Self Care Routine| Black Women| Anxiety & Stress| Hair Routine

What'S up my gc crew, thank you for tuning in to my self-care routine. I'Ve already brushed my teeth, so i'm just starting off with a mug of fresh ice cold water. I definitely need a straw because i have sensitive teeth. One of the very first things on my to do list for the day is to set up a physical appointment. I'M 26. I turned 26 a few months ago, so i have my insurance, that's in my own name, so this will be my very first appointment with your girl's own insurance. I do use the app zopdoc in order to set up my appointments. It'S just super easy and streamlined in terms of things that i have to do today: um just small things like one load of laundry and then also just straightening up my room. I know a lot of the time when people think of self-care, they think of soul. Pampering, like you know, face bath shaving, lotioning exfoliating, all of that other stuff. However, over time, i've really noticed that cleanliness honestly is considered self-care for me, when i'm in a chaotic environment, it just doesn't do well. It raises my anxiety, i don't feel productive and i'm often distracted by the mess that is around me as opposed to the things that i really need so focus on. So this is included in self-care. Don'T ever feel like. Oh, a chore is just not something that you need to feel relaxed. It helps me to feel relaxed so identify what that is for you and i'm washing my hair today. So i'm starting off with using aloe vera gel and honey to create a pre-poo treatment that i let sit for 30 minutes before i go into washing my hair. My skin has been taking me on the ride of my life when it's good, it's good, but when it's bad it's up there, okay, there's no in between! So i'm starting off with exfoliating my face. I don't use beaded, exfoliators anymore or even use an automatic. You know brush to exfoliate my face. I have sensitive skin and it just didn't work well for me, so this was a recommendation to use this. You know more liquid exfoliant on my face, then i'm moving on to using the acne foaming cleanser, i wash my face for a total of 60 seconds. This is an approach that has become you know very popular and the same friend that recommended the exfoliator to me. Also recommended this method as well: it's been going pretty well to make sure that i am washing my face for 60 seconds. I focus on the upper region for 20 seconds, so that's my forehead eyes area and then i focus on the nose in my cheek area for another 20 seconds and from right underneath my nostrils on down to my neck for another 20 seconds for a total of 60., my next step is to move on to using my aloe vera toner for the toning step. You know, typically afterwards, you go straight into moisturizing. However, i have a tendency to wash my face outside of the shower, so i do my toning session outside of the shower. Then i go into the shower. In my mind, the steam from the shower just helps with the absorption into my skin, so it works well, and then i focus on moisturizing later on. I'Ve become really big on putting things back where they belong directly after using them. It just helps with organization and finding things once you actually need them. Remember, i'm washing my hair today with the moisturizing shampoo. Just to let you all know i do have a two-step bathing process. I start off with dr bronner's on a loofah. It provides a deep clean then i transition to the dove sensitive skin bar soap that i used on a rag to rebalance the moisture on my skin. I literally do this every sunday come over to my closet and decide if i want to wear more of a loungewear or if i'd like to put on a little something more to be around the house not going to lie to you guys. Most of the time. I end up choosing loungewear, so i will be popping on this t-shirt that has been seen in quite a few of my videos, but i don't really care and just pop into some sweatpants to just keep it super casual. So i applied some lip gloss to my ashy lips and for my moisturizing step for my face, i am using the aveeno positively radiant daily moisturizer. It has a bit of sunscreen in it um. I actually really love this stuff. This is the moisturizer and then on the other hand, i have the l'oreal pali youth coat dark spot correct, opt to put the dark spot corrector on before the moisturizer. Just because, in my mind, i need to apply this directly to my dark spots and i don't want um a barrier to be created by the moisturizer dead at the fact that i'm making it seem like. Oh there's, just a few dark spots like the dark spots. Are actually odin on my face, but whatever we're getting there um then another thing just in case you're wondering if my closet is staged. It actually is not. I do keep my closet color coordinated before i get too carried away and that then i'm going onto the moisturizing step and just adding that on top um, i love the movie clueless cher's closet was to die for, of course, i don't have the keypad functionality to Be able to pick my outfit without digging into the closet, but this color coordination is my version of the luxury life and it just helps with my process of choosing clothes and just being organized um. Another thing this is a bit more personal, but as i was younger, my mom definitely helped me to identify that i had a tendency to stay away from wanting to wear brighter clothes and overcoming that and it's been a super while, since i overcame that, like honestly Over 10 years, since overcoming that um having my closet, caller coordinated, was one of the early things that just helped me with creating an accountability mechanism. So if i saw that my clothes were just on a darker side, i would intentionally say to myself get something like get something light until i just grew comfortable and i really realized like girl. Your skin looks so good and some bright color and i'm just maintaining it at this point, so you guys see everything my skin freaks out. Then it's fine. I wear my good smelling perfume in the house. You guys may be like what you're supposed to save that stuff for a special occasion. The special occasion is the fact that you were able to afford it. The fact that someone was nice enough to gift it to you the fact that you're alive the fact that you're calming down after a stressful week, that is the special occasion um i'm a big advocate for saving small wins for your self-care day. In this context, small wins for me are the things that are really going to help you to feel at peace, whether you're laughing you get to dig deep into something that you feel very strongly about, or it just overall just helps you to re-energize for the week To come for me, i really love podcasts. Most of the podcasts that i listen to on a consistent basis, have a tendency to drop between thursdays and saturdays. I intentionally save some of them. For sunday this week, my good friend olamide adebowale dropped an episode on the full grit podcast and i'm featured on this episode. We recap 2020 talked about being intentional for 2021 and just got into a bit of conversation related to other things as well. If you're looking for a forum that really focuses on the black experience, with a direct focus on the black women's experience, public health and wellness overall, the full grit podcast is definitely for you, the balance of reciprocation. At some point there has to be a balance of the intention or the consideration. If that makes sense, i can be selfless to a degree um. I can step outside of myself, but when it gets so burdensome, i'm going to be like all right. It'S time. For me to pull back it's time for me to retreat kind of focus on myself, some more so my sister and i have a thing when we start doing the phone tag back and forth, we're both irritated and we're really big on like if we have to Do something it's kind of like a time slot for little ad hoc conversations, so she basically texts me and told me: i missed my slot, so i called her real quick just to see how she's doing and she's basically like girl, you missed your slide and i'm Telling her like, but you know the one thing about me - i'm actually going to let you go you're not going to tell me i missed my slide and i'm going to be like no. Can you talk for a little bit like okay, it's nice to see you're doing well, bye once i'm done connecting with family, i finish putting myself together and make sure to take my probiotics and my iron supplements as well. This next thing is honestly, my favorite self-care activity. Every sunday i watch at least one animated movie. I think that connecting with your childhood is of the utmost importance, as you really get into the swing of adulthood or even, if you're well into adulthood. A lot of the time with everyday life we find ourselves moving away from that sense of this unlimited imagination, and you know just that extra sense of adventure connecting with animated movies is definitely my way and i think they are becoming so progressive. So it's not the same damsel in distress, storyline, but definitely find what that childhood thing is for you. Maybe it's exploring outside. Maybe it's painting, maybe there's a dish that you used to make with your family once a month or every week, just find something to bring back that sense of nostalgia and keep you well balanced in life. I'M known for doing this literally 25 minutes into the movie. I want to take a nap for my naps. I always put on gentle rain sounds there's this three hour, video by the relaxed guy. I only intend to sleep for an hour and a half. I will be setting my alarm and then just to let you guys know in order to go to sleep at night. I do need rain, sounds in the background as well um, but with a mixture of thunder, and it has a black screen. So, like the light from the television doesn't disrupt my sleep, so i listen to this 10 hour video at night and then this is my nat music. As usual, i took the nap too far, i'm just turning on my diffuser. I have a few things to do, but i want that peppermint scent to start radiating throughout the room. What i need to do will take about an hour hour and a half, but i definitely am going to finish off the nut job too. In terms of how i wind down to actually go to sleep, as i already said, i do listen to rain, sounds to go to bed. One of the things that i also do before bed is just send myself emails to my work, email for things that i need to do first thing in the morning, then i may scroll social media for a little bit and also like read an affirmation, but it Really all depends, i hope you guys enjoyed this video. This was a very realistic self-care, routine