Medicine Cabinets for Minimalists

I'm almost done unpacking into my new apartment (almost a month later... but for a good reason! More on that soon.) But today I wanted to share what's in my medicine cabinet. 

I'm the daughter of anxious parents, so I've grown up with medicine cabinets that are stuffed full. My parents even put extras of medicine in other bags around their closet. Predictably, my own medicine cabinet was a well-equipped first-aid kit. That, and about a billion little bottles of lotion, chapstick, lip gloss, etc. etc.

I noticed that a lot of my medicine expired before I ever used it. Partly because I don't get sick very often, partly because I don't really like taking medicine. So, I began downsizing. 

I only keep pain-relievers, cold medicine, a thermometer, and some band-aids. I figure that I can buy everything else as needed. I've also dedicated the top shelf for travel-sized containers (so that they're easy to toss into a bag for quick packing.) One lotion. One lip balm. Replace as needed.

This might still look cluttered to some of you super minimalists, but here are my current essentials:

And here are some top picks:

1. Highbrow Tweezers//Sephora//$12 

I've used these for over five years and absolutely love them. The tips are angled sideways as well as inwards, so they hurt less than other tweezers I've tried. I wipe the tips with a small dab of hand sanitizer to disinfect them before use. 

2. Smith's Rosebud Salve//American Apparel//$4: 

I use them for chapped lips, dry areas, and--yes--cleaning.

3. Eucalyptus Spearmint Lotion//Bath and Body Works//$12: 

I don't use this as body lotion because it has a very strong smell, but I dab a little bit on my temples before a bath or when I'm trying to relax--it's really soothing.

4. Make Your Own Bandages//Urban Outfitters: 

Comes with 20 pastel bandaids, 3 markers, and makes wounds just a little less terrible. I wasn't able to find these online (I got these at a store in Boston a few years ago) but if you find these at a store please let me know in the comments below! 

"Fruit Snacks"

If it's 4pm, I'm probably craving a nap, and hating myself for it.

My tiredness has been persistent for years now, and my doctor recommended I start taking a general multivitamin and a B-100 vitamin.

(B-Vitamins help increase your energy by making it easier for your body to convert food into calories. After a month of consistent use along with a multivitamin, they've also shown to reduce feelings of stress and improve one's mood.)

I want my body to function well. Ideally, I'd exercise every day and eat well-balanced meals. But it's so hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm up on my feet and moving around all day. But my body needs more energy to do everything I want. I don't want to spend all my energy working, then trying to recover energy so that I can go back to work.

But I don't like taking medicine. I'm a gotta-ride-it-out, lets-build-up-my-immune-system sickie. My worst nightmare: having a little weekly pill box filled with this and that to keep my body running properly.

If I have a vitamin deficiency, I want to see if I can get those nutrients from food before relying on supplements. But I don't really know how to feed myself. Or cook regularly.

This is usually the point when I'd start obsessively reading health blogs and cataloguing recipes and then not actually cooking anything I find.

Nope, not gonna do it.

Baby steps.

I'm all about making good choices as easy as possible. So every Sunday, I'm getting a bunch of fruit and chopping it up. I Keep it in tupperware in the fridge, so if I'm ever in the mood for a snack, I know exactly where to go (i.e. not to Taco Bell)

Sometimes I just want a half an apple. Sometimes I want three. Cutting it into bite size pieces makes eating fruit way, way easy.

Here's a little tip: To keep fruit from getting mushy as quickly, squeeze a half a lime into the tupperware before you toss it in the fridge. It'll preserve the fruit!

For now, I'm taking the vitamins every day. But hopefully I can wean myself off of vitamins and just, you know, fuel my body properly.

One step at a time.