Monthly Archives: May 2025

“I love how I look,” Sangtani declares unapologetically. From mall photo shoots to impromptu dress trials, from swimming in Goa to riding toy trains, she captures every moment. When shopkeepers complain about her posting photos of clothes she never bought, she tells them that her pictures will boost their sales. “Everyone tells me, ‘Aunty, we travel too, but you truly know how to have fun,’” Sangtani says, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Laxmi Shah. Photographed by Adarsh Jogani

Scherezade recalls a woman who described perimenopause as liberating. “While it is physically uncomfortable, she said that it was mentally freeing. She put it like this: ‘My expiry date has passed, so I can finally sit back, relax and be myself.’”

This is the great paradox of ageing and beauty: after years of being constrained by societal expectations, women find themselves in a moment of unexpected freedom. At the very moment society typically renders them invisible, they find their most expansive selves—unbound, unapologetic and entirely their own.

Vanity, at this stage, becomes more than a mere indulgence. It is the conduit through which women affirm who they are, choose how they want to be seen and make sure they are seen. Frame by frame, post by post, they write themselves back into a culture that erased them.

You’re doing everything right. The double cleanse. The SPF. The hydration station. And yet, your skin barrier is behaving like a petulant teen, flaring up, breaking out, going red without warning. It’s tempting to throw another serum at the problem, but here’s the truth bomb: your glow (or lack of it) often has less to do with your top shelf and more to do with the habits you don’t think twice about.

Your skin isn’t a simple canvas. It’s a living, breathing barrier, the body’s frontline defence against everything. “Skin is the first immune defence. It protects the body from factors such as the external environment, allergens, pollutants, infections and more. For this reason, maintaining your skin’s barrier is significant,” Dr Chytra V Anand, celebrity dermatologist and founder of Kosmoderma Clinics and SkinQ, tells Vogue India.

When that barrier falters, no amount of serums or masks can fully rescue you. The truth is that it’s often the little daily habits—so subtle they easily slip past radar—that quietly chip away at your skin’s resilience. These seemingly harmless routines build up over time, creating a cycle of irritation, inflammation and sensitivity that no product alone can fix. Left unchecked, they weaken your skin’s natural defences, leaving it vulnerable to breakouts, redness and premature ageing. And that’s where the real battle begins.

Below is a breakdown of the little-known habits that wear down your skin’s defences.

#1 Poor sleep

Late-night scrolling and erratic sleep don’t just drain your energy—they throw your skin’s overnight repair system off track. Dr Melanie Palm put it simply in Vogue US: while you sleep, your body repairs damage caused by environmental stressors by increasing blood flow and rebuilding collagen, while producing hormones essential to recovery—melatonin, human growth hormone, and cortisol. “This process helps to stave off wrinkles, age spots, skin laxity, and other signs of ageing in the long run, which is why getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night and having a dialed-in circadian rhythm is essential for great skin,” she adds.

Cut your rest short, and your skin’s natural overnight repair slows down, leaving it with less support. Over time, it weakens your skin barrier, making it more sensitive to everything from pollution to the exfoliant you only used twice last week.

#2 Using dirty makeup brushes and tools

If your makeup brushes are still clinging to last year’s foundation, both your tools and your face deserve better. Unwashed brushes collect layers of old makeup, oil, and dead skin, creating the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. “Think of your makeup brush like a petri dish—every time it touches your face, it collects substances that can lead to clogged pores, trigger acne breakouts,” explains Dr Madhuri Agarwal, founder and medical director of Yavana Aesthetics Clinic, to Vogue India. This bacteria brew doesn’t just clog pores; it can spark serious skin conditions like staph infections, conjunctivitis, or chronic breakouts.

These are universal questions the show poses throughout the series, providing myriad answers through its four central characters. “They all show such different examples of what it means to be a woman,” says Emily. “And when they’re still figuring out dating into their late 30s, it makes me feel less behind and like I still have time left, which is admittedly such a grim statement but one that I find really comforting.”

Perhaps the most specifically thirtysomething issues that the series addresses are those around motherhood. Like Miranda’s unplanned pregnancy. Carrie’s contemplation over whether to pursue a relationship with Aleksandr Petrosky aged 38, knowing he doesn ’t want to have children. The scene when Samantha is told her cancer diagnosis could be related to her decision not to have children. And then there’s Charlotte’s fertility journey and her decision to pursue IVF.

“When I first watched the show as a teenager, these issues felt like something only ‘real adults’ had to deal with,” says Sarah* 36, who is now married and considering a family. “I’ve had two pregnancy losses and the episode covering Charlotte’s miscarriage really helped me process them at the time, while watching Carrie consider whether to have a baby at 38 has made me think deeply about how I’ll feel when I’m older if we choose not to try again. Whether I’ll regret it, or whether I could have a wonderfully fulfilling life, with friends and work and a relationship and disposable income, without a child.”

There are slightly more bittersweet moments of resonance, too. Like the episode where Carrie winds up celebrating her 35th birthday alone because her friends are separately all running late due to a confluence of unavoidable adult stuff. Later, after the women have managed to convene at their favourite coffee shop, she admits that despite knowing she has her career and her friendships, it felt “really sad” in that moment to be single. “I feel like I’m having the same conversation these days,” says Mia*, 33. “Like the shame of wanting something we’re not meant to want. The struggle is real—and lonely.”

As I’ve written about here before, major celebrations for single women are few and far between, at least where societal norms are concerned. Birthdays are really all we’ve got. And yet, as we get older, life gets in the way of them more and more in ways it somehow never does for weddings or hen dos—spare a thought for the woman running late to a game of Mr and Mrs. “This has come up for me a lot,” says Billie*, 41, whose friend with a toddler recently tried to arrange a small wedding ceremony on the day of their other friend’s 40th birthday party. “She had to properly explain to her that when you’re single, you have no opportunities to be celebrated.”