Survival kit for insomniacs

The best beauty advise in the world is to make sure that you get enough sleep since not only do you rest and heal your body and mind when you sleep, but the skin regenerates and it's during the night that your skin is most recipient to treatments. Some people don't need a lot of sleep to still function properly, but I'm not one of those people and if I don't get my required 16 hrs of sleep (no wait... that's koalas...) I'm cranky, can't focus, feel almost hung over even though I haven't touched a drop of alcohol (honestly!) and I'm so peckish I could eat a cardboard box, if I don't have any yummy goodies at home. Getting back into a healthy sleeping pattern can be difficult and it takes time, but today I'll show you some products that have helped me through those horrible times of sleeplessness.

Some common advise when you find it difficult to fall asleep is to avoid tv, laptops, alcohol and food a few hrs before bedtime and to take a hot relaxing bath. For me it works best having a nice long soak with aromatic scents, and traditionally scents like lavender and camomile are supposed to work really well to relax you. Lately I've been using St. Grape Exotic Pink Bath Salts which are made from Himalayan salt. The bath salts have a lovely sweet, and light lavender scent with a menthol punch to it and the salts are wonderful for softening up your muscles and detoxing your body at the same time as they make the skin feel very soft and nourished, which is great since the last thing I want to do after a relaxing bath is to start moisturising.

Just in case I don't manage to get a lovely night's sleep I'll also apply the Gatineau Age Benefit Ultra-Regenerating Nigh Elixir (£90) that at least makes my skin look like it's rested. The formula is a very intense anti-ageing treatment for night use only that revitalises the skin by targeting fine lines and wrinkles. The texture is lovely and silky with a slight glowing tint to it and it has a lovely clean and fresh smell. You only need a small pump of the serum to cover your face, and when you wake up in the morning the skin looks smooth, radiant and energised as if you had had a really good night's sleep. When it's eventually time to go to bed to try and fall asleep I'll spray Avon's Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Pillow Mist (£1.30) which is an aromatic and light scent with camomile and lavender over the bed clothes and in the room to make the bedroom a nice, peaceful and relaxing space. I also use the Avon's Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Balm (£0.90) on my pulse points - so on my wrists, on my neck and on my temples, although the balm smells a lot less of lavender than the pillow mist and I mainly pick up on the very subtle and harmonious scent of camomile that should help to send me to the land of nod.

Hopefully the bath and the relaxing lavender and camomile scent is enough to help me relax and get a good few hrs sleep, however if in the morning I haven't managed to get what I need and I'm feeling and looking tired I'll use The Body Shop Elderflower Unperfumed Eye Gel (£7) on the eye area. It's a fabulous eye gel that cools and soothes the eye area, and the elderflower helps to get rid of the build up of fluids under the eyes that cause dark rings. I keep mine in the fridge to enhance that refreshing sensation when you apply it and within a few minutes you should see how the eyes look less puffy and those pesky dark circles starting to fade. The last must have product for insomniacs is Dermalogica's Total Eye Care (£37) which I've mentioned a few times before, but it's such a great product that it deserves to be mentioned often. It has a light consistency that hydrates and smoothes out the eye area and since it has a slight tint to it and light reflecting particles, it works like an under eye concealer, making you look much more bright, fresh and rested. What do you use to help you fall asleep and do you have any tips on how to at least fake 8 hrs sleep?

Spa treats from St. Grape

A little while ago I was one of the lucky winners of the five St. Grape gift sets from the giveaway that Miss Budget Beauty held at the beginning of the month and I was really excited to get to try their products. St. Grape is a new brand that launched their products in August this year, and they only sell their products in the UK at the moment. The St. Grape concept is all about natural and organic skin care, based on ancient traditions and rituals to create modern holistic skincare - looking after both the body and the mind.

The gift set I got contains four different products; bath salts, bath scrub, foot scrub and a massage oil - perfect for an indulgent evening of some relaxing pampering. I am all about pampering, and several times a week I ensure that I get some me time to enjoy a nice long soak in the bath with lots of bubbles - ideally both in the bathtub and in a champagne glass. Despite being a bath girl I must admit that I don't often use bath salts, but as soon as I saw the Exotic Pink Bath Salts I was curious to try it.

It's made from Himalayan salt, which is very rich in minerals that not only makes the skin velvet soft, but it also detoxes your body and to have nice long soak in a bath must be the easiest way to detox ever. I poured a generous amount of salt into the bath and by the time I'd finished running the bath the majority of the salts had more or less dissolved. The scent is not so much exotic as it is aromatic and I would say that it's a menthol like subtle lavender smell, so it's relaxing as well as invigorating but not overpowering in any way. The salts were great for softening up my muscles, but the menthol oils are so reviving that I'm not sure this would work for me as a pre-bedtime relaxer, but except for that it's a lovely product.

While I was enjoying my bath I also used the Aqua Bliss Bath Scrub which contains natural mineral sea salt, essential oils and vitamin e. The scrub has an incredible consistency, and I've never tried anything like this before. It's soft and creamy but finely grainy from the salt at the same time, and it feels very light and fluffy on the skin - it's like scrubbing yourself with a granita, it just dissolves beautifully. It's a really lovely exfoliator and it leaves the skin feeling very soft and smooth with a faint smell of jasmine, although for me it is a little bit on the soapy side. According to the description you can use this on your face as well as your body, however I won't be able to comment on that since I've only used it as a body scrub so far. I absolutely love this product - it's great value for money and I would definitely repurchase it.

The next product in the gift set is also a scrub, but for the feet. The Ancient Foot Scrub uses the same ingredients as the Aqua Bliss, and the consistency is wonderful although more than a little bit different. It has a soft but dry, grainy and fluffy texture that reminds me of couscous but it's very relaxing and soothing to use, and even better if you can get somebody to do it for you... Take a a handful of the scrub to massage all over moist feet, and it will easily get rid of any rough or dry skin. I also tried this on my hands during a manicure and it works equally well, and you can follow up with a rich hand cream or even a moisturising wax treatment for silky smooth paws.

Using this is quite messy, so I would recommend that you do it over the bath tub or something similar, so you don't get it everywhere as I did the first time I used it. It's a pleasant product to use, however it is VERY strongly scented. The scent could be from the essential oils; jasmine, rose and lavender, each of them distinct and potent in themselves. As you know fragrance is a very important product aspect for me, and it can sway me either way when I'm testing a product. For me personally this scent is far too strong, even over powering and unfortunately it would keep me from buying the product again - even though I really did enjoy the actual scrub. 

 

To finish the bath routine I used the Invisible Skin Massage Oil to moisturise every part of my body that had been soaked and scrubbed. The oil comes in a lovely apothecary style, heavy glass bottle with a stop which is too chic to be hidden away in a bathroom cabinet. The oil is a blend of Camellia Seed and Extra Virgin Oil with an impressive 9 other kinds of 100% pure essential oils from; lavender, lime, basil, grapefruit, mint, rose geranium, eucalyptus, chamomile and bois de rose. All together, they create an aromatic, soothing and relaxing scent that is still fresh thanks to the zesty citrus fruits. The oil is fairly rich without being heavy and it leaves your skin nicely moisturised. You can use this as a serum on your face as well, but since you should only use a tiny drop of oil, it would have been useful if the bottle came with a pipette, or something to help with the dispensing.

We all have such busy lives that it's important to take some time every now and then to just relax, and what better way to do that than turn your bathroom into a relaxing home spa; light some candles, put on some music, have a lovely bath and finish with some of your favourite products. If you're on the look out for something new to try, why not check out the St. Grape, and make use of the 50% discount code from Miss Budget Beauty - BUDGETBEAUTY5.