What If I Told You Beauty Could Make You Rich

A PSA To Diouana Women Worldwide

Welcome To A Diouana Woman’s World

Do you ever realize that you’ve made something unnecessarily harder than it needs to be; that you’ve created a monster that you’re now in charge of defeating; that your need for complexity got in the way of a basic truth: above, so below.

Confessions Of A Not So Degenerate Beauty Queen

For some months now, I’ve hinted at a discomfort that’s been gnawing at me. The feeling that I’ve become alienated from myself. Judging by the tenor of the Joan Didion-style essays on this platform, I can tell I’m not alone.

What strange bedfellows we make.

But the thing about being female—not necessarily a woman—is that creative destruction is what we do best.

Men like Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, and his legions of psychoanalytic male disciplines, will have you believe a relationship to, and with, the Phallus¹ is what constitutes a creative genius but I disagree.

I’d beg to differ, but Diouana Woman don’t beg.

The construction and destruction of one’s self is the hallmark of the heroine’s journey. The maintenance of one’s ideal world, despite the pressures and malice of external circumstances, is the hallmark of female adulthood.

So, destruction and creation exist as a labyrinth in us all. Especially us girls.

And in these moments of alienation, I find myself doing the one thing that restores my spirit and delivers me back to myself:

I invest, unapologetically, in my beauty.

I book spa days. I sit in a braider’s chair for six hours. I peruse Sephora’s kiosks until I find the exact watermelon-pink lip gloss² that is sure to bring luck my way.

It’s a bit of a binge, I’ll admit.

But beauty revitalizes me; it brings me back to myself; it serves as a reminder that the currency I generate should ultimately come back to myself.

And if you’re like me—which, by your status as a Diouana Woman, I believe you to be—you’re much the same.

Hopefully you don’t have this bad habit of mine: delaying rest and beauty until I’ve “earned” it.

Now, where’s the fun in that?

It’s my Capricorn rising speaking. She won’t rest until the work is done. But if you’re fortunate enough to befriend a Capricorn, you know that the work is never done.

The goal post just keeps moving.

So my beauty binges are restorative measurements. Hedges, really; against my more workaholic tendencies.

In these sprees—these manic, sensuous sprees—I began to notice something interesting:

I do my best work when I feel beautiful and affirmed in my beauty.

Obvious, I know. But walk with me for a little while longer.

I do my best, hardest hitting work after a 90 minute massage. After my 10-step skincare routine. After my Amazon/Sephora haul.

Why?

I suspect, which a tarot reader of mine has confirmed, that my spirit deeply, deeply enjoys beautification and being lavished. Pampering gets her going; so to assuage my workaholism, I’ve become a measured shopaholic.

I say measured because this is not an everyday thing, nor do I go into consumer debt for makeup, skincare, or the occasional spay day³. It’s just incredible to spend $125 on a full body wax, then $240 on hair, and don’t forget that $250 hydrafacial. Add tip on top of all of this, and we could have just bought some NVIDIA stock (NYSE: NVDA) .⁴

To a Lauren Sánchez Bezos, these are insignificant amounts. But to you and I, they’re precious sums that speak to a real commitment to beauty. And that’s why I built Diouana Womanomics.

For women like you and me.

Those of us with a real commitment to beauty. So much so, that we rack our brains around how to continue pampering ourselves without interfering with our financial futures (again, a $500 average monthly spend on beauty treatments would go a long way if redirected into stocks⁵).

To be clear: this is not a moral dilemma.

Beauty spending and wealth building are not diametrically opposed.

In fact, I believe them to be generative and co-conspirators; if you spend on the right beautification items and procedures. Purchases that generate a high Return on Investment; not just psychologically but socially; and, especially, financially.

And here is where I’d like to introduce you to the newly rebranded Diouana Womanomics platform:

Ladies and Gentlemen, For The Very First Time…

I reimagined Jungian psychoanalyst Jean Shinoda Bolen’s concept of Seven Divine Feminine Archetypes⁶ and placed it in conversation with Catherine Hakim’s Erotic Capital Theory to create the new field of Erotic Capital Economics—the study of how women generate wealth through beauty consumption.⁷

In my reading, and now rereading, of Elizabeth Abott’s Mistresses and Eleanor Herman’s Sex with Kings⁸ and even Kate Williams’ Ambition and Desire⁹, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s real money to be made in knowing how to leverage one’s beauty.

Notice how I said knowing how not necessarily being beautiful. To untrained ears, this may sound like the same thing, but it’s not.

And I will admit, I’m still a student of this discipline.

If I were an expert, I wouldn’t be working my 9-to-5 and I’d probably still be in St. Tropez right now, lounging in the middle of the Med, but I digress…

Besides, there’s a time and place for everything.

And right now, the focus isn’t necessarily to be a sun-soaked Tropézienne à la Brigette Bardot (or even Zahia Dehar) but an institutionally relevant woman à la Dambisa Moyo (or even Amal Clooney)

To me, these’s women are one and the same, but that’s what makes me Diouana Woman; and not just any woman.

Anyways, I’m giving away enough of my references. Back to Diouana Womanomics.

This project began out of a frustration: a realization that my beauty spending wasn’t necessarily spiritually frivolous but potentially financially perilous¹⁰. I noticed that I work harder and tend to be treated better—by lovers, friends, and strangers alike—when I am in the energy of beautification.

I believe it to be two-fold: when you’re investing your energy, time, and money into yourself, you’re not worried or bothered by anything; let alone anyone. This makes you magnetic to quite literally anything you desire because your focus is on you, not it or them.

Secondly, when you’re energetically and emotionally in a feeling of abundance, ideas and inspirations for growth and opportunity effortlessly come to you. In your elevated state, you follow through on the necessary tasks needed to bring them into existence. Next thing you know, your Sephora haul just snagged you a new income stream. Or a job interview. Or a date—and he comes baring gifts!

That’s the whole idea behind Diouana Womanomics:

Uncovering the psychology behind your beauty spending so you can not only (1) (1) identify your primary, secondary, and shadow archetypes and how they influence your relationship with and to beauty but (2) also how this spending of yours is showing up in your day-to-day across four domains:

Erotic Capital, aka your magnetism;

Financial Capital; aka how much money or capital-appreciating gifts you’re receiving for all your efforts¹¹;

Social Capital, aka the weight your presence alone carries;

Spiritual Capital, aka your inner alignment with your own value system.

Through the Diouana Womanomics framework, your beauty spending is strategic and addictive to your life; not reactive and putting you at a deficit.

You’re not here to be influenced by the latest Tik Tok shop trend; you’re here to be the influencer in your own life and become everything you’re meant to be.

Beauty is part of that, and, for some of us, it’s a big part. For spiritual reasons, not superficial ones.

And one can argue that beauty is nothing more than a facade for those who lack depth, integrity, and work ethic. Harlots, by any other name.

Sure. Perhaps.

Or, as I have argued, it’s an incredible way to echo the essence of your soul.

If you’re interested in uncovering your own relationship to beauty, and what your mindset around sociological ideas such as pretty privilege or what your reaction to the term ‘Girl Math’ psychologically reveals about you, then I invite you to take the Archetype Assessment on Diouana Womanomics and uncover your primary, secondary, and shadow archetypes.

With your archetypes revealed, you can then begin to input your historical beauty expenses in the Beauty Capital Dashboard.

I’ve had women trace purchases all the way back to 2023 and input those in!

Here, the architecture of your beauty capital is laid-bare for you to meet yourself exactly where you are.

In this rebrand, I’ve added in a new ‘Gifts’ marker because if my thesis is to be proven correct, then a good majority of us need to be getting by off the generosity of those who love us most.

I’m joking, but not really.

As you scroll down towards the button of the page, you’re met with a section to input your beauty goals. Pilates Princesses and Match Mavens rejoice, here is a space fully dedicated to your commitment towards an idealized self. For me, my biggest goal this upcoming Virgo season is to ground myself again in my spirituality and my unrelenting vision of myself, for myself.

Once you have a goal inputted, it’s easy to tag which recent expenses align with that goal. After all, you’re not parting with your cold, hard cash for nothing, are you?

No!

You’re an intelligent woman who spends with care and consideration. So, whatever goals you may have, your beautification supports it. It’s the ultimate feedback loop.

Be it lovers, friends, or even the favor of strangers, beauty helps us in all aspects of our lives. And in taking it seriously enough to study it, in building a theoretical framework around it—my so-called Erotic Capital Economics—we’re giving it the attention it deserves.

And there’s nothing that Goddess loves more than attention and devotion. Just ask Sheraseven.

Because I don’t do anything half-assed, and have the intense disposition of taking everything I do seriously, I’ve turned Diouana Womanomics into a proper macroeconomic study.

For this to be real, groundbreaking scholarship, it needs quantifiable, undeniable metrics. Although the total expenses logged thus far (we’re nearly at $10,000!) is an excellent start, what will really take us over the edge and into the symposiums of ivory-tower academia is demographic information.

The who matters more than the what. You and I both know that.

So, in your Account Information page, you’ll see the same demographic fields that show up in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey studies as that’s what I mirrored Diouana Womanomics off.

The idea is to be able to research, analyze, and deeply understand the nuances of beauty economics. Not just from a psychoeconomic perspective, but from a sociocultural one.

It’s in understanding the banners we all traveling under—young or old; high school or postdoc; Canadian or Nigerian; lawyers or therapists; multiracial or white—that the numbers start talking.

Without you, Diouana Womanomics is just numbers on a screen. With you, it’s a narrative arc about the depth of beauty.

And in the lineage of Abott’s historical, cross-cultural study on mistresses; Herman’s historical, case-study driven examination of beauty as power; and Graeber’s examination of theories of value, Diouana Womanomics seeks to be in critical conversation with both the empirical and the theoretical.

Diouana Womanomics is Pierre Bourideau meets Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I do not believe your commitment to beauty precludes your from feminist ideals. I believe them to be deeply interlinked.

And even a rejection of beauty, rooted in disdain, distrust, or perceived dismal, has a lot to teach the rest of us who find our home in it; who bask in it; and, if we’re not careful, could be undone by it.

Not even societally—although attempts are made—but financially.

After all, have you seen the going rate of a mass-prestige lip gloss these dates? $35 a tube!

I guess that’s how Fenty made her billions.

Sweet dreams,
A Diouana Woman

P.S. Truth or Dare

You know how in your diary, you write something down then rip it out and place it in the tiny makeup bag you keep in your purse as a manifestation method? Yeah, these p.s. truth or dares are the digital versions of my little ripped off notes.

Truth: An unequivocal commitment to beauty—as rest, play, and magic.

Truth: Taking everything you do seriously. Seriously enough to vibe code your way into building your own app with no previous programming experience and then getting into a highly-rated technical Master’s program to learn the programming skills to actually maintain what you’ve built, sans artificial intelligence. Welcome to life of Diouana Woman.

Dare: All work and no play. God does not like ugly, and Goddess does not admire the rugged. Sleep, rest, and rest some more.

A Nightcap Before You Go…

If you enjoyed the mood and tone of this PSA, these essays may be up your alley:

An Extra Special Announcement

The Diouana Woman Salon is coming back! This time, it’s a monthly live lecture series exploring my independent research on Erotic Capital Economics. The theme remains: how women create wealth through beauty and beyond. We’ll examine how historical and contemporary women position themselves for economic gain and social mobility—a provocative blend of gender theory and finance.

Date: September 21, 2025, 1:00p EST.

Admissions: Monthly paid subscription of $250 or yearly paid subscription of $2,500 (save $500). Paid Subscriptions open September 18, 2025 via Diary of a Diouana Woman substack.

Format: Live virtual lecture with Q&A. Recordings available to paid subscribers; recordings also available for separate purchase. Meeting link will be shared ahead of lecture.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not reflect the views of any employer, past or current.

1. As a signified spiritual symbol, not necessarily anatomy. Although arguments can be made…

2. This is the exact gloss I took with me to St. Tropez—how do you think I got my meals comp’d day 1!? Look alive babes!!

3. Absolutely no judgement if you have. We’re all friends here.

4. This is not financial advice.

5. I believe the economist call this an “opportunity cost.”

6. Bolen, J. S. (1984). Goddesses in everywoman: A new psychology of women. Harper & Row.

7. “Consumption” is the classical economic term for purchasing or buying.

8. Her Sex with Presidents book is pretty good as well; but for our purposes, let’s stick with sovereigns and monarchs. Besides, Kings, with endless access to the treasury, tend to be much more generous than Presidents. Read her books to find out more!

9. An incredible biography on Josèphine Bonaparte. Read women’s histories!!

10. In a High Cost of Living City. The island of Manhattan is not for the faint of heart, and, increasingly, those who make under $100K.

11. Emphasis on capital-appreciating. These gifts must be tangible assets recognized by a capitalistic system as item to be placed on the asset side of the ledger; otherwise, à mon avis, it’s mindless consumption that brings no financial yield in the long, ideally, generational, run. This is the economic genesis of my Erotic Capital Economics field of study.