You’d think that during this lockdown people are sleeping their best and by people I mean me. But, you guessed wrong, sometimes my body just refuses to co-operate with my mind and won’t let me fall asleep. Other times I’m just disturbed by my bladder (I drink a lot of water before bedtime.) And sometimes I just can’t get enough of a show I’m watching. I’ll tell myself no—be done with this episode and off to bed with you. But when has anyone won that war. Obviously, I’ve woken up groggy and cranky for work the next morning. Other days I’m happy shiny and can’t wait to grab my day by the horns and run with it.
However, I try my best to recuperate over the weekends. I take a longer shower maybe a nice, head oil massage or just simply plan out an elaborate routine to get me some beauty sleep. I need about 8 hours of restful sleep to be able to function to my best capacity. And I hate it when I feel listless through the day so I often try to follow this routine below.
Here’s a look at what gets me a good night’s snooze:
Facewash
One ritual I never miss or skip is washing my face. No matter how tired I am, I will always wash my face with cold water because I’ve never been able to sleep with a grimy face. It’s not as if I have an elaborate way to wash my face but I definitely wash it in the concentric circle movement and get the areas around my nose. Once I’m done with my face wash I also like to brush my teeth and then give my face a nice pat down with a soft towel.
Skincare
After that, I either moisturise my skin with a thick moisturiser because I have combination skin. Sometimes I run dry and sometimes oily but mostly my skin dries out because of being in the air-conditioning all day. So I really like to lather it on. I do alternate between my products because I never want my skin to get too used to a product and stop responding to it. I have pigmented skin so I use a brightening serum, it’s not a whitening serum—this one just brings even tone to my skin. If I have dark spots before or after my period then I treat those areas with a serum. This product has really helped shape the quality of my skin over time.
Incense
Once I’m done with my skin routine, I like to spark a nice, subtle scent. So I light up my incense and let it fill my space, this step makes me want to sleep almost immediately. If you have scented candles you can light those as well.
Tea
While I wait for my incense to burn out because I don’t want to be asleep and let my room catch fire. Joking! I like to have a cup of tea at this time. My preferred choices are jasmine, chamomile or ginseng tea. Of course, these teas also have many health benefits as well. I try to drink my tea thirty minutes before I sleep, so while I do this I’m almost always catching up with a TV show that I enjoy.
Pillow Mist
Spritz your pillow ever so lightly with a pillow mist and a scent of your choice. I tend to think lavender and rosemary scents put me right off to sleep.
Eye Mask
My next step is to put on my satin eye mask—my very own Blair Waldorf move. Of course, I have blackout curtains but I also prefer to snooze with an eye mask. A/C on and I am out like a bug for the night. I like to get a little over 8 hours of sleep to make up for the hours I miss during the week. And this is exactly how I nail a good night’s sleep.
What do you do to get a restful sleep at night? Let me know in the comments below.
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