I am not even close to the kind of girl who wears tons of makeup or takes hours to do their hair. I am, however, the kind of girl who wants to have the healthiest skin and hair, in order for my natural beauty to shine through. Because I don't do myself up often, if ever, I am looked at like I neglect my appearance. Hopefully, this list of changes I've made to my beauty and self-care routine shows that I care about my appearance in a way most others may not.
1. I limit how often I shampoo my hair.
I never noticed how much damage shampoo was doing to my hair. I was the kind of girl who would shampoo her hair every single day. I thought that by cleansing my hair daily, I was doing a good thing. I was oh, so wrong. I stumbled upon this concept of co-washing, which means conditioner washing. It was recommended for those who have curly, wavy, dry and/or color treated hair. Look at that, I have all of those things. So, I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. My hair did need to adjust to my new routine, but I haven't looked back since. Once every three weeks, or so, I shampoo my roots to remove any product build-up, but other than that, I just co-wash my hair now. I make sure to scrub my roots, with the pads of my fingers, with the conditioner just like I would shampoo. My hair has been less oily at the roots, more hydrated at the ends, shinier and more manageable.
2. I cut out traditional facial cleansers.
I have combination skin, which means it's oily, dry and acne-prone all at the same time. What a great deal, right? I have literally tried every facial cleanser on the market, and even prescription varieties, but nothing has ever worked for my skin. Until now. I use three ingredients to wash my face; hot water, lavender essential oil and tea tree essential oil. That is it. Here's my routine! Every morning and every night, I fill up the bathroom sink with warm water. I then add five drops of lavender oil and give drops of tea tree oil. I use a microfiber face scrubber, that I found at the dollar store, to wash my face. I dip my microfiber scrubber into the water and wash my face with that. The warm water helps to open up my pores and remove dirt/oil. The essential oils help to clean and treat my skin. My dry skin, oil and acne have all started to disappear.
3. I give myself in-shower body massages.
I experience a ton of body pain. I am in constant need to massage myself to relieve the tension. I can't necessarily give myself massages because I simply can't reach the area or can't apply enough pressure to the area I want it to. What I have started doing is giving myself in-shower body massages. No, I don't mean anything naughty. I purchased a small pressure-point massage thing from the dollar store and brought it into the shower with me. I run the water very hot to create steam and continue with my body-washing routine. After I wash my skin, I go in with my body massage thing and apply pressure. Most of my pain is in my legs, so that is the area I focus on. It's very relaxing and the heat helps to release the tension in my muscles. The body soap helps the massage thing glide over my skin without irritating the area and won't leave a sticky residue that massage lotions/oils do.
4. I am a lot nicer to my hair while drying it.
I have thick hair and I have a whole lot of it, so it holds water like a sponge. I used to be so rough with my hair when drying it and my hair got me back for it by being frizzy. I stopped being so rough with my hair by just wrapping it up and letting the towel do its job. I let an all cotton towel sit in my hair for twenty minutes or so. I have experienced way less breakage and frizz since I started respecting my hair.
5. I rinse my hair with cold water.
I know that sounds unpleasant, and sometimes it can be, but this step is something I will never skip in my shower routine. Rinsing with cold water seals your hair cuticle and brings a ton more shine into your hair. I spend a good amount of time rinsing my hair, as well. There's no such thing as over-rinsing, but there is such a thing as under-rinsing.
