Self care in a tent is different to self care at home. We recently took a trip to Esperance and our accommodation was our tent. Knowing this, I tried to keep a limit on the items that we took, so that we weren't carting anything unnecessarily. I have quite an extensive range of skin care products that I use at home, so I had to narrow it down to the most important and what I could use as a dual purpose.
As I don't use them all every day, I didn't find it too difficult. It did get me thinking of what were my self care rituals that I couldn't do without. What I discovered was that even though the holiday itself was the epitome of self care, personal daily skin care is non-negotiable for me.
I chose to take just one body lotion with me, where normally I have 5. Yes, that's right, I have 5 body lotions on my dresser. They each have different essential oils and I often use them as my only perfume as well. I knew we would be in the sun, sea, surf and sand, so I chose to take the after sun lotion as my daily body lotion. I used this more than any other product over the two weeks. When at the beach, I used the fine, squeaky clean sand to gently exfoliate my skin which allowed my skin to drink in the after sun lotion. My skin loved it, and I was left feeling soothed, hydrated and totally pampered.
Insect repellent lotion was a must. My hubby is sooo tasty to mozzies that we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves outside at night without it. It was great to soothe any bites that were had before he had applied, usually while cooking our dinners. It did deter some of the smaller flies, but the March flies were not at all fussed by the smell and so the insect repellent lotion did come in handy for soothing any bites from those.
I also needed to take with me a stick of Palo Santo. I am a lover of this not only for its smell, but I use it to clear space and for protection rituals which I do when we are setting up a new camp space. We moved every couple of days and so it was used daily along with oracle cards, incense and delicious cacao. This is a normal part of my routine that I was not willing to give up.
Being so active every day, Magnesium Magic Balm also featured to rub onto sore muscles to reduce tension and promote restful sleep. The only other items I took with me, were my face moisturiser and lip balm. I took two and I used them every day multiple times a day. I don't know about you, but I can't live without my lip balm.
I will admit, I learned that I still take more stuff than I need, but I am glad I chose to put those necessities in to allow the experience to be one of kindness to myself and have come back feeling refreshed, energised and totally relaxed.
I'd love to know, what is your absolute must have, can't live without skin care item??
