Ah, the dirty thirties! Turning 30 can be a wild ride, and to celebrate our pals at Caci’s big 3-0 (happy birthday, guys!) Capsule’s co-founders have turned the mirror on themselves and reminisced about their own 30th birthdays – and while some of us couldn’t wait to blow out three decades worth of candles, for others it was a chance to reflect and rebuild. But the one thing our thirties has given all three of us? The glorious confidence to truly shine as our own strong, independent women, and love the skin we’re in.
In partnership with Caci
KELLY:
I was the lone one of all my friends who was excited to turn 30. I’d heard from countless people that your 30s was the decade – you have fun but you have money and you give less of a damn and basically, all good things just seem to happen to you.
For me, that was 100% true.
I’d had a rough run in my late 20s – I had a bad breakup at 27 and spent the next two years convinced I was going to die alone (oh you stupid, stupid baby). I was unhappy at work, I felt unfulfilled, I was full of regret at not travelling more and focussing so intently on my career. All classic stuff.
I decided at 29 to put some work into myself to prove that hey, I could bloody well be happy on my own. I treated myself to all the things I loved to do. I upped my self-care game and became obsessed with skincare. I stopped pressuring myself to find ‘the one’ and instead date when I felt like it, but learn to love my own company. (Turns out that was a good call because I was six months into this journey when Covid hit and I soon after was made redundant from my job, which at the time devastated me, but was actually one of the best things that could have ever happened.)
But then Capsule was born. I found my purpose, and confidence. I thrived under the new pressures of a pandemic-laced world. And by the time I blew out my 30th birthday candles (in a gathering of no more than 10 people, of course) I could hand on heart say that’s when I was completely, absolutely, and gorgeous happy.
I had the best friends. I had an exciting new career journey. And I realised that actually, I just really liked the person in the mirror (the years of prioritising skincare definitely helped!).
Of course, as everyone always told me (and my God I hated it when people did so I now apologise in advance) this is exactly when you end up meeting someone, and by the time I was 31 I’d met the man I’m about to marry.
I firmly believe my recent giddy happiness has stemmed from my newfound confidence. It’s not just that my face is looking fairly decent for an almost 34-year-old, or that I’m keeping the grey hair at bay (kind of) with the help of my lovely hairdresser. It’s so much deeper than that, and I have my 30s – my most settled, abundant and love-filled decade ever – to thank.
EMMA:
When I think back to my 30th birthday, I think of a child playing dress-up. I was so determined to greet this milestone event by trying to feel like the grown-up woman I felt I should be, that I bought the second most expensive dress of my life for my birthday dinner party.
It was a heavily, heavily discounted Vivienne Westwood dress – I can’t stress to you just how discounted – in black stretchy Lurex, with black sparkly stars all over it. When I look at the photo taken of me that night, all I can think of is how young I look – and not in a ‘oh, that bygone youthful glow’ way, but in a ‘look at this terrified young girl’ way. I look a bit lost.
At the time, I lived alone in an apartment enduring waves of cockroach infestations, I was single and extremely aware of it, unsure of everything and the whole decade stretching out before me felt too challenging, too adult. So, I wanted to look the part, even if I didn’t feel it.
If I could go back and talk to myself on that night, I would buy her a glass of red wine and tell her to CALM DOWN. Most of my 30s felt like a game of snakes and ladders – two steps forward, one step back – but now that I’m on my last year of it, I feel both lucky that things have ended up where they did, and grateful for all the missteps along the way. It is good to be young and dumb while you can! How else do you learn??
While I am very grateful for my young family, the solo years of my 30s were just as formative as the years of being married and having a child – maybe even more so. The more you do by yourself and work out that you are your best plan B, the better. Confidence is an inside job; you cannot buy or plan your way to it, it can only happen along the way, as you survive the things that life throws at you.
(On a lighter note, I would also thank my 30-year-old self for sticking to the ‘apply sunscreen every day’ rule for literally every day of my adult life, because your 30s is really the decade where the compound interest of good skincare starts to pay dividends).
If I am lucky enough to live until 90, then the first 30 years are just the first third of my life: the warm-up act. They formed the foundation that I stand on, but I am only just starting to build the house, let alone live in it. The best really is yet to come.
ALICE:
If I’m honest, in the year leading up to my 30th birthday, I was kind of a hot mess. I googled ‘quarter life crisis’ on more than one occasion, as well as ‘is 30 old?!’ at 3am a few times.
I felt like I was going against the tide. A year earlier I’d broken up with my boyfriend of nearly a decade, I most certainly wasn’t thinking about kids, I was living in a flat with a leaking roof and was trying to pay off a debt that I had nothing to show for.
Now that I’m in my 40 I realise how insanely young 30 is, but at the time I felt like there was so much pressure to have my life sorted out – probably not helped by the fact that two women I worked with (one was even my boss!) told me that I shouldn’t have broken up with my boyfriend because now, at 29, I might very well die alone, and almost certainly wouldn’t have kids. I laughed it off and continued on with a smile on my face, trying to project to everyone around me that I had my sh*t together and was totally fine, no wait, excited about turning 30. The world was my oyster! Inside though, it was a different story.
I vividly remember driving up north with an old friend, when, around the two-hour mark, my façade cracked and let out all the things I was really feeling about turning 30. Keeping his eyes on the road, my wise, older friend quietly said, “The thing is, you’ve chosen to take the path less followed, Alice. It takes bravery and confidence to do that. You already have more confidence and bravery than you know.” They were words that changed my mindset. He told me he knew lots of friends who had, at around that age, stayed in relationships or jobs or situations that were probably the most sensible thing to do, or just what was expected they should do.
“You haven’t settled though,” he said. “Inside, you know you deserve something more in this life and you have the confidence in yourself to know it is still out there for you and to go out and get it. Also, you’re only THIRTY. You don’t understand how young that is.”
His pep-talk was just what I needed. At 30, the world IS very much still your oyster. The older I get, the more I realise just how young I really am in the grand scheme of things, and how once you realise that, you just need a little bit of confidence to go out there and get what your heart really desires.
As Caci celebrates 30 years, we reflect on the pivotal moment turning 30 is for many. Turning 30 often signifies a time of empowerment for women. It’s a period where many women have a clearer sense of who they are, what they want, and the confidence to pursue their dreams. At Caci, we understand the importance of this stage in life and strive to support women through our personalised treatments and expert advice. Our goal has always been to help women feel their most confident, beautiful selves, and we are proud to have been a trusted partner in their skincare journeys. Over three decades we have become New Zealand’s leading skin, laser and injectables experts. As we celebrate this incredible milestone, we are excited about the future and what it holds for Caci. We’re committed to staying at the forefront of the industry, continually innovating to meet the evolving needs of women at every stage of their lives. Our dedication to quality, care, and results will ensure that Caci remains the go-to destination for skin and cosmetic injectables in New Zealand.
Join Us in Celebrating: To mark this special occasion, we have planned events in clinic plus a special skincare birthday gift when you sign up to a membership this August! Check these out at caci.co.nz. We invite you to join us in celebrating. Here’s to the next 30 years of glowing skin!
