Practice Self-care With an All-Natural Skin Care Routine

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I am a busy mom who has to be intentional about creating a routine that includes self-care.  Self-care is a vital component of healthy living. Creating an all-natural skin care routine is a simple yet powerful way to practice self-care.

The two culprits that stand in the way of creating a personal care routine for myself are busyness and mom-guilt. They loom over my shoulder like shadow monsters.  However, wisdom and experience have taught me that I am less likely to skip out on personal care when I make it a daily ritual. Too often, moms hail self-denial as an act of maternal heroism. Perhaps, like me, you bought the faulty thinking that the need for personal care is a sign of weakness.

Making time for personal care is not self-indulgent but an act of stewardship.

What Self-Care is Not

Making sure that your nursing pads withstand the geyser-effect of “let down does not count as personal care. Personal hygiene like brushing your teeth and taking a shower do not fall under the category of personal care, sorry you need more.

Where to Begin with Your Personal Care Routine

Skin is the body’s largest organ, so it deserves some attention. When I think about this, I realize how crucial it is to add a skincare routine to my healthy living repertoire. Your skincare ritual does not have to be complicated or expensive— just intentional. View this part of your personal care as an investment in your overall health.

A few Words on Personal Care Products

If you’ve spent any time around No-FUSS Healthy Living, you know that I make every effort to use safe, chemical-free body and skincare products. What you rub on your face is more than a surface relationship. You want to make sure that the products for your personal care routine and your bathroom cleaner do not contain the same chemical.

Licensed esthetician and co-owner of Pure Hair Simply Skin, Missy Klein uses organic and plant-based products. Missy chooses products with as few chemicals as possible because “your skin is the body’s largest organ and anything you put on it soaks directly into your bloodstream.”

Establishing a Skincare Routine

1. Select a Skincare Goal That Will Contribute to Your Optimal Health/Wellness

• Set weekly, monthly, and annual self-care SMART goals
• Write them down
• Find an accountability partner to help you follow through

Personal care goals will evolve as your physical needs change. For me, my mid-life skin requires some additional care and nurture. One way of addressing that needs is to get a facial. This year, one of my personal care goals is to get a facial several times throughout the year.

If I bump into a month that I can’t afford a facial, then a DIY one will suffice until I find my way back on the estheticians’ table.

A Facial (Professional or DIY) as a Part of Your Personal Care Routine

Missy offers this advice:

the massage during a facial helps to:

• promote blood flow which nourishes immature skin cells below the skin’s surface
• increase lymphatic flow which removes toxins from your skin then processes them out of the body

• relaxes the body (priceless)

2.  Get It on the Calendar

Human Development expert, Dr. Tracy Davenport recommends scheduling personal care routine into your weekly schedule. Whether it is walking with a friend or doing a DIY charcoal mask, get it on your calendar. Once you infuse personal care into your daily or weekly routine, it begins to feel normal. You’ve conquered the shadow monsters!

3. Exercise Skincare Routine as Prevention

In many instances, we wait until health or personal crisis pushes us to acknowledge our need for and the value of personal care. For me, acute Lyme Disease deflated not only my health but also my pride. Before my health crisis, I treated my skin like last night’s leftovers.  The insidious disease sucker punched my immune system which caused skin issues.

A skincare routine can address or resolve skin issues like acne, hyperpigmentation (age spots), dry/oily skin.

My favorite resource for a DIY facial is Jan Berry’s (thenerdyfarmwife) 101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health & Home: A Nerdy Farm Wife’s All-Natural DIY Projects Using Commonly Found Herbs, Flowers & Other Plants

Cleanser

Cleaning the skin is probably the most crucial step in your facial care routine. Sara Powell at Natural Bath & Body Business suggests that “it is worth noting that if you wear make-up, you should really cleanse your skin two times during your evening ritual. The first wash removes the make-up. The second wash removes excess sebum, dead skin, and deeply cleanses pores. Always wash with tepid (not hot!) water so you prevent drying out the skin. 

As always recommended here at no-FUSS Healthy Living, choose a chemical-free cleanser. You can use the Environmental Working Group’s free app, Skin Deep to select a safe product.

Toner

Toner lifts away dirt and residue from the cleanser while restoring the skin’s natural pH balance.

Exfoliant

An exfoliant unclogs pores, stimulates circulation, and smooths skin. The key is to use an exfoliant that will not damage capillaries. Skin Deep rates Organic to Green Body and Facial Scrub as a safe product. There are DIY exfoliate recipes that work just as well.

Moisturizer

One way to keep moisturizer affordable and toxic-free is to reach in your kitchen and pull out ingredients. Check out these food-based moisturizers from Mindbodygreen.

Mask

My go-to mask is a clay mask with bentonite clay at front and center. Bentonite clay expunges toxins and purifies the skin. Andy Hnilo from Alituranaturals applauds the benefits of this earthy wonder:

It possesses the strongest ability to detoxify the skin, absorb and draw out impurities from the skin, counter bacterial infections and promote incredible blood circulation to the surface of the skin. If your skin can handle it, bentonite clay is definitely one of the best for healing the skin.

Self-Care = Stewardship

The role of self-care/personal care, however you choose to phrase the terms, stirs up debatable concerns and legitimate deliberation. How much self-care leads to self-indulgence? It’s a topic that deserves more attention than it gets.

Practicing self-care that cultivates and maintains physical and emotional health reflects exemplary stewardship. Kick the shadow monsters out of the bathroom and schedule a facial or a DIY skincare routine.

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What will you do next to exercise self-care?

Epsom Salt

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