Prior to the pandemic, I always thought of myself as a low maintenance person with respect to self-care. My self-care regiment was the same for many many years. There were visits to the hair salon every six to eight weeks for a root touch up, highlights and cut, every other Saturday visit to the nail salon for an acrylic manicure and every four months a trip to a different salon to chemically straighten my hair. But, in comparison to some friends’ self-care routines, I always believed mine was minimal.

I quickly learned, at the beginning of the quarantine,  that my self-care routine was anything but minimal. I also came to believe that it probably was not the healthiest routine. For example, no matter what product I tried during quarantine I could not get the acrylics off my nails myself (the salon uses a small drill bit) and had to wait for my nails to grow out. As my nails were growing out, they continuously broke.

During the quarantine, I looked up the hair color that my salon used online-in a desperate effort to purchase some.   I found that the coloring agent my salon used contained numerous harsh chemicals. As for the chemical straightening of my hair, I always knew it contained abrasive chemicals as the person who used to apply it to my hair always wore a mask and put one on me years before anyone was mandated to wear one.

During the quarantine, I decided to start an easier and more healthy self-care regiment. I had found an organic hair color online and have been applying it myself at home (with my wonderful husband’s help). I have been using an organic nail strengthener on my nails and will not again put any acrylic or gel on them. As for the chemical hair straightening, I found a blow dryer that straightens my hair in ten minutes. Of course, at times, I have just allowed my hair to curl up again.

Going into quarantine, I never expected to change my long standing regiment. Yet, I am unexpectedly extremely happy with my changes. My hair and nails look better than before and I feel better knowing that I removed numerous harsh chemicals from my body.

Have you made any changes to your routine as a result of being quarantined?