I lived like Winnie the Pooh for an entire week.
I’m annoyingly a morning person.
I’m that person who wakes up, Tweets a sappy meditation, goes to fetch coffee, then is off for a peppy morning work out, while returning all emails before 9 a.m. I’m always doing the most in the most extra way possible.
SEE ALSO: Is honey actually good for your skin?
It’s super annoying, of course, when you’re the only one awake and the rest of your friends are just getting out of bed when you’re halfway through your day. I’m learning to calm down in the mornings these days. Mostly because my friends are sick of finding 70 blue bubbles on their iPhones when they wake up. Oh, bother. But also I want to enjoy the morning, stretch a little, practice some self-love while planning out my day.
For the past week, I’ve been pampering myself and forcing myself to take it slow. Like, Winnie the Pooh DGAF about waking up I’m going to sit here and think about breakfast, lunch, dinner kind of slow.
TBH, it’s been a crazy year and this month is actually sneaking up on me with so many projects and I feel extremely overwhelmed. So I’ve cut out any semblance of working out and replaced it with indulgences. Instead of doing 150 burpees, I do 150 burps on my couch while drinking five cans of La Croix, eating Doritos (of all flavors) and watching HBO’s Insecure. I’ve replaced jumping out of bed in the mornings with laying there, bored, staring at my ceiling and listening to my grumbling stomach sing a beautiful opera. And I’ve also slowed down my mornings by being more like Winnie, practicing from Taoist practices like just being, while forcing myself to mask with honey.
Pooh on me
Winnie is all about slowing things down. I don’t know if it’s because the Pooh is lazy AF or intentional about being present and ever in the minute, but I’m taking his cues and taking it minute by minute. Instead of overeating honey, I’ve been putting it on my face by testing this new brand called Farmacy and its mask, the Honey Potion. It’s since become a favorite at Sephora.
I mentioned brand briefly in a post here about honey being good for your skin. But I failed to go in-depth on the brand’s Honey Potion ($56), one product that forces me to slow down in the mornings and just be. For one, the product comes in a delicious package that totally encapsulates what the brand is all about. The jar is made of glass with a lid that is made of real, stained ash wood. Magically hidden under is a magnet to allow the steel spoon to stick to it. Not only will you never lose your spoon, it’ll allow you to hygienically scoop honey into your hands.
Once you apply a small nickel-sized amount of product onto your face, the mask warms up and causes a soothing effect. It’s ~extremely~ enjoyable and makes you feel as if you’re at a spa. The product, for being made mostly of honey, isn’t so sticky. Made of honey, propolis (a healing antiseptic found in beehives) and amino acid-rich royal jelly, this jar of goodness totally soothes your skin.
How you use
For about a month, I massaged the product in for about a minute, until it turned into a white cream. Winnie the Pooh be damned, this thing was hard for me mostly because I wanted to lick my lips to see if it was sweet. I then waited 10-15 minutes, sat in silence, and rinsed off. Not only did I find it to be very hydrating, I found that it made my pores feel smaller and my face more glowy.
Those 10-15 minutes have been a lifesaver not only for my face. I literally practiced meditation while having this on, which in turn, has led to a more productive day and focused week. While I’m still that annoying morning person who does multiple things before most people have their first latte, Farmacy’s Honey Potion has reminded me to sit back, relax, take each day at a time and practice The Tao of Pooh. That is, wei wu wei, the Taoist belief of not overcomplicating things, and doing me effortlessly. Now excuse me while I get back to furiously group texting my friends and waiting for them to wake up while laying here, bored. Oh, bother.