Shower Essentials

+ We’re talking closet and getting-ready essentials this month. After my morning routine, it’s all about the shower...

I think one of the reasons why I like hotel rooms so much is because of the tidy bathrooms. It's so nice to have a shower with small versions of just the basics. I used to be an art director in the beauty industry, and I'm finally shaking off the last bits of feeling like I need to own or use a lot of products. That practice just isn't in line with my values anymore. It's pricey, can be wasteful and even harmful to the environment and our health! Plus, the collection of body products most of us have can feel overwhelming.

I have removed a lot of elements from my beauty routine ;) This is all that we keep in the shower, and we don’t have extras in another closet. When we start to run low, we get another. MY SHOWER ESSENTIALS:

1. Dry Brush. Right before I shower and while I’m waiting for the water to heat up, I like to quickly dry-brush. I actually started this practice about ten years ago while doing a crazy detox but I just started up again last year and it’s so invigorating. Plus I have super soft skin. ;) If you want to learn a little more about it, check out this post from No More Dirty Looks.  

2. Face Oil. One of the best things I’ve ever done for my skin is to reduce the number of products used, especially soaps. I wash my face with oil and then moisturize with the same oil and it’s really mellowed out my complexion and given me a glow. I apply a few drops of oil to my skin right after getting in the shower and then massage it for a minute before rinsing it under the warm water. I might use a microfiber cloth to further exfoliate or I make a mask out of our honey and a little baking soda every week or so. I’ll post more about it later but for now, one of the best resources for oil cleansing, in addition to No More Dirty Looks, is minimalistbeauty.com. Check it out!

3. Shampoo/Conditioner. I try to only shampoo a couple of times a week (usually after soccer or swimming) and I'm forever trying out new shampoos. I even stopped using shampoo altogether for 6 months! (Let me know if you’d like to hear more about my experience with no-poo!)

I wet my hair well and then lather a little bit of shampoo into the roots, rinsing at the end of the shower. While I continue to look for that magical shampoo that won't strip my hair, won't leave it greasy and also tames flyaways, I like to buy a travel size of a green product to try. This season it's Aesop. We both use so little shampoo that these bottles last us more than a month. I’ll refill it if I fall in love. The conditioner is rarely used so it also fills in as shaving cream when needed.

4. Soap. Just for the pits and bits! We like castille soap and tend to buy Dr. Bronners but I also like to pick up natural soaps at farmer's markets.

5. Floss. Strange but amazing! It always bothered me that I couldn't maintain a flossing habit. I read online one day to try putting the floss in the shower (let me know if you know where I found this) and it's changed my life! I floss while I'm rinsing my hair so it maybe only adds 30 seconds to my shower but it ensures that I floss at least four times a week!

+ We share a razor and keep it hanging in the shower.

What about you? Is your shower filled with products? Any experience with dry-brushing, oil-cleansing or no-pooing? Thanks!

Lean Closet: 5 Items You Don't Need

We’re tackling our closets and other getting-ready essentials this month. Maybe you have a capsule wardrobe, are considering a closet sort, or maybe you want to spend as little time and energy on this as possible. For all of us, here are...

5 ITEMS YOU DON’T NEED IN YOUR CLOSET:
1. Dry Cleaning and Alterations. I already mentioned this in the Lean Closet: The Sort post. Gather all of these items that require action and then deal with them! If you don’t really want to, maybe the item isn’t worth keeping. I had a belt that needed taking in sitting in my closet for almost a year. It’s now in somebody else’s world and actually getting worn!

2. Socks, Underwear, and Bathing Suits. Okay, you do need some of these in your closet but most of us have an excess and/or really old ones. Elastic, unfortunately, doesn’t last very long. That bathing suit from ten years ago might fall apart if you try to put it on. Old, stretched-out underwear is just sad and will not make you feel your best. How many pairs of socks do you have? How many do you wear? You don’t have to keep them all just because they came together in a pack.

(via)

3. Buttons and Sewing Supplies. Ack, all of those buttons. Back before I was a minimalist but still very organized, I had a neat system for storing and labeling all of those extra buttons that come with clothes. I never once used them! If you love to sew or are able to fix alterations yourself, awesome! You probably have a separate space for the sewing machine and its materials. For the rest of us, we tend to have somebody else fix our clothes. Let that person keep all of those thread colors and buttons shapes. It’s their job. If you do lose a specific button and need to replace it, you can probably find a close match at a craft store. This will most likely not come up :)
+ I do have a lint roller, a pin cushion that my aunt made for me, and a seam ripper in my closet. The seam ripper is great at removing pesky tags!

4. Bags and Suitcases. Again, you might need and use a bag or two and a suitcase. Great! How many more do you own? I’ve noticed a trend with owning too many bags… we never completely empty them out before we move on to another, newer one. It’s still in good shape and useful so we don’t let it go but we also never use it again. Try to pick your favorites that you actually use and donate the rest. You will most likely find a few items at the bottom of your bags that you haven’t seen in a while; these items are usually sad but you might find money! Score. This is a good reminder to completely empty your bag at the end of each day. It's the best way to stop the accumulation of unwanted stuff in there. 

5. Extra Hangers. You don’t need 50 wire hangers for 30 pieces of clothing. Figure out how many items you like to hang up, add a few, and buy a small set of matching hangers. Take care of them and take better care of your clothes. Plus, your closet will look so much nicer with consistent hangers! Although I don't think we all need Pinterest-worthy spaces, starting your day in a pretty closet does make a difference. 

+ Bonus! I’m going to suggest that you might not need to own an iron. If you iron often or love to iron (can we be roommates?), great, keep the iron. I try to buy fabrics that don’t wrinkle easily or if necessary, I take difficult pieces to the dry cleaner. If you’re like me, trust your dry cleaner. I’m also rarely at home before a special occasion so there’s that.  

This list comes from years and years of cleaning out my own and others' closets and noticing what was stored and never used. Do you have any of these items to get rid of? Let me know!