Salon Confessions Podcast

The genesis of our episode topics is often what we are going through on any particular given day.  And when we got together to record this episode, we found we were a bit unprepared about what to talk about.  Jen said something like “we have to get our shit together,” and this episode was born.

So for this hour, we’ll talk about what getting our shit together looks like to us, where we are struggling with it, and what we are trying to do to adjust our mindsets around what “good enough” looks like.

If you have ever heard the judgy voice in your head telling you to get your shit together and realized, sometimes it’s kinda right, but a lot of times it's BS - then maybe you will relate to this episode and feel a little less alone and isolated in the challenges you are going through.

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

Back in Season 3, we brought on a guest, Zoe, who is a dear friend of Harper, to talk about being in an Ethically Non-Monogamous relationship.  She educated us about terminology and common misconceptions, and shared with us that she does not identify as a “swinger” or as being part of “the lifestyle.”

Zoe's experience with ethical non-monogamy is much more about dating and building relationships together with her partner.  It was a positive, affirming look on an alternate lifestyle that is much more common than most people imagine.

We learned a ton from that hour, and it is still our most-listened to episode.  So we wanted to return to this topic to learn even more about this sexy side of life that most people don’t confess to being a part of outside their most inner circle.

Ivana DOES identify as a person in “the lifestyle” aka a Swinger.  She is not interested in relationships of any kind right now, but hasn’t ruled out a potentially monogamous relationship in the future.

For now, she is part of the community of swingers that engage in sex parties, hotel takeovers, and open relationships, and we wanted to understand more about her experience.  While this episode does discuss very adult themes, we do not discuss explicit sexual experiences.  This is not meant to tittilate, it is meant to educate anyone curious about this type of lifestyle.

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

Red Light Therapy is all over the place these days, and as a woman with Rosacea, it’s been recommended to me to use red light or LED therapy to help treat it.

We have both tried things like Botox and Dysport, but in the last year or so have stopped.  Harper stopped because it felt like her forehead was tender for weeks and while she liked the visual results, she didn't love living with a tender forehead, and feeling like she was going to have to continue to get more and more shots as they stopped being as effective.  Jen stopped because it’s a pretty expensive treatment to commit to every 12 weeks, and it just wasn’t sustainable.

But the promise of red light therapy is to provide more glow, regenerate skin cells, and offer a non-invasive, affordable treatment option for aging skin.

We loved our experience, and I really hope you listen to this episode and decide to give it a try.  

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

So much of social media is bland self-promotion, too many ads, too much toxic content, and too little true “social” engagement.

It’s a time suck, it feeds the billionaires, and it’s objectively addicting.

On the other hand…

Social media has built bridges of community, brought us insights from every day people, and helped build positive influencers who help make society better.  

In this episode, we dig into what we love and hate about social media, and live inside the complexity for a while.  I confess to you that we absolutely have no solutions to offer.  But maybe this conversation will inspire some conversations in your life that can go deep and live inside of complexity too.

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

February 17 2026 kicks off the lunar new year - the year of the FIRE HORSE.

The Chinese zodiac runs on a 12 year cycle, and each of 12 years is assigned an animal, and every repetition of each animal is assigned one of four elements - wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. 

Additionally, each animal has a “fixed” element, and the horse’s fixed element is fire.

So this year is the year of the Fire-Fire Horse, meaning it is doubly powerful in its symbolism.  Those born in the year of the horse are known for their enthusiasm, loyalty, and ability to embrace change with optimism.

2026 in numerology is also the beginning of a new cycle.  2026 adds up to 10, which reduces to 1.  The year of the snake in 2025 was the year of shedding the old skin, and the year of 9, ending old cycles.

This year, instead of kicking off our season with a January 1st new year, we are kicking off Season 7 at the auspicious Lunar new year, this year of new beginnings, the year of the fire horse, filled with forward momentum, new awakenings, and abundant opportunity.

With that in mind, we will also share our words for 2026 and why we chose them, and then reflect a bit on our words for 2025.

So to all our wonderful Confessionistas - welcome to the new year!  It’s time to embrace what’s next, and we are so glad to be with you as we look ahead and manifest great things to come!

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

Every season wrap is another moment to sit and be in awe that we have come so far.  Our little show has continued to grow, and as we end one season, we begin looking forward to our season number ticking upward yet again, and we sit in gratitude and delight that we are about to be another season older.  

So many podcasts out there never get past EPISODE one, fewer still get past Season 1.  We are finishing out our sixth season, and moving into our 5th year of doing Salon Confessions. We love every minute of it, and can be accused of being our own biggest fans.  Both Jen and I get just as many laughs listening to past versions of ourselves now as we did when we did the original recording.  

With another season ending, could you join us in a new way?  Share this episode with friends you think would enjoy getting to know us.  This type of episdoe is a great way to introduce new people to our show.  Would you also please like and comment on some of our social posts?  You can find us on Salon Confessions Podcast on Istagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Flashes.  We really need new followers with the changing algorithms constantly fighting for user attention.  Whether you listen much or almost never, your engagement makes this podcast possible!

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

On this episode, we are going to get really vulnerable and honest about life and motherhood after divorce.  This show is all about confessions - talking about things that people don’t normally talk about it real life.  And one of those things is the deep feelings we go through as moms after getting divorced.  This is a topic on the more serious side, and usually we like to keep it fun.  But Jen and I have been feeling really strongly that we needed to talk about this with you, whether you are a mom who’s been divorced, or you know a mom who’s been divorced.  Maybe even a dad.

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

On today’s episode, we dig into the topic of exercise and menopause, and how we are trying new things to maximize our physical health while we continuously learn new things about the measures of physical health that make a difference.

Even just 10 years ago, we both were exercising and working out to stay in overall health, but also because we wanted to look fit and toned.   We worked on our abs, and glutes, and cardio, and arms in the hopes that we would look youthful and sexy and feel confident in our bodies.

Now that we have begun crossing the bridge from perimenopause to menopause, we both think of exercise and physical activity MUCH differently.

How has exercise changed for you in this part of your life? What did we get right and wrong?

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

Jen has an aesthetician’s license in skincare, which was her first license even before she started doing nails.  So skin and skincare has been important to her for….forever.

Harper, on the other hand?  Her first facial moisturizer was Jergen’s, which remained her primary moisturizer into college.  Beyond that, she rarely - if ever - had a face washing routine.  And never had any fancy face wash, just good old soap and water.

But as with so many things since starting this podcast nearly 4 years ago, I have learned a TON about how to care for myself, and this year I finally started implementing a better face care routine.  I’ve been religiously cleansing my face nearly every night for several months now, and recently I even added in an actual face wash instead of just soap. I’ll be honest, it’s still not a totally natural thing for me, but I’m sticking to it because Jen says it’s good for me.

Talking with Kaitlyn Schneider, founder of AestonWest in this episode reinforced two things - One, that most women struggle with a skincare routine…and Two, it’s ok for it to be easy.  There are so many products on the shelves at the store, it’s overwhelming to try to figure out what to buy, and we loved Kaitlyn’s philosophy of making products that serve the needs of all skintypes in a way that is beautiful, sustainable, and well-engineered.  You can find it at aestonwest.com.

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG

When it comes to health topics, we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about perimenopause and menopause, but we haven’t spent a lot of time talking specifically about breasts, even though they seem to be just as complicated and frustrating and confusing.   October was breast cancer awareness month and we’ve had two breast cancer survivors on our show, so we didn’t want to do another full episode on breast cancer specifically, but we did want to talk about breasts - how we feel about them, figuring out how to find a good bra, breast reductions, random boob pain, and so much more.

Every boob is different from every other boob, including the one right next to it.  The shape, the form, the density, the sizes, the colors, and how we feel about our breasts varies from person to person too.  They can be the source of pain, pleasure, shame, confidence, fear, courage, comfort, and failure.  Sometimes they make us mad and sometimes they make us laugh.

They are part of the female experience, and during this episode, we are going to talk about ours.  And we would love to hear yours!  What is your journey with your breasts that you have never shared?  You can share it with us! 

[email protected]

IG, FB, TikTok, BlueSky: Salon Confessions Podcast

Harper: @Harperhasnicenails on IG & Facebook

@harperhasnicenails.bsky.social on Bluesky

Jen: @Jentakesconfessions on IG

@from_the_confessional on IG

Sonivia Studios | Rue Spence: @SoniviaStudios on IG