It’s been more than a hundred days in lockdown and yoga has been my saving grace. By writing that sentence, it doesn’t mean that I’ve been practising every day, that I’ve always completed an hour of practice, it means that yoga has calmed my mindset during this crazy (unprecedented) time.
Birchbox isn’t new at all, it just appears that I’m a bit late to the party.
The concept is a monthly beauty box, containing products which would cost much more if you bought them individually. It appears to be a good way to try out new products and the perfect treat.
I’ve thought about getting a Birchbox for a while and it was the 50% student discount (for the first box) which swayed me to be honest. After receiving two boxes, I can now report back on the products that have been delivered (including the RRP for full-size items in the box).
‘Self-care Sunday’ tends to be associated with an extensive skincare routine, a face mask, all the general pampering….well for me, it tends to be starting to read a book in the morning, realising I can’t stop reading it and 4/5 hours later, I’ve finished the book. I love a paperback but having a Kindle means I’ve got a personal library on the go.
Exercise is my nemesis to be honest. I go through waves of really enjoying workouts, then really hating it and that’s completely normal. At university, my gym membership consisted of gym and swim which meant I could switch between the two, but as work got intense, my motivation to do either slipped because the off-peak hours felt awkward to fit exercise into my day (in reality, I could have just woken up earlier). But then we hit the storm that is coronavirus and my university deadlines were over much quicker than expected. After months of uni work, library days and lectures, I had no structure to my days – a complete 360.
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We’ve all been there, stood in front of the wardrobe and thinking ‘what on earth am I going to wear’. At the moment, the focus is on comfort for our working from home days. Lounge wear is GREAT and definitely ‘fashion trend’ at the moment but sometimes getting *properly* dressed can work wonders too. I haven’t gone as far as wearing make-up daily though.
The UK is in the ‘spring to summer’ fashion period. One day it’ll be a scorcher, the next day we’ll be searching for the jumpers. I’ve never found Spring/Summer fashion an easy balance to strike and typically, the one day I decide to wear a cute summer dress, its WAY too windy. But whilst we’re in the home environment, it’s the perfect time to ‘shop your wardrobe’. You might find few items that you forgot about – for me, I finally had the right colour jeans but had never paired it with the green top. Here are my 4 staples for comfy/casual ‘at home’ outfits.
I’m that person who keeps every ticket, every photo and leaflet I possibly could have been given during the holiday. I love memories, but it’s been two years since I went interailing and the photos I printed, the tickets I kept have been stored in a blue plastic wallet – oops? It was time to finally have a place to show them off. However, with my lack of art skills, I sought the effortless ways to do so.
Scrap-booking is a really nice form of self-care. It can bring out your creative side, a bit of time to ‘switch-off’ and it’s quite easy to get lost in the memories, or find things that you had forgotten about. But it can need a bit of dedicated time – before you know it, you’ll be surrounded by photos/stickers/glue/pens etc.
In the recent times, I’ve found myself grab for my phone more and more. Messages, phone calls, face-time have become part of our daily lives more than ever and thankfully, technology is working wonders to keep us in touch with all of our loved ones during this time. Of course my screen-time tracker shows the minutes that are spent on Face Time, but the social media time keeps creeping up. I’ll be honest, I do love Instagram but sometimes we all need that reminder to just disconnect, even if it’s only for an hour. A bit of social media self-care I guess.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think ‘self-care’ is a face mask to be honest. A good step to making yourself feel pampered and I’m sure we’ll agree that a face mask does make us feel fabulous but it’s not the fundamental element of daily self-care. We live in a society where we are reminded about self-care – like drink enough water, get a good nights sleep etc. But let’s cut to the real elements of self-care, it is simply the role in protecting your own well-being, increasing your energy and an attempt to reduce your stress.
I’ll be honest, with COVID-19 news, it does feel a little weird to be writing and publishing a blog post. With self-isolation being advised, it does bring another element of uncertainty and anxiety to the mix. But that’s the last I’m going to talk about it today. Instead, I’m offering a list of my favourite podcasts which (hopefully) will add an element of escapism to our lives at the moment.
Time to get your pen out…
As 2020 rolled around, I vowed to ‘journal’ more. Take a bit of time and space away from the screens. But as my life is currently a constant to do list of reading, essay writing and lectures, I haven’t gone the whole hog with this resolution – mainly because I often can’t fit my bullet journal in my bag for a day at uni. But when I have made the time to journal, it has set everything into a wider perspective and that’s where Fearne Cotton’s books, Happy and Calm come in.
