Feeling Stressed? Here Are 20 (Super Easy!) Ways to Incorporate Self-Care Into Your Life
Self-care may have been considered something trendy thanks to everyone—from celebrities and influencers to your BFF—either showing off their bubble baths, meditative journaling, or yoga poses (yes, even facial yoga) on our feeds. But it has since become a staple for many to help with bettering their mental health, especially after years of living through a pandemic, and other historic moments that have made it difficult for many of us. If you’re curious but not sure where (or even why) to start with self-care, we’ve got you covered. We’re breaking down the best self-care tips that will make you feel like your best self.
But First: Why is Self-Care Important?
In kindergarten, we learned the basics of good health: Eat your fruits and veggies, move your body, and drink water. But life has gotten a little more complicated since those glorious days of nap time and sharing cubbies, so it makes sense that our understanding of personal health has evolved, too.
Enter self-care practices: an easy way to return to good routines, take some personal inventory of yourself, and restore your mind and body to pre-stress levels. You don’t need to go on a pricey retreat or spend the weekend in the middle of the woods to feel rejuvenated—sometimes self-care can be as easy as taking a few extra sips of water, splurging on a fancy sheet mask, or challenging yourself to use a new eyeshadow.
Below, we list a few easy ways you can relax, recharge, and refocus—all from the comfort of your own home.
Top 20 Self-Care Tips
Self-Care Tip #1: Get Some Beauty Sleep
Research shows that we’re supposed to be getting a whopping seven to nine hours of sleep for our body to fully recover from the day. While that might be more than your current late-night social media scrolling allows, snoozing is important for your physical and mental well-being, allowing your body to rest and reset.
We like to coax ourselves away from Netflix and towards our bed by adding a beauty self-care treat, like a moisturizing beauty mask. Our fave? The pillowcase-friendly, paraben-free formula of DR.BOTANICALS Pomegranate Superfood Regenerating Sleeping Mask. Dab this on before bed and the pomegranate extract will go to work restoring your skin’s moisture levels.
Self-Care Tip #2: Move Your Body
Spending time at the gym can often take a backseat to last-minute requests from your bosses and late night catch-ups with your friends, but working up a sweat is a major part of showing your body some love. While exercise has obvious physical health benefits, rigorous activity—whether it’s a long walk, a mini dance party, or impromptu planks—also has some major benefits for your mental health. Exercise floods your body with endorphins, which trigger feelings of happiness. The result? A mellower, more relaxed you.
Not sure what to bring to your workout sesh? We've compiled some of our workout beauty essentials you can pack in a gym bag and take with you on the go.
Self-Care Tip #3: Scalp Care
One area of your body that’s likely neglected and in some major need of TLC? Your scalp. Scalp health is important to help keep your hair follicles strong, sturdy, and free from debris that can build up and even impact hair growth. In fact, a healthy scalp not only helps with hair growth, but it can also help reduce your risk of dandruff, hair loss, and other common scalp conditions, like itchiness and oiliness. Before your next shower, brush your hair with a large paddle brush, and focus the bristle down to your scalp to help break up any product residue or build-up on the skin. Follow with a clarifying scalp treatment (we love SUNDAY RILEY Clean Rinse Clarifying Scalp Serum), then shampoo and condition like normal.
Self-Care Tip #4: Get Organized
When looming deadlines, missed texts, and a flood of emails are bringing you down, a mini cleaning spree can be just the thing to give you a boost of energy and sense of control. Whether you’re running a load of laundry, writing an easy to-do list, or cleaning up your eyeshadow palettes, there’s always an easy way to add organization to your life. We’re not saying you need to go full Marie Kondo on your sprawling collection of lipsticks; even just organizing them by color or usage can be super soothing. For extra tips on wrangling your beauty products, check out our guide on how to organize makeup.
Self-Care Tip #5: Drink Plenty of Water
Aiming for eight cups of water may seem like a tall task, but not so much when you consider all the ways H2O works wonders for your body. Your skin also needs that extra moisture, which is why we like to supplement our daily water intake with hydrating face masks. Whether you have dry skin, acne, or under-eye circles you’d like to nix, show your face a little self-love with some extra moisturizing action. No time for a face mask? Dab on BIORACE L'eau Hydrating Treatment Serum during your morning routine and your face will feel extra refreshed.
Self-Care Tip #6: Make Time for You-Time
Sometimes taking care of yourself falls to the very bottom of your to-do list, especially when you’re busy checking in with loved ones and putting out fires at work. Take some cues from the airline industry: Put your air mask on first, and then help others. Whether your figurative air mask is a quick workout or a few deep breaths between meetings, all you need is a few minutes to treat yourself. If you want to add a beauty element to your me-time, try pampering your skin or doing your nails and giving your hands extra care by applying the DIONIS Love Goat Milk Hand Cream. You can also slip on a relaxing face mask like the FEEL Harmony Rose Petal Facial Mask. It smells so insanely good, you might just be inspired to take a few more meditative breaths.
Self-Care Tip #7: Create a New Routine
When your day-to-day life feels like the classic Dolly Parton flick 9 to 5, it can feel like there’s no escape from your work routine. Rather than quitting your job or telling off your boss, look for other areas in your life that might benefit from a few small changes. The best self-care tips are small, easily conquerable tasks that create a satisfying feeling of accomplishment. Take back your weeknights with weekend meal-prep sessions, or treat yourself to regular at-home spa days by creating a relaxing skincare routine. Even mixing up your mornings with a new makeup routine can be enough to get you pumped for the day.
Self-Care Tip #8: Hair Care
Ready to level up your hair mask game? Try leaving your mask in for a few hours or even overnight. Work a generous dollop of a hair mask, like this BRIOGEO Don't Despair, Repair!™Deep Conditioning Mask, from roots to tips of damp, towel-dried hair. Then here comes the pro trick—wrap all your hair up in the ETTITUDE Waffle Hair Towel. Not only will it keep your hair out of the way while it’s being treated, but it’ll also help contain some of the heat from your scalp which will only help the mask penetrate even better.
If you’re not in the mood to mask but are looking for other ways to treat your hair, ALTERNA Caviar Smoothing Anti-Frizz Multi-Styling Air Dry Balm is an amazing option. We love that it reduces air-drying time by 25 percent, controls frizz, and adds a natural-looking shine to hair.
Self-Care Tip #9: DIY to De-Stress
A few too many scrolls through Insta can lead to some major envy and regrettable late-night shopping sprees. To curb your wallet-emptying appetite and relieve some stress, skip the screen time and try a DIY manicure with nail art. It’s an easy way to get back in touch with your artsy side and practice self-care. And if your creations turn out more like a Nailed It! outtake, it might just inspire a few giggles. From DIY face masks to nail art and braiding your hair, there’s no wrong way to be creative.
Self-Care Tip #10: Play With Makeup
Taking care of yourself doesn’t always have to be practical. Playing with makeup can be a fun way to de-stress, test your creative limits, and try a bold new look. Even if you don’t leave the house in your gold eye makeup, or if all your grunge makeup looks are saved in a secret selfie folder, making time to treat yourself is an outstanding way to practice personal care. Take a peek at our favorite rose gold eye makeup looks, and use the ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette to achieve the one that speaks to you the most. Want to start small? Branch out from your typical cat eye to create a graphic liner look with an easy-to-use, hyper-pigmented black eyeliner like IL MAKIAGE Inkliner in Black. Or test out a new brow look using a condition serum, like the ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Brow Genius® Conditioning Brow Serum, that delivers smoother, fuller-looking brows.
Self-Care Tip #11: Try Something New
When the days start to blend together, it’s hard to feel like you’ve had any major accomplishments. It sounds cheesy, but trying something new can be an easy way to challenge yourself. From conquering a new route for work to ordering a different flavor of coffee or swiping on some red lipstick, adding an element of surprise to your day can help you feel inspired.
We love the moisturizing powers of COLOURED RAINE COSMETICS Liquid Lipstick in 24Seven. It’s a matte lipstick that won’t leave you high and dry. For a punch of drama, try COLOURED RAINE COSMETICS Liquid Lipstick in Red Sea, especially if you normally wear nude.
Self-Care Tip #12: Give Yourself a Face Massage
No time or money for a full body massage? Give your face a massage instead and reap the incredible benefits. After a long day of smiling, frowning, and delivering some powerful RBF, your facial muscles are tuckered out. Grab a face roller, like GRACE & STELLA Rose Quartz Facial Roller, or even some frozen facial globes (we love SONÄGE SKINCARE Baby Frioz Mini Icy Globes in Lilac), and gently roll it across your face to soothe your muscles and stress levels. We especially love using our facial massage tools with a brightening serum for bright, glowy skin.
Self-Care Tip #13: Use Dry Shampoo If a Hot Shower Isn’t an Option
It’s a pretty basic way to take care of yourself, but we can’t say enough about the healing powers of a steamy hot shower. Wash away the day’s stresses and the negative self-talk that’s been building up in your head, and pamper yourself with the SKIN INC Body Sculpt Fit Serum, a lightweight body serum that melts right into your skin and helps make it appear visibly brighter and healthier. But if taking a long bath or shower isn't an option (or you’re not in the mood), spritzing PLAYA New Day Mist through your hair will instantly refresh your strands to make you feel clean and renewed.
Self-Care Tip #14: Journal
There’s power in putting your thoughts on paper. Journaling has become a core part of self-care for many because there’s so much one can gain from it. Aside from being a way for us to deepen our self-discovery, journaling also gives us a way to process emotions and improve our moods, which helps reduce stress and remind us of all we’re grateful for when things feel bleak.
Self-Care Tip #15: Take a Bath
There’s nothing like a warm, luxurious bath to relax away your stressful thoughts. Add some bubbles and close your eyes, or use the time to give your body a little extra care using a scrub like FRANK BODY Coconut Coffee Scrub. This vegan body scrub will get your skin glowing and smooth by removing any dry skin.
Self-Care Tip #16: Light a Candle
Light a candle, and grab a book, or listen to your favorite podcast. Candles are known to be soothing, with their light aiding us in finding relaxation. Candles with soothing scents like lavender are known to add an extra calming effect.
Self-Care Tip #17: Make Time for Skincare
Adding a regular skin care regimen into your daily routine is a great source of self-care. Not only does it provide you with a healthy dose of self-love, but it helps maintain your skin at its best. We love incorporating a product like the BEAUTYSTAT Universal C Skin Refiner, which is a 20 percent pure vitamin C serum that helps brighten, tighten, and firm skin. We also love a quick and easy mask, such as the JOSIE MARAN 5 Minute Facial Mask, which gives you that post-facial glow in five minutes when you can’t get to an esthetician.
Self-Care Tip #18: Treat Yourself to Spa Time
Schedule a solo spa day and opt in for a relaxing massage. A full body massage will help relieve stress and release tightness in the body from working long days. If you don’t want a body massage, facials are also amazing for self-care. Facials offer a ton of benefits: They are known to both boost circulation and improve absorption of products like moisturizers and serums.
Self-Care Tip #19: Meditate
The act of meditation is proven to provide a state of peace and calm to those who practice and implement it into their daily routines. It’s been linked to helping achieve better health, lowering blood pressure, and reducing anxiety. Add this to your list of self-care tricks for better sleep and reduced stress.
Self-Care Tip #20: Unplug
Put the phone down, store the laptop away, and just unplug. When we unplug for a few hours each day, it allows us to focus and do things with more intention. Take that time to do something that brings you joy.
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