My Winter Self Care Routine | Hair, Skin, Mind & Body

Hi everyone welcome back to the channel. My name is Felicia, and this is the feminine fancy. I hope you are staying happy and healthy, there's so much sickness going around like everyone is getting sick, everyone's catching some sort of cold, so I hope you're staying healthy and warm and all of the good things. So, a few months back, while I was still on my break, I asked on Instagram like what people what you guys might want to see for a video and a lot of people said things having to do with self-care. So I thought I would come up with my sort of winter self-care routine, my winter self-care checklist. If you want to call it that and give you guys some inspiration and some ideas, because the winter season is just a few days away in case you didn't know, every season starts on like the 21st, so I think, or the 20th, I'm pretty sure the 21st Winter starts on December 21st: that's the first official day of winter and today is the 17th. So we have a few days until it's officially winter. I know a lot of us experience things like seasonal depression and just feeling, like a general sense of like blah during the winter. Luckily, in California it gets cold and foggy and rainy and all of that stuff, but like it's like interchanged, with really sunny days that are still cold but like Sunny. So I don't so we don't have it as bad. But for those of you who are like, maybe in the Pacific Northwest or on the East Coast, I can imagine it gets, it can get really really dreary. So I wanted to do this video to give you some ideas about how to care for yourself. In the best way possible in the winter season, so I'm gon na break this up into four parts: skincare Hair Care, Mental care and body care, and so because I don't want this video to go on forever in a day, I will do my best to keep It succinct and to get through it quickly, so that you guys you know you, you get all the information and you're not sitting here for 40 minutes. Okay, so, let's start with skin care every everyone knows in the winter. You have to moisturize much more because the air is drier and therefore your skin is drier for me. This actually started like happening about two months ago. I remember I was like. Why is my skin so dry like what is going on? My lips are tracked and I was like: oh it's getting colder, so this season is really all about moisture for me, moisturizing my face and my body a lot of people who don't like actually put lotion on their like arms and legs, and I am here to Tell you that that is a really great way to care for yourself in this season and to keep that skin feeling soft and supple and wonderful. So for me, when it comes to moisture and my skincare routine, which, by the way my skin is like as unproblematic as it has ever been in the last 10 years in the morning, I do a routine of cleanser, toner and moisturizer and for the moisturizer I Use this one by Derma, plus I've talked about dermaplace since quarantine. I started getting facials with them in 2019 they're here in San Francisco. They don't accept new clients. So, unfortunately, if you live in an area I don't like, I don't know that you'll be able to get in for a facial, but they do have an online store where they sell a lot of their products and their products are phenomenal, like they are Next Level. They use their cleanser, their toner, their moisturizer, their vitamin C like all of it. So if you're wondering like oh, why is your skin so glowy, that is a big part of it. Derma plus, is amazing. I will leave a link to it in the description box below and I just like put a lot on. I am a firm believer in moisturizer. I think it's super important and um, especially at like preventing early aging, early, wrinkles and fine lines, and things like that. So I'm a moisture girly, I'm also a sunscreen girly and I use the Alta MD SPF 46. I think it is. I ran out of it, so I can't show it to you, but I'll link it down below love that moisturizer. It'S super light. It doesn't leave a white film which is really important if you are like me, and you have darker skin, you do not want moisturizer. That is like white on your face, so that one is really really great, and actually I first heard about it when I was getting a facial at dermaplace now for my body care, I've been using and please don't laugh at me. This bottle has really seen it's seen a lot. This bottle has really gone through it. I'Ve been using using this coconut and papaya body lotion by Nubian Heritage. I got it at Whole Foods and I used my little Yucca app. If you guys don't have the Yuka app, it is amazing, it's basically an app where you can scan your products, Hair Care, skincare things like that, and it will show you if there are any parabens if there's any cancer carcinogens, cancer-causing agents whatever. So I like to scan my products now before I purchase them, and this one got a very good rating. I use this every night and sometimes I will mix it with grape seed oil. The reason why I started doing this initially was because I had a little bit of an allergy attack and I was scratching my legs so hard that I left lines on my legs and I had heard that grapeseed oil was really really good for skin care. So I mixed it with my coconut and papaya lotion. The lines went away and I was very happy because I was really nervous that I was going to look like a tiger for the rest of my life. But everything worked out and finally, like I mentioned my skin, is as unproblematic as it has ever been, and I attribute that 100 to the probiotic that I started taking last year. I'Ve talked about this on Instagram I've talked about it. On my blog, I love this probiotic, I'm not a doctor. This is not medical advice, but I learned that sometimes, if you have acne or if you have problematic skin, it's just a sign of like an internal issue, it's a sign of like a gut issue. It'S a sign of some sort of imbalance, something like that, like it's never just topical. Last year, my naturopath suggested that I start taking this probiotic for a completely separate issue, and lo and behold it completely cleared my skin it. I was like what I was not expecting that to happen, but I love it so it's the floor store probiotic, just the regular one. They have ones that are specific for women and children, but I use just the regular one. I only take it once a day and it still is amazing, but I think the bottle says to take it twice a day regardless, if you take it once a day, if you take it twice a day, it is literally a miracle probiotic I stand by it. I swear by it, it's just it. It'S awesome and obviously your gut health is really really important and once you can kind of figure out, like your your gut issues, a lot of your skin skin issues might resolve themselves. So that's another big part of not even just my winter routine, but my year-long routine, I'm always taking that probiotic so that my skin can stay nice and healthy and my gut can stay healthy as well. Okay. So, let's move on to Hair Care. Let'S move on to talking of talking about my hair, I get so many questions anytime. I post a picture or, like I just posted a real recently or even when I post a video, and I get so many questions about my hair and I thought that I had like answered these and thought. I had answered these questions like at length. But apparently you know, as new people find my my channel and find my content. I understand they have questions so I'll. Just go over it again quickly. I get a press and curl. I don't have a perm I've, never gotten a perm. My mom was very very adamant raising me that she was not going to perm my hair, so I just got a press and curl I've been getting a pressing curl since I was a child like for a very very long time. I'Ve been going to the same woman since I was nine years old she's. The only person who I trust with my hair and she's done a fabulous job. So, while I was on my break over the last few months, I was not straightening. My hair, like at all, I was doing that so that I could grow it out and get it healthier and it worked it started growing out and a lot of people were commenting like did your hair get longer? Yes, it did because I was doing a lot of deep conditioning, hair masks and overnight, like oil masks on my hair. That'S pretty much like the Holy Trinity. For me, when it comes to Hair Care, is like not straightening it getting it deep conditioned like every few weeks and then doing an oil treatment or like an oil or hair mask uh once a week, and since it's winter, obviously like if your skin is being Infected by being drier, your hair is going to be affected as well through deep conditioning and condition my hair more consistently. I'M able to keep that moisture like locked in a lot better, so my hair doesn't get all dry and brittle during this these colder months, when it comes to like a hair care routine, it kind of depends like if I'm filming - and I know I'm going to Be filming I will get my hair done, I'll, get it deep, conditioned, pressed and curled and then I'll leave it for like a month or so, and if I feel like wearing my natural hair, I will just go back to wearing my natural hair and I'll have Like a routine for that personally, my hair does the best and grows the fastest when I'm washing it consistently, and I was doing some research and what I learned was that, like your hair can't grow, if you don't take care of your scalp, which sounds obvious, but Like I don't know when this I was watching this Tick, Tock girl talk about it and she was basically saying like if you think about your scalp as like a garden pull the weeds out. You have to like make sure that it is clean and like ready to for New Growth. I was like, oh, that makes a lot of sense, and that also makes a lot of sense why my hair grows the fastest when I am washing it consistently. So when it's natural, I wash it probably we like two or three times a week to be honest, I'll, do like two full washes and one co-wash, which is just washing with just conditioner and then when my hair is straight and pressed I'll, probably wash it like. Every two weeks as I go in to get it done and I try to get a deep condition every time I go in, there's a lot of focus on moisture, my skincare, as well as my hair care. Okay, now, let's move on to mental care, I feel like this is the most important one during this season, because, like I mentioned at the beginning of the video seasonal depression can really set in it's just colder and also the holidays can be like a really sad Time, even though they're really like marketed as this cheery awesome family friendly experience, they can be very sad if you are missing a loved one or, if you're going through something like it, can make this season even harder. So mental care I feel like is really important at this time. The things I've been doing this year in fancy Cottage is just having so many single Wick taper candles lit at any given time and and having like the Christmas tree, I lights on and our other Christmas lights that are on The Mantel having those on really makes It feel so cozy, even my mom came out, came over the other day. She was like. It is really nice in here like it's so cozy, it's so welcoming um and I've been seeing this Tick Tock where people are there's like an audio that says. One thing we never do is turn on the big light, so I've been doing that as well. We'Re like I will just keep our lights dimmed and I'll keep our Christmas twinkle lights on with some tapered candles, and it really feels it just feels great. It feels very cozy, it feels very warm and inviting - and you know - okay and I like to sit by our fireplace and we don't have an action like you - can't actually light a fire in here. But we do have an electric law like electric logs. That kind of mimic a fire - and it's just the coziest thing I love it. Lighting - is really important, um in your space. So if you want to light some candles, add some you know Christmas lights around your bed frame or on your desk. Anything like that is really really helpful to to kind of feel warm and cozy not feel like you have so much like harsh overhead. You know fluorescent lighting shining on you all the time. I also mentioned in a few videos back that I did a lot of reading. While I was on my break and a lot of you said, oh what books did you read? I read a lot of like fiction. I love fiction novels. I love romance novels. I like to be like transported to a new world. That'S what I enjoy. I do have a book that I just bought recently. Um called the body keeps the score and I'm going to start that soon, but for those like really cozy warm Vibes. I just like to read fiction and I just like to read romance like I enjoy that I don't remember all the books that I read um. One was called a secret Cat every last secret. Oh then she was gone, but I would not suggest that one. It was super scary and I did not see like I didn't think it was going to be that scary when I started it really like books. Also that are in the like mystery genre because, like I need something that's gon na like Make Me Turn the Page like I want to know, what's gon na happen, that's what I'm kind of into as far as like self-improvement or things like that, that's not as Much my swag when it comes to like what I read but um, if you guys have any suggestions for books like that that maybe other people in the comments might enjoy. Please leave a comment and let everybody know I enjoy podcasts all year round. But I've been really enjoying them in these colder months for some reason and the ones the ones that I'm listening to currently are Dr John deloney um and then also the emotionally online podcast. I really love her podcast she's super vulnerable she's super open, but it's really relatable also, generally speaking, I'll, listen to anything by wondery and I love listening to wait. Wait don't Tell Me by NPR, so those are just kind of a few of my things. Okay, now, let's move on to the final category body care. So I'm talking about, like your physical body, making sure that you feel the best in your body that it's working the most optimally and things like that. First thing that I've been doing this season starting about a month ago, is weight, lifting and, like straight strength, training. This is not. This is very new to me. Okay, because, like as a dancer, you're, always like in your mind, you're, always thinking, cardio, you're thinking, dance, dance or like even running you're, never thinking to like slow down and lift weights or do any sort of strength training. But I've been doing that for the last few months and let me tell you guys: I love it. I love it so much I feel so strong. I don't know I just I feel like I'm becoming stronger, I'm like toning, my body, but at the same time it's like not even as much about what my body looks like as much as it is about, like you know, when I go up a weight like When I go from like 20 pounds to 30 pounds, I feel like I've accomplished so much. It'S just an amazing feeling. I love the way my body feels yeah, it's just great and I'm really really enjoying it. So if you've never tried strength, training or weightlifting or anything like that, maybe give it a shot like ease your way into it. I would suggest like getting a trainer or something because I don't know what I'm doing. I wouldn't be able to do this on my own. I work with a trainer just so that you have someone there who's like helping you. Who knows what to do who can like guide you, but it really feels amazing and I'm not trying to get like swole. I'M not trying know like have huge muscles or anything, but it really is good for, like my not only my body but my mental health as well, so try that out this winter season and see how that helps you, although I think that doing cardio would help Too, because exercise releases endorphins and during the season we could all use all of our endorphins. Another thing that I do for my body care is: I try to get massages like once a month, and this is because I tend to just hold a lot of tension in my body like I hold it in my neck. I hold it in my back and if I don't get a massage, it's like it's just going to escalate and get worse and worse until my whole body just feels terrible. So for me, and also like this is also the season where your muscles are much stiffer because it's cold outside there's not as much like lubrication helping things be like nice and loosey-goosey. If you're like me, my muscles are super stiff and I wake up in the morning, and I'm like, oh God, I need to stretch. I always feel like. I need to stretch because it's so cold outside so getting massages is really really helpful to release some of that tension release some of those muscles and just like get it get. Allow there to be like more, like fluidity in my body. If you can add that into your monthly routine, that is something that I really enjoy as well the place I go to I love because they have like a little waiting room that has books and snacks and hot tea, and you can just go in there. Oh and they have these like warm neck pillows that you can put around your neck and you just chill and like read a book and hang out until it's time for your service, then you can go back in there when you're done and hang out until until It'S time to go, so I highly suggest finding a good massage place that you can go to consistently, where you can trust the people that it's going to be like a nice experience for you, because I think getting massages this time of year is very uh. It'S very helpful for me to feel the best in my body all right guys that is it for this video. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Please give it a thumbs up and comment down below what are some of your winter self-care habits, tips and tricks. We all want to hear about it. Those of you who are more interested in the lifestyle content - I'm really excited because I'm going to, I think I don't know how I'm going to do it yet, but start my gardening series on this channel. So if you follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm super into Super into gardening, and I love planting things and I recently made dinner. It was like scalloped potatoes. I used the dill that I grew in my garden for the potatoes and that just made me feel really really special. I'M super into gardening and I want to start a series on this channel where I can show you my garden. Show you what's going on in the garden, I have to admit I'm really bummed out, because I grow mostly flowers like that's what I'm really good at growing. I had planted these tulip bulbs like maybe a month ago and I knew that tulips took a long time to sprout, but I was just like it had been like a week or two and nothing had come up and I was like. Oh, they probably didn't take. This is my own fault for for not being patient for not being a patient girl um. So I went and I was looking at them and I was like oh, it may as well pull them up because if they didn't take they're just like wasting space, so I went to pull it up and I'm like, why isn't it coming out? Don'T you know? I pulled up my tulip bulb and all of the roots that had grown livid mad at myself, so I, like, I literally apologized to it and like threw it back in there covered it with covered it with soil, was like it's gon na be okay, like you Know you can take again, so I don't know what's gon na happen with that one I have so many more tulip bulbs that I'm gon na grow. I'M just really excited to show you like the gardening process, so if you're into that, that's going to be coming. Probably soon as soon as probably after the holidays - and this is a good time to plant because once it's gon na start raining and then everything will bloom in the spring and hopefully there will be like a really big reveal in the spring. So that's my plan for the lifestyle content uh well for one aspect of it and yeah, if you're into that, then stick around for those videos. Thank you so much for watching. I hope you guys enjoyed it. You can find me on Instagram at underscore the feminine fancy underscore and you can find me on my blog at the fountainfancy.com I'll talk to you guys later bye. Thank you.