Color Your World

Doodling away anxiety

Feb 20, 2025

Hello, Gorgeous!

While I’ve said repeatedly that I won’t discuss world events here, there are some days that are so impossibly sad that it seeps in. So for today at least, let’s consider taking time off to doodle or scribble or draw for a while.

You know me best as a writer/author/former celeb makeup artist/beauty historian/beauty expert. But I’m also a co-founder of a national nonprofit and a trained art therapist. I feel like makeup art and crafting and art all fall under the same creative umbrella.

Therapeutic art

Several times a month, I teach therapeutic art classes, including to to adult children of Holocaust survivors (and beauty classes to Holocaust survivors).

Last year, I created a program called Doodling Away Anxiety. The idea behind it is to use doodling to distract yourself from your stressful world, even for a short time each day. In case you’re wondering, doodling is a serious tool for improving your mental health. Way back in 1938, the Royal School of Medicine published a fascinating paper about the many benefits of “spontaneous drawings.”

Doodling for anxiety

Doodling can also act as a tool for doctors to diagnose what emotionally ails you - at least some of the time. Dr. Robert Burns, the former director of the Institute for Human Development at the University of Seattle, uses doodles to diagnose the emotional problems of his patients. As reported in the Harvard Health blog, he believes that in the same way “EEG leads transmit brain activity to a piece of paper, your hand also does the same” when doodling.

I love telling people that 26 of 44 American Presidents doodled including Ronald Reagan, who doodled cowboys and football players, and John F. Kennedy, who doodled dominoes. There’s a story about Bill Clinton’s aides fretting when he seemed to be doodling during a critical debriefing. As soon as the speakers were done, President Clinton laid down his pen and then laid out his plan of action.

I feel like we all need a random distraction. Even if you journal all the time, consider taking a doodling break for your emotional health, or even adding doodles to your journal.

Crayola Brings Back Retired Crayon Color Collection

If you need to feel like a kid again for even a short while, treat yourself to some new crayons.

Last week, Crayola announced that they were bringing back eight nostalgic crayon colors for the first time in the brand’s 122 year history. Crayons are a serious business and there have been Reddit threads dedicated to Dandelion and some of the other retired colors.

The resurrected colors include:

Dandelion (retired in 2017)
Blizzard Blue (retired in 2003)
Magic Mint (retired in 2003)
Mulberry (retired in 2003)
Orange Red (retired in 1990)
Violet Blue (retired in 1990)
Lemon Yellow (retired in 1990)
Raw Umber (retired in 1990)

Don’t love crayons? You can get the retired colors in markers or colored pencils! The entire Crayola collection should hit stores soon.

I may earn a small commission from sales made using the links in this post. (Probably not, since I’m kinda lazy about chasing down affiliate programs).

Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pens

Can’t get enough gel pens? Me, neither. I use my pens to doodle, or journal or simply to scribble designs in the margins of my very important documents. This collection includes 74 pens in Classic, Metallic, Moonlight (opaque), Stardust (glittery!), and Shadow (which has a color on color effect). (About $72, on Amazon).

Friends, life can be so tough sometimes. For me at least, doodling can help.

Love the smell of crayons? Spend time every day coloring or doodling? Let’s meet in the comment section to discuss!

Rachel, Your beauty concierge 🧡🧡🧡