It’s time to get organized, clean up the junk, and create some zen. Spring is finally upon us, and today I am sharing with you my top 6 spring cleaning musts for self-care!
1. Spring clean your inbox!
We are kicking it off with the #1 game changer my inbox has seen all year. If you’re like me, you follow a LOT of brands and stores to keep track of fun promos and offers. And if you’re also like me, it drives you nuts to have to delete them all from your inbox daily. My spring-cleaning hack is to send these emails to a folder automatically in your inbox where you can periodically check in on your favorite brands when you feel like it! Say goodbye to the days where you spend a solid 5-10 minutes deleting promos and special offers. Here’s how to do it:
Create a new folder in your email inbox and call it “shopping” or “promos.”
Then, go into your settings in your gmail, click on “filters and blocked addresses.”
Finally, add the store in there you’d like to still get email from, but you’d like to not have pop up in your inbox daily. (Total transparency moment: I do this for my favorite brands like Anthropologie, West Elm, and Madewell. I pop in there only when I am buying something and want a discount code. The key here is that I am not tempted to buy something just because of a promotion, and instead, only seek it out when I want to shop!)
2. Become BFFs with Salvation Army.
Go through clothes, knick knacks, kitchen items, home goods, you name it! If you feel any lack-luster vibes from anything in your home, maybe it’s time to make it someone else’s treasure. My favorite spot to bring gently used items to is Salvation Army. I make a trip every season and will for sure be making one this spring. You can find a local drop off here.
3. Get on that shared google calendar life.
Let me just tell you how much this has benefited my relationship! My husband and I can each add events in our shared calendar and it just makes life a whole lot easier! Less back and forth with friends when we want to plan things. Whether you are in a relationship or single, or have key people in your life you find you are constantly asking whether or not they are free at specific time, then this spring cleaning self-care hack is for you. Simply look in the calendar to see when everyone is free and boom! Event planned.
4. Detox your home!
A few years back I learned just how toxic some home-cleaning chemicals can be.** From floor cleaners to multisurface cleaners, those plastic spray bottles contain some not-so-friendly ingredients. Below are two of my favorite home cleaner recipes:
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANING RECIPE In a glass spray bottle, fill it with equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide. Add around 20 drops of your favorite essential oil (for home cleaners I love orange and lemongrass scents!). Shake it up before use and you are good to go!
FLOOR CLEANER RECIPE In a big old bucket, I mix hot water with about 2-3 cups of vinegar. Yep, vinegar! Sure it is a bit pungent, but again you can add an essential oil if you like. The smell goes away as soon as it dries, and you can be rest assured knowing the air around you isn’t filled with harmful toxic chemicals.
*Not convinced yet? Spend a few minutes on Environmental Working Group to inform yourself on just how harmful our home products can be and what to replace them with instead!
5. Detox your makeup bag!
Honey love child if you have not cleaned out your makeup bag yet, please let this be one of the top self-care cleaning things you do to take care of yourself this spring. It pains my heart to tell you just how gnarly our makeup products can be. From parabens to allergens to endocrine disruptors, our makeup is T-O-X-I-C. And while we are on the topic, please give your entire beauty regime a little clean up. From your deodorant to your body wash to your concealer, educate yourself on the products to avoid. Also, just because you buy it from an organic store, or it says “all-natural” doesn’t mean it is clean or safe for you and your body. There is a ton of information out there on this, and you can kind of go nuts reading about it, but I’ll leave you with this: start small. Choose one area to start cleaning out first. I started with revamping my makeup products years ago and then gradually went on to switching over my home cleaning items to eventually eating as organic and clean as possible (especially with meat and dairy products as they are loaded with hormones!). My favorite place to check out ingredients is through the Think Dirty App! You can quickly scan in the barcode as you are out shopping to see how clean or dirty the product is! It makes the hunt for a trade-off product so much easier!
6. Clean out your underwear drawer. Yea I said it..(Cue that Rihanna!).
When was the last time you went through your bras and undies? Or revisited your nightgowns and pajamas? After realizing I had been sleeping in an array of old t-shirts and sweats, literally back from my college days, I decided to treat myself to some new PJs and oh did it feel fantastic. A woman at one of my workshops shared that she had not worn her fancy bras or underwear in years because she had this mindset of saving them for a special occasion. She realized that it was time to bust them out now. Go through your nightly things and see what needs to go, what can come out and play, and what you want to add to the mix. I promise this one will be fun!
There you have it! My top 6 spring cleaning musts for self-care! Hop on over to Instagram and tell me what spring cleaning hack you’ll be taking on this year.
**I want to give a big shout out to Oregon Soap Shoppe for their powerful home cleaning demonstration where I learned about the recipes shared in today’s post!