u/General-Witness-1835

I’m in my late 20s and somehow still trying to crack the skincare code.

My skin has gotten way more sensitive as I’ve gotten older, and I’m trying to find products that help with skin health and aging without making my face revolt.

Current situation:
• Combo skin
• Very oily T zone with blackheads
• Super dry cheeks and nostrils
• Daily flaking, especially around my nose
• Foundation highlights the dryness like it has a personal vendetta against me

I pretty much have to exfoliate every day or my skin feels rough and bumpy, especially on my nose. The flakes are not super visible, but I know they are there and they drive me nuts.
I’m also starting to notice forehead lines and a crease between my brows at 27 😭

A couple things before recommendations:
• I think I had an allergic reaction to jojoba oil. Bright red, itchy, the whole dramatic performance.
• Salicylic acid absolutely destroys me. It dries me out so badly that I end up peeling.

So now I’m feeling a little lost. I have very sensitive skin and just want healthy, soft skin with minimal blackheads and hopefully to slow down aging where I can. Any advice is very appreciated.

So I’m generally a pretty low energy person socially. I’m not rude, mean, or unfriendly at all. I’m always polite, helpful, and happy to help customers/coworkers when approached. But I’m definitely more quiet and reserved than bubbly or outgoing.

Lately I’ve started worrying that this might be hurting me professionally more than I realized.

I honestly feel like the modern workplace heavily favors people who are naturally energetic, upbeat, extroverted, and socially “on” all the time. I’m not really like that. Socializing all day genuinely drains me. I'm tired all the time at a baseline anyway, so that doesn't help.

I’m starting to worry that I come across cold, awkward, disinterested, or even unfriendly without meaning to. Pretty sure I have a bad resting bitch face too (my sister and mother have said i look annoyed as a default... It's just my resting face though 😭.)

Anyway, I feel like I don’t even fully understand workplace social expectations anymore and it’s making me second guess myself constantly.

So with that, I have some questions that I hope yall can answer below. I have quite a few, sorry 🙃.

1. How do reserved/introverted people learn to come across more warm, approachable, and personable at work?
2. How do you appear confident and energetic in interviews even if that’s not your natural personality?
3. What are some things that make someone seem professional vs unprofessional socially in a workplace?
4. What kinds of conversation topics/behaviors should be avoided at work?
5. What should I say if I call a place to follow up on an application?
6. Any interview tips for someone who tends to get nervous and overthink how they’re being perceived?

I’d really appreciate advice, especially from people who had to learn this stuff later instead of naturally being charismatic/extroverted.

I really need advice because I feel stuck and honestly kind of heartbroken over my work situation.

I’ve worked at the same retail shop for about 3 years. About a year ago, my current boss bought the store from the previous owner. I helped her transition into running the shop because she had never owned a retail business before, and at first she was always very nice to me.

Over the last several months though, things have changed a lot, especially after she hired a new employee. The new coworker is genuinely great and I have zero issues with her personally, but since she was hired my boss has slowly cut my hours down to basically one day a week.

What hurts is the way it’s being handled. My boss consistently offers extra shifts to the newer employee before asking me, even though I’ve been there longer. My coworker has actually told me multiple times that she’s tried to give shifts to me instead because she knows I need the hours more.

One example: my coworker asked if I could take Saturdays because they conflict with her schedule, and apparently my boss responded with “Can it be any other day besides Saturday?” Saturdays are one of the busiest days we have, and it honestly feels like my boss specifically doesn’t want me working those shifts for some reason. I genuinely don’t know what I did wrong.

Communication has also been a huge issue since she took over the store. She frequently doesn’t communicate price changes, new inventory, or where things are supposed to go. Items get put out without tags or prices. When she first hired her son to work there, she didn’t even tell me for months. (Only one person works at a time, so I had no idea.)

Another thing that bothered me: before the new employee was hired, my boss and her son would regularly leave the shop messy for me to clean up when I came in, without even leaving notes about it. Eventually I stopped going above and beyond because it felt pointless when the effort wasn’t appreciated or reciprocated.

Part of me wonders if that’s why she now favors the newer employee, because my coworker is still in that “caring about pleasing the boss” phase and goes above and beyond. But honestly, I used to do that too, and it never seemed to matter long-term.

There have also been a few smaller things that honestly made me feel excluded or less valued. Around Christmas, my boss gave both me and my coworker gift bags, but my coworker got an additional item from the shop that I didn’t receive. It genuinely felt like an afterthought to even give me anything at all once she knew I saw the other bag for my coworker sitting there.

Then a few months ago, when my coworker’s husband lost his job, my boss hired both him and his sister to help with graphic design/marketing work for the store. Again, I wasn’t told anything about it and only found out through my coworker. I know my boss can hire whoever she wants, obviously, but after a while all these little things together start to feel personal.

The hardest part is that I actually used to really like and respect my boss, so this whole situation feels confusing and hurtful even if maybe it isn’t intentional.

I’ve been applying for other jobs since March because I know I need to get out, especially since I can’t survive on one day a week. I’ve mainly been trying to break into medical reception/admin work because I want out of retail. I do have experience working in a college counseling office as a student worker, so I know I have transferable administrative/customer service skills, but I haven’t heard back from anyone yet.

At this point I’m scared financially and emotionally exhausted. If it weren’t for my parents helping me, I’d honestly be homeless right now. I'm just near my breaking point.

I guess I’m asking:

• Does this sound like my boss is quietly trying to push me out?
• Should I directly confront her about the lack of hours/favoritism, or just focus all my energy on leaving?
• Any advice for getting into medical reception with no direct medical office experience?

I’d appreciate any advice because I feel really stuck right now.

Hello all, I'm just hoping to get some tips/advice on how to faster get over someone when you don't have closure with that connection or person. Ideally tips that are not "just get under someone new." I really want to try to heal in a healthy way. I'm just really sad about this one person and have been for months now I guess. I don't know why it's taking me so long to move on but I want to so bad. I just want to stop thinking about them. I try to keep busy, hang with friends, etc.. but the grief just hits in waves sometimes and I still think about it every day. To anyone who reads or responds, thank you.

Also, even if you don't have advice on this but can empathize with the feelings, feel free to share your stories or your feelings too. Sometimes it just helps to know you're not alone.

Anyway, thank you guys.