June has been a great month for me, I've felt better than I have for a long time and I feel in a really good place mentally and physically. I've enjoyed getting a little sunshine, relaxing when needed and practising a lot of self care to keep myself on the level. I've also made a few changes with my hair, skin and body which I thought I'd share right here;
Hair
My hair has been a bit of a nightmare since I was about 14 and started with dye and straighteners. My hair is naturally huge and curly, but having tried the curly girl method for a while I decided it really isn't for me as I like the look of it straighter much more. This month though, I've been keeping up with my bleach ban and it's SO hard. I've lightened my hair since my teens, I'm now 35 and it's had enough, so it's really either having short blonde hair or growing it out to my natural colour if I want to keep the length. I may go for the short option one day, but right now while I'm carrying the extra pounds, I think longer is better and also gives me much more options with styling.
I've let the roots grow for three months now and I'm really struggling with how bad it looks, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait in six month or so when I have a few more inches of healthy natural growth. I was going to go for a root stretch at this stage but I'm so scared of the colour match not being spot on, and then having yet another lot of roots to grow out or potentially having more damage that I'm just going to try and go cold turkey, play with some toners when I get the urge to dye again and try my best to just ignore the weird brown roots and tired brassy lengths! To keep the condition getting better, I'm carrying on with the Garnier hair food which works really well and trying to air dry and straighten less.
Skin
With dry skin already, I have to be really careful in the sun, so I'm all stocked up on sun cream and oil and I'm trying to remember to keep my skin moisturised especially in my super dry areas like my arms and chest. My face gets really spotty in the heat, so I am trying to wear less makeup as much as I can and get my face cleansed, toned and lightly moisturised before bed. I've got some light tanning moisturiser but haven't braved it yet so that may be sampled this week some time. I am going to try and really focus on my skin this next month as it is looking a little dry and tired again and in need of some extra care.
Body
I posted recently about my new weight loss journals I have for sale on Amazon, and I started using one myself to get back on track. In my first week I've lost 2.2kg and feel better already. It's not some fad for wanting a bikini bod or something, but I just started to feel really unhealthy, out of breath easily and snoring like crazy so my sleep is affected by it too. I'm not dieting as such, but trying to make healthier choices, keep binge eating at bay and try and feel a little trimmer for the rest of summer as we'll be spending lots of time outdoors and I don't want to be sweating it out in hot clothes to cover up when I want to be wearing nice summer clothes. I'm also going to book in for a sports massage next month to get my muscles back in order as with a new job and lots of fun in the sun I'm getting a little bit sore and achy.
My mental health has been great, my anxiety feels to be totally under control and I generally have a much more positive outlook on myself, my life and the future which is amazing. Small steps and a lot of taking time for myself have really paid off.
I'm hoping I'll keep feeling good in July and continue to improve my health and the way I feel. How have you been in June?
