Make this the season of self-care

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Essential oils ease mask-wearing woos

Whether popping it on when you go to the corner shop, or having to wear one all day, wearing a mask may now be habit, but it does still cause discomfort for some of us. Poor mental focus, anxiety and headaches … sound familiar? One recipe we swear by is to add a drop or two drops of an essential oil onto our masks. Try lavender oil to reduce anxiety and tension, orange oil for calming down and feeling more at ease, lemon oil to give you energy, peppermint oil to relieve headaches and open the lungs, or eucalyptus oil to clear the mind and lungs and open up the sinuses. These oils reach the brain through your smell nerves and act to calm you down and make you feel better, as well as reach the lungs to open them up and relieve difficulty breathing. You can add a drop of diluted oil onto your mask or to the side of your face, or make a mask spray (mix distilled water and about 10 to 12 drops of your oils of choice, apply two or three light sprays onto your mask and let it dry completely. Once this is done, your mask will have a lovely scent which not only smells good but improves your mental state too! We use the essential oils from SOiL, which cost from R30 upwards from soil.co.za

A candle that’s ultra-moisturising and nourishing, which can be used as a massage oil or a body moisturising oil, which is loaded with fig extract and olive oil, beeswax and shea butter and vitamin (E), but has no nasties … loving Sknlogic Body Candle with Fig Extract. R260 from sknlogic.com

A subscription to self-care

What is self-care? It’s a general term that describes everything you do deliberately for your mental, physical, spiritual, social and emotional well-being. As simple as it sounds, many of us pay little attention to self-care. This is why ‘deliberately’ is one of the most important words in the definition. You need to be conscious of your well-being before you can achieve true self-care. It starts with simple acts … not checking emails at night when you know it affects your sleep, enjoying a cup of tea alone before everyone wakes up, and extends to more important decisions like practicing mindfulness daily, going away for the weekend or booking a massage when you feel you need one. It’s easy enough to say … not always so easy to put into practice. There’s always, it seems, an impending deadline, a child’s attention, a friend who needs help.

Hello Sanctum Self-Care, which makes the art of self-care easy by bringing it right to your home. It’s a box carefully curated with a new theme each month … a box filled with full-size eco-luxury products plus a few samples and a lifestyle activity. You can choose a Luxe option,  an Essential box or a mini version … each filled with sensational goodies … sometimes a scented candle, maybe some luxurious body oil or body scrub and bath soap, as well as affirmation cards and samples.

“As a mother with a demanding career, I craved the opportunity to take time-out. When there was a spare 30 minutes, I would either feel too guilty to take a break because there was always something to be done, or would spend the time scrolling aimlessly through social media. I just didn’t know where to start. So the idea of receiving a box every month, that basically says ‘here, take me, this has been made for you and only you, try us, you’ll be a new you in half-an-hour’ seemed like a welcome solution”, says Sanctum Self-Care co-founder, Liza-Jane Saban.

The mini box costs R399 (value of R650) Essentials box costs R599 (value of R1750), the Luxe Box R898 (value of R2200), and you can buy a one off (fabulous gift for anyone who needs a little self-care), or subscribe for three, six or twelve months, giving you a regular spoil and a monthly reminder to be consistently reminded to take time for yourself. For details and subscriptions, visitsanctumselfcare.com

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