Get Unready With Me: The Key to Perfecting Your Self-Care Routine
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
Here’s the ultimate guide to unwind, decompress, and chill out. I know your FYP is infiltrated with “Get Unready with Me” videos with twenty different skincare products, a fancy bathroom, and a thirty-step routine. While this may be controversial, these routines are highly unrealistic for some and can even be overwhelming to try and replicate. While I’m all for a nighttime routine that makes me feel good and calms me down, I think there are plenty more practices to unwind that are less expensive and more realistic for an everyday basis.
Do you ever feel stuck in a rut scrolling on TikTok for hours and the next thing you know it’s 2 a.m.? Ironically, you’re likely watching videos of influencers doing their intricate morning/night routines and you suddenly feel like you need to get up at 6 a.m., go to Pilates, and gua sha your face like the rest of your FYP. This leads to a constant cycle of scrolling and comparing yourself to others, leading you to skip an unwinding nighttime routine and increase your screen time by the week.
The first thing to recognize about perfecting a nighttime regimen is that it’s not about having the nicest products, longest routine, or perfect bathroom, but it’s more about finding what distracts you from your constant rotation of thoughts. If decompressing means going to Sephora and getting new products to add to your routine, go for it. It’s all about experimenting to reach your ideal routine. Routine should be taken loosely when I mention these practices because although we’d like to think that we will stick to the same routine every day, that’s not always the case. There’s comfort in knowing exactly what you can do to pick yourself up after a long day without feeling the pressure of doing it every day.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
I’ll never stop talking about replacing scrolling on your phone with a book as the first advancement in your routine. While I know books aren’t for everyone, I’ve found that a good book always takes me into a new world where I can escape reality and experience something new. If your thoughts often spiral before bed and you feel like you need an escape, a good book can cure that. If not a book, maybe it’s the Daily Wordle, your favorite blogger, or a podcast. Opening the book or starting the podcast is often the hardest part but you’ll never know what works until you try it.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
Another thing you could try is journaling. The key to journaling is not sticking to a prompt or trying to force yourself to do it daily, but just using it as a brain vomit to express whatever is stuck in your mind. Sometimes to release built-up stress from the day, you have to face it head-on. Journaling is another form of escape where you can let your mind speak freely without limitations or worry of misinterpretation. The reason I suggest journaling is because there are no instructions. You could scribble on the page and talk about what you think that means, you could talk about your day, or you could write down everything you want to say to someone but haven’t.
Sometimes it’s just baking that sweet treat, going to a friend’s house, drinking a glass of wine, or watching your favorite show. While we will always have our staple nighttime routines of brushing our teeth, taking our contacts out, and all the basics, the best part is exploring different practices that may become a new staple or just make you feel better on the hard days.
Strike Out,
Writer: Bella Ferretti
Editor: Cristina Angee
Tallahassee