Is Self Care and Personal Care The Same Thing?

May 4, 2026

In today’s age, one almost has to ask oneself if personal care and self care are the same thing. In the technical definition, personal care (for the use of this article) are those things that you do to groom yourself. These things include bathing, dying your hair, shaving or waxing - basically daily hygiene activities.

Self care includes actions to deliberately maintain or improve health and regulate emotions to reduce stress and stop burnout form happening. Examples of this might look like picking up a new hobby, getting a restful sleep, having a relaxing epson salt bath soak before bed or even getting together with friends. The goal here is to maintain or improve wellbeing.

Note that personal care tasks are mainly about your individual hygiene and self care can include spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional practices.

I think that in our time, where everything always feels rushed and never enough time for anything, sometimes the lines here get blurred. If I get a hot shower twice a week, sometimes I confuse that with self-care, because I love the feeling of the hot water on my sore muscles and joints. Then I’ll stop myself and ask why everyone else gets a shower either every day or every second day, but not me.

As parents and partners in relationships, sometimes it’s easy to prioritize everyone but yourself. It always seems as if other people always come first. (I mean, the kids need to go to bed first, so it’s only logical that they have their shower or bath first. But, by the time it’s my turn, there just happens to be no hot water left).

So what do we do? I think it’s imperative that we change our mindset before we get to the empty nest part of life. (Side note: I wonder if that’s why empty-nesters sometimes feel so bereft and alone because for so long, they focused solely on everyone but themselves. Then, when it’s time for the kids to leave, they have no idea what to do).

So why don’t we change the script? Instead of doing something for yourself and feeling guilty about it, do the thing and enjoy it! And I’m not talking about having a shower either.

Here is a list of both personal care things and self care things we can do for ourselves that might help us to enjoy life a bit more.

Personal care:

Buy the expensive conditioner and hide it. Use it only for yourself and everyone else can have the regular conditioner.
Get yourself the deodorant you actually want, and use it! That goes for soap, body wash - don’t save products for a rainy day. Use the good stuff first.
Have regularly scheduled shower and bath days and let everyone else in the house know that’s your time! LOCK THE DOOR!
Let yourself have that mani or pedi. If you feel like taking your daughter, fine, but if there comes a time when you want your quiet time, don’t feel bad that you leave her behind occasionally.
Keep track of your doctor appointments and don’t prioritize your kid’s or partners care over your own! You matter too! Remember - if you don’t take care of you, no one will be there for them.
Exercise regularly

Self care:

Meditation
Listening to the birds
journaling
morning pages
solitude
sitting in your car (yes, this is a thing)
exercise
dry brushing
massage
yoga
reading
personal or professional development
hanging out with friends
singing/ karaoke
participating in a hobby

These are just some ideas, but you get the picture! Let’s normalize personal care as an every day occurrence and also still make self-care a priority so: