February is the month of love and what better person to give it to than yourself. It’s 2021 and gone are the days of Valentine’s Day being reserved for only couples to enjoy. The rules of love apply across all kinds of relationships, including the one with yourself. So, remember that no matter how or who you spend your Valentine’s Day with, make sure to put self-love and self-care at the top of your list. It is only a necessity that everyone benefits from.
Take a Bath
One of the most warming and relaxing things you can do is to simply take a bath. However, to elevate your bath experience this Valentine’s Day, remember to make it all about intention. Before you start, you want to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Take a few moments to make sure you are ready for this experience by doing a few things:
☆ Dry brush your skin in upward motions towards the heart to get your circulation going. This is especially good if you spend a lot of time sitting.
☆ Make sure you are as relaxed as possible. Achieve this by doing a meditation to clear the noise from your head and reach a state of total consciousness.
☆ Set your mental intentions or pray for what you are trying to gain from this moment. Is it peace? Clarity? Energy? Write out your thoughts or your goals in a journal entry before or during the bath.
After these three things are taken care of, then you can set up your space. Make sure the temperature of the water is warm, but not too hot. You want to loosen your muscles, but you also don’t want to zap the moisture from your skin. Burn some relaxing smelling candles or diffuse some essential oils to purify the air. Decorate the space with all of your favorite things, such as crystals, your favorite products, etc. Choose what you’re going to put in your bath: salt, bubble bath solution, bath bombs? Spruce it up by adding some dried or fresh rosebuds or lavender sprigs to the water. (you can get these at many herb or health foods stores). Play some relaxing music and have your favorite snacks on hand in case you get hungry. You can choose to relax and close your eyes or you can take a book to read or even a laptop to watch your favorite shows—totally up to you!
Have a Glass of Wine and Chocolates
The ultimate Valentine’s Day pair. And believe it or not, it can be very healthy for you. Wine and dark chocolate are two products that are full of antioxidants. Red wine has been linked to protection against heart disease and may prevent inflammation in the body. Dark chocolate can help your immune system and lower your blood pressure. Like anything else though, moderation is key. Apart from nutritional benefits, wine and dark chocolate is very tasty and a snack/drink combo that very few people can complain about. It makes a great gift and there are so many variations of both items that one is bound to find the perfect ones for their preferences. Here are some of our favorite ones:
Wine
☆
Pinot Noir: apparently the healthiest and most antioxidant-rich red wine of them all
☆
Cabernet Sauvignon: pairs great with most foods and has a widely enjoyed taste
☆
Rosé: not as intense as the other two, but too delicious and Valentine’s Day appropriate to leave out
Dark Chocolate
☆
Lindt Excellence Chili: A little spicy and daring for the adventurous type
☆
Ghirardelli Raspberry Radiance: Fun and fresh combination that is perfect for the season
☆
Godiva Signature Roasted Almond: Classic and cozy flavor that will bring feelings of comfort
Body Facial
Everyone’s heard of and is somewhat familiar with a regular facial, but did you know that you can create a similar process for your whole body. Although the skin on our face does need more attention than the rest of our bodies because of how delicate it is, it doesn’t mean that the skin on your body should be rejected either. Your entire body goes through the aging process, it’s just that some parts of your skin are more susceptible to aging signs that occur earlier in life. Nevertheless, it is important to try to treat your body the way you do your face. What better time to go deep into a full, at-home treatment than now? Take the time to do all the steps that you think your body needs to get your skin glowing from head to toe:
Exfoliate: Have dry and patchy skin? Rid yourself of it by exfoliating the top layer to reveal the smooth and supple skin underneath. This should be the first step in your body facial treatment so that all the applied nutrients in the later steps will be able to sink into the skin with ease. Our favorite way to do this is with a scrub and for many reasons. A scrub’s sugar or microbead particles create one of the most gentle exfoliations and you can change the abrasiveness yourself according to how much you apply or don’t apply. There are different scrubs that have specific ingredients that work to help any particular skin issue that one might want to tackle, such as cellulite, dryness, eczema, and acne.
Mask: A mask helps to directly deposit important nutrients to the skin in a faster way. Want to know a secret? You can use face masks on the rest of your body, just keep in mind that the jar or tube it comes in may run out much faster if you do. However, there are several DIY body masks that are cheap and easy to make with the ingredients found in your kitchen. One that you can make is an avocado, honey, and oatmeal mask that can be done by mixing all three ingredients together. They help to combat dryness and soothe the skin. There are also a few commercial body masks by many skincare brands out there that have started to pop up due to the rising trend in body skincare.
Massage: Want to keep your skin looking alive and youthful? Yup, you guessed it, massage plays a big part in this. Body massages are not a new concept, but this is your reminder of their importance to your physical health and mental health. Make it a relaxing experience and go over everything slowly, really looking to soften and tighten your skin. Use massage tools to make it easier on your hands or have someone else do it if you have someone.
Moisturize: You can’t do a body facial and skip this step. The most important of them all, make sure you moisturize your skin at the end with your favorite lotion or natural oil. In order to greater reap the product’s benefits, wrap your body in a towel or bath robe and don’t let the product evaporate just yet. This will draw more moisture and heat to become trapped in the skin and it will keep the product from rubbing off too quickly.
