Why 2024 Is My Year For Self-Care

2024 is my year for self-care. For me, self-care is all about taking the time to make myself feel and look beautiful and happy. I’ve been trying to spend one night a week dedicated to self-care. It becomes a night purely dedicated to relaxing and putting myself back together after a very busy week. In this crazy world we live in, where we consume so much information through the news or social media, we work long hours to get ahead, and we push our bodies through tough Pilates classes and green juices to stay healthy, sometimes we just need some downtime to recharge and look after ourselves. 

I really do look forward to my self-care nights, thinking carefully about what food I want to order from Uber Eats, or what Netflix show I want to watch. I’ll also consider what I can do to make myself feel my best, or get myself ready for the busy week ahead. I also like to accomplish some administrative tasks, such as book that car service I’ve been meaning to do for over a month, file my tax return, or buy that dress that’s been sitting in my shopping cart for the past few days. This part is the mental self-care, where I can tick some things off my mental list I’ve been keeping track of for the last couple of days. It makes me feel organised and that I do actually have my life together, and this starts to lift my mood and overall happiness. 

 I start off by clearing my night schedule, and then I give my room a quick tidy up so my mind can reflect the space and feel decluttered. I then light some candles, select a spotify playlist, set out the agenda for the night and I’m already on my way to feeling like my life is coming back together. The pre-game is the everything shower. An everything shower is exactly what you think it would be… it includes everything. I wash my hair, not forgetting the double shampoo and treatment, I shave my whole body, scrubbing and exfoliating off either an old tan or dead skin, and then I finish up with a gentle facial. Once out of the shower, the night is my oyster, as I go on to use all of my beauty products, somehow making it worth the purchase. 

For those nights when I want to tan, this is the moment to reapply a fresh new coat. And at this point I may even perform an entire 16 step facial routine, not forgetting that AHAs and BHAs cannot be used in conjunction with retinol.  One step I’ve now added into the agenda is tanning my face, and this is where Goldee Bee really comes in handy. It can be applied over the skincare I’ve already painstakingly applied or straight onto bare skin. Finishing out the beauty routine, I’m filing and polishing nails, moisturising my whole body, applying foot cream, whitening my teeth and tweezing my eyebrows. The finale is now approaching as I make myself a decaf coffee or tea and put myself into bed with The O.C whilst I play mindless games on my phone (or scroll through Tik Tok). 

So if you haven’t scheduled a self-care in the last couple of weeks, you’re overdue. Because once you do one, you can never go back. And you know that once you wake up the next day, you’ll be feeling and looking incredible. So go ahead, and clear your schedule. You deserve it.