Self-care and self-esteem

I’ve recently taken up an interest in skincare. I’m not quite sure what prompted this interest, perhaps it had always been in the back of my mind just waiting for a spark of motivation to take action.

Even my previous attempts to get involved were stumped by the overwhelming long chemical names such as niacinamide, retinol, hyaluronic acid etc. It seemed like a task that required a lot of energy from me to research what ingredients went well together, and what to use in the morning or night. But as the days went by, I began to become dissatisfied with the state of my skin, and the urge to take action became stronger.

It wasn’t easy to get started, but after consulting some friends and internet researching, I slowly gathered a few products. The initial excitement made me look forward to me evening when I’d developed my own “night-time routine.” Even after the excitement had died down, I still look forward to getting ready for bed. I found it to be a time that signals the end of a long day of work, where showering felt like physically removing the built-up stress, anxious thoughts and burdens from the day. A time when, because it was the end of the day, I knew I didn’t need to think about work until the next day and only had to focus on myself.

Taking physical actions towards taking care of myself affirmed my feelings of being looked after and cared for with each skin care product delicately applied to my face. It was almost as if I was subconsciously showing myself that I’m worthy of being treated with care by taking out the time from my day to solely focus on myself and my needs. 

Even after a couple of days of this night routine, I remember thinking the next morning about how glad I was to have spent that time yesterday because my skin looked clearer. Looking back now, it was probably a placebo rather than a miracle product with instant effects! But what I do know for sure is that I am kinder to my body as I take small steps towards developing that confidence to take care of myself.

What’s something you like to do to take care of your physical and mental self?