Budget-Friendly Self-Care Ideas

Right now, more than ever, the majority of us are in need of some serious self-care. While indulging in a pampering routine and using luxury products can feel nice, I wanted to talk about self-care activities that truly help my mental health and that don’t break the bank. A lot of these things cost very little to no money to do and I’ve found help me get out of my head when life gets stressful. I hope these suggestions help you to feel a little less anxious and help to lift your mood.

Reading ~ This is something I’ve been talking a lot about recently, but honestly reading is one of the best self-care activities I can rely on during stressful times like these. In order to keep reading affordable for myself, I have mainly been using my Kindle and renting ebooks from my local library (most libraries have this sort of system, so make sure you research it). I really only purchase physical books when I have a gift card to my favorite local bookstores or when I am really excited about a book and expect to reread or pass it on to a loved one after I’m done reading it. Not only does reading offer a really nice and much needed break from screens, but it also allows you to immerse yourself in another world, which is honestly the thing I love most about reading. I especially try to allocate time to read before bed, because it helps me to not think about the stresses of the day and it helps me fall asleep easier.

Yoga ~ I used to do yoga all the time when I was in college and then I fell off the wagon for awhile. I recently got back into yoga this past January through doing the Yoga With Adriene 30 Day Yoga challenge. Doing yoga for thirty days consecutively made me rediscover my love for the practice and made me realize how much I missed it in my every day life. While we’ve been practicing social distancing through all of this COVID-19 craziness, I’ve been doing yoga every day through the Yoga With Adriene YouTube channel and it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done for both my physical and mental health. Most of the practices are very beginner-friendly and aren’t particularly long.

Give Yourself A Manicure ~ Out of all of the pampering-type self-care activities, doing a manicure on myself is one of the most relaxing things I can think of doing. Unlike other pampering things like taking a bath or doing a face mask, doing a manicure actually requires a lot of focus, which I find much more useful when I am feeling really anxious or stressed about other things. In being really focused on painting my nails, even though it’s a superfluous task, I am distracted from all of the other craziness going on in the world and even if that lasts for just a quick 30 minutes, it helps me find center again.

Doing A Puzzle ~ Brad and I love doing puzzles together. I think like painting my nails, doing a puzzle is a somewhat mindless task that takes a lot of focus. It’s so easy to get lost in a 1000 piece puzzle for the entire day and it’s so fun and rewarding to see the final result. I feel like getting your mind stimulated is such an under-rated way of practicing self-care, and I cannot recommend it enough (especially if it means spending less time in front of screens).

Brain Dump In Your Journal ~ I tend to journal a lot when I’m in a funk or if I’m going through a particularly anxious period. I love the ritual of getting up early in the morning, sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and taking a solid 15-20 minutes to just get all of my thoughts out of my head and onto paper. Using that time to release all of my feelings is incredibly therapeutic and even if you don’t make any huge breakthroughs during your time writing, it’s nice at the very least to just have some quiet time to sit with your thoughts and think about how you’re feeling on any given day.

FaceTime or Call A Loved One ~ I’ll be honest, I don’t use FaceTime all that much, but since we’ve been under shelter-in-place here in California for the last few weeks, I’ve been using it so much more to talk to friends and family. Of course it can never replace the feeling of seeing someone in person but it does lift your mood to reach out and talk to someone. I feel like when people talk about self-care, it’s usually a solitary practice, but I think there’s just as much to be said for self-care that involves talking to your loved ones.

Bake Some Treats ~ Baking is my ultimate stress relief and it has been since I was little. I love the concentration and precision it takes to bake something, but also that it’s a full sensory experience. Some recipes also take up the better part of a day so it’s a nice thing to do when you have a lot of time to kill and you don’t want to spend that time parked in front of a screen. One of the best things about baking is that you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor for days to come and there’s nothing like indulging in a cookie before bed as another little act of self-care.

Recent Favorites | Summer 2019

Wow how has it been a month since my last post?! The past month has honestly flown by and I have been so busy with work that I honestly kind of forgot about posting! Summer as a season has come and gone in the blink of an eye so I thought I’d wrap up the season by sharing some of my favorites with you all.

Super Goop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 ~ I’ve gotten really good about wearing sunscreen every single day no matter what, especially since a good chunk of my everyday commute involves walking about 6 blocks. I started using the SuperGoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40, which is a broad-spectrum chemical sunscreen that is super light and works well under makeup or by itself. I used to use the Glossier Invisible Shield, but honestly thought it was too expensive for the amount of product and its consistently sold out so I went for the SuperGoop, which has a similar, but better, texture to the Glossier! Although SPF is usually a “summer” product, I intend to wear this all year round!

Glossier Beam Cloud Paint ~ It’s no secret that I love the Glossier Cloud paints, in fact it’s pretty much the only blush I wear now. I practically own every shade of the Cloud Paints (save for one), but my favorite summer shade is by far Beam, which looks like a bright coral/orange, but on the skin looks like a natural peachy flush. I definitely prefer peachier shades during the summer and I’ve been using this blush every single day!

Lancome Monsieur Big Waterproof + Glossier Lash Slick ~ I think I’ve finally found my favorite mascara combination and it has taken me quite awhile. I’ve tried to find my favorite mascara for so long but honestly I think combinations are the way to go. First, I will put on a layer of the Lancome Monsieur Big Waterproof mascara, which is super volumizing and a little clumpy (in a good way) and then I’ll use the Glossier Lash Slick to give more definition and length. On their own, these two mascaras are great, but I love what they do when combined, since together they really tick all the boxes!

Vitruvi Stone Diffuser ~ I love me a candle but sometimes I don’t always want to have something burning in the house, especially when it’s 80 degrees outside. I invested in the Vitruvi Stone Diffuser, which is not only beautiful to look at but also one of the best essential oil diffusers. I’m not super into essential oils as elixirs that can cure everything and anything, but I do believe in the benefits they offer in terms of aromatherapy and soothing anxiety (which I have). It’s been so nice having this diffuser for the past month when life has been pretty stressful, and I love being able to mix different oils together and make new scent combinations!

Currently Burning | A Candle Collection

If there’s one “frivolous” thing I will always spend money on it’s candles. I once watched a Sali Hughes video about her perfume collection and in which she touched on her candle collection. One of the points she made that resonated with me was that while candles can be extortionately expensive, the difference in quality and burn time is significantly better if you go slightly higher end. I can attest to this because I have had higher end candles that have lasted me months and months, while some cheaper candles burn through in the blink of an eye. Candles certainly aren’t a necessity but every once and a while can be a nice treat to yourself and your home.

If there’s one candle that encapsulates fall and winter, it’s Diptyque’s Feu De Bois. I am a total sucker for woodsy scents (as you will find out once you finish reading this post), and, to me, this is the cream of the crop for woodsy scented candles. Part of what I love so much about this candle is how subtle it is. There’s nothing about it that is too smokey or heady, but it literally smells like the most quintessential wood-burning fire. So often woodsy scents are too heavy or cloying, but this one somehow strikes a perfect balance.

I spoke about this candle in a previous post, but one of the best more “affordable” candles on the market is the Maison Louis Marie No. 4 candle. It smells almost identical to Le Labo Santal 33, but comes in at about a third of the cost of the Le Labo version. This candle smells incredibly luxe and is one of my favorite year-round candles and luckily it’s not too expensive to buy back-ups of somewhat frequently!

I bought the Byredo Bibliothèque candle almost a year ago and it is still going strong! This is the perfect example of a candle that was pricey, but doesn’t need to be burned very often or long to get the scent. This candle is definitely on the sweeter side of the type of scents that I like. It has a pretty strong vanilla and plum note, but it is balanced out by some leathery and light patchouli notes. This candle really does stand by its name, because it evokes the feeling of being in an old library.

Now this one was a Christmas candle but, the Space NK Shimmering Spice Candle is still going strong in my candle collection. SpaceNK release this candle every year around Christmastime and it has been a long-time favorite of mine for more festive candles. Even though it’s a holiday candle, it’s not over the top or very sweet smelling, which a lot of Christmas candles are. The candle literally smells like orange, clove, and cinnamon, which actually translates really nicely beyond the Christmas holidays and into cozy winter nights.

The most recent addition to my candle stash is Byredo Tree House. Going into spring, I wanted a candle that was a little bit lighter than all of my winter candles, but still something that had woody notes to it. Tree House is definitely less smokey than Feu De Bois, but it still has strong cedar and guaiac wood notes. There’s also a slightly sweeter, more leathery notes that cuts the woodiness and makes the scent profile more complex.

What are your favorite candles at the moment?

The Importance of Self-Care & My Self-Care Routine

I recently talked about my journey with self-love and the more that time goes on I have realized how self-care is a necessary component within practicing self-love. Working full time and trying to get my freelance career going has meant that I have very little free time and the free time I do have is normally dedicated to seeing friends, being with my family, or spending time with my boyfriend, which means I have very little time to just be by myself.  As someone who is a true introvert, I need time to be completely by myself to feel energized and refreshed. I have learned, especially in the past few weeks, that taking time for myself and really being present for myself is absolutely essential for my well-being and feeling like I’m really taking care of myself. 

As I’ve become more and more aware of what exactly it is that I need to feel refreshed and energized, I’ve been able to implement a more solid routine for self-care. That’s not to say that it’s absolutely perfect, because it’s still definitely a work in progress and something that I will continue to hone in on. 

One of the most important elements of my self-care routine is unplugging. I am normally attached to some kind of device at all times whether it be my phone or my computer. As nice as it is to unwind by watching a load of shows on Netflix, it never helps me totally relax and feel like I’m doing something good for myself. The simple act of reading for an hour or so has a drastic impact on me feeling refreshed after a long day because it is done with a lot more intention. It’s also easier to stay present when I’m reading than it is if I’m binge watching Netflix or scrolling through Instagram on my phone.

Another element of my self-care routine that I really need to work on more is excercise and being more rigorous with myself about sticking to some sort of a routine. Oftentimes the nights where I would benefit the most from doing exercise are the nights that I’m exhausted from work and convince myself that I can’t possibly excercise. I would like to get back into a routine of doing yoga especially because it is easily the most relaxing and enjoyable forms of excercise I have done.

Finally, there’s the pampering aspect of a good self-care routine. In some ways I kind of hate the word pamper night, because it sounds superfluous and vain, but sometimes doing a face mask and taking a long bath is exactly what you need to feel human again. Lately I’ve really been enjoying doing epsom salt baths because not only do they help to relieve muscle soreness, but the magnesium is really good for you if you have very high stress levels. Even the simple act of lighting my favorite Byredo Bibliothèque can have a huge effect on my mood when I’m trying to get into relaxation mode. I have also gotten in the habit of doing more face masks during the week, some of my favorites include the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask, the Glossier Moon Mask, and the Glossier Mega Greens Galaxy Pack.