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It’s so important to take care of yourself and make your health a priority. It can be easy to put your needs aside in order to take care of everything else around you, but it’s important for your health to relax and take time to unwind. I usually try to do this routine on Sunday, but I don’t always get to do everything at once. Here’s my self care relaxation routine for how to relax:
CLEAN YOUR SPACE
I can’t relax if I’m surrounded by a mess, so I always start my relaxation routine with cleaning. This may not seem very relaxing, but I feel infinitely better once my space is clean and organized. I like to use J.R. Watkins all-natural surface cleaner to sanitize and it smells like lemon which is really bright and uplifting to me. I also like to vacuum and wipe down the kitchen counters because that makes the biggest impact on how clean everything looks without that much effort.
EXERCISE
Exercising can be a huge stress reliever. I recently got a treadmill (which I love; blog post coming soon), and it makes it a lot easier for me to take care of myself and workout. I like to run/walk on the treadmill, but any form of exercise can be a huge part of how to relax. During a workout, you can get out all of that pent-up stress and really just let go. Even just going for a walk outside can be uplifting. Take some time to care for your body by exercising as part of your relaxation routine.
SKINCARE
After my space is clean and I’ve worked out, I’m ready to wash away the day. I like to start by washing my face with my Clarisonic Mia and a gentle cleanser. Right now, I’m really loving the Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell cleansing gel — it smells like roses and it’s very gentle on my skin.
After cleansing, I like to exfoliate with the Ocean Salt cleanser from LUSH. I really love their skincare and especially the Ocean Salt — everything is self preserving now which is awesome. I love Ocean Salt because it gently exfoliates my skin with huge chunks of salt and the smell just takes me back to a few years ago when I first started using it.
Next, I like to use a face mask to really penetrate my skin. I’m loving the Mask of Magnaminty from LUSH which is so cool and refreshing. I’ll leave the mask on while I get ready to run a bath.
BATH TIME
I love taking baths to help me relax. For me, a bath isn’t a bath unless you use some LUSH stuff. In this bath, I’m using the Unicorn Horn bubble bar, Cupid bath bomb, and a Heart bath bomb that I made for Valentine’s Day. When the hot water is running, I’ll crumble a small piece of the bubble bar under the bath — if I want a few more bubbles, I’ll use one of my DIY bubble bars too. I like to put in a dropper full of Josie Maran’s argan oil because it makes the water silkier and my skin feels super soft afterwards.
While the water is still running, I’ll light a candle and get a cup of tea or fill my bkr with some water to have during my bath. This candle I am using is a soy candle which I prefer because they burn cleaner (DIY Soy Candle post here).
The bath is where I really take time to relax my mind and refresh. I just allow myself to do nothing and unwind. I like to listen to the Music for Concentration playlist on Spotify or read a book. Right now I’m reading The Alchemist and I’m enjoying it.
After about an hour in the bath, I’ll wash the mask off my face and then wash my hair. I’ll apply a hair mask for deep moisturizing. I like this Intensive Hydration Treatment Masque one from Shea Moisture because it has some great ingredients for dry hair and it comes in a single use packet.
After the bath, I will moisturize my skin with the Josie Maran Argan Oil (love it) and I’ll use some of my Viktor and Rolf fragrance oil because it’s my favorite scent.
GET COZY
I want to be as comfortable as possible after my bath. The more cozy and snuggly, the better. I like to wear some comfy sweatpants and a soft top. I always put on my fuzzy socks which are the softest pair I’ve ever had + they are striped which I love. You want to wear whatever makes you happy.
LIPS + NAILS
Now that I’m super snuggly and feeling happy, I like to sit on the sofa and watch a show on Netflix while I use a lip scrub on my lips. My favorite lip scrub is the Fresh – Sugar Lip Polish; I just gently massage it onto my lips and just wipe it away with a damp towel. Then I layer the Creme de Rose lip balm on my lips which is amazing. I’ll paint my nails with the Essie Gel Couture polish — currently loving the color Fairy Tailor. If I’m not watching Netflix, I like to take a few minutes to play Elevate. It’s an app that helps you improve your reading comprehension, memory, writing and more. I really like the interface and the variety of games.
PLANNER TIME
After my nails are dry (which isn’t long with the Gel Couture), I like to write in my Erin Condren Life Planner. Sometimes, I’m not even really planning out anything, but I like to go back through that week and write down significant things that happened. On Sunday, I do go over to the next week and start laying out stickers and mapping out my week. It’s relaxing for me to use my planner and I enjoy preparing for the next week.
HOW TO RELAX | GENERAL TAKEAWAYS
Part of really relaxing is letting go of what stresses you and not feeling guilty about it. I know that can sometimes be easier said than done, but doing things that make you happy is a priority. So don’t think about other things you could be doing, think about how taking care of yourself is a necessity in order for you to do what needs to be done. ♡
