Self-Care Everything
Updated: Jan 12, 2022
Self care has so many benefits, and quite frankly, self care is necessary for optimal health. However, self care isn't always about luxurious bath bombs and face masks. It's about anything that helps you grow as a person. And this isn't always glamorous.
This could mean:
Setting boundaries
Ending a toxic relationship
Unfollowing people on social media that aren't good for your mental health
Confronting limiting beliefs rooted so deeply that they hold you back from achieving your goals and living your best life
...and so much more!
Self care:
Reduces stress, anxiety, and depression
Increases concentration
Minimizes anger and frustration
Increases Happiness
Improves energy
Boosts patience and efficiency
Creates a healthy relationship with YOU (the most important relationship in your life)
Boosts your immune system
Enables you to better respond to difficult situations
....and (again) SO MUCH MORE!
As I mentioned, self care isn’t all about products and services you indulge in. Although, sometimes it is! I’ve created a list of all of my favorite self care products with a description of what they do and how I use them. You’ll find links throughout this article in case you want to learn more or even purchase one of the products.
Make sure you keep reading until the end of the article for a chance to win the Self Care Bundle I am giving away to celebrate my birthday this year. This is seriously HUGE and you do NOT want to miss out!
My Self-Care Products
Dry Brush: Dry brushing has so many benefits. It stimulates the nervous system, unclogs pores, exfoliates and detoxifies your skin, increases blood circulation throughout your body, promotes lymph flow/drainage, and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth
All in all: self care is self love. Self love has everything to do not only with the way you view yourself, but also the way you physically take care of yourself. Dry brushing is a great way to show your body some love!
When dry brushing, the trick is to start by your feet and work your way up your body. You want to make sure your brush strokes are always going towards your heart. That means when you get to areas above your heart, like your shoulders, your strokes will start moving downwards towards your heart.
If you’d like to see a quick tutorial of how I dry brush: Click here.
Click here for the dry brush I use on a daily basis!
Epsom Salts: Epsom salt baths provide the body with magnesium and sulfur which are key ingredients for healthy detoxification. I also love adding my favorite essential oil to my epsom salt baths. Remember, this moment is yours to indulge in and should never be rushed. Take this time to relax, play your favorite music quietly in the background, light your favorite scented candle, and soak for 15- 20 minutes. This is your time to let go of stress, practice self love, and fully indulge.
I love using Epsoak Epsom Salt - Magnesium Sulfate.
Essential Oils: Every oil has multiple health benefits.You will find that many essential oils are not just good for stress relief, but each have their own selection of benefits. Oils might be good for stress relief, along with chronic pain, anxiety and depression, soothing itchy skin, relieving migraines, and so much more.
I just recently started using DoTERRA’s essential oils as an everyday practice. So far my favorites are Serenity, which helps calm you before bed and primes you for a great night sleep, and Peppermint, which gives you energy and helps improve your focus.
I’m not fully versed in essential oils yet, so if you’d like to dive further in, check out my good friend Kelly, who is a pro in all things essential oils. She’d be happy to help you with all your oil needs! She provides free consultations and sets you up with oils samples specific to YOU. Kelly is actually my source of all my oil info on this post- to put it simply, she’s my go-to oil gal!
Scented Candle: The scent of candles stimulates our limbic system, which is the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses. Scented candles can also produce hormones like serotonin and dopamine which regulates our mood. This means the relationship between scents, memories, and emotions influences our emotional state. So light up your favorite scented candle when you’re hanging around the house or even catching up on paperwork in the office.
I like to explore all different kinds of candle scents. Right now I’m using Opalhouse Wild Hibiscus Sangria
Face Mask: There are many benefits to face masks! Face masks bring nutrition to the skin by hydrating and moisturizing, absorbing excess oil and dirt, unclogging our pores, minimizing fine lines and wrinkles, enhancing elasticity, and improving appearance of breakouts.
There are mental benefits to face masking as well. Applying a face mask provides comfort and can be used as a short escape from the go-go-go of our busy lives. It touches all five senses and gives us an instant glow, growing our confidence and making us want to do it again and again!
The right mask for you is dependent on the skin time you have. The three different kinds of masks to choose from are cream, clay, and exfoliating. Click here to see the description and benefits of each so you can understand which is best for your skin type.
Personally, I’ve always loved a nice cream mask, but lately, I’ve been using the Monat Berry Refined Scrub (an exfoliating scrub) and have been LOVING it! It removes dull skin, leaving my face super soft and smooth. Not to mention, the glow I get after using it is unbelievable! I highly recommend reaching out to someone you know who sells Monat products to support their business and try it out. If you don’t know anyone and want to give it a try, check out my good friend, Hannah, and let her know Jessie sent you. She’d be happy to help you out!
Scalp & Conditioning Mask: One of my favorite forms of self care is using a scalp mask, and following up with a conditioning treatment.
I use L’ange’s Refresh Invigorating Mint Cream Conditioner as my scalp mask. It is super hydrating and leaves my scalp and hair feeling clean and fresh. The best part about it is, it leaves a tingly, cool sensation on my scalp that feels so soothing and relaxing. It contains peppermint oil (which is what gives you the cool, tingly sensation), in addition to rice protein, ivy and root extracts that add shine to your hair. Another added benefit- you can use this conditioner as a shaving cream!
When giving myself a scalp treatment, I start by using a boar bristle brush to brush through my scalp and remove any dry or dull skin before applying the conditioner. Then, I use a hair coloring brush to apply the conditioner to different parts of my scalp. When I have it lathered in, I massage the conditioner into my scalp, ensuring the cream is covering my entire scalp. Let sit for 20 minutes then rinse and wash out in the shower. I typically give myself scalp treatments once every 2-3 months.
My conditioning treatment is another L’ange product (pretty much every hair product I own is L’ange!). The Rehab Hydrating Mask adds hydration, softness, and shine to your hair. It contains Vitamin E and Omega packed ingredients that smooths split ends, tames frizz, adds shine, and even has a layer of UV protection that will protect coloring if you have any (I personally don’t have coloring in my hair, but I’m still obsessed, nonetheless!)
I use the Rehab Hydrating Mask every other wash, washing my hair once per week. If you wash more frequently than that, I recommend using every 3-4 washes. After shampooing my hair in the shower, I lather my hair with the mask from my roots down to my ends. I let it sit for about five minutes, and rinse it out with cool water (cool water helps seal down split ends). After rinsing the mask out, I finish my wash routine with a regular conditioner. The softness of my hair after using this mask is incredible.
Similar to face masking, a scalp and conditioning mask can be used as a short escape away from our busy lives. I love adding this into my self-care routine. “Me time” is the most important time!
Journal: Journaling promotes self awareness, helps manage anxiety, reduces stress, and copes with uncomfortable emotions. Through journaling you learn to prioritize problems, fears, and concerns which will provide an opportunity for positive self talk and help you identify negative thoughts and behaviors
Journaling has helped shift my mindset from “why me?” to “why not?”
It has opened a whole new world full of positivity, gratitude, and beautiful moments that I created for myself. I suddenly began seeing life as happening for me instead of to me. When I started creating those moments for myself, so many other doors began opening for me in my business, my relationships, and my own personal development.
I’ve learned through journaling that this is really just how the universe works: Being open to opportunities as they come, even when disguised as roadblocks, will open more doors, and the universe will begin working in your favor. Journaling will help open your eyes, mind, and soul to these opportunities, and suddenly you will find everything falling into place exactly as it should.
Click here for one of the journals I used when first starting out. It is full of notes pages, gratitude lists, thoughts and mood logs, monthly calendars, habit trackers and a self care list. This journal is the perfect journal to build self awareness and stay organized in multiple facets of your life.
Click here for a free downloadable eJournal I recently created that includes worksheets, positivity quotes, and notes pages. This journal was created to promote self reflection and positivity throughout your life.
Read: It goes without saying there are so many benefits to reading. To name a few, reading improves brain function, increases your vocabulary and comprehension, increases your ability to empathize with people, reduces stress, can fight depressive symptoms, and relaxes you before going to sleep at night, setting you up for a good night’s sleep.
The book I just started reading is called The Magic of Thinking BIG, by David Schwartz.
Books I have on my list to read are Managing Your Crazy Self and The Go-Giver. I’m all about the self development books if you couldn’t tell :)
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So, I’ve listed A LOT of products here. I’m super excited to announce that for my birthday this year, I am hosting a Self Care Giveaway with all of these products included! That’s right, you have the chance to get all of these products for FREE!
In addition to these products, I am adding in a $50 Target Gift Card to the giveaway bundle. There is no one-size-fits-all self care route. In other words, the products I use for self care may not be ones you enjoy so much. Or, who knows? Maybe you’ll love them just as much as I do! Either way, I wanted to somehow encourage you to step out and explore your own form of self care and find what works best for you!
I am drawing the giveaway winner on my birthday: Tuesday, August 24. Entering is super simple, and there are SO many easy ways to add in extra entries for a higher chance to win
Follow this link to enter!
As always, thanks for being here!
XOXO
Resources that helped me formulate this blog post:
Dry brushing:
Scented candle:
https://theflowerpot.la/blogs/happenings/health-benefits-of-candles
Face mask:
https://www.thezoereport.com/p/why-self-care-face-masks-go-hand-in-hand-22893278
Journaling:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1
Reading:
https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books