Good self-care habits promote healthy living, manage stress levels and allow you to build a connection with your body.
Positive, consistent daily habits ensure we give ourselves the best chance to function at our highest level.
Deciding and implementing changes for our selfcare and well-being can lead to positive pay offs in our energy, the quality of our hair and skin, and boosts digestive and immune system function.
Build A Consistent Morning & Night Time Routine
Building a consistent morning and night time routine is a great way to set aside time for yourself. These positive habits encourage a good mood throughout the day and promote restful sleep at night.
When you awaken, in addition to your hygiene needs, add a 20 minute stretch session to loosen up the muscles, wake up the joints and stimulate the mind.
A yoga sun salutation is simple and very effective, you could also make up your own stretching routine that stretches areas of your body you’d like to loosen up more, such as the hips or lower back.
We cannot always control how our days play out, but we do control the moods we put out into the world and how we react to what the world throws our way.
If you have a great night time routine, your morning hair and skincare routine should be quite simple, with the main aim being to moisturise and prepare it for dealing with the elements. Your hair should be moisturised and sealed and so should your skin.
We expend a lot of energy during the day, whether interacting with others, feeling various emotions or making decisions that may impact others. Therefore a night time routine is essential to help balance your mental and physical wellbeing and promote healthy hair and skin..
Developing conscious habits such as changing your clothes as soon as you get home, sitting for 20 minutes to just unwind, cleaning your face and body at night and chilling with a cup of tea, can enhance your relaxation in the evening.
How you wind down each day is directly related to the quality of your sleep.
Good sleep habits mean your body can regenerate itself whilst you rest, therefore, functioning at its best during the day.
A great morning and night time routine should include elements of care for your skin, hair and mental well being. This is the embodiment of self-care.
Consider Using Plant Oils and Essential Oils For Ultimate Self-Care
The secret ingredient to many great hair and skincare regimen, plant oils and essential oils. Plant oils are a great way to promote healthy, supple skin and luscious, shiny hair.
They are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; some even mimic the natural lipids in our skin.
Essential oils are volatile plant oils packed with healing components such as phenols, alcohol, aldehydes, esters, ethers, ketones, and terpenes.
They are powerful oils that penetrate the skin and provide relief from skin ailments as well as mental maladies such as headaches and even depression. Just a whiff of certain essential oils – such as peppermint – can lift you out of a funky mood, perfect self-care tool if you ask me.
Combined with regular oils or creams, essential oils are a must to promote elasticity and improve the quality of your skin and hair. When you mix essential oils like rosemary or tea tree oil with other oils like coconut oil, it allows them to be carried further into the skin, helping to repair damage.
Oils are great for promoting moisture retention and elasticity. These qualities determine follicle strength, length retention and buoyancy in your hair.
They are also largely responsible for your skin’s ability to repair itself, softness to the touch, and help with issues such as inflammation.
Different essential oils naturally combat infection and inflammation while promoting healthy cell regeneration and blood flow in the skin, the scalp, and the hair. This is why we use them in our products, check out this post for more information.
Whilst most plant oils can be used neat, most essential oils should not. Always dilute your essential oils in a plant oil such as jojoba, coconut or sesame seed oils.
In addition, essential oils are so powerful, you only need 3-10 drops at the most for it to work effectively. Using too much can cause skin sensitivity.
Physical Activity and Diet Matters
Physical movement, and the fuel you put in your body, are direct ways to keep the body in good health and promote healthy hair growth and glowing skin.
The food you eat influences your mood, mental agility and internal body functions.
Excess sugar, salt, and unhealthy carbs (such as those found in biscuits), can lower your energy levels because your system is not receiving the proper fuel.
Adding healthy nutrients into your diet, such as green leafy vegetables, is sometimes easier than removing other items. Small, consistent changes are sometimes easier and more effective than a complete overhaul. Isn’t that what self-care is, small positive things we do for ourselves consistently?
Physical movement can take the form of daily low impact walking, yoga, home workouts, HIIT workouts or working with a personal trainer.
Whatever you decide to do, especially if your work entails sitting for a long time, add movement to your day, every day.
Decide to start making these changes now and you will notice how the quality of your body, skin and hair positively improves.
Source:
Babar Ali, Naser Ali Al-Wabel, Saiba Shams, Aftab Ahamad, Shah Alam Khan, Firoz Anwar, Essential oils used in aromatherapy: A Systemic Review, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, Volume 5, Issue 8, 2015