Self Care

Embrace being a woman! The essence of femininity is in all of us girls. Some of us love it, some of us push it away. Some of us are naturally more girly than others and either way its fine. We don't need to be over the top girly girly who's world falls about when we break a nail. But I also think we should stop pushing away 'being a girl' and some of the negative connotations even us as 'girls' perpetuate (cry like a girl, she's being such a girl etc). It may not be all of us women, but we are more emotional, we do like to talk it out, we are more affectionate. We don't have to become more 'like men' to be successful in our personal or professional lives.

For me, part of embracing my femininity is pampering myself and doing things that make me feel good. I'm not talking about deep issues of body image or working on becoming an impossibly perfect physical specimen. I'm talking about hair, nails and pampering!

These things are the little actions that make me feel fabulous and therefore I walk with my head high, and yes, it does cost money and is not a necessity in the grand scheme of things, but the benefit these things give me totally outweigh their costs (and I make sure I keep the costs down - I personally don't feel comfortable getting a $300 haircut, though there is nothing wrong if people do!).

So the things I make sure are in my routine (and I sometimes use them as rewards for working towards a goal successfully) are:

• Manicure and Pedicure - I really suck at doing my own nails, I get the paint all over my skin and I can't do the cuticle thing myself. So I go every month or two to a nail salon and get my fingers and toes done. I love the massage I get as well and I love the happy colours on my nails, often going for a salmon or bright red. Yay! I'm still trying to find what my favourite colour is - but I usually choose out of the OPI range.
  
• Hair - I don't really do too much. I have a wonderful hairdresser in Chinatown that gives me a great $70 haircut that lasts up to 6 months. Just the process of the shampoo and head massage and walking out like I've just left a hair salon (which I have) is an amazing feeling. Then, because I'm lucky enough to be a brunette, I just get a home hair dye kit and get a friend to paint on my colour. Almost any colour will do (I hope I'm not giving any heart attacks to hairdressers!!)
• Massage - I've not been too good an regularly scheduling these because I was feeling guilty about spending money on a massage. But I'm getting over that! I know I feel so much better when I've had one. So I will indulge...thai? swedish? We'll see!
  
• Face Masks & Hair Treatments - I've put it in my routine to do a facemask at home every week together with a hair treatment. I've started wanting to make my own, because they are quite easy to do. I'd just want to see the results before I stick with making them myself. In the meantime I'm using a green face mask that smells divine from Maja. I do feel sorry for the Man when I come to bed with a green face!
• Waxing - we all know how good the results are!
  

Enjoy some self care. Don't break the bank. Small actions big benefits. Enjoy.

Make it as you wish SSSs!
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