Your best self care tips and advice

[MintheMiddle]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this but with juggling nursing exams and uni alongside home life and general day to day tasks, my self care and mental health seems to take a dip.
I’ve made appointments at the hairdressers for the next few months and made a promise to myself that I need to start looking after my skin more but what do you all do when you’re feeling a bit groggy and in need of a pick me up?

Unfortunately I have tried on many occasions to take anti depressants with little luck and always feel so unwell but my mental health seems to affect my lack of taking care of myself and this makes my mental health worse so it's a bit of a circle that I keep going round.

Any advice please would be brilliant

This is tough and I understand this feeling really well. I try to do little things that makes me feel and look better rather than save it all up as it then sometimes feels too much. I have moved my showers to the evening for example rather than rush them in the morning and I lock myself in the bathroom and cleanse my face properly, rub my feet with a foot file, etc. I leave my hair conditioner in as I shower, scrub, shave, cleanse, file etc to give it longer to work. Then as I come out of the shower I put on a foot cream and moisturiser socks, eye cream, face cream, cream hands, elbows, knees etc then clean PJ's. I am pretending that I am washing the day and my worries away if that makes sense (sounds silly I know). This tiny change (ie shower in the evening rather than morning) has meant that I have been able to put these little things in place to look after myself. On a Sunday I have a routa so one Sunday I will give myself a pedicure, the next tint my eyebrows and eyelashes, the third use my laser hair removal thingy, etc. So once a week I'll do something that takes slightly longer.

I do my makeup as I drink my first coffee in the morning, I usually get about 10 minutes before the boys wake up and those 10 minutes really set me up for the day. Its just me, my coffee and I put some makeup on. It helps me feel serene and together before the chaos starts. I don't use much, a tinted spf, eyebrow pencil, bronzer and a lipbalm with a hint of colour in it. Takes 3 minutes but makes me feel so much better.

I drink too much coffee, not enough water, I eat pretty poorly at the moment and I don't exercise. I have a really long way to go but the above is a small start.

Yoga always makes me feel better. If I can get to a class then great (and I've found getting outside or any change of surroundings makes a huge difference if I need a boost) but there are loads of videos online even if you can only spare 10-15 minutes- Yoga With Adrienne is popular and very beginner friendly.

Also yy to all the faffy beauty stuff 😊