3 New things I have tried this lockdown which I am in love with

This pandemic has been tough for all of us. The lockdown and subsequently staying home all the time sounded leisure in the beginning but it turned out to be the other way round. In absence of helping staff like maids, cooks, and dhobis, the responsibility of household chores, cooking, kids, everything fell on our shoulders – my husband and mine. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

For days together, I didn’t look into the mirror or comb my hair. All my attention was diverted to my son, his classes, and the pending household chores. To add to it, work from home was nothing less than a mess. And amidst all the chaos, one fine day I looked into the mirror just to dress up for a video call. The grey hair had completely grown out of shape and dark circles under the eyes hit me really hard. All this while I had been neglecting myself and now it was time to invest in self-care. So I tried these 3 new things for self-care in the lockdown and now I am totally in love with them:

(i) Instant hair colour: I started with my hair because they needed attention badly. Salons closed and no experience of doing hair colour, I came across Godrej hair colour shampoo. It is a shampoo based hair colour and easy hair colour shampoo. Godrej hair colour shampoo comes in single-use premeasured sachets. So I didn’t have to worry about the proportions for mixing the colourant and developer. I put on the gloves that came with the pack of Godrej hair colour shampoo, cut open the sachet, and emptied the contents on my palms. Just like oil massage, I massaged the shampoo hair colour on dry hair. It is absolutely fuss-free and doesn’t require any hair colour tools like brushes, bowl or tail combs. I had not even finished scrubbing my feet and within 5 minutes, I was ready to rinse the hair colour shampoo off my hair.

After stepping out and seeing the results in the mirror, I instantly fell in love with myself. After using Godrej hair colour shampoo, I realised that all these years I had unnecessarily procrastinated the hair colour process due to time constraints or tight budgets. I got a professional and instant hair colour at home with the easy hair colour shampoo. Godrej hair colour shampoo gave 100% grey coverage to my hair in the 1^st use only. Generously massaging my scalp with the hair colour shampoo gave proper coverage to all the hard to reach hair roots at the back of the scalp. Well coloured hair is just like makeup. It had hidden all the imperfections of my outgrown hair and tackled the frizziness too. Godrej hair colour shampoo is enriched with amla and shikakai which provides the much-needed nourishment to the hair and makes them soft and shiny.

Just 5 minutes worth of investment made me fall in love with myself all over again. After using Godrej hair colour shampoo I couldn’t help caressing my tresses. Though they were still out of shape, the natural brown shade of instant hair colour made my locks look luscious and shiny. Well coloured hair added an instant glow to my face and pumped in new energies in me. My hubby was equally exhilarated to see me fresh and energetic. We twirled around and he looked deep into my eyes. I thought it was a moment for compliments but instead, he suggested me to do something about my dark circles. He said, “These black circles look cute on pandas. Not on you!” I jerked him aside and planned to try something for my dark circles.

(ii) Bedtime routine: After using Godrej hair colour shampoo, the best shampoo based hair dye my hair looked great. But dark circles made me look older, tired, and definitely less attractive. My sunken eyes and dark circles were a testimony of all the stress I was undergoing in the lockdown. But amidst the pressed schedules, something or the other kept hovering my mind. Preparations for breakfast, scheduling the work for the next day and prioritizing tasks haunted me till sleep took over. Dark circles were bound to happen but to overcome them I tried a simple bedtime routine.

I made an easy peasy under my eye mask by mixing a few drops of fresh milk with almond powder. Applied this mixture around my eyes and left it untouched overnight. To avoid the powder creating a mess on the pillows and my instant hair colour getting spoiled, I used a sleep mask on my eyes. The next morning I washed my eyes with cold water. For the first few days, this simple routine gave me a really relaxed sleep. The idea of doing a little self-care was a therapeutic experience. This literally takes no time. No matter you are going to the office or running around your house amidst daily errands, just 5 minutes at bedtime will give you a good night’s sleep and fresh eyes the next morning. After some 10 days of following this bedtime ritual, my eye bags shrunk and the dark circles had faded.

My eyes looked lively. With just simple and quick changes, I got a makeover for myself. It was time to give my home a makeover too.

(iii) Simple changes for a great makeover: Home is where the heart is but one month into the lockdown, and we wanted to run away from the same home. The home looked stuffed and suffocating. We spent literally all the time in the living room and it needed more space to accommodate 2 adults and a kid 24×7. Hubby and I decided to do a few changes to make more space. The coffee table was pushed along the corner of the room, the palms and cycas were shifted to the balconies and we got few miniatures in the room. Directions of sofas changed and old books, newspapers, magazines were sold out. A small tent in a corner was made with old linen and my son played with his toys inside it. Showpieces, exquisite crockery, bottles of sauces and seasoning rarely used were packed in the closets and drawers, so the stress of daily dusting and cleaning also reduced significantly while creating open spaces in the home.

Fast forward to today, things have started opening up, my maid is back, the markets are open, we are going to the office but the things I tried in lockdown have now been adopted as lifestyle changes. My salon is open but I am still stuck with Godrej hair colour shampoo because it is an instant hair colour. I don’t need days of planning to cover my greys. Godrej hair colour shampoo is the best shampoo based hair dye for some self-love. It is easy hair colour shampoo that colours my hair while taking bath only and it is equally easy on pockets. Maintaining my hair colour to look gorgeous has never been easier.

Women are always in a habit of prioritizing their kids and family over themselves. However, in this lockdown, I learned an important lesson of investing in self-care. I learned, that you don’t need to spend hours pampering yourself. Just give proper attention to yourself. Listen to your heart. Spare 5 minutes for your own self, and you will feel liberated and energized like never before.