Self-Care Sunday
Baptism of the Lord
A Day for Self-Care and Bathtime Rituals
About Self-Care Sunday
The second installment in the Vanity Cycle, Self-Care Sunday celebrates the kind of personal rejuvenation best purchased and then photographed in flattering light. This is not a day of inner growth or spiritual introspection. That’s the other kind of self-care. No, today is about looking and feeling great: haircuts, bubble baths, eyebrow threading, aromatherapy, maybe a couples massage if your partner is on the same page. While yesterday’s Churning Day encouraged wallowing, today insists you get off the couch, but only to make someone make you look gorgeous and feel better than you deserve. Sounds superficial and wasteful? Now you’re getting it.
Ways to observe
(A) Low effort
Apply a sheet mask, sip something herbal, and wear a bathrobe all day, even if you never actually bathe.
(B) Recommended
Schedule a personal upkeep day: get a haircut, book a massage, buy yourself a single new item of clothing that makes you feel wildly overdressed for your actual life.
(C) High effort
Rent a cabana, fill it with essential oils, eucalyptus branches, and freelance aestheticians. Have your entire inner circle rotate through 90-minute rejuvenation slots while a harpist plays ambient spa music live.
Inspiration
Self-Care Sunday takes indirect inspiration from the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which concludes the Christmas liturgical season and celebrates Christ’s emergence into public life. But where that holy day marks a spiritual cleansing and divine affirmation, this one is about exfoliating. Where baptism in the Jordan symbolizes rebirth, Self-Care Sunday is mostly about soaking in a clawfoot tub and debating whether your bath bomb was overpriced. The irony of handing over your credit card for a lavender eye wrap and Himalayan salt rub— just 24 hours before Stupid Monday arrives with the bill—is not lost on me. But if you’re going to cry tomorrow, you might as well look fantastic today. You'll feel a strange, unwarranted confidence after your haircut and pedicure, striding into the end of the Vanity Cycle as if debt were a state of mind. That feeling will evaporate tomorrow as you tour the ruinous wastelands of your Christmas spending, but your dapper visage should hold a few more days. Remember: on Self-Care Sunday, we perform our routines with intention, which makes them rituals, which makes them sacred, which makes them Instagrammable.
Adornments
Watch
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Two Midwestern best friends decide to swap their mundane routine for a Florida vacation that spirals into pure candy-colored absurdity.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Sofia Coppola offers a pastel-drenched portrait of self-indulgence and decadence in this stylish historical drama. Kirsten Dunst’s teenage queen flits through gilded halls, champagne coupes in hand, surrounded by couture gowns, towering hairdos, and platters of delicate pastries.
Clueless (1995)
A Beverly Hills teen classic where self-care comes in the form of matchmaking and makeovers. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) might seem superficially obsessed with shopping and popularity, but her heart-of-gold approach to pampering others turns vanity into thoughtful generosity.
Listen
Material Girl by Madonna
Channeling Marilyn Monroe glamour in its famous video, Madonna’s peppy synth-pop bop celebrates the joys of diamonds and credit cards.
Read
Against Nature (À rebours) by Joris-Karl Huysmans
Tired of society, Huysmans’ eccentric protagonist retreats to a private mansion where he devotes himself to bizarre luxuries: perfuming his rooms with exotic essences, dining according to elaborate whims, even encrusting a pet tortoise’s shell with jewels just to make it more beautiful.
Eat
Rose-Petal Macarons on Fine China
Treat yourself like a treasured guest: procure a few delicate French macarons (rose-flavored, if possible) and present them on the finest china you own. The gentle crunch of the meringue, the whisper of rose essence, the gold rim of the plate: it all transforms a simple dessert into an occasion.