I have to tell you I wrote this post back on Tuesday but the back end of my blog went crazy and just when I clicked “save draft” I lost the entire post. Feeling defeated I gave up on rewriting the post that night so I had to wait until Thursday. Anyways here it is. P.s. If you didn’t catch my first post click here to read before moving on to this one.
Since having Alder (6 months ago!!!) I have really been focusing on myself and my needs because with two children it’s too easy to get wrapped up in just them all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children but I have learned that to be a great mom I also need to take care of myself. I started with getting Birchbox because honestly I didn’t have any idea what to buy myself so I figured I’d start with samples and it has really helped me to become more familiar with different self-care products before investing a ton of money into them.
Since starting with Birchbox, I have really hit my stride and started to find products that work for me. I haven’t settled into one specific brand and have really been enjoying learning about new and different beauty and self care products. I am also learning about so many different products that I had no idea about, I mean who knew that using oil to take off makeup is a thing or that other oils can actually help balance your pH to help PREVENT breakouts. I’ve really taken this head on and I am really loving taking time for and taking care of myself. I am lucky to have a husband who humors me as I enthusiastically talk about all the new things that I have learned and I even convinced him to get his own Birchbox.
More important than learning about all kinds of new products, I have really learned a lot about myself. I can’t tell you how amazing just washing my face and putting a moisturizer on in the morning and at night can make me feel. I have been taking 10-15 minutes per day to focus on my skincare and I just feel so much better and I recharge myself at night and prepare myself for the day ahead in the morning. I know it sounds crazy but I honestly haven’t done even these little things for myself in ….ever? I know it’s terrible but I have always been one of those people who washes their face in the shower and you could maybe find me using a makeup wipe on the rare occasion but 9 times out of 10, I would just go to sleep with my makeup on.
Speaking of makeup, I have really started to get into wearing it again. When I was in college and in my early 20’s I used to wear makeup regularly but over the past few years I haven’t worn any. It’s not because I am anti-makeup but because I haven’t wanted to invest any time or money into it. I’m going to say this upfront, I wear makeup for ME. I like taking a few minutes for myself and putting on a little makeup and just feeling put together and just a bit of better version of myself. I don’t wear it for anyone else or to hide me, I just like to highlight my best features and it feels good.
On place I recognize that I really need to improve is with my clothing. Seriously, this is my biggest self care flaw and it is something that bothers me every week. My husband is so put together and always looks great. I, on the other hand, just look like a hot mess. I have the hardest time buying clothes for my postpartum body, regardless of what I tell myself. I have bought myself some clothes and have received some as gifts for my birthday but overall I haven’t really invested much into new clothes and am down to about 15 total items that fit. I am feeling frumpy and blah but it’s so hard to invest in a size you don’t want to be and know you won’t stay in. So my goal for this Spring is to complete my race that I am currently training for and I am going to do a Spring/Summer shopping spree after the race in mid-May.
So what does this mean for RWT? I plan on sharing more skincare and beauty of RWT. This will not be the focus of RWT by any means but I think that it is an important part of living a healthy life. It’s taken me years to realize this and I want to share what I am learning and what works for me, with you. I don’t want to oversaturate RWT or my RWT Instagram with skincare and beauty so I have created a separate account @runwithbeauty.
Giveaway
Let’s kick off this new adventure with a giveaway of some of my favorite items as of late. I have curated this box filled with some samples that a few lovely companies have sent me and a few items (for one, the Tata Harper samples) that I purchased. This box will be sent by me. Giveaway is open to US residents only.
Pretty simple: wash, moisturize, mask every once in awhile, exfoliate once in awhile
Honestly, my routine sounds a lot like yours (or what yours was)–washing my face in the shower, rarely taking off makeup, and not wearing much more than mascara, mostly because I don’t really know what to wear/use or how to wear/use it! I have recently started thinking that I need to start caring more and learning more!
I used to do the same thing you did — go to sleep with makeup on and wash my face in the shower, but I recently started making it a priority to wash my face before bedtime because I think it is a part of healthy living, too. Now I wash and moisturize morning and night. I exfoliate twice a week and use an eye and lip cream morning and night, as well.
And how do you feel now that you do that? I know I just feel so much better! Good for you for taking time to do these things for yourself!
What a cool giveaway box.
I’m not even sure if my routine even counts as a routine. I wash my face with water in the shower and then I use ‘Eau Roma Water’ toner by Lush. Occasionally I’ll do a Cupcake face mask from Lush. That’s all I seem to have time for these days. 🙁
I haaaaaaaaate losing posts like that. My sympathies!
My skincare routine hasn’t been perfected yet, as I still have teenage skin (acne, ugh) even though I’m almost 30. I usually cleanse, use some sort of treatment, and moisturize. Eye cream too. In the evenings I use retinol and remove makeup with cleansing water before washing.
http://www.divaandthedivine.com
I always make sure to remove my makeup at night, moisturize before bed and each morning, and wear sunscreen even during winter months. My favorite brands are NUDE Skincare and bareMinerals. Thank you so much for the giveaway!
I get birchbox, too and I love it. The best part is the points you can get for use in the birchbox store. Plus, I never have to buy lip gloss, balm or mascara! Your giveaway box looks great! I love a well curated box!
Shew, I need to do a better job of skin care, always. I am also trying to get back into wearing a bit of make-up for the same reasons that you describe. It’s hard when you work outside and are active to make that extra time to put on make-up when you are actually going to around people.
I love using my neutrogena deep cleanser in the mornings followed by a salicylic acid cleanser.