Autumn Pampering
Brrr! There’s a definite nip in the air isn’t there? Time to dig out the winter woollies and light the log burner! I do think this is the time of year when we crave a bit of extra pampering, and a bubble bath starts to sound much more appealing than it did back in August.
Central heating can really dry skin out, so you may well find you need a richer moisturiser, or, if you don’t already use one, a night cream. It’s also important to exfoliate, so that your skin can truly renew itself. I tend to advise using a cleanser with a muslin cloth each day, along with a gentle face scrub once a week. However, a lot of the face scrubs you can buy on the high street are too harsh in my opinion. They can scratch or irritate your skin quite easily. Some also contain microbeads – tiny grains of plastic that are incredibly harmful to marine life. My face and body scrub uses bamboo stem grains and rice grounds to polish skin without irritating it.
It’s not just your face that needs a bit of a treat of course. The rest of your skin may well feel dry due to its recent exposure to sun, coupled with central heating and cold weather. But, while we often prep our body for the summer ‘reveal’, it’s easy to neglect it when we start to pull jeans on again. An oat bath is a great way to add some moisture back. Take an old pair of tights and cut the foot off. Pop a handful of porridge oats into the toe, tie the top into a knot and add it to your bath. You can also use this little oat bag as a really gentle body cleanser and exfoliator in the shower.
Chlorine and sun can leave hair feeling quite brittle and frizzy, so you might want to treat yourself to a hair mask. There are plenty in the shops to choose from, or you can make your own with a mashed up over-ripe avocado, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. Avocados go off quickly, so this is a great way to use one up if it’s starting to go black.
Autumn is a good time to make sure you have a soothing balm at hand. My heel balm is a great all-rounder to keep in your handbag, as you can use it for everything from cracked lips to dry elbows.
I hope you do get to have a little pampering session soon. It’s well worth it, for body and soul.
