Self-care for your external self.

This is something that I’m sure many women are more familiar with. Taking care of ourselves usually means what other people see and what we see when we look at ourselves.

At this point, hopefully you have an understanding of how important our inner health is. Feeling good mentally and emotionally can have a massive effect on our physical well-being.

You know when you’re stressed and run-down, your skin is the first to throw its toys out of the cot. You break out, you can get dry and dull patches on skin, some women end up looking washed out and grey, any number of issues can present externally when our internal health is compromised.

But, when your mental and emotional health is doing well because you’ve taken the time to listen to your body and what it needs and you’ve taken the time to work on your own sense of self, your outer self can shine.

Haven’t you noticed that when you feel good and I mean really feel good, you look good too? Inner happiness and a sense of well-being is definitely visible on the outside.

You know that saying “love the skin you’re in”, it sounds corny but you can love the skin you have.

Three tips on the best ways to look after skin:

1. Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse. Best suggestion is a double cleanse. First to wash off the day. Second cleanse to really work into the skin to wash away any impurities or excess oil. This would be the time to add in an exfoliator or mask. Once or twice a week depending on your skin type.

2. Moisturise. Always moisturise. Even the oily skin gals (hello to myself here). When you cleanse, you strip away the oil barrier from your skin. So, your skin goes into sebum overproduction to compensate the loss which is why us oily skin gals feel worse after an amazing cleanse. Moisturise and thank me later.

3. SPF50+. New Zealand has some of the worst UV effects from September to April each year (Sunsmart NZ). In addition, we also have some of the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world according the Ministry of Health. Wearing sunscreen on your face – every day. Trust me. Your skin will thank you for it.

Extra tip: Your skin is your largest organ. Your face is taking most of the care but don’t forget about your neck, décolletage and even your legs. Moisturise those bad boys too. Your whole body needs love and attention. It’s ok to forget, your skin is awfully forgiving. Just try to incorporate it into your daily routine.

– Side note, our 3 tips are standard info. Women who experience adult acne, or cystic acne or various other skin conditions may not benefit from these tips and probably have their own self-care routine. That’s totally cool, let us know if you have any other skin care tips.

We’re not experts in self-care by any means but we are mostly women and we understand how neglected our own selves can be. It’s important for us to remember that we’re allowed to be down. We’re allowed to be up. We’re allowed to experience every emotion under the sun and we’re allowed our bad days because even when there’s rain, the sun will follow.

Self-care is both inside and out. Taking care of your mental health and well-being will help your emotional health. When these two are in line, your outer self that you present to the world each day will shine. Self-care is about taking time for you, to focus on you and be the best you, inside and out.

Our bodies do tremendous things, from growing lives in them, to caring for others, to carrying the loads in our families and being present all day, every day. Take care of yourself and the rest will follow.