I’ve never been one for long beauty regimens, but if I was, all of that would’ve gone out the window when I became a solo-parenting military spouse. Let’s be honest – I rarely get a moment to pee alone or take a shower, much less time to spend doing crazy things like straightening my hair.
Military spouses and service members lead extraordinary, complicated lives -- what you do to take care of yourself is often a matter of priorities. We tend to think of self care as “taking time for a spa night” or “going to the gym,” but I think it’s much more simple than that. I think it’s as simple as taking time to style your hair or put on real pants.
But still it’s hard to make it happen. Taking time for ourselves, even for the simple things, means a whole new level of scrappiness.
How do I do it? Here are my three secrets.
Secret One: Routine
It’s easy to give myself the scraps of the day. “I’ll fix my hair after I get the kids ready,” I tell myself. Yeah, right. By the time I finish that it’s on to another not-me-thing, and before I know it, it’s 9 p.m. and all my me-time has just disappeared into thin air. Sometimes I haven’t even had time to shower by that point.
I find the best way for me to make sure self care time happens is to schedule it in and make it a habit. I don’t sit down in my home office until I am dressed like a normal human and my hair is done – it just makes me feel like me. I’ve made it a part of my day by forcing myself to do it – otherwise it would never happen. Strong arm yourself if you must, but it can become a part of your routine.
Secret 2: Simplify the Complicated
If looking human with good hair and not-gym-clothes are going to be part of my daily self care routine, they have to be quick and simple. I don’t have time to spend an hour primping anything. About a year ago I realized that having a hair style that was both fast and looked good on me wasn’t going to just happen with my shoulder length locks – I needed to do something drastic.
So I went to a hair stylist and asked her to lob my hair off into something cute and manageable. I now rock a nice little pixie cut that all but styles itself, especially if I’m using the right product -- like the ones Suave sent me when they decided to sponsor this post in honor of Veterans Day. Their line of Suave Professionals products doesn’t require a special trip to Ultra, but does the same tricks for my hair as those salon products.
Suave knows military spouses and female service members are busy-busy, so they’re rallying around us over Veterans Day and asking readers to rock -- and Instagram to #sharebeauty -- a military-inspired hairstyle while they donate 10,000 products to troops overseas. Need some inspiration? Check out this video:
Secret 3: Make a Standing You Date
It doesn’t have to be weekly. It doesn’t even have to be a date where you only do “you” stuff. There just has to be a you-focus in there.
For me, my standing You Date corresponds with my weekly grocery trip. When my spouse is home, he has kid duty for this period. When he’s gone I get a standing weekly babysitter. I linger over a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I pack my head phones. And then I hit the commissary in total tranquility, music blaring while I take care of my weekly groceries without children begging me to buy Lucky Charms.
Is it ideal? No. Does it make me feel like I’m taking time for me? Yes.
It’s not hard to make sure you get some time for you – time to #sharebeauty, if you will, with yourself. What are your tricks to making sure you have time to fit the simple self care things into your schedule?
We want you! Wear your military-inspired hairstyle on Veteran’s Day, share using #ShareBeauty, or both, to support Suave as they donate 10,000 products to troops overseas.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Suave via MSB New Media. The opinions and text are all mine.
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