the lil things that changed my life- building confidence, sustainable routines + romanticizing life

sometimes it’s not the big moments or expensive purchases that change your life- it’s the small, intentional ones.

in this episode, i’m sharing the little things i love that have genuinely shifted my confidence, routines, and relationship with myself including daily habits and solo rituals to hobbies, style choices, and moments of choosing myself on purpose.

this one is a reminder that loving yourself doesn’t have to be loud- it just has to be honest.

click here to shop all of my favorites mentioned in this episode

connect with julia on instagram @beautybyjulia + tik tok @juliasalvia

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Transcript

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This is by far your favorite Self-Love Archives podcast episode, and I'm back with another one. We're talking about the little things that have changed my life. Welcome back to the Self-Love Archives podcast. I'm your host, Julia Salvia, your self-love bestie. And this episode, we've done it two or three times and it has gotten the most views every single time out of. All of the podcast episodes, so I figured I would come back in and give you an updated version of the things that I've been doing, purchasing and just having in my life that are changing my life. It is this season of love. It is February. It is Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day. My birthday's around the corner. It's feeling full of love. Whimsy. This month is themed, falling in love with ourselves again. If you didn't check out last week's episode, it is so worth the listen because I'm giving you four ways to fall back in love with yourself this February, and I've been romanticizing my life. Past year or so, really falling in love with myself, falling in love with the little things in life, falling in love with the stuff that's around me. So I wanted to share things that are really themed in the whimsy, the, the romanticizing my life in self love and the things that have just changed my life in. I wanna say like overall in my life that are just like whimsy and fun and exciting. So let's get into it. I have some physical things, some actionable things, and I'm really excited to share it with you. This one, I am just getting it back into my routine, like into my life, and that is going on a solo date. I used to do this a lot, especially when I was single. I mean. There is something about dedicating time with yourself, and I think we do that in a lot of ways, whether we're journaling, meditating, reading. Watching a TV show, like we're spending time with ourselves. But what about that really dedicated moment of going and doing something because we really want to, we're not gonna wait for someone else to ask us to go do it. We're not gonna wait for someone else to ask us on a date, ask us to go paint something, to go to this restaurant we really want to go to, to go on a trip with ourselves. Like we are not waiting anymore. For someone to ask us to go or to wait for someone to give us an answer. If they wanna go with us, we are just going and doing it. So I've made a promise to myself for the entire year that I'm taking myself on a solo date or a solo something every single month this year. So that means by the end of the year, I will have taken myself on a solo date 12 times. Or a solo something 12 times this year. Because spending time with yourself, dedicated time with yourself is just as important as it is to spend dedicated time with the relationships that you have in your life, with the people that you have in your life, your friends, your significant others, your family. It's just as important as that. How do you get to know yourself if you don't spend time with yourself? And I think making it a little bit more fun, it's just more exciting. Don't get me wrong. I love journaling. I love meditating those things to going on a walk with myself. Those things help me get to know myself better in deeper ways. They help me in my routine, my habits. They set up my day in. The best of ways. Right? But what about those things that you just like really wanna go see, go do? What about those? Do it by yourself. It can be so scary. Don't get me wrong. It can be so scary because my solo date for January, right? I love this ramen place. It's not even a ramen place, it's actually a sushi place. But their ramen is so good, and I had been really craving it one night. My boyfriend didn't feel like coming with me and I wasn't going to reach out to any of my friends 'cause it was late and I just like really wanted this bowl of ramen. And I said, you know what? I'm gonna go on a solo date. I'm gonna take myself out on a really just casual date tonight. Get myself this bowl of warm soup in this cold weather that I just have really been craving, and I'm going to get dressed in this comfy, cozy, cute outfit. I'm gonna put my makeup on and do my hair, and I'm gonna take myself out on a solo date. Now on a scale of one to 10, like what level of solo date or like nervousness would this give me? Probably like a three outta 10. One. It's nerve wracking to go sit there by myself because I'm looking around, I'm like, don't stare at me. Like, just 'cause I'm sitting by myself. Do they think, do they think I got stood up? Like I'm so worried about or you're so, you're so worried about what other people think. About you at these solo dates when in actuality, like, how brave and courageous and cool are you? It's cool. Okay. How cool are you to go sit there by yourself and enjoy a moment, enjoy a, a meal, enjoy your own company. That's cool. I don't know about you, but that's, that's cool. That's cool girl. That is cool. Girl. Shit. First and foremost, the number one thing that I think has been changing my life, that I'm revisiting, that I'm getting back to, 'cause I don't think I've taken myself on like an actual dedicated solo date in quite a while. Take yourself on more solo dates, even if it's to a new coffee shop. Like even if it's starting small, maybe it's something that doesn't cost any money at all. Take yourself out on a solo date. Go try something that you've been wanting to try. Go travel somewhere that you've been wanting to travel. And my goal at the end of this year, or at some point this year, is to take myself on a solo vacation. That that will be a 10 on the scale. A 10 outta 10. That will be very, very nerve wracking for me. So I'm hoping that these solo dates build me up to that. Ooh, I love this next one. Okay. Hobbies, hobbies. What happened to your hobbies? What happened to being whimsical and like scrapbooking and junk journaling and creating like a vision board like mine behind me that's been in my past couple of episodes, what happened to painting and doing puzzles and crocheting and drawing and coloring, like what happened to all of these little hobbies? And don't even tell me that you don't have anything. In your house right now where you could just like get started Because I know during COVID times we all went straight into hobbies. Like we all refound and relearned and rediscovered all of these hobbies that we used to do like as kids or. When we had more free time for ourselves, I have been doing little hobbies here and there. I used to, oh my gosh, I used to do so many different hobbies to the point it was like overwhelming. I had to like cut it back. I used to scrapbook and I used to really enjoy like a puzzle once in a while. Painting and drawing. I seem to have like just lost that kind of in the same way where I seem to have just said not. Done solo dates anymore. What hobby? Like do you love to do pottery? Go to a pottery class. Do you love to do yoga once in a while and have just not done it? Like go to a yoga class. I love these little whimsy hobbies that don't take long, that just give you this sense of freedom, this sense of imperfection, this sense of. Not giving a care in the world and just leaning into something fun for no reason other than it's fun. I really think that something that has changed my life is actually leaning into these hobbies that we have been wanting to do or this stuff. That's just fun. It's fun because it's fun. It doesn't need to be productive. It doesn't need to be perfect. It's just fun. There's no strings attached. There's no perfection attached. We are partaking in hobbies because they are fun. I think of myself as a sim sometimes. You know when you're playing the sims and the fun meter is all the way down. That's how I picture myself. When I am feeling so overwhelmed by life, by work, by the world, my sim meter for fun is all the way at the bottom, and it's time for me to go paint, to go color, to go scrapbook junk journal, to put together a puzzle, to play a video game. When I tell you. That any of these little hobbies, even if it's like five, 10 minutes or an hour of my day a week, it makes my energy go from zero to 100. It allows me to feel like everything else matters because I'm giving myself the time to do things for no reason. Do things just because they're fun for no other reason than that they are fun. To that exact same point, I started doing photo shoots for two reasons. One, because I need more photos of my card deck of, of different things for work, right? Different, like behind the scenes, different like actionable things so that we can use more of our own photos versus using, you know, Pinterest photos or other things like that. I've also been doing it. For fun. There's something about getting all dressed up, putting on makeup, doing your hair, and getting creative in a photo shoot with maybe something that you wouldn't wear out with a design or like a set that maybe you wouldn't find out out in the world somewhere. Like there's just something fun about it and there's something about it giving you so much more confidence. I think I booked three photo shoots. With one of my favorite photographers, like all in all in a month, and we had such fun on all of these creative shoots. They were things that you wouldn't do. I was in lingerie on a beach, dragging a Christmas tree. There are so many cute things that inspired me and I was like, I just, I just want pictures of myself. And the way that, that gave me such a confidence boost. The way that any of these three things that I'm, first three things that I'm sharing with you will give you such a confidence boost Chef's kiss, like do a birthday shoot for yourself this year and watch your confidence. Go from zero to 100 and don't even question why. Why are you doing a birthday shoot for yourself? Who cares? Who cares? Like really? Who cares? Do a photo shoot just for you for no other reason than it's. It's for you to help you build your confidence. Okay, let's get onto some physical products that have really changed my life over the past a couple of months. The very first one, I actually have them here, so if you're watching on YouTube, you'll get to actually physically see them. But of course, as I always do, I will link everything in the show notes below. So if you want to grab any of these, they will be right there. First and foremost, there have been some skincare products actually that have really changed my life over the past couple of months. I was really lucky enough for Tasha to send over some products to me, and I actually used to, I used to really wanna love. Tatcha and a lot of their products were just too much for my skin. My skin used to be really, really oily. Tasha's products just didn't work out for me. So when they had sent me a couple of products, I gave them another shot. I think the last time I really tried Tatcha products was a couple of years ago. And your skin does change. Things do change, and. Products may work for you now that didn't work for you then, or vice versa. So I tried the tacha dewy milk moisturizer, and when I tell you, oh my goodness, when I tell you that my skin looks so okay, there's a difference between your skin looking like really like plumped and supple and glowy versus it looking oily. And when I tell you, almost everything makes my skin look oily. To the point where I sometimes will powder like my T-zone, so it doesn't look like I have like a shine unibrow or like I look like I'm sweating. So it's really hard for me to choose moisturizers based on that. So I had started using this for a couple of weeks and I have never gotten so many compliments on my skin and my entire life. Like they're, everybody's been like, your skin is so glowy. It looks so good. This looks really good. It's this. It's this moisturizer. So I've been really, really loving this. The dewy milk moisturizer. It's really been working for my skin. For someone who always feels like their skin is so oily, like this is beautiful. I have two products that are for under eyes. Ugh. I've been really self-conscious about my under eyes lately, and it's definitely hereditary, but it's also I need more sleep and I already know that. So those are two things that I know I need to work on for sure. But these two products have definitely been super helpful for me to actually feel a little bit better about my under eye circles. The first one, it's. Completely. It looks like it's been through hell and back, but it is the replenish, tinted, brightening eye cream. And this is an eye cream more than it is a makeup product. It does have a little bit of color in it. I think a lot of the eye creams, the tinted eye creams, they are very orange and my under eyes while they're dark, they don't really get covered up by these super orangy brightening products. This is the perfect in-between where I eye can put this underneath my eyes and I don't need to put. Makeup on if I don't want to. So it's the perfect tint for my skin tone. I actually am not sure if this comes in other colors, but it's the perfect tint for my skin tone. Plus it has skincare in it, so that makes me also feel a lot better about using it, especially on days where I just. Don't feel like wearing either a lot of makeup or makeup at all. Um, and it covers up the dark circles and brights my under eyes while also having all of those skincare benefits in it, including peptide. This one thing I can't even read because it's literally coming off the bottle and hyaluronic acid really is such, such, such an amazing product. I think this is like my second or third bottle. This last one has been actually sitting in my little skincare collection for a while, and I don't even know what to use this for, and then I used it for the first time. I couldn't even tell you why it works, but it works. These are the deju. I think it's Deju. This is the Deju Forever Eye Masks. There are two eye masks that you put underneath your eyes after you put on your eye cream, and I have been using these almost every single morning after my eye cream, right when I wake up. They sit right on top of it to hold serums and creams close to the skin so that they can slowly dissolve into your skin so that when you remove them about 10 minutes or so later. Your skin looks a lot more supple, a lot more awake. Your under eyes are alive essentially, and I definitely get that effect for sure after I take them off. You know those kits. Usually like Sephora has and they have a bunch of mini perfumes. I've been buying a lot of these lately, and I'll buy one here and there and use it up. Try out different sense, different perfumes. I think it's hard to buy like a full bottle of perfume because honestly your girls got kind of expensive taste and I. I don't know if it's a good idea for my bank account to purchase a $80 fragrance just based off of the one time I'm smelling it on the piece of paper, or the one time I'm spraying it in the store. I wanna try it on my body. I used to love. Always really did love vanilla fragrances. The problem is, is that they smell so good when you spray them out of the bottle, but when I wear them, I swear to you, I smell like chicken soup. It is horrible. It is disgusting and I hate it. So vanilla fragrances are not my jam. They're not my thing. As much as I love them, I love them. They're not for me usually. More masculine scents are better for me because when I spray anything with a lot more like woodsy and smoky scents to them, they turn sweeter on me and it is the most interesting thing in the world. I'm sure that someone in the perfume industry, uh, could explain the process of how that works, but because of that, I have been buying little mini. Discovery sets of fragrances that I've been wanting to try, and it's been so fun because you get the opportunity to see how it smells on your skin, but also the opportunity to layer fragrances to see how you like things together. So something I've been really, really loving, it's. Been bringing just like a little more joy into my day. Plus, there is nothing better, especially when you layer fragrances. There is nothing better than someone telling you that you smell good and there is nothing better than smelling good and not smelling like anyone else. And for this cent to be uniquely you. I'm going to roll off some really quick ones for you. Some things that I've mentioned before that you've definitely heard me mention before, that I'm still absolutely loving and are still changing my life to this day. My bows, quiet comfort headphones. I will tell you these are worth the price to just have these on an airplane. They are like the universe's gift to my ears. It quiets everything. I cannot hear anything. The white noise of an airplane is completely gone when you put these on, and they just are genuinely really, really good headphones. And they come in a lot of really cool colors and I think something I love about it, as you guys know, I'm just a monochrome girly. I love the matching sets. They are all monochrome, which is so appreciated. They have this gorgeous, gorgeous pink color and this gorgeous like deep red. I am really trying so hard to stop myself from getting right now, but they're still good. They're still changing my life and they are the best. This one absolutely cannot come as a surprise, but heatless curls. I still love them. I put them, I put them on today. I took them out yesterday and the day before that. I absolutely love them. They're still changing my life. Like I wake up with stunning hair every single day with basically little to no work at all. I'm blow drying my hair, and then I am sleeping in these heatless curls, and it is the best thing ever. Truly. If you haven't heard, I came out with a card deck called The Love Yourself More Card deck 100 questions to discover who you are and love yourself deeper. The idea is that after you have completed and answered all 100 questions in this card deck, that you will look back and say that you love yourself more. I really have been loving this. I know I created it and I know I created it for a reason, but there's something different about creating something and then actually using it. The way that I use this is kind of like a tarot deck. Every single time a card falls out or two cards fall out, that those are the two questions that I need to be journaling about or asking myself in this moment. Getting deeper with yourself allows you to love yourself more. Sometimes it's just asking the right question. Every single time I ask myself a question from this card deck, it's the right question. It's the right question that gets me deeper into what I need to get deeper into in this moment. It's the right question for what I need to know about myself right now in this moment. So. This card deck has changed my life as the creator of it, but it's also changed my life as just a user of this card deck, hand sanitizer, lotion, lip balm. It's freezing outside, and I keep these three things everywhere. I keep them in my office. I keep them in every single bathroom in the house. I keep them in my car. I keep them in my purses, I keep them everywhere. And I don't even think this needs an explanation as to why. I think that you just need to understand hand sanitizer, lotion, lip balm. And you need to go and do the same. Buy yourself a bulk pack of all three of those things on like Amazon or from your favorite brand and keep them in every single drawer in every single place in your house. And thank me later, I've been obsessed with lace, obsessed with polka dots, and still obsessed with red. They just bring so much confidence, so much whimsy, and so much. Romance. Romance for the lace. Whimsy for the polka dots, confidence with the red. Love these. And I've been seeing so many brands and so many companies coming out with more of these patterns and more of these things like lace and polka dots. So cute. So freaking cute. And you're like, how has this changed your life, Julia? Well, it's been fun. I really think that a lot of these things are just. Fun ways to romanticize your life and just keeping life interesting, keeping life exciting, bringing passion and confidence into your space, into your routines, into your life. That is how it has changed my life. That is how all of these things have changed my life in the past couple of months. As I mentioned, everything you wanna know is in the show notes, in the description down below. I hope you loved this little list of things that have changed my life. Please let me know what has changed your life recently. Is it something you've been doing? Is it something you've. Saying, is it something that you have consistently purchased over and over and over again or is it something that you've had for a really long time but you've rediscovered how it can change your life? Let me know in the show notes below. We also have a new feature where you can actually text us, so if you look at the show notes below, there is a link right at the top where you can text us what you think about this episode. I love you to the moon and back, and I cannot wait to see you. Next week, same time, same place. Have the best week ever.