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!

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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!

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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.

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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?

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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.

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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!

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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

In this episode, we are talking about birth order. Why? Because Harper's older sister and Jen were talking a few weeks ago and suggested it. Harper is a middle sister between two girls, and it’s a topic of conversation that tends to come up between them somewhat regularly. According to her sister, that’s because Harper brings up how much she was ignored and forgotten as a child as often as possible.

It’s all in good fun, and we laugh about it a lot, but it’s actually a good topic, because birth order is one of those things that can add a lot of context to our life story, and help us understand ourselves and our partners and friends more fully.

Harper even has a bit of background related to this topic, which you will hear more about in the episode, but we would love to hear your real life stories as well! Email us at salonconfessionpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on the socials and salon confessions podcast.

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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 passionate women with rich personal stories build businesses, they do so for much more than profit, and those are the people we love to talk to and share with you.

Kate Assaraf is one of those women. Kate came from the beauty industry in product formulation and marketing, but started her career backstage, and she tells about just how fake the beauty industry can be. She was so passionate about turning the beauty industry on its head that she built Dip with grit and determination and a lot of risk-taking. She reminded us that women are SO capable, and we can do a lot more than we usually give ourselves credit for. And I will celebrate that message any day.

She is funny, heartfelt, and we wanted to hang out and talk with her for a lot longer than we did. Jen and I both have our dip shampoo bars on order, and we will let you know what we think later this season!

SalonConfessionsPodcast@gmail.com

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