Let's talk nighttime routines.

I like to call mine a ritual because it's the only guaranteed time of day when I get to decompress and be by myself, with myself.
By myself, with myself.

Ah, alone time- the most undervalued relationship in America. Date yourself, even if it's only 20 minutes alone in the bathroom each night. Take time to admire yourself, your accomplishments, your feats, your failures, your flaws. What makes you so perfectly imperfectly you. Take care of yourself, for yourself.

Honestly, its probably one of my favorite times of the day; washing my face each night is like washing the day away and preparing for a fresh + new day. New opportunities, new adventures, new inappropriate memes to laugh at, etc.

Okay, just to get it out of the way, these 3 things I’m talking about are on top of my nightly ritual (wash face, tone, night creams, brush teeth, etc). Let's call these 'extra curricular' activities, shall we?

Moisturize

Wow — revolutionary. Besides my face, I always make sure to cover my hands + décolleté. And then any excess under-eye cream to the tops of my hands.

My mom always told me, the 2 quickest ways to tell a woman's age is by their décolleté and the backs of their hands. These two areas are typically neglected and oftentimes where you will find sun spots and signs of premature aging. Plus, gotta help reduce those dang cleavage wrinkles in the a.m.. Anyone else a side sleeper?

One thing I always notice myself looking at when meeting people for the first time is their skin. I think because my skin complexion has always been one of my biggest insecurities + problem areas- so I always admire other's who have capital P-perfect skin texture.

Cuticle-y concerned

Continuing with the hand area, I keep a bottle of cuticle oil on my nightstand and I apply each night. I have always had super dry, flaky and sometimes painful cuticles. You know, those hangnails that bleed and seriously ache like you smashed a finger. Since using cuticle oil on a regular basis, the overall health of my nails + cuticles have improved tenfold.

Magnesium

I'm not sure how I lived most of my life without this stuff. I also keep this on my nightstand and take a few each night before bed. It's kind of hard to explain how it makes you feel, the only word I can find at the moment is "relaxed". Meh. It's like the natural version of a muscle relaxer without the addictive qualities. AND it has a lot of great benefits; to name a few:

• Aids in bone and heart health

• Helps keep your digestive tract "regular"

• Premenstrual side affects like bloating, breast soreness and insomnia

What does your nighttime ritual look like? Do you look at it like a nuisance or peaceful alone time with yourself, for yourself?

xx, Riss