FALLING OFF THE SKINCARE WAGON
Life happens. In fact, being able to constantly prioritize your skincare routine is a privilege. Being invested in your beauty regime does have a powerful self-care factor tied to it but let’s be honest with each other, sometimes it just does not happen. And it’s okay! We all have different ways to self-care and to assume that we automatically mean that we are loving ourselves just because we put on a face mask and sat in a bubble bath is to fall for marketing gimmicks of the beauty industry.
Now I will speak for myself. I attached my beauty regime to self-care ages ago but it is only with maturity and discipline that I have been able to make it a rock-solid thing. So the act of falling off the skincare wagon is somewhat foreign to me. I could not imagine not doing my skincare and the rest of my beauty routine ( once again, privilege, which I am very grateful for) especially if I was down in the dumps! But I am that kind of skincare influencer who loves to put herself in the shoes of those who seek her advice. I hope to inspire you to find your ‘why’ and give you some possible ideas that will help you create the perfect solution for you!
So let’s get into the ‘why’!
The cost of beauty. Now more than ever, the zombie apocalypse has shown us that sources of income can disappear in the flash of the eye. Beauty is one of those things that immediately suffers when one’s budget is compromised. AND IT’S OKAY. Don’t shame yourself about the matter. Even worse, don’t get into debt because of a 60£ cleanser. It is never that serious. Thinking out of the box and simplifying your routine will ensure that money does not stop you from satisfying your beauty needs!
A lack of true discipline in your skincare routine. Once again, I am not here to shame you but I know some folks are simply not that committed and will simply fall off the skincare wagon just cause. If your skincare routine is really important to you, know that consistency and discipline are actually an integral part of the efficiency of your routine. You have got to ask yourself why you are not committed to it. Be brave enough to ask yourself if this is really even for you. The investment in beautifying the body is not for everyone and I repeat, it's okay! I call this the shadow work of beauty. ( A topic I should address in a blog post...Wait for me. LOL )
Life. As this blog post started, life happens! Outside circumstances, whether we have control of them or not, throw off the most disciplined. You may be having house renovations, survived a flood, surviving the zombie apocalypse, or even sadly suffered a loss in your life such as a breakup or a death. Once again, it’s okay. Being human comes with curveballs. Sometimes we can swerve a curveball and stay the course, sometimes it hits us bad and we lose our routines to the wind.
How we process our mental, physical and emotional states. As I said, self-care is intrinsically tied to the pursuit of beauty and sometimes we just don't feel beautiful. Our minds may be confused, our bodies sick and our hearts hurting. And NOT EVERYONE has attached their beauty ways to their healing ways. I repeat, the beauty industry has cleverly found a way to shame us into thinking if we are not buying or using a beauty product in the name of soothing self, then we are doing it wrong. A lie! We all have different ways of soothing ourselves. For me it’s pampering myself, getting bear hugs from Mr. Lyons, and eating beautiful food..Oh and journaling. For others, it's just being or sleeping for long periods or consuming mind-numbing media. As someone who has also had her fair share of dark times, my beauty routines have been anchors in moments of insanity. The routine of them soothes me and feeds my need to control something at that moment. If this is not you, it's okay. You do what you need to do. Our skin is intelligent enough to sort itself out. Everything we do to it is simply a matter of supporting it to function at its best.
Now here are some simple tips for when you are ready to get back on the skincare wagon!
Start SIMPLE. Start with some great cleansing and moisturization of the skin. We honestly forget the power of simplicity sometimes. The skin thrives so well when you cleanse it perfectly and moisturize it well in accordance with your skin type! Take into consideration how long you have been off the skincare wagon. If it has been a considerable amount of time, keep things simple for at least 21 days. If it has been for a short time, then 10 days or so. I suggest simplicity also to give you time to get back into the routine of things.
Add hydration into the skin too, if you desire. Our skin is made up of lots of water so of course, it loves some hydration. Hydrating the skin supports the moisture barrier so you may find that some superficial breakouts you had to begin to disappear. ( Not all breakouts are acne. Some are a symptom of dehydrated skin) Find hydration through gentle hydrating toners, serums, essences, and ampoules.
After this time period of simple skincare, you may begin to address your skin concerns. Whether it be dryness, dehydration or hyperpigmentation, you may now bring in active ingredients such as chemical exfoliation and retinol back it into your routine. I suggest this gentle re-introduction as the skin may have been without actives for a while and we need to reduce the possibilities of shocking the skin into break-out mode.
Hope that helps, my darling! And remember, this beauty business is not ‘do or die’. I feel like it is such a personal journey so honour your beauty story, no matter what stage it is in.