My AI Told Me a Story: SKINCARE

Everyday I get a word from a random word generator. Using that word, I ask my AI to tell me a story.

Here is today’s word: SKINCARE

Here is that story:

The early morning sunbeams seeping through the gaps in the curtains, woke Leah up. Unwillingly, she opens her eyes and glares at the time on her phone's screen. It's 8 in the morning, and she's supposed to be at work in an hour. As she slowly sits up, she can feel the tightness in her face. Being an ambitious young professional, she's always had a strenuous schedule, which leads to many sleepless nights. And, just like the previous night, exhausted with the day's work, she skipped her skincare routine.

Leah jumps off her bed and heads to the bathroom. Frantically, she searches through her cabinet to find her favorite cleanser, but it's not there. She checked all the other possible spots, and it still isn't there. She now remembers leaving it in the bathtub after her last facial. By the time she realized this, the water was already flowing.

Thinking quickly, Leah darts out of the room and heads to the kitchen where she finds her jar of coconut oil. With hasty fingers, she scoops up a glob of the oil and rushes back to the bathroom before the water gets any colder. She dips her fingers into the jar and massages the oil onto her face. The cleansing property of the coconut oil works well, but she knows a lot of residue still remains. While standing under the shower, she jerks the single body cloth off its folds and begins exfoliating her face. Once deeply cleansed, she hops out of the shower and looks in the mirror.

She can see a slight glow on her previously dull skin, which makes her go back to put on some of her serum. The serum is an excellent product with all the right ingredients, the only problem is, it comes at a high cost. But for Leah, nothing is too expensive when it comes to her skin.

A few more minutes in the bathroom, slathering on moisturizer and sunscreen, and she's ready for work. As she steps out of the house, a feeling of insecurity creeps upon her, "hope no one notices my skin today," she thinks to herself.

Once at work, Leah notices everyone has a flawless look on their faces. Her teammates are all clad in designer outfits and carry high-end skincare products. It's a typical day, and Leah goes about her work like every other day. Over lunch, the topic for discussion quickly shifts to a new skincare brand that recently launched their product. The entire team is excited, and they all say a few things about how amazing the product must be.

Leah's brow furrows inwardly at the thought of having to shell out some more money to buy another expensive skincare product. She tries to look interested while keeping her thoughts to herself. After lunch, her team leader, Angela, calls her aside.

Angela looks way younger than she is, and Leah always secretly marvels at her baby-faced looks. It's common knowledge in the office that Angela follows a strict skincare routine, which is why her skin looks like that of a twenty-year-old.

"I wanted to talk to you about the new product that we were discussing earlier," Angela began. "I got a chance to use it for a couple of days, and it is absolutely life-changing. I think you should consider it too."

As Angela goes on about the product, her phone rings, and she dismisses Leah. Standing in that corner alone, Leah feels uneasiness creeping again. She takes a deep breath, blinks her eyes a few times, and tries to shake it off.

On her commute back home, Leah can't stop thinking about Angela's endorsement. What is she was missing out on something that could make a difference in her skincare routine? Once she's back home, she spends the next couple of hours researching the product.

Days, weeks, and months pass, and everyone in the office is using that same product. Leah's skin looks good, but Angela's skin looks perfect. It's a never-ending cycle of feeling like an outsider in the clique that has perfect skin. That's when it dawned on Leah that there's no such thing as perfect skin. She realizes that, like most things in life, the key to success is to accept what you have and take care of it, no matter how long it takes. And so she did, she took good care of her skin regularly and accepted her beauty the way it was. No more chasing some skincare products or feeling like she's not good enough.

A year later, Leah gets a promotion in her job. It's the final stage of a selection process, and Angela is there when she got the good news. The other members of the team applaud, and many hugs were given, and they all go for a celebration dinner at a fancy restaurant.

While preparing to go out, Angela touches her face and sighs, "I wish my skin was as good as yours, Leah. How do you manage to maintain it so well?"

Leah smiles and says, "It's all about consistency and finding what works best for you. I realized that I don't need to have perfect skin to feel confident. I just need to take care of it and embrace its imperfections."

Angela nods thoughtfully and says, "You know what? You're right. I've been so caught up in trying different products and following a strict routine that I forgot to appreciate my natural beauty."

The rest of the dinner is filled with lively conversations and laughter, and as they say their goodbyes, Leah feels a sense of contentment within her. She knows that she's finally found the balance between taking care of her skin and embracing its flaws.

As she walks back to her apartment, she can feel a warm breeze caressing her face. She looks up at the sky and notices the colors of the sunset. The sky is a blend of orange, purple, and pink, a sight that never fails to make her feel grateful for the little things in life.

Leah realizes that just like the sunset, life has its own unique beauty, and it's up to us to appreciate it. She smiles, feeling content and happy, knowing that she's finally found her skin's happy place, and most importantly, her own.

From that day on, Leah's skincare routine became more of a self-care routine. She started doing more things that made her happy and brought her joy, like practicing yoga, reading a good book, and spending time with loved ones.

Her skin never looked better, not because of any specific product or expensive skincare routine, but because of the self-love and care that she had started to give herself. And the best part was, she had finally realized that true confidence comes from within, and it had nothing to do with the products she used or the people she surrounded herself with.

Leah's journey to finding her happy place with her skin was a long and challenging one, but it taught her a valuable lesson; that true beauty comes from self-love and care, which can only be achieved through a positive mindset and a heart full of gratitude.

This story was completely unedited and created by AI inspired by the word “skincare”.