priorities and needs as the virus-inflected
months drift by. No longer are worries
about longevity and fears of mortality mere
hypotheticals. They are 2020’vs reality.
It is that daunting reality that has skyrocketed the
importance of “me” time: stress-baking the latest
viral creation, tending to a garden, learning a new
skill, getting dressed like you’re going out just to
feel some semblance of normalcy.
“People are social beings. And while the social
fabric has been torn down, and you can’t be
a normal social person, you have been more
focused on yourself,” says Rod Little, CEO of
Edgewell Personal Care, which makes Schick and
Bull Dog products. “It’s beautifying for longevity,
as opposed to how I look in the office tomorrow.”
It’s also a way to mitigate the feeling that life
is careening forward haphazardly in so many
ways. That’s true for Tonya Speaks, a 43-year-old
wardrobe coach from Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Before the pandemic, she was always zipping to
and from business meetings. Now, the mother
of two teenagers exercises regularly and opts
for luxurious baths at night instead of quick
showers in the morning. She’s happier doing so.
“Taking care of myself,” Speaks says, “is one way
for me to have control.”
BEYOND THE ‘LIPSTICK INDEX’
Self-care isn’t a new fad. The difference is that
pre-pandemic, it could fall by the wayside if
a to-do list got crowded. Now, eight months
into the new reality, it is a priority. After all,
the thinking goes: If we’re not taking care of
ourselves, how can we do jobs, parent children,
care for loved ones?