r/Vindictabrown

I legit made up an American nickname after I got laid off a few years ago - I legit cannot get interviews, call backs nothing.

I also live in an area where the top ethnicities are Hispanic and white. Black, Asian after that and middle eastern after, people aren’t really aware of Indian people and btw I’m born and raised in America.

I wish my family never moved us away from the Bay Area - I doubt I’d struggle so much in the corporate life had we not done so.

I live in the southwest and it fkn sucks.

I've loved reading the glow-up recap posts, so I thought I’d share my approach in case it’s helpful to anyone and in case anyone has useful feedback / advice. I left a ** where a category is unfinished. Stereotypically, I started Jan 1 2026 because this 360 overhaul was one of my New Year's resolutions.

Before this year I was basically zero maintenance — I did the hygiene stuff and SPF when I remembered (ie it was summer and I was going outside for a while) but didn’t wear makeup, style my hair, go shopping for clothes, etc.

I have to say also in spite of doing all of this I’m not sure I personally see a noticeable difference day-to-day so I’m curious if anyone has advice on what I could be missing.

Stuff I’m most unsure about, would welcome takes on these OR notes on stuff I should do that I’ve missed that would make a big difference:

• Hair cut and color: I have curly hair (3b) and while haircuts on straight hair seem obviously useful, I don’t totally understand it for curly hair
• Fixing facial asymmetry with botox - ex, my smile is asymmetric, my eyebrows are structurally asymmetrical in a way the shaping couldn’t fully correct for
• I’m considering a sliding genioplasty and a light rhinoplasty to move my chin forward and reduce the slight droop at the tip of my nose 
• Other things I’m thinking about: in-office glycolic peels, Clear + Brilliant or Moxi laser, truflex (for abs + upper glutes at final goal weight)

To plan, I made a list of every single “category” that existed to overhaul:

• Baseline health
• Sleep
• Body
• Hair
• Face skin
• Body skin
• Teeth
• Nails / hands
• Eyebrows and eyelashes
• Makeup
• Wardrobe
• Jewelry / accessories 
• Perfume / smell
• Hardmaxxing

And then I tried to do a foundations-up overhaul starting with health until I got to cosmetic pops.

• Baseline health: I established care with a primary care physician and specialist (gyn, derm, etc) in the same office plus a nearby dentist and got all my testing and annual visits done at once — comprehensive blood panel, pap smear, skin cancer check, hair pull test etc. I got all the vaccines I was overdue on. I made a supplement routine based on my bloodwork (vitamin d, ferritin, b12, omega-3, creatine, magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate)
• Sleep: My sleep was a mess. I now charge my phone outside my bedroom, set an alarm for 8:30am, and get in bed sometime 11pm-12am. I also got a sunrise lamp that I set daily. This has helped a *lot*.
• Body: I got on a GLP1 — I started at a BMI of 25.3, am now at 21.8, and am aiming for 20 before I reassess the right goal. I also set a protein goal (minimum 80g/day) to maintain muscle during this and started lifting weights with progressive overload 3x per week. I also started jogging 3x per week to build cardiovascular health.
  • **Nutrition: I don’t drink, but I currently eat “whatever I want” as long as it fits my calorie and protein goals but I think ideally and in the future I’d also make the shift to minimize packaged and processed foods, fast food, and added sugar— this is something I’ll try once I get to my goal weight.
  • **Posture and flexibility: I’d like to work on my posture and flexibility. I have started getting regular massages. I haven’t started anything else yet, but this might involve working with a PT and designing a nightly stretch routine.
• Hair
  • Health and length: I worked on scalp health and length retention by re-doing my routine.
    • Wash day: pre-shampoo oil to protect lengths, nizoral shampoo for scalp health + scalp scrubber to stimulate blood flow + 5 min massage for contact time, K18 for length health/retention, leave in hair mask + comb hair, clear glycolic acid hair gloss. I referenced the Abbey Young method here.
    • Morning and night: I use kerestase genesis, and the ordinary multipeptide hair serum daily. Protective styles (loose braid or pineapple) in a satin bonnet only (I used to sleep with it down/in a ponytail all the time) every night. I replaced all my hair ties with satin hair ties.
    • I also started doing search and destroy on my split ends religiously. I’ve done cumulatively probably >20 hours of this over the year, snipping off split and damaged ends as I see them. This is helpful because I am paranoid about losing length and hadn’t gotten a trim in many years for that reason so my hair really needed it.
  • **Cut and color: I still haven’t done anything here. I’m not sure what to do, as I find cuts for curly hair hard to work out, I really don’t want to lose length, and I think my natural color suits me pretty well.
  • **Style: I’m also only just starting to change this but the plan is, instead of air drying my hair after washing it, to diffuse it while scrunching the curls up with gel. Then ideally, use those protective hairstyles to carefully maintain the curl in the gel cast between washes (which are 1-2x per week) so there’s no need to comb or manipulate my hair more often than that.
• Face skin: I was fortunate to be overall mostly happy with my skin so this was more about prevention. I started a morning and night skincare routine.
  • Morning: Vitamin C, TXA, azelaic acid, and SPF 50
  • Night: Wash (oil + water based cleansers), tretinoin, moisturizer
  • I was hoping some of the actives would also help with slight darkness in my under eyes
• Body skin: I have KP, so I made a routine with that in mind
  • I got laser hair removal on my bikini line, full legs, and underarms, which itself can reduce KP and also prevents KP from being caused by shaving irritation
  • Every 8-12 weeks I go to a Moroccan bathhouse and get a steam and scrub that removes a layer of skin
  • After every shower I moisturize with either Remedy for body bumps or Amlactin
• Teeth
  • Healthy: I get dental cleanings every 6 months. I also started using prescription fluoride toothpaste, an electric toothbrush, and putting floss picks out next to them so I floss 2-3x per week vs what was before basically never. I got xylitol gum and put it on my desk and try to grab it occasionally throughout the day.
  • White: I got both the crest whitening strips (which I did first) and the custom trays with gel (which I did next)
  • **Straight: My teeth are fortunately overall good except crowding on my lowers that doesn’t show too much. I got some retainers made to try to stop them from moving. I also made an orthodontist appointment. I plan to get a lower C5 wire or lower braces if I can do that without too much cost or pain. But this isn’t finished / resolved yet.
• Nails / hands
  • I started using a retinol hand cream and a cuticle oil nightly
  • Every week I shape my nails with a file, remove last week’s polish, push back cuticles, then do the base coat, color, and top coat with the dazzledry kit. I alternate between a nude / your nail but better and actual colors.

   

• Eyebrows and eyelashes
  • I started getting my eyebrows shaped professionally (not cheap but feels worth it)
  • I also started doing a lash lift and tint every 8 weeks
  • I started using babelash no proglastin serum on my eyelashes but not sure how much it has helped 
  • **I’m considering using minoxidil on my eyebrows selectively to try to even them out by growing the hairs at the top of one brow and the bottom edge of the other + to thicken the tails but I haven’t started/tried yet.
• Jewelry / accessories 
  • I got my ears pierced. I still wear the studs I got them with, eventually I plan to swap for small gold hoops and just wear them constantly
  • I got a necklace chain and 5 pendants and wear a necklace daily, swapping the pendant to fit the outfit, season, and occasion 
  • I got a set of accessories that work across my wardrobe — a brown belt, a black belt, 4 bags that collectively cover all occasions
• **Perfume / smell
  • I went through the process of picking a signature scent and picked out a perfume to wear daily
  • That said I’m kind of unsatisfied with it as I don’t think you can really smell it even right next to me and it fades quickly so I’m re-assessing this category and making a new plan (which might entail alternatives to perfume, like picking a hair cream with a nice scent instead)
• **Makeup
  • I got a makeup lesson to learn a bit about application and what shades work well on me, and then went out and bought a baseline set (mix of fancy and drugstore depending on the product; I didn’t really own much/any makeup before)
  • I’m now trying to do my makeup when I go out and practice with what seems to look good/not - I’m still in a trial and error phase so haven’t settled on my current routine yet
  • That said I usually do a skin tint, under-eye concealer, mascara, blush, liquid highlighter, and lip gloss as a minimalist look
• **Wardrobe: I did a full wardrobe overhaul, still in-progress especially as I’m still losing weight (so what I have bought I am starting to need to replace or get tailored)
  • I started by learning my color season and kibbe type, taking my measurements and learning about proportions
  • I tried on everything I own and gave away a lot of it that didn’t fit, didn’t look good on me, was faded, worn, stained, etc
  • I got all the pants I kept tailored (at my current weight so might need to shift again when I reach the goal weight)
  • I cared for the clothes I have e.g., I soaked my whites in oxyclean, I went through looking for loose threads and missing buttons
  • I logged every single item of clothing I have into Indyx, a wardrobe app, so I know have a good birds-eye view of my clothing, I can style outfits, and it's also easy to tell when I’m not wearing something and re-assess it
  • I split my wardrobe into categories:
    • Pajamas, workout outfits, and “WFH / travel / errands”: I built a defined number of pre-styled sets where all the items in the outfit automatically went together and there was no thinking/styling in the moment. 
    • Daily outfits: This is a harder category and I’m still building it out slowly via the free style sessions some stores offer e.g., Aritzia, using pinterest to get inspiration, shopping when I can, using the wardrobe app to style hypothetical outfits to wear from my closet etc.
    • Shoes: I really only wore sneakers because I walk a lot. I was able to see what shoes would work the best with my wardrobe in logging it and got a pair of black boots, brown boots, brown suede sneakers, white sneakers, burgundy ballet flats, and black loafers -- I think these should collectively cover most outfits and occasions. 
    • Undergarments: I got professionally ‘measured’ for bras (though again will need to go back at the end of the year), got shapewear, and am going to try to systematically make sure I have all the right bras / undergarments for my wardrobe e.g., backless dresses
• **Hardmaxxing
  • I’m considering a sliding genioplasty and a light rhinoplasty to move my chin forward and reduce the slight droop at the tip of my nose -- TBD!
  • Other things I’m thinking about: Fixing eyebrow and smile asymmetries with botox, in-office glycolic peels, Clear + Brilliant or Moxi laser, truflex (for abs + upper glutes at final goal weight)