Midweek pamper session: Face mask!

 Whether it's a pore strip, a full cloth or a liquid, there's not much I like better for relaxation than a face mask. Just the thought of lying down with a nice cooling mask on my face makes me feel instantly more relaxed.

So this evening we're going to take 20 minutes to give ourselves a little bit of quiet relaxation time and pamper our skin a little bit with a face mask.

Some of my readers have asked me how to choose the right mask for your face, and the answer really is that it's all down to personal preference. Some people like a heating mask, some like a cooling mask. Some people like a cloth mask, and others prefer a peel-off or the kind that goes on like a cream and dries out.

You should take a look at the ingredients and decide what will be best for your skin type, maybe even buy a few different ones to try.
The very best masks I've ever tried are skinmiso nose strips and lon vitalite 24K gold mask. They are amazing.

So... now that you've chosen your mask, go! Use it! Take 20 minutes, play some relaxing music and just chill out, forget about the world.

Midweek pamper sessions: Pedicure!

Ok, girls. Roll up your skirts and get those feet ready to be pampered. It's Wednesday night, and you know what that means!

Tonight, we're going to take care of our feet. You'll need somewhere to soak them. For me, that's my trusty footspa, but for you that could be as simple as a plastic tub full of warm water. If you have some bath salts or foot soak, add that to the water and just sit and relax for 10 minutes, let the warm water soften up the skin on your feet. Once you're done soaking, if you have a foot file, get in there and really work on the harder areas, your heels and under the ball of your foot. Slough away any dead, hard skin and really get into any cracked areas and remove as much of the damaged skin as possible.

Next, lets massage some heel balm into our feet. If you don't have heel balm, any thick moisturiser will do. Give yourself 5 minutes per foot to rub the sore parts and get the moisturiser worked right into the skin.

Last of all, we'll take care of the nails. Make sure they are cut to an appropriate length (too long will hurt your feet pressing against your shoes, too short and you risk an ingrown nail), the file them so that there are no sharp edges. Now, push the cuticles back and add cuticle oil if you have it/want to. After rubbing in the oil, it's important to wash the excess off of the nail, and the best way to do this is to take a cotton ball with some nail polish remover on it, and wipe it over each nail and let it dry.

While you're drying off the nails, you can choose a colour for painting them. Base and top coat are as important on your feet as they are on your hands, so make sure you bring them too.

Paint your nails the way you like them, and while we're waiting for them to dry, let's just sit and enjoy a glass of wine, or a hot chocolate. Whatever your guilty pleasure is, have it guilt-free tonight.

And we're done! Just a half hour of me-time and I feel so much girlier and happier and more relaxed. Oh, and my feet are ready to face the rest of the week and the inevitable parties that happen at this time of year. Bonus!