u/Palatablepancakes

I get asked regularly where I get my nails done, eyebrows done, hair done, pedicures done, what I use for my skin, my hair, if I have a trainer, what supplements I use, etc. and the answer is always that I do it myself at home, with lifestyle choices and practice and processes. But no one accepts that answer. No one listens to understand and to replicate. They want the results, but only if it's a product. When I explain how to do it, their eyes glaze and they're entirely disinterested.

A friend of mine has asked me for years how I keep my curls so intact, and I've been very clear: I use a wide-toothed comb and comb my hair out in the shower, and then use a fine-bristled brush to get every single strand of hair untangled. Then I dry my hair with a T-shirt as towels are too rough for drying curly hair.

She never once tried this, but kept complaining about her hair and asking me if I use products every time we hang out. And just this week, she shows me this magical brush she got that solved all her problems. It "is designed to make your hair curlier." It's just a wide-toothed comb and brush in one. And NOW she is brushing her hair out in the shower like I said and credits the brush for being "special." It's a four-dollar brush that was just marked up to scam people! It's just a brush! But because it's a product, it somehow scratches the itch of solving a problem in a way self care can't???

When I first met him, my boyfriend would occasionally have issues finding a word, enough that he commented on it and said he's always been that way, a sort of stutter, and so I didn't think much of it. But lately, he's been just using the wrong words for things without going over the process of choosing, saying things like, "I put it out the bin." And I'll say, "Do you mean in?" And he looks confused each time. Just yesterday we were talking about a band and he kept talking about the lead guitarist holding his piano and didn't think about it until the very end of our conversation. Additionally, he has been consistently messing up left and right, confidentially saying I should take the next left at the light and when I do, then saying, "oh no I meant left. I mean right. I meant right."

If this wasn't enough, he has now also started repeating me while I'm talking. If I'm saying I went up onto the boardwalk he will mutter "onto the boardwalk" as I say it. This is new, and it's becoming more common.

I'm going to have to tell him today what I've noticed and that I think he should get seen, but he also has a habit of saying he's fine or has always had issues with words, so we will see how this goes.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest!