I, myself, am headed back to school, but have a couple more weeks before classes start.
Just like the little kids, I have to do some "getting ready" for back to school. Yesterday was my salon day. I am terrible about taking time to do things for myself that I enjoy relating to my looks.
I am pretty good about getting a regular pedicure every 6 weeks or so, because I just really like having pretty toes, and the expense is fairly low. I find it to be *reasonable* to spend the money for pretty toes, whereas regular hair cuts and manicures seem less *reasonable* of an expense, to me.
I don't get regular manicures because I am pretty hard on my nails and regular polish just doesn't last. Usually within about 5 minutes of leaving the salon my nails are smudged or chipped. And they go down hill quickly from there. That makes a typical manicure VERY unreasonable for me, dollar wise. I have come up with some mediocre solutions over the years, like when I do get a manicure I just get clear polish or very, very light or sheer colors. That way, when the inevitable chipping and smudging happens, it is much less noticeable.
I have had acrylics in the past; I don't care for them.
I had used Gelac "shellac" gel polish earlier this year, but it really tore up my nails, made them very thin, caused them to split down the middle and made them exceptionally sensitive to warm water. I got them taken off and it took months for my nails to return to normal. Not a good solution for me. If you aren't familiar with the shellac gel polish, it really is impressive. It is a gel that is cured to your nail under a UV light. They claim that the polish will stay on your nails and not chip for 2-3 weeks!
I found this claim to be somewhat true. My nails stayed chip free for 5-6 days (which is about a 100% improvement over regular polish, upping the cost benefit greatly), but on MY nails, specifically my ring finger on my right hand, the polish would just start to peel off after about 5 or 6 days. Other nails would start to do so to a lesser extent within a few days. Some nails never chipped or peeled off.
As for haircuts, well my hair is pretty straight, and fine. I generally wear it long and in the same style (except last year when I went crazy and chopped it all off!) Because it is just "long and straight" for the most part, and I don't get horrible split ends or frizz or anything like that, I don't feel like spending $50-$100 bucks on a "shampoo, cut and style" is really worth it. My hair looks pretty much the same long, longer or longeeer. So I don't head off to the salon more than a couple times a year. My stylist is mortified, I assure you! lol!
I also don't typically color my hair much. One, my hair is what I consider to be a pretty brown that suits my skin tone, eyes, etc. Sometimes I will get some highlights, like last year when I went crazy, I got some blonde highlights. Turns out I don't care for them. They make me feel like I look old. Not fun. Two, maintaining haircolor and highlights to avoid the tacky grow out and roots is too much work for me. I do not want to HAVE to go to the salon every 4-6 weeks or whatever to get a "touch up". That is just TOO much maintenance and cost, for me.
So, having said all that, when I DO go to the salon and spend the day, I usually really enjoy it, and I am usually not bothered by the expense. If I spend $200 at the salon once a year...well...that seems to be a reasonable expense spread out over the year.
I am what you would call low maintenance. HA!
So, yesterday was my salon day. I spent about 4.5 hours at the salon. It was great. It was a lovely afternoon. I got my gel toes done, a pedicure, a manicure (with a new brand of "shellac" from OPI-we'll see how that goes), then I got my hair fixed up. It has finally grown out from the chop off to a stage where I could get it all one length. I had her get rid of the blonde highlights by covering them with a copper mahogany highlight. It is very subtle...but just enough to give a little dimension. I like it! It is not back to "long" status yet, but at least there is some style! I also had some eyebrow and lip maintenance done.
I feel all fresh and sparkly and sassy with my sparkly toes and pretty nails and fun hair!
The point of all this is to remind each of us that taking the time to do these little things for ourselves is important! It is a great mood booster. It can be very relaxing..especially the spa pedicure! :-)
Taking time for ourselves is often lost in the daily to-do's, the kids, the lunches, the homework, the dogs, the husband, the house, the laundry, the bills, the soccer practice....where do WE fit in?
We MUST find the time to ourselves. We must find a way to take a few minutes, or an hour, to fulfill our own selves. We are not the 100% awesome person we can be if we do not do this.
Do not feel guilty!
Your kids take time for themselves. Your husband takes time for himself. You NEED to take time for yourself!
What is the THING that you would do if you had an hour a week to do whatever you wanted?
Read a book? Take a bath? Meditate? Exercise (because you WANT to, not because you are fat)? Meet friends? Get a pedicure? Sew? Craft? Cook (for pleasure!)?
Taking time to refresh my look, get a little massage-y foot rub, get a little sparkle on my fingers and toes, really helps to create a positive outlook for me. It helps regenerate my soul.
What is the thing you would do if you were going to take time for you??
Tell me in the comments.
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