I absolutely love feeling beautiful and put together. There’s something amazing about all of your body feeling healthy, attractive and in balance. However, that’s a goal that is difficult to achieve… ESPECIALLY as a mother.

So, today, I’m going to share with you 5 easy to implement habits that I feel are absolutely essential to making you feel beautiful and healthy every day.

Moisturize & Exfoliate Your Entire Body Regularly

Our skin is our biggest organ! Having healthy, clear and bright skin can make a woman feel SO much more confident and make looking good that much easier.

Just recently, I began cleansing my face/neck/chest area with micellar water every morning and evening. I use a retinal night cream after the micellar water at night. If I do use a deeper exfoliating facial cleanser in the shower (usually in the summer or when I’m dealing with more acne), I always moisturize after I wash my face with anything that takes out moisture/oil.

I highly recommend micellar water for facial cleansing. It doesn’t pull out moisture from your skin, so you don’t have to moisturize after using it! The only downside is that for it to work properly, you have to use a cotton pad to apply it. And don’t forget your neck!

I noticed SUCH a huge difference in my skin. Micellar water runs about $7-10 for a large bottle, a pack of cotton pads for about $1-3, and the retinal cream I got for $3 at Aldi. While this cleansing routine does cost me a bit of money, I’ve saved tons of money on skin makeup!

The foundation I do occasionally use is $8 for a tiny bottle and ever since cleaning my skin regularly, I have felt so confident with my skin that I haven’t needed to use much makeup. I love being able to have a bare face and feel amazing about it.

Once a week, I use body cream on my entire body and use a sugar scrub in the shower beforehand to exfoliate. Sometimes I don’t feel like doing it because it’s definitely time consuming. It takes about 5 extra minutes to exfoliate after shaving and moisturize my entire body after I’m dry. I’ve found it to be extremely worth it because it keeps my skin from getting scratchy, dry and unattractive. Depending on what body cream/butter you buy, it can cost anywhere from $5-20, but I make sugar scrub from coconut oil and sugar at home (about $1 for a mason jar full – get my recipe here).

Prioritize Sleep

Our body literally needs sleep to function. While we are sleeping, our body repairs and heals, completes digestion from the day, helps us to retain new memories and learning, and enhances our mood and health in many other ways.

You need to keep track of how much sleep you need and figure out if you are needing more. There is so much to be said for how sleep affects our beauty. If we aren’t sleeping enough, our body cannot heal. If our organs are not functioning properly, that means that our skin, hair, nails, and eyes will be affected… not to mention our mental health and moods!

Digestion is also vital to feeling beautiful and healthy. If you stay up late at night and wake up early, you will likely be eating food during the time you are awake instead of taking that fasting time that your body desperately needs while you sleep. If you are bloated or constipated, you will definitely not be feeling beautiful.

Most adults needs between 7-9 hours of sleep, but there are some adults that need more than that! I personally feel great if I have 9-10 hours. Having that time to reset my mind and body does great things for me.

Drink water!

Just like sleeping, drinking water is absolutely a beauty necessity. Our skin, hair and nails cannot grow healthily if our bodies are dehydrated. Grab a pretty, insulated water bottle and keep it with you all the time. If you struggle to enjoy water, try infusing it with fruit or flavoring packets, or just try keeping it ice cold in an insulated water bottle. Temperature can make all the difference!

Give your hair a little TLC

If you aren’t 100% satisfied with your hair, then you should do something about it. Personally, if I’m having a great hair day, it doesn’t matter what the rest of my body is doing: It’s a good day! 

If my hair looks great, I can throw some foundation on my face, put on some loose clothes to cover up my bloat, and I still feel good. Hair is the one thing that we can’t really cover up well. If you have gross hair that’s making you feel less than beautiful, it’s pretty hard to cover it up which will leave you feeling way less than confident.

While I’m all about the messy bun life to cover up greasy/flat hair, it does take some time to get a messy bun in that looks good (unless you’re a seasoned pro like some of you mom’s are!). I personally live for styles that look great air-dryed and un-styled. That doesn’t happen for most of us though, so I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to spend some extra TLC on your hair.

Research what hair cuts would look great on your face shape. Look into what colors look good with your skin tone. If you can’t afford to keep up with hair cuts/colors, invest in a curling iron/wand or a straightener, as well as some heat protectant. If you struggle with flat roots, try some dry shampoo to plump up your style. It’s also a great idea to own some dry shampoo so you can wash your hair less often. The less the better when it comes to having healthy locks!

Minimalist Wardrobe

Maybe this doesn’t seem like a “beauty” habit to you, but one of the most stressful things for me in looking good is my wardrobe! I just don’t have a knack for picking out great outfits and I’m not confident in the outfits I do pick out.

The thing that has helped me tremendously is adopting a minimalist wardrobe. Now, just like with my minimalist home, I don’t go as extreme as some people prefer to do. When I say minimalist wardrobe, here is what I’m talking about:

• Only 1-3 pieces of kind of item of clothing (ex: 1-3 dresses, 1-3 tops, 1-3 jeans, etc.)
• A small closet/shelf space
• Having a seasonal color scheme (so that everything matches AND so you only wear colors that flatter your complexion)
• Spending more money on basic items + less money on accessories
• If I never wear it, or just don’t feel confident, I get rid of it
• Make a list of outfits that look good together + have your list ready to go to eliminate tough decision making

When you keep your closet limited to only high quality items that fit you well and make you feel great, you will have a much higher chance of wearing outfits on a daily basis that make you feel AMAZING.

I personally also enjoy the color scheme. I have a color scheme for spring/summer (Navy/Grey base colors + Pastel/Neon pop colors) and for fall/winter (Black/Tan base colors + Burgundy/Mustard/Olive pop colors). When I go shopping, I know exactly what colors to pick because I know what my closet looks like for that season.

I pick colors that look good with my complexion and coloring, and I pick styles that flatter my body type. Having less to choose from in my closet, as well as a list of great outfit choices that I’ve already put together, makes dressing a lot easier. For more tips on creating your capsule wardrobe, check out this post.

Don’t be Lazy

There’s something to be said for resting and self-care, but there’s also lots of negatives that go along with sitting around like a couch potato.

Exercise, fresh air, social interaction, and keeping our bodies active is so important to having a fresh appearance.

Aim for a healthy balance between rest and busyness. It’s crazy how just toning up our bodies and keeping ourselves energized (even if we don’t lose any weight) can make us feel more confident and beautiful.

Floss & File

Ahh, these two little pesky habits… I will admit that I struggle with them myself. I aim to floss 1-2x a week just to keep on top of things. I absolutely hate flossing because… I don’t know, I just do! But I know it’s vital for gum health and preventing cavities.

I also aim to file my nails once a week. I used to prefer painting my nails to distract from the bumps and hangnails I have on almost all of my nails, but recently I discovered that if I just keep from picking and biting my nails, I can keep up with just a filing and clipping once a week.

Having silky smooth fingernails makes me feel more put together and much more mature than when they’re painted, but bitten off. I also was spending WAY too much time painting my fingernails and it was driving me nuts. While nicely manicured nails look great, they do cost money and take time, so natural nails that are filed and clipped neatly can be just as attractive if kept up with.

The best parts about these two habits is that you don’t have to make them a daily thing, just a weekly things… and the tools to keep up are so cheap! Nail files are insanely cheap just about anywhere you go, and floss varies in price depending on brand and coating/flavoring… but it’s not usually any more than $2 and lasts around 6 months!

The tiny details of our hygiene can be frustrating and seem unnecessary and time consuming, but the more things we take good care of, the happier we will be with our overall confidence.

What are some parts of your beauty routine that you couldn’t live without?