Lauren's Autumn Daily Routine
By Lauren Trend
I don’t know about anyone else, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realise that Autumn is by far my favourite season. Being a Sag-Sun, I’ve always declared that I’m a summer girl. When in reality, I’ve actually come to despise the intense heat, namely because getting dressed in it is an impossible task. And in recent years, being out in the blaring sun is just not how I want to be spending my days.
Enter - my thirties, and feeling so sure that Fall / Autumn is absolutely my time to shine.
There’s a hangover of summer in the air, but the air has started to settle as the leaves have begun their yellowish decent to the ground. I can get dressed in clothes that feel comfortable again.
It never ceases to amaze me just how profound an impact the seasons and the elements can have on how we feel within ourselves, and how that trickle on effect flows into other areas of our lives. Being from Melbourne, Lucy and I often discuss following better, more consistent weather. Autumn-ing year round somewhere..
Anyhow, you’re here for a routine not a journal entry, so I digress. Year after year I’m reminded by the incredibly grounding yet personally transformative this season always tends to be for me.
It’s like I find myself again. Return to the small habits and prioritising the practices that I know will lead to me feeling good. It feels like turning a corner, it feels like coming back home. So I thought I’d take an opportunity to share what’s currently filling my days, as far as self-care is concerned, how that fits into and around work and caring for little Mila (who is almost one-and-a-half)!
Each morning we wake up to the sound of our Mila-alarm. Somedays that’s earlier than others but mostly lands between 6-7am. Lucy collects her from her cot and brings her into our bed for a sleepy cuddle and I nurse her for the first time that day, almost always with eyes wide shut.
For a few months now I’ve been sleeping while mouth-taping and I can’t tell you what a difference it has made to my sleep. Although sleep with a teething toddler is often broken, I can confidently say the quality of my sleep is so, so much better. It also helps Lucy fall asleep faster at night because I’m not out like a light and snoring the house down.
After we’ve all had our morning cuddle, two mums, two dogs, two cats and a baby bouncing around on a king-sized-bed - we get up for the day. I make it a habit to drink a full litre of water before doing anything else. Hydration is still top of mind, while breastfeeding.
We make our way into the kitchen and organise breakfast and morning beverages. Lately i’ve been drinking a big glass of this, before stirring a few teaspoons of this and this together in a tall glass of water. Breakfast most mornings is a muesli bar (life, chasing a toddler) but Mila, of course, sits down to a three course meal and we as her parents pick up and nibble the scraps of her lovingly prepared, highly nutritious meal.
As for supplements, the only thing I’m really taking consistently now is iron and this to help with hair growth after the intense postpartum shed. It was a woeful time around 3-6 months postpartum in the hair loss department. I tried so many things to mitigate the loss but the only thing that helped, truly, was time. And, cutting it all off.
I am amazed however at how quickly ti’s grown back in the last six months though. I’m using this to massage my scalp for 5-10 minutes each day, whenever I remember (Mila’s also grown very fond of a scalp massage!) and I am certain the circulation has helped more tan anything topical or ingestible. As for shampoo and conditioner, I now swear by this and this. Such an incredibly grounding combo. I just leave my hair to air dry and there is zero frizz. They’re honestly worth their weight in gold.
As for skincare, I’ve been very generously gifted a suite of Susanne Kaufmann products recently so I’ve been almost exclusively using them. My skin is feeling and looking so hydrated, calm and the consistency has really been paying off. I can often get really excited about trying new things, but I’m reminded that results are best found, for my skin type at least, when I’m keeping consistent.
I use this cleanser in the morning, followed by a few sprays of this holy grail mist and then either go in with a vitamin c serum (I’ve been loving this and this) or this incredibly hydrating serum if my skin is in need of a big drink. This moisturiser has been absolute heaven and the tiniest amount goes the longest way.
If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen that I’ve found absolutely mind-bending results using this pigment serum. It has honestly cleared up my hyper-pigmentation, dark spots and melasma (exacerbated by pregnancy) beyond belief. If you’re looking for a gentle yet highly effective pigment serum, I can not recommend highly enough. Use this essence prior and you honestly won’t believe your eyes in a few months time. Anyhow, I digress. After figuring out my skin’s needs in the morning, and addressing them as best I know how - I’ll lather on some SPF then begin my work day.
Not much is happening in the movement category at the moment. I’d love to get back into a regular pilates routine but I’m honestly finding going for walks and running around in the fresh air at the park with a toddler to be more than enough. Maybe it’s because I’m unfit, or getting older, but by the time my head hits the pillow each night my body also feels tired enough. Hopefully some gentle movement for the sake of my mental health can be prioritised soon. But at the moment things feel in equilibrium so I’d say I’m doing okay. Seasons, right?
Lucy is definitely the head chef (lucky me!) so lunches and dinners are organised by her 99% of the time. She’s always making sure that we’re eating incredibly well, seasonally and never going without nourishing, holistic and entirely delicious meals. It’s been one of the biggest accomplishments of my adult life to repair my relationship with food. Something I was so determined to do before having children, especially. The memories our family is already creating around food are some of the happiest of my life. And as someone who struggled with disordered eating for so long, I honestly wasn’t sure this was ever going to be entirely possible for me, but it is and I’m so, so proud.
My work days at the moment mostly consist of 1:1 sessions and working on a new online offering we’ll be bringing to you later this year, hopefully in a few months time if not sooner! It’s felt really fulfilling stepping back into a full time role at work now that Mila is being cared for. Supported parents truly are better parents, and I feel so grateful to have the privilege of support.
By the time early evening rolls around, I switch off from work and we all come together for Mila’s dinner and bath time. Creating a special family ritual around her bath is something we’ve always done and I hope we always do. It’s a moment of our days that’s filled with so much joy and laughter and unwavering presence. After we’ve finished playing in the bath, it’s PJs on and I feed Mila one last time for the day before she pops off to sleep.
Any parent can attest to the fact that oftentimes ‘their’ day begins when the baby has gone to bed. Most nights, Lucy and I make use of this time to enjoy a meal together, catch up on some additional work or life admin, or relax into a TV show, podcasts or books. I’ve been prioritising a 20 minute meditation each night and it sets the perfect tone for the end of the day. It really gets me into my theta state and helps me leave the business of my work and parenting days behind.
As for evening skincare and self care. I begin each evenings self-practices with a non negotiable dry body brush, to promote lymphatic drainage. It’s just the best, most reinvigorating feeling. Honestly makes me feel like I’ve spent twenty minutes giving my body a good stretch and who doesn’t love a good ROI as far as time is concerned?
I then pop in the shower and begin my nightly cleanse. I’ve been alternating between both this cleanser and this cleanser, after removing all my SPF with this cleansing balm first of course. If my skin is in need of more exfoliation, I’ll use this cleanser. It’s the perfect formula for that exfoliated feel without being stripping or overly harsh. After I’ve showered and washed my face, I dry off and apply some serums, depending on my skins needs that day. One of the most profound shifts I’ve made in my skincare practices lately is alternating products based on how my skin is feeling in that moment, and not just blindly applying the same products day in, day out, for the sake of ‘consistency’. An analogy I like to use is, it would be like dressing in the same outfit everyday, regardless of the weather forecast. A nuanced approach is needed, depending on day-to-day circumstances, right?
With that being said, a few products I’m loving in the evenings at the moment, are this and this by Skin Design London. I’ve become quite frankly obsessed with this brand, I think their offering is incredible and at the highest quality. I’ll then apply a moisturiser to lock in hydration and maintain barrier repair overnight. I use this most nights and I honestly don’t think there’s a better deeply moisturising balm out there.
If you’ve made it this far, you’ll know it’s bedtime somewhere about now. By the time my head hits the pillow each night, my eyes are heavy and my heart is so full. Before lights out, I often feed Mila once more and then it’s our turn to rest.
I didn’t mean for this to be a long-form-essay meets journal entry but here we are. Thank you for reading this far and thank you for being here. I hope that this season offers you some circulated energy wherever things have been stagnating.