Self Care & Silver Linings
Self Care & Silver Linings
Self Care & Silver Linings
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There is no such thing as too much self-care. And now more than ever, as we're self-isolating at home due to the corona virus pandemic, we all need to take good care of ourselves. The world is under pressure, so we rounded up a few of the many ways you can relieve a little from yourself. Maybe you’ve heard it all before, but there’s something soothing about just reading a list of soothing things to do. Do what you want because you feel like it, appreciate others, seek out the beautiful. Be in the moment.

AQUIS Founder Britta Cox sat down with Ada Polla of Swiss skincare line Alchimie Forever to talk about self-care and silver linings. Revel in their favorite rituals and add some of your own.


ADA'S LIST

  • Step outside and breathe in fresh air. I try to spend part of every day outdoors, for my mental and emotional well-being.
  • Exercise 3-5 times a week. It has a positive effect on my skin. Exercise activates blood circulation, it’s good for my mental state, and for my physique. Normally I’m a morning exerciser but had a challenging day and decided to go for an evening run. I needed to shift my mental state and sometimes to do that I have to engage my body and shift my physical state.
  • Mask it up. I sleep with the K18Peptide™ Masque overnight. It's so good for your hair and amazing at mending split ends. 
    • Hand and feet love. I’ve been using cuticle oil like crazy. None of us are getting manicures or pedicures so I’m doing my own thing. I love Aveda foot and hand relief in addition to Alchimie Dry Skin Balm.

    • Full body scrub. When we’re young our dead skin cells naturally fall off. As we age, those natural processes get a little lazier and don’t function as well. The older you get the more important it is for you to help your body naturally shed dead skin cells. Be super gentle with the skin on your face and neckit’s delicate, but the body benefits from a good scrub. Always scrub against gravity, so from the feet up your legs, from the hands up your arms, it’s good for lymphatic drainage. I love the Aveda scrub that comes in a tub. It's a full-body exfoliator, oil based and quite gritty. 
    • Flowers. My husband brings flowers into the house. We’re in Louisiana right now and he brought in a magnolia from our tree.
    • Take baths. I’ve been taking baths almost every night which I don’t normally do. It feels so good for my head, and I love the feeling of weightlessness. 

    • Be mindful of what you eat and drink. What we eat and drink is reflected in our skin. I’m trying to eat extra healthfully, and be very diligent about going three days each week without alcohol. A trip to the fridge is the most tempting trip. My girlfriends and I joke about the COVID-19. I don’t want that.
    • Take care of others. The other aspect of self-care is care of others, your children, your spouse, your partner, care of people who can’t care for themselves.

      

    BRITTA'S LIST

    • Being in nature, moving and breathing deeply clears my mind and rejuvenates me. It’s also when my best ideas come, it’s when my subconscious and thoughts can float freely. 
    • Sleeping with the windows and doors open and breathing fresh air makes a big difference in how my skin looks and how well I sleep. It makes all the difference to feeling well-rested and fresh in the morning. 
    • Dry brushing. It’s a Swedish thing. Use a dry brush on dry skin, brushing towards your heart to keep lymphatic fluids and blood flowing to enhance circulation, remove toxins and keep skin healthy. Sunday is my self care day when I'll dry brush and exfoliate from head to toe before taking a nice soak in the tub, with a few drops of oil in the water to replenish moisture. 

    • Detox your scalp. The scalp also develops sebum build up. We have a wonderful Detoxifying Scalp and Hair Wash with charcoal. It cleanses deeply without stripping the hair of natural oils, and is pH balanced for the hair and scalp specifically.
    • Spend time in the garden. I love spending time in the garden which is abundant with life, learnings and miracles of nature. I’ve been a certified organic gardener for 14 years, living on almost two acres, which brings such joy. You can just step outside, close your eyes, and experience life and nature everywhere. It makes you appreciate and tune into the small things in life and be in the moment. 
    • Beauty is all about what we put inside. I saw my first aesthetician at age 21, she got me hooked on fish oils. All of the omegas they have are one of the best things you can do for your skin, hair, and mental clarity. And I eat smoked salmon as another source.

      • Drink water and tea to stay hydrated. Warm tea at night helps with digestion. Chrysanthemum tea is amazing for skin and reducing inflammation & the warm tea water is cleansing. 
      • Music. A good playlist can help you find your Zen, and completely change your mood. 

        

      SILVER LININGS 

      Our lives have changed dramatically over the past months, such a sudden shift in the daily routine can sometimes bring new and wonderful things. Britta and Ada share their silver linings.

      ADA: I’m grateful I can think of silver linings because not every one of us experiencing this pandemic is in the situation and has the privilege of thinking about silver linings. Just having silver linings in itself is something amazing. Having the chance to reconnect with friends that I haven’t had a chance to connect with in forever. Having that human connection when there is no human interaction, physically. And making new friends through digital connections. Time with my husband. Given our lifestyle we have never spent more than three weeks together at a time and we’ve been together for almost ten years. We are still very much in love and very happily married. From a work aspect, working on projects for the brand that are important but not urgent. These are the things I will remember as positive.

      BRITTA: This experience, as hard as it is, has allowed humanity to reset itself a bit and given people around the world the space to consider what is really important to them. It's interesting how the social distancing has made us all a bit closer and deepened our empathy. The silver lining is a reset, we were running around so much, traveling, and there was the pressure to be somewhere. We’re taking a step back where everyone is home, there’s no pressure to get on a plane, my suitcase hasn’t left the corner. Everything we’re able to do and get done is because we’re not all over the place. We’re more efficient and more effective in business. And we’ve made strides in areas, experiences, partnerships, relationships, that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. And I hope we can carry this forward. I just want to savor the best parts of this and not go back to the craziness where we’re all so busy.