During the global quarantine, it may be tempting for you to let yourself go since you are not often coming face to face with other people for restaurant meals, birthday parties, or concerts. But there is no reason to despair; there are many ways to make yourself feel better, look better, and be more healthy even during these challenging times, and you hardly need to break the bank to do so. Once you devise a safe and sensible budget, you can start treating yourself to cosmetics, spa treatments at home, new clothes to refresh your wardrobe, and even a new diet to improve your well-being. If you have a lot of time on your hands, why not spend it on self-care?
Purge Your Closet
Before you splurge on any new clothes, shoes, or accessories, it is a good idea to first take stock of what you already have. The typical American closet is a busy one for men and women alike, and Americans now own more clothes than ever before (and are spending more on clothes, too). In fact, many American women have one outfit for every day of the month, and that can lead to some clutter in some cases. You do not have to pare your wardrobe down to just a short stack of T-shirts, but then again, know your limits.
Most likely, you have some clothes that you do not even wear anymore, and they need to be set aside for donating once the quarantine is over. For example, you may have some jackets, shirts, skirts, or pants that are out of fashion, damaged, or redundant with newer and nicer clothes in your closet. A good solution is to gather all your clothes from across the house and assemble them all into a pile. With this complete inventory on hand, you can now start looking over your clothes one by one and carefully decide if each one really is a part of your true wardrobe or not.
Identify Your Individual Style
Retailers and certain brands like to emphasize certain new fashion trends to push certain products, but this is not your only reference for what sort of clothes you should buy. You are a unique individual, both on the outside and inside, and these factors will decide what sort of clothes best fit your figure. This applies to men and women alike, and you can window shop online with catalogs or fashion websites to get some ideas and references. A few hours of this, and you might totally transform your look. But it might not be a good idea to make any purchases until you firmly make up your mind.
One factor that is impossible to ignore is your own physique. Your height, hair color, skin complexion, build, and more can determine what sort of clothing look good on you, and which styles may look strange or unflattering. For example, it’s tempting to think of men’s suits as all the same (jacket, tie, shirt), but that is far from the truth. To use that example, suits can have stripes or not, the jacket or vest can be single-breasted or double-breasted, the shirt can vary in color, and even the hem of the pants may vary. And women’s fashion is even more diverse than that, from gowns to pantsuits to chemises and skirts. Often, people aim for clothes that are slimming or clothes that draw attention away from how very tall they are. In short, fashion often tries to temper extremes of the human form, from girth to height to neck thickness. You could also say that fashion tries to “even things out” among different body shapes, and you may want to do the same.
Focus on Oral Hygiene
You might be home from work, and you’re probably not going on dates or job interviews, but the enamel-eating bacteria in your mouth aren’t taking a vacation. Oral hygiene is a must 24/7, and this is no time to get lax about that. Even if your eating schedule becomes erratic and you have started snacking more, be sure to brush your teeth diligently after every meal, or at least twice per day. If you neglect this, then you may get plaque buildup, and after a point, you will suffer from tartar buildup too, which discolors the teeth (and that is difficult to undo). Using regular toothpaste, mouthwash, and floss will do the job just fine, to scour off all food bits and sugars that bacteria thrive on. If you have any children in the household, you must urge them to continue their toothbrushing for the same reasons, with no exceptions. You probably have enough to worry about without tartar or toothaches on top of everything else.
Work Out/Eat Right
With or without a virus going around, your basic health should always be a concern, and it’s easier to be healthy than you might think. A good diet and exercise are the two main routes to great health, and improving your diet and exercise schedule can be rewarding in many different ways. Of course, if you have any food allergies or issues like a bad back or diabetes, take that into account, too; be careful about this. If you know your limits, then it’s time to make some changes and stick to them.
Right now, fitness centers and some parks are closed, but you can still get some basic exercise done, such as push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, lunges, and the like. If you own any exercise DVDs, you can refer to those too, and within reason, you can take jogs or brisk walks outside to enjoy some fresh air. Just be sure to practice social distancing and avoid touching items, and don’t do this at all if you are ill. All this can boost your heart rate and metabolism, improve your mood, and maker sleep easier.
Create a Beauty Schedule
Why do this if you’re not going outside much? Keeping a beauty schedule can cheer you up with a sense of normalcy and a routine, and you don’t have to be heavily made up for this to count. Anything from skin-tone makeup to plucking your eyebrows and using facial creams can count, and if you often use video chat to maintain social connections, that can be a fine motivation to look your best. On a similar note, men and women alike should take good care of their hair, from applying dyes as desired to check for split ends, regular brushing, and more. Men can shave and groom their beards to look their best, too.
Research Fashion Trends
This idea does not necessarily contradict the fashion advice from earlier. Fashion is a curious mix of social trends and personal taste, and the best wardrobe strikes a balance between them. What should you do? Get some baseline reference by looking up men’s or women’s fashion catalogs and websites to see what sort of jackets and coats, shoes, fabrics, pants, dresses, and accessories are turning heads, and you can figure out ways to imitate these trends while putting your own personal spin in them, such as certain colors or combinations of shoes and accessories. And if your personal style is very plain and ordinary (that’s not a bad thing), you can really get some use out of fashion trends to look good on the streets when the quarantine is over. Online magazines are a great reference, but so are YouTube and Instagram and other social media platforms, where fashion-oriented users share their ideas and research on fashion.
Shop Online For Great Clothes
It is unlikely that you are going to visit local clothing outlets to buy all these new items. Instead, you can find anything that fits your style online. Some experts think that the pandemic may forever change the way Americans shop, and e-commerce might have its final triumph over shopping at physical stores. At any rate, any good online catalog should include features like an internal search engine, price tags, clear and large photos of all items, shipping information, and product dimensions and contents. In the case of clothing, any good catalog will explain which fabrics are used and the specific sizes involved, from shoe size and dress size (such as for cocktail dresses) to the waistlines on pants and whether a belt is made of imitation or real leather.
In short, the quarantine can feel a bit lonely, but if you take good care of your health, keep a sensible routine, and look your best, you can give the quarantine a much-needed sense of normal life, and that can make a big difference!
