Self-Care and Skincare Conversations Part 1
What does skincare and self-care mean to you? Are they the same thing or are they completely different?
My best friend and I regularly bring up skincare and self-care in our conversations. Sometimes they’re one and the same; most often, skincare and self-care go further than skin deep.
In this series, Joan—my pledge sister and best friend—and I share our conversations exploring our skincare journey and deeper-than-skin self-care. Part 1 of our Skincare and Self-Care Conversations is a rapid-fire Q+A on our skincare philosophy, approach, skin type and favorites.
We’re two friends at very different places with our own skincare journeys, so don’t be shy—ride along as we share our stories and jump in to share your own stories in the comments! No matter where you are in your skincare and self-care journey, discover (and rediscover) what skincare and self-care mean to you as we share our thoughts below.
What’s your goal or intention with skincare?
Joan: Cleanse, Hydrate, Protect.
Jel: Wake up feelin’ fresh and hydrated.
What’s your skincare philosophy?
Joan: Skincare is not a surface-level problem or issue; so, don’t limit yourself to surface-level solutions. It’s not just about products.
Jel: How many boxes can I check? Every step, product and intention has to check off multiple boxes for me.
What’s your skincare approach?
Joan: Keep it simple, but have fun. It’s a quick distraction.
Jel: For me, it’s slowing down. Do it slow, do it right.
What’s your skin type?
Joan: Normal to oily, acne-prone.
Jel: What does acne-prone mean to you?
Joan: In 12-24 hours after eating dairy, like cheese or ice cream, I’m gonna get a pimple. My skin is really reactive to what I eat and how much I’m neglecting my skincare routine.
Jel: I see. My skin type is HELLA COMBO. I’ve got oily spots, dry spots, normal spots and I have sensitive skin. I also have eczema—not necessarily on my face—but my body and hands, so anything I put on my face can’t trigger the eczema on my hands.
What’s the actual definition of acne-prone? Acne-prone for me is: I’m stressed, I’m close to my period, I’m not eating or sleeping well, and/or I had an exponential amount of sugar and dairy. There’s a lot of factors that influence my skin.
Joan: According to Dermstore, “If you get frequent breakouts (or ones that just never seem to go away), you likely have acne-prone skin.”
What’s your favorite skincare step that brings you the most joy?
Joan: Treatment. I know this is an “extra step”—I only say because I know I’m beyond “basic” routine right now. Treatment is my skincare roulette/experimenting phase.
Jel: Face masks are my favorite. I’m still experimenting with my basic routine and trying to establish foundational habits, but I love me a good face mask—it’s my luxurious skincare and self-care step.
What is something in your self-care arsenal that isn’t a skincare step?
Joan: Nail care has become a new part of my journey. I used to not take care of my nails. I used to bite them and they would bend easily and break a lot.
Jel: Hair care is mine. When I’m depressed, my hair care is the first to go because it takes so much effort and it also has the most impact on my well-being. I get migraines and headaches when my hair is always up or has tangles, which is unavoidable if I’m not taking care of my hair properly.
Joan: It’s interesting because our answers are coming from a place of neglect, security, or a place struggle.
Jel: Yeah, it’s a sign of not being well, a signal for anxiety or stress levels.
Joan: Or signaling a dark place and time for us.
Jel: And that hits on what self-care is truly about, right? Like you said, skincare is not a surface level problem and neither is self-care. You can’t only take care of yourself with material things like skincare products or retail therapy.
So, what does self-care mean to us?
Joan: Self-care is any time you want to devote to yourself. It’s the time you pause the world and prioritize your well-being.
Jel: Yes! Self-care is like skincare in that it’s all about slowing down, taking stock, and establishing a sense of ease.
We’ve touched on self-care more in our conversation, but we’re going to dive deeper at a later time. For now, we hope you liked this glimpse of our best friend dynamic and our individual relationships with skincare.
Sticky Note Skincare Intention: Wake up feelin’ fresh + hydrated.
Sticky Note Skincare Intention: Cleanse, Hydrate, Protect.
Join us in exploring what skincare and self-care look like and mean to us, while uncovering your own definition of skincare and self-care! We’ll be back with the rest of the conversation in later posts, so bookmark this blog post for the rest of the links and share with your best friends.