Self-care

I love coloring my hair.

I know that might sound strange, especially to anyone who's never dyed their hair, but it's one of those things I do for myself that make me feel pulled together, confident and...well, more me.

For the sake of clarity, I'm talking about using my natural color. While I love my blue highlights, those are fun but superfluous. Maintaining my natural color is mandatory. 👩

I hate looking in the mirror and seeing the grey peaking out among the dark brown (no, not black...the darkest of brown 😎). That's old lady me from 20 years down the road!...though I did find my first grey hair when I was 14, soooo... 😐

My grey hair is particularly noticeable in my bangs...and I'm sure mostly to me. I doubt many people care enough to notice when it's been about a month since I last cracked open a box of Garnier Nutrisse's Black Tea (shut up, it comes out dark brown...with a slight purple undertone, I might add!). I try to go about 6 weeks between touch-ups, for both cost saving purposes (though it's a reasonably priced kit) and to keep from becoming too OCD about it. By the time 6 weeks rolls around, it officially annoys me to look in the mirror and I've been making a conscious effort to keep from rolling back to 5 weeks...then 4 weeks...then turning into one of those people who has to use root cover up spray before they leave the house every day. 😬

(imagined conversation)

How I imagine Karen

How I imagine Debbie

First off, it's a $8 box of hair dye, Karen! And it makes me happy, so back the heck up! 😒

And since Debbie chimed in too - the main difference, other than not filling my body with toxins, is who the "improvement" is directed toward. I would never get a boob job, but especially not for myself. Eliminating wrinkles or adding a cup size or two are generally (though not exclusively) things women do for other people - their significant others or to increase their marketability. They want to affect how others perceive them and thus base their value on that perception. "He thinks I'm hot...she thinks I look younger." 

For me, that would be the quickest way to shatter my confidence...placing my value or perceived worth in the hands of others. And I've found a simple solution. 

Ya ready?

I don't care what other people think.

Well, I mean, I do care...but I've learned it matters less than Joe Public would like you to think. And I don't mean that in a "I can wear stained clothes with holes in them, never shower and you should love me exactly the same!" kind of way, but in a "do your best and that's enough" way. Some days you're able to pull off a complicated updo, your entire makeup repertoire, put on a cute day dress and heels, and are thus prepared to take on the world!! And other days it's ok that you're wearing black leggings, incredibly comfy socks and your warmest, softest, albeit not particularly flattering, sweater. Don't worry about being "mommy of the year" or having the cutest clothes in your yoga class. Knowing you did your best with what was thrown at you on a given day is the important part. 

And to me, that's what self-care entails...finding things that help you do your best.

Ironically, I think "self-care" is a somewhat loaded phrase. At least to me. It makes me feel selfish and self-focused. "I need to do this for me! Me time! But what about me?! 🙋If I don't SoulCycle before my kombucha kale-infused wheat germ blue algae almond milk smoothie, it just ruins my entire day!"** (I don't know why I'm throwing shade at a very specific demographic tonight! 😂) I think it's easy to overdue it and allow the focus on self-care to explode into self-centeredness...but without it, it's also easy to get overwhelmed and burn out. You can't help or take care of other people if you don't take care of yourself too. 

And one of the ways I take care of myself is to re-brunette periodically. 😄

Speaking of hair - in case you're in the market for permanent hair color to deal with those pesky grey, here are my two favorites. I like the shades and they're relatively easy to work with. I've found I like cream-base color kits better than liquid. They're more user friendly and tend to make less of a mess (not that I've ever gotten any dye on the cabinets...*cough*)!

Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme

Nourishing Color Creme Soft Black 20 (Black Tea)

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour, Deep Brown Black 3N

What things do you do for self-care? 

~ Katie Q. 🐧

*Hilarious self-correct (as opposed to auto-correct) - every time I intended to type boobs, it came out books and I had to go back and fix it. 😂

** Just typing that makes me nauseous! 😳😖

Music Bonus: 

I've been listening to a lot of Finneas and Billie Eilish lately. They're such talented siblings, it's crazy! While I'm partial to Finneas, I'm a big fan of Billie's "Party Favor" (performed by Billie, written by Finneas and Billie, produced by Finneas...in case you were wondering 😎). The original is good, but I prefer the acoustic version. Cracks me up that it's supposed to sound like she's leaving a voicemail message.

"Party Favor (acoustic)"