable (and yes, also the most successful, at least spiritually and emotionally) people I know actually do very little beauty work overall to get that way. They know the mix. They intuit the right balance. They seem to understand the biggest secret of all: Sure, enjoy the potions and regimens and silly luxurious exterior fluff. Just don't actually live there."

That's it - the balance - so many women I know are so wrapped up in trying to maintain the pretty/sultry/hot/cute/whatever image that they actually make themselves uglier, or at least further out of balance. I'm not saying I have the balance right, but wow is it a resonant sentiment with me.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/07/06/notes070607.DTL&feed=rss.mmorford