Her Discussions by Dr Faye - Beauty Items You (Don’t) Need | Mini Episode

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

We're back with another mini episode for you!Every Thursday, we’ll be sharing the Buy or Bye-Bye segment from one of your favourite Her Discussions episodes - a breakdown of what actually works for your health.This week, we're revisiting our episode with Ordinary Emm. Ordinary Emm is a leading critic of an industry worth over 1 trillion that aims to make women feel bad about themselves, influencing and rethinking their social media consumption.In the full episode, we discuss:💸 how an industry valued at $1 trillion is trying to fool you🧔‍♂️ why you should ask yourself if a man would buy it🥪 why you just need a “crap sandwich”⚡ why overachieving won’t fix your anxiety🏛️ beliefs you’re holding that are making old white men richListen to the full podcast here:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0IfQ2JQ1OU Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xrspsKT0m1f0l7hQh0gT2?si=5FTd9AoPS1e_jQr_f39HzAPlease don’t forget to subscribe - it really helps us grow the podcast.Resources & links mentioned:@ordinaryemm_Can I ask you a BIG favour? 💙Please leave a review or rating. It helps us grow the podcast and bring you more amazing guests.Share with someone who needs this, it might help them live a happier, healthier life.Follow us on social media or join the broadcast channel to send us your questions for our guests:Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herdiscussionspod/Broadcast channel: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbY4liwxlLnewx4H/🛑 Disclaimers & legal:This podcast is for educational / informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. All opinions are those of the speaker(s).

We're going to play a little bit of a game. Let's play a game. And this is the buy or bye bye section. So I'm going to show you a product. When we've done this previously with other guests, I have actually bought the products. You'll be happy to know I didn't buy these products. Thank you. We don't like overconsumption.

Yeah, we're not overconsuming. First one, I'm going to show you a picture of on my phone. And this is actually a product that I bought. I have a feeling you may be a little bit annoyed at me. It was my friends, Sophie's engagement party on the weekend. And I was wearing like a silky dress. And you know, and this is another one of those things. You know where we said where a friend points out on insecurity.

And suddenly they've gifted you with that insecurity themselves. I've had it with a friend who she saw a picture of herself and she was like, oh, my knees are wrinkly. And I was like, I have never been concerned with my knees being wrinkly ever before. Thank you for that. And I'm sorry to any girls listening right now because I may impart an insecurity on you, but we're going to try and debunk it. When you wear a silk dress and you can see a belly button through it. Fucking stupid.

Imagine having a belly button. Imagine having a belly button, honestly. So I bought some skims. And this is the pair of skims compared to the size of my hand. My hands are like the size of a 12-year-old person. You know what I'm going to say bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye. That fucking thing. Buy another fucking billionaire. Yeah. Yeah. And I actually, Dylan actually was quite critical because Sophie bought some. And Sophie convinced me to buy them, I'm going to blame Sophie. And then Dylan was like skims their work standards or their workplace ethics as bad as she in.

Yeah. He did tell me that after Biden, but that's not. So it's my responsibility. So we've done that research beforehand. But now we keep that pair and you wear it to honour the people who made it. We don't just chuck it away. Yeah. But we don't buy from billionaires anymore.

We don't buy from billionaires anymore. So goodbye. And also you can keep your belly button showing. That's perfectly fine, you know. I think we needed that one. Yeah. Yeah. Me personally, I needed that one.

Yeah. Okay. Next. Waste trainers. Absolutely fuck off. Like, I think that's so bad for your internal organs as well, isn't it? Like, what do you mean waste trainer? Training your waist to look like what?

What is a waste supposed to? How do we, like, honestly, the propaganda, the brainwashing that had to happen for us to go like, I need to train my waist to be more weight. like is just ridiculous so absolutely no ways I actually did buy one of these when I was like 12 I remember I've got or did it behind my rooms back on the computer and then I think I wore it to school one day and I was like this is the most uncomfortable fucking thing I remember seeing people in the gym wearing those and it was so normalized I think it was in the beginning of lockdown like people really started online normalizing it yeah and I was just like I think I remember seeing like

a graphic of like all your internal organs like being squished out of that space and I was like where are we going with this? Like we're one step away from being back in like courting halls where people like call upon us to be like, yeah, you're a fair match for my, like, here's a corset for you to like not breathe then. You know, why is like our uncomfort such a... Yeah, and I also think as well,

what gets me with all of these things is the way that we have a limited amount of energy in, like our energy is like a cup. Yeah. This is the amount of energy we have throughout the day. That is it. We can't have more. We can't have less. we're not superhuman, as Molly May would say, we all have the same 24 hours in a day.

Cheers, Molly Mae. That is how much energy we have. You can either spend that energy on, you know, putting passion into the things you love or the people you love or, you know, that energy where it will fulfill your life and make your life richer. Or you can put that energy into feeling uncomfortable wearing a waist trainer. And also, like, would a man buy it? No. No. So, no.

I will not as well. Bye. bye. Next, push up bars. Oh, I used to have one when I was 16. I have no, I have no boobs. Push at bras, sorry. What did you say? Push up bars. Push up bras. Exactly. Push up bras. Goodbye. Okay. But I did buy it once when I was 16 and I wore to school under like my sports top and looked like not myself at all. Yeah. And I'm pretty sure like my actual tit was like, the tiniest part above like the padding and the rest was just padding. And ever since I don't even own a wire bra.

I've only ever worn bra lits since like the age of 18. Would a man buy it? Probably not. Well, yeah, yeah. I would personally put them in the same category as the nails. I think if they make you feel good. Like, because I was an 80-bitty-titty queen for until some certain, some certain intervention happening. But when I was an it-bitty-titty-girl, I do think I wore it

for myself. Maybe that is the, and it is separating yourself from like the indoctrination, da, da, da, da. I think it's, it is just working out, are you doing this

because you think the boys are gonna fancy you? Yeah. Yeah. You're doing it on like a girl's not out to girls only club. Yeah. And, you know,

if you're straight and there's no man there, are you going to wear the push-up bra? Yeah. Yeah. If you're going to go to an event where no male is perceiving you or you're not trying to be sexually attractive to anyone and would you still

put the, push up on. I think that's a good let-miss test. Yeah. Next up, clean girl aesthetic. Any aesthetic can be by-bye because you're not an architectural movement or an object. So you don't have an aesthetic to fit into. Like, I think all of those are just the beauty industry, like grasping at straws to be like, let's sell completely different new things and label the same skincare products differently, but it's the exact same thing. just so you buy it again and you keep up with trains.

Like Clean Girl as well is just such a, such a weird one of like being put together. Like we are dirty otherwise. If you don't have like slick back hair and no makeup makeup and wearing, is it like all beige as well, Clean Girl? Like I don't know, but I don't want any part of it. But that aesthetic I do also have beef with because I think that was one of the first ones where people were like, I am not what. Everyone wants me to be and I don't fit this.

Like, slick back is great for me. I slick back my hair all the time, but not because I want to be part of a clean girl aesthetic. It's just something I like to do. But for other people who are trying to slick their hair back and be like, I hate this. Like I feel like a, you know, my hair's back like this. And it's like, you don't need to keep moulding yourself.

I don't see men doing this. It is the shifting trends because if we didn't have trends, you could just own the same things. You could have personal style. And then the world. would fall apart without us, you know, continuously buying new things for every fucking aesthetic they come up with. Next.

Big water bottles. Buy one. Buy but one. We don't need to be buying more than one. I think one big water bottle. I have one big water bottle. And as long as you have one, but again, you're not making it part of an aesthetic. Or one of those flat lades that, you know, that you have all of these things that are apparently

part of what you need to be to be this type of person. Like, just drink your water. And if you enjoy it out of a big water, a big water bottle, then I'm for it. But just by one. Just by one. Just by one. And good quality, so it lasts. Next we have, get ready with me. Morning routine, what I eat in a day. So tricky, because that's Instagram, isn't it? That's how a lot of people make a lot of money. is get ready with me here's my morning routine what I eat in a day what I eat in a day can fuck right off

but the other ones or in general it's just like is it a kink that we all just want to like watch people live their lives and just like voyeur we are going to have to come on to that because I think that some of my favourite content that you've done recently

is all about like there was something that you posted about how when life yeah when life inevitably flashes before your eyes will it be yours or will it be everyone else's morning routines and everyone else is what I eat in a day

and everyone else's travel blog posts and spots and photo ops and like what are we what the fuck are we doing with like our social media there's one thing to be like addicted to your phone and to get this dopamine but like to watch people's lives and then it just gets even more like scary because it's like people are profiting off of that and making sure people need to keep up with their lives and I'm like I literally saw that piece of content, I put my phone down because I've really been struggling so much more with doom scrolling since not working full time. It's not having that restriction, obviously, doing the masters, it being very self, like, I have to rely on my own motivation and not procrastinating

than going into a hospital and I don't have a choice, you know, if someone's, like, if there's a patient to be seen, I can't just scroll on my phone. Yeah. Whereas now I have really, really been struggling with it so much more. And then I saw that post that you did and I was like, phone down. Yeah. Like, we have, have something weird going on with like watching other people live their lives. I also think it is so like it is strange like setting up your camera to do every piece of like your routine and to like share it with everyone. But again like everyone is allowed to make their money and be financially independent and that's great. But I just think like we've got an obsession so much so with other people's lives that we're sat living through them instead of like living our own lives.

Yeah. So completely bye bye. Because I I realized the other day I don't actually need to know like seven running influences marathon times or like your top five skincare things that I need to them buy. Yeah. That's not what I need to be keeping upstairs. There's so much other stuff that's more worth it. Pilates. I love Pilates.

I think it's separating the trend from like what you like you can genuinely love something that is trendy. I see a lot with people being like, I fucking hate running. And everyone's running right now. That's so, so, so fine. Running is not going to be for everyone. As much as like the running influences will love to tell you running is for everyone, do they go to CrossFit? Do they go to Pilates? Or no, like, there is different movement for everyone and saying that only creates more shame around why doesn't this work for me. Yeah. But Pilates is a tough one because there is a stigma where like, Pilates' instructors are like these thin, long-toned, you know, ballerinas that are so gorgeous to look at,

as well as Pilates' class as being, like, really inaccessible when it's on the Reforma. And even, like, Matt Studios, they come off, like, really elitist. So there's a problem there, but there's also free Pilates on YouTube. And you can support those people. You can go to, go to, this is the same thing with, like, yoga as well, where it's been, like, commercialized and it's taken so far away from where it started. which was, I mean, yoga's more like, in a completely different sense. And Pilates is more from like a movement, like I think his name is like Joseph Pilates who started or whatever.

And it's all about like breathing correctly and moving correctly. And that's great. And it's like, would he really want people to be like putting down a small deposit, house deposit for like a month's worth of Pilates? And then thinking you have to look a certain way to go to Pilates and only because you'll get certain body type that that movement brings. Next, scrump-sham shorts. They can, they can, bye-bye. Bye-bye, like, I don't ever want to see those ever again. Like, that's the whole, like, flattering thing.

And I will keep coming back to this because it's one of the things that's actually helped me the most with, like, getting out of the groups of, like, diet culture and the beauty industry. It's like, they don't do that shit for men. Yeah. Like men's gym wear has looked basically the same for years and years and years and years and years. And it is about performance and what feels comfortable. And those are their options. And now maybe there's a little bit of fashion here and there. Some guy can wear a cropped vest if he wants to.

But like that is the range versus us. It's always being about like pulling the boobs up more or cinching here or high waisted means you can actually look completely different. and like, it's like, I want to just go to the gym and go to the gym. I don't need to worry about what my bum looks like in these leggings. The barrier for entry to go into the gym and moving your body becomes so much higher when you specify, like what people can wear. Like, you can go to the gym in a baggy t-shirt. We have an epidemic where people are not moving their bodies.

We need to make sure that people know that they can move their bodies in whatever, you know? Literally. next up matching branded jewess for the most part bye bye

like I have two matching sets that's probably a lie I have one off the top of my head that my nana bought me

for Christmas four years ago I have that matching set and then I have like a yellow one that I bought separately on Vinted like they're actually not

from the same thing and I think I have things that maybe look matching but actually no I don't so no because like we were talking like barrier to like you do not need a matching branded gym's gym wear at all to do anything to move you will feel the same amount of dopamine and the benefits from physical exercise wearing a baggy tea and comfortable trainers then you will wearing the latest active wear from whatever brands the influences are pushing or partnered with so no you absolutely don't need

that if if you want i don't i don't know how i feel about the whole like new active wear inspires people to like get out there and like motivates people to like i know people say and i think i've maybe faulted once where i get a piece of clothing and i'm like i can't wait to wear this so i will go to the gym to wear it but it's like what what a fucking privilege to be like i'll buy an expensive thing so i can go and do something that's really accessible right now to me only then will I get out there and do it? And it's just like movement is one of the best things you can do for yourself. And we're saying now people need to spend like capitalism just doesn't take a

fucking break, does it? Like now we've also got to go out and find the most like things look exactly the same as last year but they're in different coloured tones and therefore like you can't even wear last year's colour tones because these, this year the colour of the season is X or whatever they roll the dice and decide on. And it's like that shouldn't be. your barrier to movement. So absolutely like goodbye.

Goodbye. Buy if you have the financial, you're in the financial position to do that, but do not put yourself out thinking that that's what you need to do in order to enter the gym. You need the gym membership and that's about it.

Yeah. I have something called the shit sandwich. So my, the shit sandwich is if I want to do something I'm procrastinating, I pair it with like something that, so the schis is in the middle and I make sure that there's something good at the beginning

and there's something good at the end. Yes. So I find it with like if I'm wearing an outfit that I'm like, ah, kind of like that makes me feel good. Yeah. That's maybe my like good that helps me get out. But then that can also be having a big bloody bagels and then having like a quasson afterwards. Yeah. So like there are other things that you can do to incentivize.

Yes. Maybe it shouldn't always be food. That makes it sound a little bit dodgy. But like. Yeah, I know where you're going with it. And I just think whenever you think to yourself, you watch a piece of content and you go like, oh maybe I should get that if someone's saying to you as their only piece of advice a new pair of shoes or a new matching outfit gets you to the gym it'll inspire you

motivate you if that's their only thing they have to fucking offer you I'm pretty sure they're going to be putting a discount code or a link somewhere else in that same caption it's an ad or they have something to gain from it yeah and that's where like my beef with the influencer community comes in because you're just profiting of other people like you know insecurities and their like confusion of getting into these spaces and that's just really not cool. It's not cool. So if you think that about a piece of content, like just think for a second like, oh, am I only thinking this so I make their money, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. I do indeed. Trend specific beauty products. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. This is just overconsumption core to the max, isn't it? like everyone just hopping on everything. The amount, we've normalized bathroom cabinets having multiple and multiple and

multiple amounts of products inside is not okay for your wallet or for the planet. And like we actually need to get a grip. We really need to get a grip. Especially when it comes like, if you have acne and stuff, there's are very few things that are actually going to work for you. And often a lot of the time it's like medical or like medical grade products. stop jumping on every trend available. It's all just the same thing in different packaging.

And like you actually, like I know we'll keep saying and it will keep being true. But the beauty industry is so good for sitting down and having meetings and being like, how can we spend this a different way? And we'll do it so cleverly that like people just hop on without even a second thought. It's like you do have to be having a second thought. Like for everyone at this point, like as well as for yourself, like you're just ruining your skin as well as your. and I mean beauty products, everything. And then just think about all this shit

that's not being emptied in your cupboard and how much you throw away and how much is landing at landfill and we're just producing so much more than we need and I could spiral favor on that. But like guys, no. No. Stop with that. Bye, bye, bye.

Goodbye. Finally, freckle pens. Oh, so interesting, isn't it? Like, I'm not going to buy a freckle pen. I don't have freckles compared to my sister. She's the freckle one. And I have often wanted to have freckles,

but I'm not going to buy a thing to like, again, would Mitch buy a freckle pen? Probably not. If he doesn't want to be putting freckles on his face, then I'm not going to be doing that either. That's just another like weird thing we've let people profit off of. It's like,

he has a new product, just puts this on your face. You pay someone who's got enough like social currency, to make it cool. Yeah. And then people will be doing it. Yeah. But if I was the first person to come up with a freckle pen and I was doing it, no one would think

it was cool. I think it's the same with like the tabby shoes, you know, like the ones with the toes. You pay someone with enough social currency to make it cool or someone who just decides to do it. Yeah. And everyone and everyone follows. Like that's just one of those things as well. Like you don't actually need to be doing it.

And would you actually like it unless people weren't pushing it or you weren't seeing it by people who you aspire to or like, I don't know, have some weird parasocial relationship with. Thank you for listening. If you would like to hear the full episode with even more jam-packed knowledge, then just click the link in the description.