No one asked for this, but I feel like it’s well worth sharing. I think that routine is so helpful; I know what I’m doing every day and that makes things a little bit easier for me. Big shout out to anxiety and depression, of course, because they make routine a bit of a necessity!
I start every day by taking my dog out. Tippy is my best friend and emotional support animal, so she is a priority. We wake up, she goes out, then I hop in the shower. I have a couple different shower routines, which sounds a bit backwards, but believe me, it makes sense to me, my skin, and hair.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, I use Acure’s Brightening Facial Gel. This has no exfoliating properties, so it’s a very gentle wash. Of course, there is a bit of exfoliation that happens with my wash cloth, but that’s it. Because on these days I do not wash my hair, I rinse and comb it through, then wash my body. I tend to use one of Lush’s Shower Gels or Jellies for a soap. I really love Lush and hoard it like crazy, so I have quite the backlog of stuff to work through. Currently, I’m using a pot of Santa’s Belly Shower Jelly that has been living in my freezer for far too long. My favorite year round soap, though, is Woosh. After the shower, I spray my hair with some leave in conditioner (my leave-in conditioner is just my regular conditioner mixed with water!), pop it up in a microfiber wrap, and start on my face.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my shower routine is only a little different. I use Acure’s Brightening Scrub. This bad boy has crushed walnut shells in it, so it exfoliates me like nothing else. It’s probably a middle of the road exfoliator; I’ve used ones far more rough and also gentler. But I can only use this a couple times a week because my skin has to have some down time. Of course I wash my body too, I use whatever soap I’ve got in the shower. I also condition my hair these days, but no shampoo. I’ve been using Wen conditioner for over a year, and I’m a big fan. When I get out of the shower, my hair goes into a microfiber towel, but no leave in conditioner.
Sundays are much longer in the shower. I shampoo my hair with OGX, which lasts me forever (because I only use it once a week). While that’s in, I use my more exfoliating face wash. After rinsing the shampoo, I use the same conditioner and body soap. Again, no leave-in conditioner, but I use that microfiber towel!
My face routine is the same every dang day. Your skin needs routine just as much as anxious brains do, so I stick to the same thing. As soon as I’m out of the shower and my hair is in the towel, I spray my face with witch hazel. I use this as a bit of a toner; it closes up my pores a bit and gets my face ready for the day. After that, I usually take my hair down, style it (which is almost always just pinning it back on both sides), and put on my clothes for the day.
After getting dressed, I use Neutrogena Water Gel on my whole face and my décolletage. I’m almost out of this, but I have about a million other moisturizers as well. I think this one is pretty good, but it isn’t cruelty free and has a lot of packaging for the amount of product included. I’m open to recommendations, if you’ve got any!
Once that has soaked in, I do my makeup, which is incredibly minimal. Every day (unless depression has kicked my butt too hard), I do eyebrows and mascara. I use Too Faced’s Chocolate Bar for my eye makeup, and that includes my brows! I use the shade Triple Fudge for my brows. When I do eyeshadow, I use Salted Caramel, Cherry Cordial, and Creme Brulee. My mascara is whatever I have for a sample, unless I’m doing something special, when I’ll use Better Than Sex (also from Too Faced). If I am doing a full face, I use Bye Bye Foundation from It Cosmetics, paired with Bye Bye Pores Translucent Powder. If I’m doing highlight, I use ColourPop’s Super Shock Cheek in Monster and LAQA & Co’s Blush Highlighter.
After that, Tippy eats, I drink some water, and I make sure my bag is ready for work. While I work Monday – Friday, I try to bring the main things I’ll need for the week on Mondays. That includes my lunches for the week (I meal prep after groceries on Sundays), gym clothes for the week (I try to work out every day!), my keys, water bottle, work card, and coffee. Then I can read until I go to work!
After work, I hit the gym, then head home. My best friend is also my coworker and gym buddy, and a couple days a week I let him kick my butt at the gym. I think this is great because we are built very differently, and therefore our workouts are wildly different. Usually my Monday through Friday goes: cardio & core, legs & core, cardio & core, arms, chest, & core, and cardio & core. The weekend is normally hula hooping with a weighted hula hoop to keep myself going while letting myself breathe a bit.
Once I’m hope, I wash my face with micellar water from L’oreal. I think this stuff is pretty neat because it’s inexpensive and I thiiiiink all micellar water is kind of the same? After that, it’s dinner time, and usually some youtube and a book.
While I can’t say that my skin is perfect, or my body is the most fit, this routine really works for me. I enjoy the products I use, but I’m open to any and all suggestions! Do we have any products in common?
Comments are closed.