If quarantine and my master’s degree have taught me anything, it is that I cannot ignore my mental health. I have struggled with anxiety for years and that is always something that I will work on, but there are definitely certain things that help me handle it better than others.

One of the biggest things I am learning to do is to take time to slow down and slow down my brain a little bit. This has always been a huge struggle for me because I normally can’t sit still and am doing about five different things at once. But, in the past year I have changed up my Sunday evening ritual and it has completely changed things.

First of all, every Sunday night, I take an hour-ish bath. While I don’t always succeed, I try and use this hour for a none work related activity whether it is just listening to a podcast or reading a book. Partially to hold myself accountable and partially to start a conversation, every Sunday I am going to post about something I already enjoy doing to relax in general or in the bath and I hope you guys will find these helpful and also comment with your own suggestions.

Brief caveat before I start talking about face masks: I am not a skin care expert so if you are having serious skin issues, I would talk with a dermatologist. Secondly, I have extremely dry and sensitive skin. I normally can’t use anything scented and almost everything irritates my skin so if you have oily or acne prone skin, these might not be the products for you although I do still recommend face masks!

Now on to the fun stuff: face masks! Doing a face mask is so perfect for your relaxation time, especially if you have glasses. When I do a face mask, it is a required 15-30 minute period where I can’t work because I can’t see. This is great for me in the bath because I just put on a podcast and just lean back and relax. Also, it has the added benefit of being great for my skin. Thanks to my FabFitFun box (my favorite subscription box by far) I have a variety of face masks and I’ve narrowed it down to my four favorites for you that are all a little different!

Number one is this watermelon mask from Purlisse. I actually use this is the morning and put it on right before I get in the shower and then wash it off after two minutes. I don’t do the peel thing because it hurts my skin but otherwise, I absolutely love this. It leaves my skin feeling so fresh and smooth and exfoliating is so important no matter what your skin type is.

Next up is the generation clay mask. I am very new to clay masks but I am obsessed with this one and it is my number one bath mask. You have to leave it on for 15 minutes minimum so it is perfect if you want to take a short bath or put it on before your bath and take it off while you are in the bath. For my skin at least, I don’t want to use this more than once a week but it starts my skin off super clean and fresh for the week.

Number three is a new face mask for me but so far I love it. It is the Versed Brightening Face Mask. I have tried a couple of other products from this brand and I love it because it is super affordable and uses a lot of natural ingredients and it doesn’t irritate my skin at all. This is a lighter clay mask and you can use it 2-3 times a week which is great.

Finally, we have my absolute favorite eye mask: Baggage Claim Eye Mask from Wander Beauty. These are the only mask I can wear my glasses with but even then my glasses get all slippery so I can still turn off with them on. I don’t normally have super dark under eye bags, but this mask wakes up your skin and makes it look like you just got the best night of sleep in your life.

So, those are my favorite face masks to relax with and I will definitely be doing some relaxing today. What d