Journal 48 Spring Beautifying

This spring I feel a desire to spring clean myself.

I take a very simple approach to beauty. If I stay physically and mentally healthy, I think I look okay. Sometimes I get in the mood to do something extra, like exfoliate my skin or receive a massage.

I like to do health-based beauty things that use only simple tools or products, or none at all. For example, body brushing is done with a brush, but a brush is simple tool, and you can do it with a similar tool.

Another thing I am in the mood to do is repair my cuticles. I’m not very girly and I rarely feel the desire to paint my nails. But cuticles are important because the area between the nail and the finger is one of the most permeable areas of the body, so I want to repair mine. My hands and nails get bad from daily life, so I never understood how girls can maintain nail polish for longer than a few hours.

Moving upwards, my hands really are super bad. By the end of winter, I am surprised I even have hands left, instead of nubs. Gatekeeping is so stupid. I only recently learned that there is a difference between lotion and cream. Lotion never helped me and I hated being greasy. So much so that I thought of an antonym: skid. In a sentence: “I like to be skid.”

But if your skin is so bad that you need to apply something, cream is denser and richer, and is more likely to contain urea, an ingredient that actually helps heal your skin. It burns when you put it on very damaged skin, but that’s how you know it’s working.

Then there is my hair. I have dreams of going to a nice hair stylist who can help me. But I worry that I won’t be able to communicate what I want. I wish I could just talk to them before they pick up the scissors. I would pay the same amount just to talk to them and ask questions like, “What will go with my face shape?” and “What will work if I don’t want to apply product every day?”

Besides beautifying myself, I’m also looking forward to cleaning and decorating my surroundings. Last autumn I got into seasonal decor. I have a weakness for textiles– they make me so happy. I put them in areas I see and use often. I love changing my sheets and duvet cover. And cushion covers. And recently, I’ve also gotten into tablecloths.

I enjoyed sharing with you!

Please enjoy your spring rituals!

Asya