My sister and I have been chatting almost every day since this whole crisis started, just checking in on each other from opposite sides of the country. One night we were laughing about how bad our hair and nails are right now, since the salons have been closed for some time. I told her a story about how my daughter asked why my hair was turning black (hey now, I am a dirty blonde at the darkest!), and she laughed and told me I should write a blog post about how to do your beauty routine during lock-down with zero supplies. I laughed and asked her if she thought my readers would really enjoy a post about me putting whatever I found in the bottom of my makeup drawer that is probably from an IPSY bag back in 2018 on my face, haha.
The next day I got up in the morning and started with my routine, and it actually hit me, as I realized I do have some special things I have been doing for myself to try and help with self care. I don’t think I noticed I was doing it, because slowly as the situation has deteriorated I have worked some small things in for myself here and there. Of course, you can’t fix the world with self care right now, and rubbing an essential oil on your skin isn’t going to recover the economy. But going the extra mile, or even taking a few extra steps for yourself surely is a good thing and hopefully can help you relive some stress.
So I wrote down my little list of things I am doing/using to take a little better care of myself right now during this crisis. I hope these give you inspiration and maybe you find one thing you would like to try too!
First, and foremost, as a life-long anxious person, it is important for me to find quiet time alone right now. With two little kids who are both turning into night owls, this feels next to impossible, but I am doing my best to make it work! Every night after I put them to bed I sneak into our family room to spend just a little quiet time by myself. I will put some music on my headphones and do some coloring (YES I love coloring as an adult and have no shame in doing so), or I will simply read a book. Both these things keep my mind busy and also force me to stay off my phone scrolling through news stories, so they both really help calm my mind down and ease anxiety before bed. I bought a little book lamp on Amazon so that I can keep the room dark and let my mind start to quiet down too, and it really is a nice nighttime routine.
Vive Le Color! Hearts (Adult Coloring Book): Color In; De-stress (72 Tear-out Pages)
The next thing I have been focusing on is taking care of my skin. What is it about working from home that makes my face feel a mess? My sis and I both agreed our skin has gotten worse since the lock down started. Is it the stress? Stress eating? Not following your normal skincare routine? I seriously couldn’t tell you, but I feel like my face has aged five years in a week. One thought that came to mind was the obvious ones – moisture and sunscreen (I hadn’t been wearing any on my walks since I haven’t been wearing makeup). On my weekly essentials run at our nice local market, they actually have a decent skincare section, so I grabbed facial lotion with SPF 18 from Andalou and I love it. In general I like Andalou products because their key ingredients come from fruit and flower stem cells, so it is not only natural but their products smell so beautiful and floral. This one in particular is called “1000 Roses” and smells like rose water and it is lovely.
The other skincare product I have been enjoying is a hydro mist from Pacifica. This one is a simple refreshing mist you spray on your face a few times a day, as you feel like you need a little pick-me-up. It is a rose water and kombucha blend, and therefore also has a lovely rose scent. I especially like this one when I am sitting at my work from home desk and can feel myself slumping (emotionally). The mist is light and refreshing and really helps lift me up when it touches my face!
Pacifica Beauty Rose Flower Hydro Mist, 4 Fluid Ounce
Okay, so let’s talk about our teeth for a second, because I know this on is a hot topic for us all. In Washington State, dental offices are closed through May 18th to preserve PPE for the healthcare workers in the trenches right now. Obviously totally the right thing to do, but there are lots of people wondering what the heck to do to care for and whiten their teeth! I have been using these Cali White home teeth whitening kits for a while now, and for a super affordable at-home kit they do a decent job. I had been forgetting to use mine, but realized the other day that one advantage of working from home is that you can sit at your computer screen with your whitening kit on during the day, just make sure you plan it around your video conference calls, haha!
Of course right now more than ever, our immune health is important too. Over the years I have tried intermittently to be the kind of person that does a shot of apple cider vinegar a day for its health benefits. For me it just wasn’t sustainable, mostly because of the level of acidity – it would give me wicked heartburn! However I recently discovered these apple cider vinegar gummies from Goli Nutrition – they are organic and vegan, and get you all the benefits of apple cider vinegar (immune boost, diet regulation) without the acidic taste. I really have been enjoying them and am trying to get on the right path with better daily nutrition and think these are a great addition to my routine. If you want to try them I have a Goli discount code, just use my link and enter the code abbeyco.seattle at checkout for 5% off and free shipping!!
Okay so the last thing I could think of that is helping my mental health right now, I think is something that you will laugh at, but hear me out. Now that I am 100% working from home (that means ALL desk and NO lake time, which is a sad change for me), and blogging, and running my social, AND trying to stay in contact with friends and loved ones remotely too, I feel like my eye strain is out of control. My face is just constantly glued to some sort of technology, and I have been getting horrible ocular headaches. Though I am trying to literally not spend a dollar right now, I decided I can justify one little splurge for myself and snatched up a pair of TJIN light filtering glasses that I have been thinking about for a long time. What a difference they make! Not only do they help with my screen headaches, but I think they are a stylish and fun addition to my work from home wardrobe, and currently they bring me joy so there ya go!
So in all, I want to say my most expensive self-care splurge was the glasses at $18, so I feel like it is all justifiable when it comes to making yourself feel a little better during a really crummy time in life.
What are the little things you guys are doing for yourselves to help your mental health right now? Any self care tips you want to share? I always use the saying, “if it doesn’t hurt, and it might help, then what is wrong with trying?” Remember that self care looks like different things for everyone, and there is no right answer. So keep feeling your feelings, taking care of yourself, and most importantly stay home and safe. I am sending you all so much love!
X.O. – Abbey Co.
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