What Grief Teaches Us About Showing Up

This wasn’t the blog I had planned to write.

Honestly, I’ve been staring at a blank screen, searching for words while my heart is sitting with loss.

This past weekend I said goodbye to a dear friend and right now, everything feels heavier, slower, quieter.

If you’ve ever walked through grief, you know it doesn’t care about your to-do list.

It doesn’t ask permission. It just arrives and takes up space in your chest, in your heart and in your body.

And in moments like this, writing about skincare routines or morning glow rituals feels… far away.

But here’s what I’ve realized this past weekend, grief and self-care aren’t separate. 

In fact, they need each other.

When we talk about “clean skincare for real life,” this is what we mean.

Not just on the good days, but the hard ones.

The barely-holding-it-together ones.

The crying-in-the-shower ones.

The days where you don't even recognize yourself in the mirror and the act of putting on moisturizer feels like reclaiming a little piece of who you are.

Grief strips everything back. And sometimes, the only thing that feels doable is the smallest gesture, washing your face.

Giving yourself a mud mask.

Taking a deep breath while your serum soaks in.

These aren’t vanity moves.

They’re grounding rituals. Tiny acts of self-loyalty.

And that’s what I’ve been clinging to this weekend.

There’s no rulebook, no checklist. But here’s what I’m learning,

• Let your skincare routine shrink if it needs to. One or two simple steps are enough.

• Focus on how it feels, not how it looks. This is your moment, not anyone else’s.

• Grief can show up physically—be patient with texture, breakouts, or dullness. It’s all part of the process.

• And most importantly, don’t guilt yourself for not doing more. Rest is resistance. Slowness is sacred.

At FAITH+FEARLESS, we talk a lot about evolving with your skin.

But evolution isn’t always upward. Sometimes it’s inward. Sometimes it’s stillness.

Sometimes it’s survival.

So if you’re navigating loss, heartbreak, or just a season that feels like too much—please hear this,

You don’t have to show up perfectly.

You just have to show up for you.

Even if that just means washing your face today.

That’s still care. That’s still sacred.

To anyone else grieving right now

I see you.

I’m with you.

And I hope you give yourself full permission to slow down, soften, and take care of your heart before anything else.

This week, don’t worry about glowing.

Just focus on grounding.

The radiance will return on its own time, in its own way.

And until then, let’s keep evolving… beautifully & imperfectly.

With love,

Sarah