Do you feel like the holiday season is affecting your skin? My Self-Care & Relaxation Tips will help you cope with the holiday madness. In addition, my upcoming topic, Winterize Your Skin Routine is a must-read if you want radiant skin through the winter season. These pointers will help you stay grounded and look your best. As you’ll see in my video, proper self-care is essential to staying sane during stressful times.To start, cultivate a few self-care rituals to keep in rotation when traveling or dealing with family obligations and stress. Here are some of my favorite practices to incorporate into my routine when I want to feel and look my best.1. Stop, drop and breathe.  How is it that we can forget to breathe? Our breath is one of the best tools for calming our body, connecting to ourselves and to source energy. Yet we often forget to breathe when we are in a rush or under stress.Here’s how to take a truly calming breath: Inhale deeply in one fluid, continuous motion and as soon as you finish your inhale, start your exhale. This means no stopping or holding the breath. Three connected breaths can do wonders to calm nerves and to get you back in the moment.Yes, it really can be that simple. Breathing improves circulation and helps oxygenate the cells, which is ultimately incredibly beautifying as well.2. Multi-task with a bath.

Epsom salt baths offer two incredible benefits that lead to looking radiant. First, soaking in a warm tub helps us relax and feel calm. Second, Epsom salt pulls out impurities, helping our bodies detoxify. In addition, Epsom salt baths can prevent and help with jet lag. I love taking baths when I need a me-break. For even more multi-tasking beauty power, treat your face simultaneously with a mask and voilà, you are on your way back to you.3. Harness the power of essential oils. Who doesn’t love a pleasing scent? For some serious de-stressing power, use essential oils and aromatherapy as a mood elevator. Spray them in the air, on your body, add them to a bath or dab on pulse points like perfume. I also like to place a drop directly into cupped hands to inhale for immediate benefits. As a bonus, certain essential oils like pine and eucalyptus are great for boosting the immune system this time of year. These can be used in the bath or on the shower wall where heat helps release the healing benefits.4. Mega-Moisture People often ask me what the fountain of youth is. If I had to pick one thing, I would say moisture both internally and topically. The key here is to find a way to get more water in. I think Nike said it best with, “Just do it.”Here’s a little trick to help your body hold hydration internally: take a pinch of sea salt and place it directly on your tongue before chugging water. Minerals found in sea salt help your body hold on to moisture. This is especially important when we get depleted due to stress.Topically, I recommend you use moisturizing masks. For extra oomph, add a booster oil to your mask and be sure to drink enough water, particularly in the winter. For more tips on moisture, or preventing and correcting dry skin during cold weather, see my Winterizing Your Skin Routine!