If you’re like me, you’re currently on your whatever month (because who is counting at this point) of The Great Confinement. It’s not over yet! So I’m sharing my ways to stay fabulous…while staying home and staying safe.
If you read between the lines, you’ll see that it’s all really about feeling fabulous. And we could all use some more good feelings right now, especially during these tough late winter months.
Photo at top: Yes, I’m the type of person who bullet journals my lipstick colors, just for a little background on me.
1. Tear into those free beauty samples. You know the ones.
If you’re anything like me, you have a basket of samples from Sephora, Nordstrom, or other online orders. Now is the time to use those samples! Sort them in categories — cleanse, treat, moisturize, fragrance — and try a different product from each category. This way you give yourself a mini spa experience each day. Like, what else are you saving them for?
It has some long term benefits too: By the time this is over (whenever that is), you’ll know what beauty products work, and what you never have to try again.
Related: Zenmed’s cult-favorite skin care products: I tried, I tested, I have some thoughts…
2. Create a signature look of the day
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No I’m not joking, makeup fans. I actually do this — choose a look of the day and just go for it. Be it a winged liner, glitter brows, a non-traditional bold lip. (Above, I’m wearing “Total Attitude” by Jennifer Bradley because she sends me lots of stuff to try and I love it).
Whatever your look, you’d better COMMIT. I don’t care if you’re not a 14-year-old TikTok makeup artist, you can do this and you will.
(And if you ask me, everyone in your family commits too; I wanna see that toddler with a strong brow. Let me see your SO with a perfect ombre lip. Is your teen acting up? They can’t stay mad when they are rocking feathery false eyelashes, with or without rhinestones.)
Related: We bought an at-home gel manicure kit to try out. Here’s how it went.
3. Behold, Baby Foot!
You’re not going anywhere in the next two weeks, and probably not anywhere that requires open toed shoes, so NOW is the time to experience The Experience that is Baby Foot. Your feet are going to peel. Maybe in huge chunks. It will be wild. You may want to photograph it — and you may or may not want to share those photographs. But you will emerge from lockdown with the softest feet in the neighborhood and that is worth something.
PS Liz announced her first attempt to use Baby Foot on Twitter, and ended up with a whole online Baby Foot support group. Following their collective journey is hilarious.
4. Enjoy that fancy soap stash you’re saving for no good reason
Photo: Sincerely Media on Unsplash
If you all are anything like me, you have a collection of artisan soaps in your bathroom that have been waiting for their moment. Well now
is that moment.
All of those fancy soaps you’ve bought on a whim, or received in a spa box, or stole from a hotel room (not judging) are finally going to get some use. They can change your boring shower into something a little special, or just use them at the sink, since we’re all washing our hands more than usual.
I have pear soap, and glitter apple soap, and donut soap, and macaron soap, and popsicle soap, and mango soap, and a soap that is some kind of glow-in-the-dark ghost. I plan to use them all.
And hey, if you find a shower gel or shampoo sample you don’t like that’s been just sitting there, give it to the kids and let it be their “special magic soap.” YOU GET A SOAP, YOU GET A SOAP, EVERYONE GETS A SOAP.
Related: Let’s reframe how we talk about self-care. These terms are better.
5. Have yourself a full-body spa day.
Photo by Brad Pearson on Unsplash
Got more than a few minutes to spare? I say, if you’re going to do Baby Foot, you’re going to try out some new creams, you might as well just set aside an hour or two and tend to your entire body.
Use Korean scrubbing mitts or bath washcloths to exfoliate. Make an easy DIY coffee scrub (I just mix up some coffee grounds, sugar, and oil) to get all those rough spots soft. Light some favorite scented candles, and use allllll of your favorite products. Pets optional.
Basically it comes to this:
DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. IT IS YOUR SPA DAY AND YOU ARE A QUEEN.
Don’t you forget it.
6. Play a round of “What’s On My Butt”
This is a game that I picked up in a fantastic mom’s group I’m in (shout out to my HENS). It’s simple: Lie on your stomach, and someone else in your household puts something on your butt… then the person lying down tries to guess “what’s on my butt?”
Oh, were you looking for a beauty hack? This is not that. But it will make you laugh, and that always makes you look and feel better.
I hope you all enjoy some of my suggestions. Everyone stay safe, stay fabulous, and wash your hands!
I have to try that What’s on My Butt Game lol