I’ve written a lot over the past year about how I miss things from my old life that were a part of a regular routine. Some of these things were related to going out or my workouts. And some of them were related to self-care. At times, I was embarrassed about how much I missed some of my self-care routines. I know it’s not that important to have my hair done or to get a pedicure, but those are things that make me feel like myself or bring me joy. And not having them has been hard, especially when compounded with everything else that’s been going on in our world this past year.
There are plenty of self-care routines that I’m still putting off for a little while. As much as I miss pedicures, I can wait longer before I go in for one. This isn’t just for my own safety and health (even though I’m vaccinated, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to be careful), but also for the safety and health of the employees at the salon. And I’m still waiting on getting waxed even though I know the waxer I go to is working again. For me, waxing isn’t just a vanity thing but one of the only safe hair removal options for my upper legs with my autoimmune condition. Shaving can actually be very painful and cause issues with my skin, so I avoid it when I can. I know there are other options besides waxing (there is a chance that laser hair removal could partially be covered by insurance and I’m planning on asking about that soon), so I can wait a little longer before going back to waxing. I don’t love having to wait, but it’s easier on me to wait on that than it is for me to wait on getting my hair cut or colored.
Getting my hair done this past year has been interesting. I know I don’t need to get it cut or colored, but it’s really hard on me when it’s not colored and my gray hair seems out of control. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was coloring my hair at home. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. And even though my hair was getting long and a bit scraggly, since I keep it away from my face at home it didn’t bother me too much. There have been times where I really didn’t pay attention to how long my hair got until it seemed almost out of control. But I would just put it back in a clip and not think about it more than that.
I have slowly started to get back to having my hair done more professionally. I’ve been back to a salon once when there weren’t many people around (and we were masked) and I went to my friend’s house to have her do my hair as well. I waited a bit longer than normal between those appointments, but that was partially due to feeling like it was a bit of a risk going even with all the precautions because I wasn’t vaccinated. But now that I’m vaccinated, it’s a little less stressful for me to think about getting my hair done with my friend at her house.
So last week, I got my hair done again. It was at her house again and we were masked, so it felt like we were keeping things as safe as we could. This time, it was a cut and color so I feel even more like myself. I didn’t do anything drastic even though I’m tempted to do so. I just wanted to have my hair look like me again. And that’s exactly what I got to do when I had my hair done. And not only did I have a boost in my mental health from having my hair done and feeling like myself, but I also got to have hangout time with a friend which is something else I don’t get to do that often!
I know that I’ve always appreciated having my hair done or doing any other self-care things I have done in the past. It’s a privilege having the time and money to do these things. And I live somewhere that makes it easy for me to find places to go for different appointments. But I appreciate any self-care thing I can do even more right now. It feels so special to have the chance to do them. I’m so grateful I have ways to go and still feel safe. And I’m grateful that I am working again so I have the money to spend on things like this.
I can’t wait until I can add my other self-care things back to my life again and I hope it will happen soon. But we don’t know when things will be better, so it’s just something I will have to wait and see. But I continue to feel like things are improving each day and that we are only getting closer to what feels like normal.
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Working On Self-Care (or Continuing To Try To Fill My Day)
Self-Care Is So Important (or At-Home Beauty)
Doing Some Skincare Basics (or Slowly Changing My Self-Care Routine)
Continuing To Get Back To Me (I Needed My Hair Done!)
Feeling A Bit More Like Me (or A Little Bit Of Pampering)
Bringing More Good Things To Me And Others (or Happiness and Self-Care)
