A new season is upon us! Fall Equinox has come and gone. Autumn is in the air, daylight hours are growing shorter, and colder winter months are just around the corner. While saying goodbye to summer can feel bittersweet, we can’t help but love that fall is its own incredibly magical season - a time to linger a little longer and embrace cozier days.
This time of year is also perfect for more sensuous self care and slowing down - two things we’re very passionate about at Plum Brilliance.
Slow Beauty: A New Approach to Self Care
In recent years, more skincare experts, beauty bloggers and self care advocates alike are increasingly starting to talk about the concept of Slow Beauty. The idea behind Slow Beauty is a more intentional and pared down approach to beauty that is unconcerned with quick fixes, big brand names, or trendy formulas.
Rather, Slow Beauty focuses on simple, practical protocols, using natural ingredients, bespoke products, and sometimes tools, to facilitate a more nurturing and holistic form of self care.
One benefit of Slow Beauty is that it elevates ordinary routine acts, and transforms them into a more mindful experience. Over time, this can help improve your stress levels, your sleep and even your mood. In other words, what’s not to love about Slow Beauty?
Although there's no right or wrong way to practice Slow Beauty, a change of seasons is always a good time to check in with your own routines and rituals to make sure they still resonate. To help you get started, here are a few of our favorite tips:
How to Slow Down & Turn Your Routine into a Ritual:
Set aside the time you have, and then make the most of it -
Often, the greatest obstacle for forming healthy habits is time. Many of us think we don’t have enough time to execute a skincare routine, let alone a yoga practice. However, it’s important to remember that self care doesn’t have to be elaborate or take hours to do.
Even five minutes can be enough to reboot your brain and recharge your battery levels. It’s also a misconception that self care is selfish. In actuality, taking time to care for yourself is what will allow you to be more present and energized to show up for others. If you only have a few minutes, choose something you truly love to do and savor every second. Your body, your brain (and your loved ones) will thank you.
Find your sacred space -
For escaping distraction and other daily stressors that can derail your relaxation, sometimes a change of venue can be a powerful thing. If you have the ability to create a small space in your home that is all your own, that can be one way to provide yourself with some much needed respite. However, having a favorite coffee shop to call your spot works just as well. Need a break from noise and screens? Try spending time in a park or other natural space you love. Getting outdoors can really be a great way to get refreshed and gather new inspiration.
Indulge all your senses -
In order to encourage consistency, consider creating rituals that you’ll want to return to again and again. One way to do this is by leaning into the little details and enriching your routine with some sensory accouterments. It’s also a good idea to change the details up from time to time, so you don’t get bored.
Fragrances in the form of candles or incense can be chosen to evoke the scent of the season. Products and tools provide a sense of touch and texture, while mood lighting is pleasing to the sight, and music fulfills a need for soothing sound. You could even brew up some tea or bake yourself a favorite festive treat to satisfy your taste buds and round out the entire experience.
Let go of the pressure to get it perfect -
Another obstacle to practicing self care can be the expectation that it must be done absolutely correctly and consistently, every single day, in order to count. However, when we set these kinds of rigid expectations for ourselves, we’re more likely to make a misstep and give up altogether.
Instead, try to remember that Slow Beauty is a journey and about embracing progress over perfection. If you encounter a challenging day or week or even a whole year, it’s okay to skip days or steps in the routine. What matters more is that you do what you can and always find your way back to yourself.
Ready to spice up your self care for fall? Here are a few of our favorite Plum Brilliance products for autumn:
- Soften Herbal Tisane - Soul-soothing and perfect for slow days. This loose leaf tea blend features grounding and heart-opening herbs, including pedicularis, wild rose and hawthorn leaf.
- Sacred Smoke Natural Herbal Incense - Frankincense and sage incense provide subtle notes of earthy fragrance, striking the right note for cleansing moonlit baths and lazy Sundays.
- Rivers Lymphatic Massage Oil + Wood Gua Sha Tool Set - If you are new to Slow Beauty or just looking to uplevel your skincare, this two-set set makes facial massage easy, intuitive and will keep your skin glowing all season.
- Limited Edition Blue Lotus Flower of Intuition Ritual Kit Set - Containing a Triple Sage Smoke Wand, Ritual Wildcrafted Anointing Body Oil, Purify Black Sage Natural Soap Bar and Blue Lotus Flowers, this special collection has everything you need for spiritual self care and creating your own unique seasonal ritual.
- Rose “Heart” Soaking Mineral Salts - When the air gets crisp and cold gets in your bones, nothing feels better than a hot bath. To deepen your relaxation, this beautifully blended bath salt is the ultimate treat at the end of a long day.
- Roots Natural Wildcrafted Grounding Body Oil - Autumn is a wonderful time to show your whole body some extra TLC. For treating tired muscles and addressing anxious minds, this holistic body oil has active wildcrafted botanicals and works to deeply moisturize and nourish stressed skin.
However you choose to celebrate, we wish you an amazing fall season full of your favorite self care rituals. Do you have a fall skincare tip or autumnal tradition you love? Be sure to share it with us in the comments!