Farming to Facials
Being in the beauty industry now after growing up and working in agriculture my entire life has been a huge adjustment, but there are SO many similarities. You may ask how in the world are farming and facials similar? Let’s get to it – but first, here’s a little backstory. My entire life I knew I was going to farm with my Dad. It was always a set plan that I was going to college, learning all I could, and coming home to farm beside him. With a tragic event leading to his passing, I decided to finish up my plant and soil science degree and jump straight into esthetician school. You know that quote that goes “You make plans and God laughs” … YUP, so insanely accurate. Lol!
Now, when I say my entire life was pointed into the farming direction, I mean it. When it was time to apply to college I considered ag schools but I really wanted to be an esthetician. My parents wanted me to go to a “real school” and after thinking about it, I went along and figured agriculture was my passion. I mean, I loved it. As a baby and toddler, I would ride along with my Dad until I started driving my own tractor at 8 years old… I even started irrigating as soon as my hand could pump the siphon pipes. I loved it. I still to this day urn for a ride in a tractor or an evening irrigating sesh. I’m constantly dreaming about my days on the ranch spent sweeping for bugs, running the optimizer, or any other implement that needed a driver. My junior year of college I took off my last quarter at Cal Poly to come home and help Dad since finding men was near impossible and he’d just added 600 acres to our belt… a rough jump considering it was just Dad, Tony, Rosario, and my brother when he wasn’t in school and sports. The summer following was when Dad left this world. We were left to figure out what the hell to do. I took a semester off from OkState to help out and re-group, then it was time to go back to school and finish up my degree. The in-between of going back and finally finishing was filled with more tragic loss, loads of grief, covid-19, and so much mental work… which I’ll share more in my next journal which is all about grief.
So – HOW IN THE WORLD is farming similar to facials? First – plants and people are wildly similar. I always say plants are smarter and more alive than cows, and I will stand by that until the day I die. Plants chemically speak to each other through the air and their roots which is like the coolest thing ever. Dealing with people every day, specifically their skin, is so similar to dealing with plants. You have to problem solve, treat conditions, and work with the atmosphere and environmental factors. In both farming and facials, you never really know what the day holds… the same face is never really the same, just as the same crop is consistently changing. Crops and their inputs, are forever fluctuating with their environment, the weather, and even the soil beneath them. This is so similar to skin as it is also constantly changing based on your environment, the weather, and what you put on it and in your body. The soil is to the crop as the environment is to our skin. We need a healthy environment to glow, just as the crop needs a healthy soil to grow. Furthermore, both crops and skin need water to survive and function at its highest capability. Without water our crops will die, and our skin will shrivel. The final similarity that I’ll mention today are the fires we must put out as farmers and estheticians… Pest control and skin control are two of the same. Farmers want their crops as healthy as possible, while estheticians want your skin as healthy as possible. Health is wealth baby!!! Farmers use chemicals to ensure the health and safety of our plants, as estheticians we use products to ensure the health of our skin. The two go hand and hand. Although chemicals used in agriculture are a controversial topic in today’s society, they are used for the betterment of the crop and the people. They were created to sustain our growing population, and are a blessing to the crops during changing weather conditions and a consistently changing environment.
I will forever have this deep connection to the land, our crops, and the farmers who feed our nation. Now, if only these farmers would take care of their skin the same way they take care of their precious plants.
Xoxo Muse Beauties,
Paige