10 Tips To Stay Sane and Reduce Stress During Quarantine

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Hope everyone is staying safe and finding lots of fun and/or productive ways to stay busy during these difficult and strange times that we are in.

I have found this quarantine to be challenging and stressful for many reasons. I do appreciate the freed up time on my hands and have found some things that have helped me when I'm feeling stressed out over everything, and wanted to share some of them with you. Some of these tips are obvious things that one might do during quarantine but some have proven to be very helpful and cathartic for my stress/ type A personality.

Let me start off by saying, this quarantine has me taking more hot, Epsom salt baths than I've taken in years, and I'm not mad about it! 🛁

1. Watching Old TV Shows and Movies

Netflix has to be one of the most obvious things to do. I actually don't watch a lot of Netflix (yet) but I have really been enjoying binge-watching the show Ozark. I spend too much time online and I'm hoping to reduce that and spend more time watching TV and/or Netflix as it's much more relaxing than being online all day and night. I find that watching old TV shows and movies can be relaxing as it takes us back to more simple times "the good ole' days" some might say. Although, you don't need Netflix to watch old shows and movies as some TV channels have plenty of them to watch.

2. Intricate Adult Colouring Books

I purchased a fabulous adult colouring book where there are such small, intricate details in the beautiful artwork. It's a real stress-buster as it takes all of your focus and attention into the process of colouring, being careful to stay inside all of the lines and allowing creativity to flow as you select your own colours from the coloured pencils to create your own masterpiece. This is just what the type A personality needs! Similar book linked here.

See below for a peek inside the book and my 1st unfinished attempt at colouring.

3. Cleaning, Organizing, and Decluttering (Kon Mari)

I love being organized! I believe everything should have a place. As a lover of fashion and beauty products, my collection just keeps growing over time, so I have to keep on top of organizing and decluttering my items. I usually do this every season, but there is no better time than now to make the time for it. I have heard so much about the Kon Mari methods for organizing and decluttering which was created by Marie Kondo and outlined in her book The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. I use some of her ideas and leave others that don't mesh with me at this time.

Cleaning, organizing, and decluttering are very satisfying for me. My biggest take away so far during quarantine, is that I finally took the time to apply Marie Kondo's folding techniques to all of my tops. I never had the patience to do it properly before. I didn't believe that it would give me more space as I had tried my own take on her folding method and it did not save space and my drawers wouldn't close. This time, I took the time to watch a YouTube video on how to apply her folding method and I followed it exactly. This proved to be very cathartic for me! Since I am not a patient person, it was exactly the right task for me! It takes concentration, time, and patience so it actually becomes like a form of meditation. It was very relaxing for me and very rewarding as it ended up saving me so much space and I can now see all of my tops, so they are all getting used!

See the pictures below with the results of my Kon Mari folding method for my tops.

 T-shirt folded Kon Mari Style

 Above: Short sleeve and long sleeve tops folded the Kon Mari way

I can see everything and I have more space in the back.

Above: Sweatshirt drawer folded the Kon Mari way

4. Use It Or Lose It / Selling Items Without Contact

After decluttering, you will have items to donate, toss or sell. With these difficult times upon us, it never hurts to make some extra cash for your unwanted items.

I have a lot of luck with Facebook Marketplace (my ad is shown below), and Poshmark Canada. Both allow for contactless transactions and are easy to use. When I sell something on Facebook, the buyer sends a free etransfer to my email and we arrange a time for them to pick up the item on my porch.

With Poshmark, you send the items via mail, so I ship all of my sales when I'm at the store and have my mask on per usual when going to the stores these days.

If you are new to Poshmark, you can sign up using my invite code POSHSUMMERGIRL on the sign up page and get a $15 credit! Linked here.

5. Trying New Recipes; Baking and Cooking

I think a lot of people are enjoying baking and trying new recipes now more than ever. We often resort to frozen pizzas but homemade cannot be beat. Below is my favourite pizza recipe. I purchased a thin wholegrain crust and added my favourite toppings: Pizza sauce, mozzarella, feta, sundried tomatoes, black olives, onions and garlic. I ran out of sundried tomatoes and used regular ones this time, it was just as good!

The Dalgona coffee recipe (shown below) is all over social media so I had to give it a try. I found it quite strong, so I will try it again with half of the ingredients.

Homemade Pizza 🤤

Dalgona Coffee

6. Pampering- Hair and Skin Treatments

Now is the perfect time to give our hair and skin some extra pampering. Needless to say, I'm finally getting around to using up a lot of my products that were being neglected, along with my skin and hair!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there is nothing like a nice hot Epsom salt bath to relax your mind and body. I like to add some lavender essential oils, my favourite Live Clean bubble bath, and light a candle.

You can take all of the above ideas and create a spa day at home with some relaxation music for the full experience.

7. Exercise, Yoga, Meditation

Now is the perfect time to start exercising- check with your doctor before beginning a new form of exercise. Depending on your health and energy levels, you may want to do some gentle exercises like yoga, walking, or do some HIIT workouts. You can find tons of free exercise routines on YouTube.

Below are 2 of my favourite yoga DVD's. Sara Ivanhoe's Body Makeover has five 20 minute routines using Hatha style yoga, while the Happy Hormones by Ana Brett uses Kundalini style of yoga which is very different from the conventional Hatha style of yoga but has a lot of health benefits, including balancing out your hormones.

There are plenty of fitness DVD's, free YouTube videos, as well as apps for most forms of exercise as well as meditation. I really like the Down Dog app and the Insight Timer app.

8. Makeup Organizing and Decluttering

I know a lot of people online are into decluttering their makeup collections now more than ever. I recently cleaned out my makeup collection and tossed out everything that was expired. I felt bad that I had wasted so much makeup as I wasn't able to use it all up before it expired. But I feel so good that I've now fit almost my entire makeup collection into the makeup organizer shown below. The only items that I am not able to fit into this organizer yet are my palettes and tools.

We may not be able to go to stores yet, but you can still get organizers like this online.

ALMOST my entire makeup collection (minus palettes and tools)

9. Haircuts and Colour

Many of us will have to resort to a DIY haircut. I've been doing my own hair for the last few years and I have some tips and tools to take the stress out of it! Check out my post on how I cut my own hair linked here. I use some tools that make it super easy and simple including the Crea Clip.

I also do my own highlight and base bump! I have a whole post on how I bump my base and tone my hair linked here. Goldwell 10p + 20 volume developer are my secret weapons to toning my hair and bumping my base in 10 minutes!

10. Reading, Hobbies, Crafts, and Games

Some more common tips worth mentioning are starting hobbies that you've always wanted to or ones that you haven't had the time for in a while. Finally picking up that novel or self help book that you've been meaning to read.

Playing cards, board games, and puzzles are also lots of fun and can help relieve stress during these tough times.

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the benefits of good sleep (that's a whole other post), music, and sometimes you just need a nice big bowl of your favourite ice cream! 🍨

I hope you found some of these tips helpful.

Let me know what you're doing to have fun, keep busy and combat stress during these difficult times.

Now I'm off for yet another hot bath! 😊

#staysafe

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How I Cut My Hair At Home And Save Money | #DIY Haircut

In between appointments at the hair salon (which are few and far between right now) I've been cutting my own hair at home. I've always liked doing hair, I even cut my friends and my boyfriend's hair back in high school. I even love doing my own hair (cuts and colour/ highlights) and it saves me heaps of money!

I know many of you are probably looking for ways to cut your own hair also since most of us don't have access to hairdressers at the moment.

I always had trouble getting the back of my hair the way I like it and since I want full control of it, I have to do it myself. For about the last 2 years or so, I've been using these clips that make cutting the back of my hair a breeze now and knew I had to share them with you!

Above are the items you will need to cut your own hair:

• Crea Clip or replica
• Good hair cutting scissors
• Fine tooth comb
• Hand-held mirror

HAIR GUIDE/ CLIPS

The clips shown above are the best invention ever if you like cutting your own hair. You can also use them on other people if you aren't comfortable using your fingers as a guide.

The clips have "teeth" inside as shown in the pictures below. They also have a clip on the ends of them for securing the clip into place.

The set comes with a curved clip for getting a curved shape to the hair (the white clip), and a straight across clip for getting a nice straight line (the blue clip). I like a nice straight line at the back of my hair so I use that one.

About the Crea Clip:

• For all types of hair; cut your hair at home and be your own stylist
• Easy to learn, just clip, slide, and cut; trim your bangs and create layers in just minutes
• Made for cutting childrens and even mens hair, or just maintaining a hairstyle in between cuts
• Save time and money from expensive and lengthy salon visits
• DIY hair cutting tool for many different hairstyles with rotating level for balanced and professional looking cuts every time

 Curved clip (white) and Straight clip (blue) 

The clips have a leveller to make sure you have a straight and level line before cutting as well as a clamp on the end of each clip which will hold it in place.

Shown above are the hundreds of teeth inside the guide/clips which smooth, comb, and grip the hair. 

UTOPIA HAIR CUTTING SHEARS

You will also need a good pair of scissors. I cannot tell you what a difference this makes! I used to use hair scissors by a hair brand that I picked up at Walmart, they were after all "hair" cutting scissors but once I got these ones from Utopia, there was no comparison!

FINE TOOTH COMB

You will also need a fine-tooth comb or a good brush that will get your hair as smooth as possible.

HAND HELD MIRROR

The last thing you will need if you are doing your own hair is a handheld mirror so you can see what you are doing.

You can cut your hair wet or dry. I do both, but prefer to cut it dry when I'm doing my own hair. It's not only healthier for the hair but I can also see what I'm doing much better.

THE PROCESS:

• Starting with straight hair, I brush/comb my hair so it's nice and smooth
• Comb all my hair toward the back of my head and downwards
• Open the clip and clamp it over all of the hair that I've brushed to the back of my head and snap closed
• Tilt my chin down (like the hairdressers have us do) and using both hands, slide the clamp down the hair shaft
• When I feel that I've reached where I want to cut it, I use my handheld mirror, turn around with my back to the large bathroom mirror and check that the clip is straight (see the bubble in the leveller)
• Once I have the clip straight and at the place where I want to cut, I bring the clip to the side of my head where I can see it (gently so you don't move any of the hair). Then I either start to point cut into it (usually if it's thick or I'm cutting off a lot) and then go straight across with the scissors after point cutting as I like nice clean lines
• I do this process up to 3 times to make sure I've gotten all of my hair and there are no stragglers. 
• I will do the same process for the sides of my hair (my hair is just past my shoulders)
• I then finish up using my fingers to cut the front of my hair since I'm comfortable cutting that part with my fingers as a guide (Note: sometimes I do the reverse and cut the front first to the length that I want and then use the clip and bring everything to the back for cutting)

I don't use these clips for layering my hair, just for cutting the perimeter but it's been a game-changer.  It's quick, easy, and mostly foolproof. When I do mess up my hair, it's always from me trying to layer the interior of my hair with my fingers as a guide. I've never messed up cutting the lengths of hair since I purchased these clips!

TOOLS:

1. You can purchase the Crea Clip for $34.99 right now. I've been using mine for about 2 years now, so it will pay for itself in no time!

2.  Utopia hair cutting shears  $11.99

3. Fine tooth comb $6.99 (2 pack)

4. Hand-held mirror  $8.49

I can't recommend these clips plus a good pair of scissors enough! Let me know if you try it and how it works out. It will save you a ton of money whether you choose to do your own hair all of the time or just in between salon appointments. You can also do your family and friends hair too!

Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!

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