It's so easy to waste time online when you're trying to be productive, I'm a professional at that, but at night, it's easy for me to go from working at the laptop to watching stuff in bed on the iPad, so I needed to cop on and start looking after myself a bit more and being a bit more productive. This is still a learning curve for me, because I had such bad habits, but I'm getting there! So this is my week night army to help me wind down and relax the cacks.
Smellify one's boudoir
There's something about having a candle burning that just instantly makes me feel relaxed but I generally only burn them at the weekends because sometimes I'm so tired during the week, and I know if I get in to bed, I ain't getting up to blow out a candle. And if I keep it on my bedside table, I'll knock it over, set fire to my house and have nowhere to live. So I've been using and loving this Febreze Sleep Serenity duo that arrived a few weeks ago.
The Bedside Diffuser in the Warm Milk & Honey scent is as soothing and comforting as the name suggests. It's subtle enough not to get up your schnoz and disrupt you from falling asleep but strong enough to do it's job and helps create that lovely calming environment in your boudoir. I have that on the go all the time and right before I brush my teeth, I give a few sprays of the Sleep Serenity Bedroom Mist in Warm Milk & Honey around my room to intensify the scent a bit more and I have to admit, I love 'em. The scent is soft, calming, smooth and perfect for creating an air of calm in my bedroom. They totally help me unwind and now I associate them with getting ready to nod off so I'm screwed if I spray the mist during the day at all!
Rub some stuff all over yo' body
Lavender and sleepy time go hand in hand so on evenings where the thought of having a shower the next morning is too much (that means setting the alarm for 5.15 instead of 5.30, big difference at that hour) I have a nice shower using this Lavender shower gel from L'Occitane which is enriched with organic grade lavender essential oil from Haute Provence. When I use it, it's how I imagine I'd smell if I was cycling through the lavender fields in Provence and I think when the evenings get darker and chillier, I'll be trying out the bubble bath in the same scent. When I use this, I take my time washing myself and enjoy smelling the real lavender, the good stuff. There's nothing synthetic about it and it leads me on to phase two of getting my body ready for bed!
I've been using this Stress Fix Body Creme from Aveda recently and it almost conks me out as soon as I apply it. It's thick, luxurious and sinks into the skin quickly which is good because if it took any longer, I'd be fast asleep on my feet in my nudies. With it's intoxicating scent of organic grade lavender at the forefront, if the L'Occitane shower gel didn't get me relaxed enough, then this topples me over the edge and I'm ready to face plant the bed. It also has shea butter, sunflower seed oil and sea algae to thoroughly moisturise my skin so I wake up - eventually - with soft supple skin. Pure luxury this is and if you can stay awake long enough to enjoy the scent, then even better.
Mask it up
I'm a bit obsessed with my latest evening skincare routine which I'll be going into more detail about soon, but I needed to tell you about this seriously amazing face mask that can also be used as a moisturiser. I've spoken about the Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask in my July Favourites video but I had to reiterate my love for it again. Each night, I apply a chickpea (very specific, I know) amount onto my face and when I tell you this stuff feels like silk on the skin. We're talking instant plumping, hydration, nourishment and although I use a smaller amount than recommended, I leave it on overnight as a regular moisturiser and I can't stop using it. I've so many other skincare products to test out and I can't not use this! I feel thoroughly pampered in the face department and then I can get cracking on the next phase of Operation Calm Yo'self.
Turn off technology
Read it and don't weep
So tell me this and tell me no more, how do you wind down in the evenings? Do you have any beauty regimes that you find helps destress your body and mind?
Oh God, this post made me sleepy (in a good way, ofcourse!). I can recommend the "This works" Deep Sleep bed- and pillow spray, I think it would make a nice addition to your nighttime routine. And about the Bridget Jones book: it's nothing too special, and a terrible letdown compared to the other Bridget Jones' diaries, but still, it's Bridge and you always gotta love her!
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