Day 1: Reflection & Refinement.
Welcome to day one of my New Year Fresh Start series! Have you ever sat down and reflected on what your personal care routine means to you? Or reflected on how you wished it would make you feel? Maybe you feel tension or disconnection around it; like it isn't exactly yours because so many elements of our skincare and makeup routines are dictated by social expectations and marketing. Well, I understand that. And I also think it is time to reclaim these routines for ourselves.
Wouldn't it feel amazing to be energized from our morning routine and supported and soothed by our evening routine - to be set on the right foot each day instead of rushed and frustrated?
Well it's the first day of 2020, and that seems to be as good a day as any to get ourselves on the right track. Today involves a lot of reflection and writing - and then cleaning!
I'll take this moment to pause and say there are no right or wrong answers. This isn't an exercise to convince you that you have deep seated emotional tension around beauty routines from #thepatriarchy and I'm definitely not trying to convince you that you need a complex self care ritual with candles and sage and a spare 40 minutes a day. These are simply prompts to help you figure out where your personal care routine has been and where you want it to go.1. Writing and Reflection Questions.
When you think of your current makeup and skincare routines, how would you describe them? What are three words that come to mind?
When you think about the products you have now, how did you make your purchasing decision? Marketing? A concern? A recommendation? Impulse buy?
Are there any products in your routine you're using because you feel like you have to - not because you want to? For example, maybe you don't have acneic skin but you've been using an acneic skin product/collection for years because you had breakouts when you were a teen (and still feel the pressure of keeping your skin perfectly clear).
Are there any narratives you have used to justify not having the personal care routine that would work best for you? I'll share mine. "I am a busy mom and business owner so whatever I do just has to be quick." So, I make decisions around personal care with the priority being speed instead of... you know... ME! And what I actually want!
How do you wish your personal care routine made you feel? How do you want your routines to support you in the morning and at night? You can simply write out three words, or you can really dive deep here!
When envisioning the space where you get ready, how does it feel now and how do you want it to feel? What's holding you back from creating this space?
What are your skincare goals?
What are your process goals? In other words, are there things you wish you were doing (face massage or masking) but don't know how?
2. Summarize.
Good job, you did it! Now, summarize it by writing out in a sentence or two starting with "I want my personal care routine to____ instead of ______. I will achieve this by doing ____, ____ and ____."
3. Clean.
With that sentence fresh in your mind, let's move on to the 'doing' part. The part that is going to feel delicious and daunting at the same time: cleaning out your personal care products, including makeup, face skincare, body skincare, haircare, hygiene, and while we're at it, any related wellness products. I'll leave the definition of "wellness products" up to you because it's different for everyone.
I'm not suggesting you go in and toss everything you own and start fresh. I am suggesting that you are probably holding on to things you will never use or that you shouldn't use... because you're human and we have a tendency to hold on to things. All that clutter creates noise that we have to sift through to get to the good stuff. My goal is to get you to have a collection of almost exclusively The Good Stuff <3
Get rid of it if:
1. You have not used it in a year (that means the blush from high school needs to go, yes)
2. It's water based and it's been sitting around half used for more than 6 months. 3 months if you have to put your finger in it to use it.
3. You simply don't like it
4. It has ingredients you want to avoid
5. It's some version of clutter you don't need even though it was a *really good* gift with purchase/sample/whatever
6. It's making a mess... I'm talking about broken shadows, eye liner without lids, etc. If you love them, fine - set them aside and clean them up!
Keep it in a separate "special situations" area if:
1. You don't use it every day but you love it for special events
2. You're going to wear it next season but it's wrong for winter
3. It's an occasional treatment, like a blemish product or detox mask
4. It's just really special and you want it but don't need it regularly
Keep it in your daily use area if:
1. You use it daily or regularly
2. That's it
3. Give these pieces and the special situations items a good clean. Wash your brushes in a gentle soap and lay flat to dry. Sharpen your pencils. Wipe down your foundation and blush compacts. I personally love cleaning the spaces between products in a palette where powder or cream product builds up! Your hair care bottles need a nozzle/pump refresh, too.
Take a breather and let's reconnect tomorrow. We will next create our ideal space for getting ready... maybe start a Pinterest board with ideas if you're up to it!
Ps: We cannot wait to see and hear about your experience with today's exercise. Share your images and tag us, plus use the hashtag #takecarefreshstart so everyone else participating can see! We will also have a conversation going in our Facebook Group, Take Care Enthusiasts. Request to be added and then join the conversation!
I'd especially love to see your before and after pictures for your personal care cleanup! If you use the hashtag, we may even share your posts on Instagram and Facebook!
