Self-Care Saturday...under eye mask?

For today's Self-care Saturday I thought I would share my first impressions of an under eye mask I thought would help me with the under eye dark circle and puffiness. I chose pixi skin treats,  DetoxifEye, you see I have been watching a lot of Queer Eye on Netflix and noticed that the lovely Johnathan Van Ness seems to get some of the participants to try these under the eye masks, so I picked up some to try. I initially went to Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada looking for toilet paper, which they did not have, so I decided not to waste the trip and asked their beauticians for a recommendation. 

I have one side of my eyes that is always puffier than the other me trying to show you which one, LOL.

First impressions...I did not think that cucumber and caffeine would sting, okay more like strongly tingle. I left them on for the recommended ten minutes...

 It is hard to tell in this photo but I do see a difference, feel a difference too it feels a bit tighter around my eyes, the jar comes with 30 pairs so I will see how things go and if there is a cumulative effect.
Have you ever tried these under the eye masks? I would love to hear your results and tips. Remember to try new things and have a bit of fun while you are staying safe at home.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a Self-Care Saturday indulgence. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Soul Care in the time of Covid-19...

Whatever is good for your soul do that....

The above is was what I wrote on my instagram image this morning and I tried to follow through with that as much as I could today. I am still on the mend from having Influenza A and like many of you, I am watching in horror as the Cov-19 Virus crisis unfolds, I try to not read every story I find on it, but it is like a train wreck and very hard to look away. I myself  was in need of Toilet Paper this week and went to Walmart, which I was shocked to find had six packages left in the entire store and they wanted $18.77 for it, now I don't know about you but I felt a bit of panic, quickly replaced by irritation as I realized that not only were people hoarding TP, but that felt a bit like price gauging to me.

I could not help but walk away, with out TP.
I did find some tonight and not a moment too soon, my regular brand and $5.97 (In the top right photo offered at the crazy price!) At London Drugs, and I made a decision not to go over board and bought what I needed, now I worry TP will be the currency we use going forward, I am not convinced I did the right thing by not hoarding the TP!

So in the interest of soul care and fun...I have a small obsession (though not hoarding) face masks and I really like this Unicorn one but my sister in law tells me it is terrifying, so tonight I tried a plain one....

 I think honestly this one is more terrifying looking but was much nicer feeling...
I am not sure how it is only Thursday, but I am doing what I can to find simple joy and happiness in my day, maybe it is my age but I often think back to the cartoons I would watch and when things got tough the characters would hang a sign that said "Gone Fishing" so I figured I would try that for my soul as well.

In these trying times, remember whatever is good for your soul do that.
Thanks for joining me for a cup of tea and some of myself care coping skills.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Getting Mad At Your Hair Is A Whole Different Kind of Angry...

Happy Sunday, I have heard Sundays should be for self care and so I make today's vanity post about the self care needed to tame my crazy locks. Have you ever heard that saying a woman's hair is her crowning glory? Well mine is decidedly no crown, heck not even a tiara...

Most days I wake up with my hair having a dimension of its own, something happens to the volume of my hair when I sleep, I was especially proud of this look, thinking I looked an awful lot like that British guy Harry Styles,  when I woke up. Truth be told this is one of my better hair mornings.

My before "tea hairstyles" leave a lot to be desired...but I can laugh at myself because getting mad at my hair is a whole different kind of Angry! I started to go grey in my mid teens. I refuse to let the glitter highlights take over. For years I box dyed my hair, almost every ten days. Last year a customer came in my shop and he said to me you are to young to have hair like that. I had gone just a few days over my regular 10 day re-dye regiment, but who could blame me, my dad was dying and I was not really focused on anything else. Each day I got up went to the hospital, went to work, went back to the hospital, until the day we went to the hospice and then well I guess I found more time to be angry at my hair.
That customer who told me I was far to young to have hair like that happened to be a hair stylist who slipped me his card and after I explained my situation he said, call me when you are ready and I will do it for free. The day after my dad died, several weeks later, I took the card out and called him. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself.  He did more than dye my hair and cover my grays, more than shape my neglected dry hair, he gave it life back, he gave it bounce and I have been going back to him regularly since March 4th of last year. A few weeks ago I let him add highlights to my hair, what a difference that made, even hid the fact that my "grey hair glitter highlights" still come back about 10 days later, just now you cant tell that easy.

I think we all have a love hate relationship with our hair at some point, I can never get it to behave like it does for my hair stylist, Rassan/Alan does a brilliant job and has helped me maintain a level of hair self care I had not  even imagined possible.

Don't worry though I still wake up with a whole lot of Angry Hair!  Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and Self Care Sunday post about hair. I would love to hear what you think, so leave a comment below or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Sick Day and Self Care

“You can complain because your roses have thorns or you can rejoice because your thorns have roses”-Pablo Picasso

Well I have had the pleasure of having the flu, (stomach), a 24 hour version, not that awful regular flu,  it has not been fun. I did something I have not done in a really long time and asked for a sick day. I am so grateful to my boss who was able to come in and cover for me. I thought I was going to be okay and tried to work through it, but somethings just really do require rest. 

Between having children and working with the public, it is a perfect storm for picking up the odd virus and common cold and usually leads to a pretty strong immune system, normally I can soldier on, this time I soldiered to bed. Self care, more than facials, cups of tea and time away, are great but never under estimate taking to the bed. Sticking to the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Apples, Tea) I have kept down tea, apples and rice, so hoping to be back to work tomorrow, just waiting on the bananas to ripen...

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a sick day/self care post. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Painting, Selfcare and a couple of great books...

A few months ago I started to see a therapist and I mentioned how I felt I had lost my creative spark. I expressed a desire to paint but did not have the confidence to start. She was really helpful in showing me that even though I had no real experience in painting, that the act of painting was something if I felt I would like to try, would be worth wild.  She was right. I have found that painting for me gives me a creative outlet and has helped me add more joy to my life.

The therapist recommended a book that I found to be very helpful called The Artist Way 

This book has many different covers and while you should be able to find it at your library I recommend you can also get a copy for yourself like I did on The Book Depository by clicking here. 

Through the summer I also found another book that I really liked and it even referenced the book The Artists Way,  Painting Your Way Out of A Corner, hit the right buttons for me and made me laugh and think, while creating. I loved that painting doesn't have to cost much, I seriously get my supplies at the dollar store and even got a childs paint set like you use in preschool. I found that the art of sitting there and just letting the paint hit the paper was calming in away I had only hoped. Do I love everything I paint? Not really but I do love the act of painting. The process is what I love.

If you are thinking of ways to reignite your creative self or are trying to find that creative spark, maybe these books will help you as they helped me.
To find these books on The Book Depository, with free shipping,  click the links below, or simply check them out at your local library.
For The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, click here.
For the book Paint Your Way Out of The Corner, by Barbara Diane Barry,  click here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a look at two books I found very helpful for selfcare.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com