The 30s Glow: Confidence, Style, and Self-Acceptance

Beauty and Style for a new era. My rules, my way.

You can easily shop the full product list for this post here.

It’s a right of passage— that day where you catch yourself in the mirror and notice you are not a baby anymore. Your face is familiar as ever, yet distinctively evolved, wearing the etchings of life lived and experience thus far in tiny fine lines, freckles, and prominent features. Your eyes are deeper and glassier, as if finely polished by every moment and memory collected. There is less posing, primping, and picking in these passes by the mirror, less of an compulsion to edit, cover and correct. Instead, there is a quiet appreciation, an unspoken acceptance, and an occasional warm and playful invitation to compliment what’s in front of you—instead of criticize or transform it entirely. 

What comes from this soft surrender is not a slippage of selfcare, but a re-prioritization and redefinition of self care. What comes with this surrender is a special confidence earned and a reclaiming of beauty and self. 

Women have been warned that this rounding of a corner in life is the “beginning of the end.” Today’s young women are prepped and urged to confront this time even before it’s time, actively pushing back any evidence of age before it surfaces perceptibly. Some women reach this moment in the mirror and are overcome with panic, or even dread. They begin to make google searches, shopping trips and various appointments to fix these glaring cosmetic signs of age. The faster the better—as if this imminent loss of youth and beauty is falling through the sandglass by the second.

I personally noticed this shift begin course a few years ago. Seeing my mother and my Nanna in my face. Hollows and shadows forming around my eyes. Realizing my body has become more susceptible to gravity. Lingering stretch marks from carrying children. The occasional grey— which I have to always pluck and inspect because maybe it’s blonde.

It’s bittersweet; it represents change. It represents a season of life passed, and we can get stuck in the grief of that–before ever considering the season we’re entering is immensely privileged and blessed, although it may look and feel differently; different doesn’t mean worse. Although, it is uncharted territory and that can be scary.

Especially in a world where youth and beauty is a form of currency, and women are often and quickly reduced to those mere metrics of value—of course we feel terrified when those attributes stop speaking for us as loudly. 

But to think we suddenly lose these qualities, or even an ounce of the power within ourselves, just because we aren’t 20, 25, or 29 anymore, isn’t true. Our true youth and beauty will speak our entire lives, but as we mature and evolve, the language in which they speak won’t be understood by all. 

There’s a parallel process here with coming to terms with yourself—who you authentically are, what you like, what you’re passionate about, it’s just not for everyone. In your 20s, you try to make it for everyone, though, or you certainly try to be as widely appealing–or inoffensive, at the least, as possible. Grasping at passing trends, transforming yourself, trying another “self” on every couple years, seeing what works for you and them. It’s part self-discovery, part survey. Eventually, the gratification of getting it “right;” pleasing and attuning to others fades, because when you’re beside yourself, you realize you have to live for yourself—even if that means people missing out on you. 

What’s beautiful about journeying into your 30s is, these two processes begin to meet each other and walk side by side. This release of inhibitions, this newfound ease of existence, this sacred surrender is what lights up a new kind of glow. 

The 30s glow is knowing you are beautiful before you are told or caught being admired. It’s knowing your outfit is fabulous because you feel great in it, without the the co-confirmation of an influencer, celebrity, or friend favoring similar fashion.

It’s inviting your own sense of comfort and ease into the experience of feeling beautiful. It’s removing everyone else’s voice from the boardroom when it comes to you. Your beauty, your voice, your choices, your style. You always knew it was never truly their decision, but maturity has made that statement an enforced fact you can really live by. 

You go from trend-chasing to timeless— because you start to own what you like, and become an unapologetic representative of your own personal style and identity. You become known for exactly who you are, because you aren’t in the business of sending out any other signals in hopes of landing on someone else’s frequency. 

Since this shift began in my life, I’ve had to consider how I wanted to approach it. Do I slam on metaphorical brakes and treat aging like a continuous problem to manage? Do I take my hands off the wheel, let nature run its course and resist nothing? I recognize it’s deeply personal to each of us how we carry ourselves through this ongoing transition. What I have learned is most important as we navigate this time, is returning back to the privilege of entering this time at all. 

When I think of the blessing it’s been have this much life lived, to have overcome all my hardships, to have created and brought new life through my body, and to arrive where I am to see another day—The last thing I feel is an insecurity toward myself, and the last thing I feel inclined to do is intentionally put myself in hiding, or fight the way I now naturally exist because it doesn’t present a certain way anymore.

Because this is where my heart and mind land, I try to align that sentiment with how I approach my outward appearance and the evidence of the path walked. These changes I’m being constantly told are flaws? They’re actually fine. I’m grateful to have lived long enough to see these changes, and experience the life that marked me. Do I still wear my eye cream and sunscreen? Do I love any reason to doll up? Absolutely, but I do those things because I enjoy them, and they are a way I engage in self care—not because I need to look a certain way for the world to validate my beauty, or I’m frantically compensating to look the same as a much younger woman. I opt for anti-aging aging gracefully.

With that said, yes, routines have gotten less extensive. The need for so many products and options has lost appeal. I know what I like -and- I know I what I need. I have realistic expectations of what my skincare can and cannot do. I know what blush colors I like for my skin, I know what foundation finishes I enjoy, I know what clothes make me feel most like myself. As a beauty girl, I’ll always love novelty, I’ll always love play—I hope that never goes away, but at the end of the day, amidst the endless churn of quick-passing trends and cultural fads–I’m comfortable showing up as I am, owning my personal preferences, and wearing my signatures.

How this happened though is I audaciously took the time and liberty (and continue to take more as I need,) to discover what these preferences and signatures are for myself—and in full necessity, I kicked everyone else’s voices and imagined eyeballs out of my boardroom. And to do that, there had to be some acknowledgement and surrender to this inevitable evolution I’ve found myself in, which led to a full on embracing of it. 

Maybe that’s what the glow really is, not something found in a product or phase, but a peace that shines through you when you stop running from who you’re becoming. It’s the light that comes when you finally look at yourself and see not what’s fading, but what’s been formed. You realize beauty was never meant to be preserved; it was meant to evolve—and so were you.

---

As I’ve settled into my 30s, I’ve learned that the products that make me feel the most beautiful aren’t the ones that promise dramatic transformations—they’re the ones that help me feel more like my most beautiful self. These are the products and pieces I reach for again and again, the ones that simplify, enhance, and support how I show up every day.

Sharing a few signatures, staples and secret weapons of this era–

Here’s to finding beauty in ease, comfort, and confidence—in knowing what you love, and letting it love you back a little each day.

I’d love to hear what this season has looked like for you—have you noticed your own kind of “30s glow” emerging? What’s changed in how you care for yourself, or how you see your reflection these days? Share your thoughts in the comments—I always love hearing how these moments unfold for each of us.

Discounts and Disclaimers

THIS IS A NON-SPONSORED POST:

Hey friend, this blog is non-sponsored, meaning, I was not asked, obligated nor incentivized in any way by any brand or retailer to create this post, recommend the products included, or discuss/describe them in any directed way. Please be assured that all opinions are always my own regardless of a post’s sponsorship status, and I will always disclose when a post is apart of coordinated partnership with any of the products or services mentioned.

Affiliate Disclosure:

Some of the products linked in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links provided, I may earn a small commission—at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support this blog and the content I share. Thank you for supporting my work in this way!

ROSEBUD DISCOUNTS:

USE CODE: KATRISHA15 to save at ALPYN Beauty. I am a huge fan and an affiliate for their products.

You can easily shop the full product list for this post here.