Self-Care Sundays the subscription box giving you the tools for me time

Sandra Burley, 38, set up the business in September 2020, but says she has been working on the idea for the last three years.

She said: “Four years ago, when my daughter was six months old, I was a busy mum of two with a demanding career. I craved a little bit of time to myself where I could just re-set myself.

“Every time I got a half hour window to myself I’d waste it by thinking about what I should do with that time, and before I knew it it was over. What I really wanted was someone to just hand me a box, say “Here, take this, see you in 30 minutes. You’ll be a new person”.

“I subscribed to a lot of boxes that promised self-care and luxurious pampering, but all they did was make me feel drained by the prospect of figuring out how to use everything, and guilty that I’d spent money on it in the first place.”

Sandra went on to ask a number of women about their beauty routines, the things they incorporate and the things they wish they had made time for.

She added: “I love a bath, but I’m fairly Type A, and really craved the idea of relaxing me-time while still being incredibly productive.

“So that’s what Self Care Sundays Box is. I put all of the thought and effort into the box, so the subscriber only has to follow the easy regime and relax while all of the amazing products work their magic.”

Each box contains five or more full size and super deluxe eco-luxury beauty products from mainly British makers.

It is a bi-monthly box so that the user has a full two months to use the products and avoid product overwhelm on their bathroom shelves.

Sandra explained: “I don’t believe in sampling, you need to use something over a longer period of time to see the results, hence the bi-monthly schedule.”

The subscription is £65 every other month (or £32.50/month if you break it down). One time boxes and one-time gifts are £72.

Sandra trialled and tested a lot of products to see what she would include in the boxes, wanting to do all the research so that her customers don’t need to.

“I want Self Care Sundays Box to be a brand that people trust for products that work and are good for you, as well as being completely luxurious.

“Unless you’re a beauty editor, who really has the time to research and source all that? Brands with high standards that match my values and serious simplicity for the subscriber is my ethos.”

Sandra’s advice for creating a self-care routine is to not overthink it or over plan.

The Wadhurst resident added: “It doesn’t have to be a big time commitment. While ideally you’d have 30 minutes to do the Self Care Sundays Box routine, I’ve tested it and created it so that it can be done in as little as 15 minutes if that’s all a person has.

“The point is to do self-care regularly, that’s when it really adds something to your life. Committing to weekly self-care, be it 15 minutes dedicated to it, or more, has huge benefits for your wellbeing.

“Anyone, genuinely anyone, can find 15 minutes weekly. What a Self Care Sundays Box gives you is a plan for how to use that 15- 30 minutes, no thinking or planning required.”

Subscriptions boxes are pamper boxes, which can include books, food or beauty products, it is sent through the post and delivered to your door.

Statistics released by Royal Mail in August 2020 suggested that the subscription box market is expected to be worth over £1 billion in 2022.

It found that one in four Brits are signed up to a subscription box in the UK.

It is most popular amongst 18-34 year olds with 23 per cent signed up to at least a year, whereas 13 per cent of 35-54 years have signed up with only three per cent of over 55 year olds signed up.

Subscription boxes are also more popular with males than females, with 30 per cent of men subscribed to one, compared to 24 per cent of women.

So why does Sandra think they are having a bit of a boom?

“We have such an instant shopping culture with the rise of Amazon and other e-commerce, that subscription boxes are a wonderful way to delay that instant gratification while still getting what you want,” she explained.

“It’s so exciting to receive a subscription box, there’s nothing utilitarian about it. Someone else has curated it for you, packed it with love, and put a lot of thought into it.

“It’s a care package, or as I like to call it “happy mail.” Something for you that you know will be good, that brings so much happiness when it arrives on your doorstep.

“Self Care Sundays Box is a set it and forget way to incorporate self-care and beauty into your weekly routine.

“Who wouldn’t want someone else to put the effort in while you just get to enjoy? Subscription boxes are a great way to add something like a behaviour you’d like to incorporate into your life.”

During lockdown people making time for themselves is more important than ever.

We are spending more time at home, with things we used to enjoy such as exercising at the gym, meeting friends or even chatting to colleagues at work being on hold. So it can be the little things at times like these that make all the difference.

Sandra said: “Hands up if you turn into someone not very nice when you don’t take time for yourself!?

“Honestly, I’m a big believer that you’re doing everyone a favour when you take time out for yourself.

“When you emerge from a glorious scented bath, when you walk out of a café having read a chapter and had a flat white. The world looks different. You’re a different person. You smile at strangers, magnanimously let a car out in front of you in traffic, are patient with your loved ones, and not critical of yourself. You can be generous to everyone once you’ve taken care of yourself.

“We’ve all heard it many times, but I’ll say it again here, all the cliches. Put your own oxygen mask on first. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Self-care isn’t selfish.”

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