Tips for Getting to Sleep

I am one of those people who have always struggled to get to sleep, even if I'm tired it can take me hours to actually drift off but over the years I have developed a few tricks which help me get to sleep when it really counts and I thought I would share them with you.

1. Start to relax long before you plan on going to sleep. Take the time to slow down before you go to bed by turning off the tv and not worrying about the washing or anything like that. Read a book, listen to an audiobook or take a bath. I often  treat myself to a LUSH bath bomb, my favourite is Twilight which smells like lavender to help you drift off.

2. Speaking of lavender, a couple of drops of essential oil on the inside of your wrists and the nape of your neck can help, alternatively get a pillow spray, it'll have the same effect.

3. Make sure your room is dark. This sounds like an obvious one but if you can still see across your room when you turn all of the lights out it might be too light and be stopping you from sleeping properly. If you can't use blackout blinds, pick up a comfy sleep mask, mine came with the bed I bought(!) but this one from Boots would do the trick.

4. This next tip I technically stole from an interview with Jeremy Paxman on Radio 4. He said that he had struggled with sleeping but that having a good book by the bed really helped. This is so that if you can't sleep you have something distracting but it also means you are being productive instead of just lying there worrying about not sleeping. Once you have done this a few times the fact that the book is there just helps to relax you as you know you have something to fall back on if you can't sleep. Cheers Jeremy!

5. Above all, DON'T PANIC! If you find yourself lying awake worrying about stuff, quickly jot down anything you need to remember, then try to forget about it and if you can't then it's time to reach for that book…

Hope that there is something useful for you in this, let me know if you try any of these, I'd love to know if they work for you too. What helps you get to sleep?

Much love,

Sasha Monday x

Tips for Dry Lips

As it would appear that summer is pretty much over in the UK I am starting to think about autumn and winter (jumpers at the ready!). One of the things which I tend to suffer from in the colder months is dry lips, so here are my tips for keeping your lips lovely and healthy.

Exfoliate!

I know it might sound a bit weird to exfoliate your lips but honestly this is a great way to get rid of any dry skin and make them feel lovely and soft. You can buy lip exfoliators, my favourite is LUSH Sweet Lips, which is vanilla and chocolate flavour.  Sadly, I think they have discontinued that particular flavour but they do still have bubblegum, popcorn and mint flavoured lip scrubs. The little pots contain large sugar crystals which buff away the dry skin and essential oils which soften and provide the flavours which mean you can then lick it off your lips. I have found these really useful to carry around in my handbag (especially in the winter months) for when my lips need an extra bit of TLC.

If you would rather not go to the trouble of buying some lip scrub, you can use your toothbrush instead. Simply buff your lips with the toothbrush if they are feeling a little dry and it will remove and dead skin, although obviously that doesn't have the added bonus of tasting nice or essential oils.

Choose Wisely

There are a number of lip products out there which don't actually help your lips (or even make them worse!). So it's worth making sure that you pick one which is going to protect your lips and keep them in good condition. You can't go wrong with good old petroleum jelly if you have sensitive skin and I am a big fan of Vaseline's Rosey Lips because it lightly tints your lips as well. I also like Body Shop Vitamin E Lip Care SPF 15 and Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Original Ultra Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF15 because, as you all know, I love a good SPF (see here for my blog on moisturisers with SPF). Or if you want a really good quality lip balm and are willing to splash out a little more, I can really recommend Molton Brown Protecting Vitamin Lip Saver. I use this most nights before I go to bed and every morning my lips feel much better, the only thing I would say is that it does coat your lips in a similar feeling substance to petroleum jelly which can feel a bit weird when you're going to sleep but it's worth it!

As you can see, these are all very well-loved!!

Drink More Water

I'm sure you've been told many times that if you've got dry skin anywhere then you should drink more water but it's especially noticeable with your lips. If I'm a bit dehydrated my lips are the first to show the effects and to recover afterwards. I'm really bad at making sure I drink enough water during the day, so have taken to keeping a glass by the sink in my bathroom so that it reminds me everyday to drink first thing, then that's one glass out of the way and it sets me up for the day.

Hope these tips have helped! Do you have any lip-care favourites which you can't live without?

Much love,

Sasha Monday x

Beauty Haul Review

Okay, so last week I was out shopping and ended up in House of Fraser which is always a dangerous situation for my bank balance! I also picked up a few things from LUSH and Boots so I thought I'd share my haul with you and give you my thoughts so far.

Estee Lauder Haul

I arrived at the Estee Lauder counter looking for lipstick. I came away with lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner and an enormous gift bag of samples which House of Fraser were giving away if you bought three things (I'm weak!). The lipstick is their Signature Hydra Lustre Lipstick in the shade Cocoa Rose which is absolutely gorgeous! It has a nice deep colour but is still subtle enough to be worn in the day and it feels lovely on, not at all sticky or drying. Admittedly it does need topping up over the day but that's the same with most lipsticks, so I'm not too bothered about that.

 I also picked up Pure Color Five Color Eyeshadow in Surreal Skies. I love the natural colour palette and find it absolutely ideal for the day with the central dark colour being good for lining or creating a smokey eye for the evening. I do find that the powder dusts a lot in the palette although that may be a problem which lessens the more I use it. The eyeliner is their Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil in Coffee, I have used their eyeliners before and always find their staying power to be unbeatable for a pencil and I like to use brown eyeshadow during the day as black can look a little harsh on fair skin.

LUSH Haul

I like to go to LUSH about once a month and stock up on a couple of bath bombs, I like to treat myself to a pamper evening with a bath once in a while and LUSH bombs are always my go-to. This time I opted for Twilight for when I need to relax a bit, Brightside Bubble Bar for when I need perking up and Sex Bomb just because I fancied something a little musky as well. 

So far I've only used Sex Bomb, which turned the bath water a lovely pink colour and smelt absolutely gorgeous. The Brightside Bubble Bar has quite a strong citrus smell which I adore but I know can be a bit much for some people. The difference between the bubble bars and normal bombs is that bubble bars are designed to be crumbled under running water, so if you like you can only use half of one at a time and save some for another day.

Boots Haul

Having heard really positive reviews of Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer and Scandaleyes Mascara I thought I would give them a go. I had tried the Wake Me Up concealer and foundation before but found the colour to be far too yellow for my skin tone but they seem to have either changed the colouring or added a new one because the Ivory concealer and (I think) True Ivory foundation blended perfectly on my quick test in the store but I decided to only grab the concealer for now (partly due to the "buy one get one half price" deal they had on) although I will definitely be going back for the foundation! The concealer has been pretty good so far, it is perfect for under-eye circles and covers up redness as well. The only slight niggle is that it has a slight sparkle in it which over the day really shows up unless you top it up. So far the Scandaleyes Mascara has been pretty good, it really does make your lashes longer and gives a good coating without being clumpy. It is sometimes a little sticky and the mascara tends to stick to the end of the wand, sometimes making it a pain to apply but it's nothing a quick wipe won't solve.

Sadly, one of the products I picked up has been a massive disappointment. I have curly hair which I'm currently growing out, making it quite difficult to manage, so when I saw John Frieda's new Frizz Ease Go Curlier Heat Activated Spray I thought I would give it a go. It claimed to create salon smooth curls but even though I followed the instructions, all it did was gave me dry frizzy curls which looked very messy and felt sticky. I decided to try using less the next time and all it did was make the bottom half of my hair fluffy with no curl at all! Sorry John Frieda but I won't be buying this again.

Phew, that was a bit of a rant! Hope my thoughts on these new products have been helpful, let me know if you have tried any of these or had any hauls yourself recently.

Much love,

Sasha Monday x