Bath Time Beauty // The Products I Use to Pamper Myself

Hi ladies. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! You know when an idea for a blog post suddenly pops to mind and you start taking photos and jotting down your thoughts like a mad woman? Well, this is exactly what happened to me last night whilst having a Sunday night pamper. I don't know about you but after a long week at work and a busy weekend, when Sunday rolls around, its the perfect time to wind down, have a long soak in the bath and a good old pamper. This is exactly what I did last night and and I felt so great afterwards that I just had to show you the beauty products I use to pamper and preen myself whilst soaking in the bath.

First things first, its time to run the bath. For me, baths are one of the most relaxing things in the world and if I could sit in one all day without turning into something that resembles a wrinkly old prune, I would. A bath isn't complete for me without two things - bubbles and candles. I find bubbles add a nice scent to the bath water and cover my dignity whilst having a soak (surely nobody wants to stare at their naked parts whilst chilling in the bath?) and I love lighting a few candles to create a calm and relaxed atmosphere. My bubbles and candles of choice last night were Avon Soft Pink Bubble Bath and some bog standard Ikea tea lights. I'd of preferably had a nice scented candle flickering away but as I didn't have any to hand, I improvised.

So when the bath is run, the bubbles are 'bubbling' and the candles are lit, its pamper time. I usually start my bath routine by cleansing my face and removing any makeup and grime that's left over from the day. My cleanser of choice last night was the Balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm* which as the name states, is a balm cleanser that melts away makeup and leaves the skin feeling super soft. I applied this to damp skin, left it for a couple of minutes to get to work and removed it with a muslin cloth. I'll be reviewing this product in full soon so do keep your eye out for that. After a good cleanse, I like to exfoliate my skin and remove any dry patches so for this I used my Botanics All Bright Face Scrub which works contains hibiscus to brighten and smooth the skin. I really love this product so again, keep your eyes out for an in-depth review.

So now my skin is cleansed and exfoliated, its time to pop on a face mask. I used two last night as they both serve different purposes and they're the Origins Drink Up and Clear Improvement face masks. When used together, these make for the perfect skin treat. I start by applying the Clear Improvement mask as it contains active charcoal which helps to draw dirt, impurities and blackheads out of my pores (yum!). I find this really helps clear my skin when my t-zone is oily or I have a few blemishes. Whilst this mask was setting onto my skin and making me look like I'd been rolling around in mud, I popped the John Frieda Everlasting Blonde Shampoo* (my current fave) through my hair and left it to soak while the face mask did its job. After I'd washed both the shampoo and face mask off, it was time for face mask number two and a deep conditioning hair mask. The second face mask I used was another from Origins but this time the Drink Up mask which helps to lock moisture into the skin and is perfect for using after Clear Improvement. I slathered it all over my face, popped on the Macadamia Deep Repair Hair Masque* and let them both work their magic. As the hair mask is a deep repair treatment, I decided to skip my normal John Frieda conditioner and just use the mask instead so my hair wasn't too weighed down with product. I have to say, on first impressions (I'd never used this particular mask before), its amazing. Not only does it smell beautiful but it instantly got to work on conditioning my hair. Full review coming to a blog near you soon!

While I was waiting for the face and hair mask to do wonders to my face and hair (never!), I gave my body a good clean and scrub using the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash and Sugar Crush Body Scrub. I'm sure if you read my blog regularly you'll already know how much I love this range of products and they smell so good I could quite happily eat them. If you like sweet citrus scents and haven't tried these products yet, you must, NOW! Aside from smelling beautiful, they also leave my skin feeling squeaky clean, moisturised and soft. This is also the stage of my pamper routine that I like to give my legs a good shave - the most un-relaxing but essential part of the whole process. None of us want legs like a grizzly bear, right ladies?

So after I'm clean, exfoliated and shaved (ew!), its time to wash off the face and hair mask thats been sinking in for the past 10/15 minutes. I tend to wash these off under the shower as I don't like the thought of rinsing my hair and skin in dirty bath water (is this just me?) so I hop under the shower whilst I let the bath water drain. I then roll my hair up in a towel, dry myself off and apply Holland & Barratt Wonder Oil*, an orange-scented multi-purpose oil over my body, face and hair. I only pop a little bit on my face and hair to avoid turning into a grease ball but its a lovely extra step of luxury after a soak in bath. I then slather an extra layer of moisturiser over my body (why not) and this time its in the form of nspa Awakening Body Butter. This stuff smells absolutely amazing (like orange flavour ice pops) and the Jojoba and Rosehip oil ingredients work a treat at giving my skin lots of moisture. So as you've probably gathered from all of the citrusy scents I've applied to my body, I leave the bathroom smelling like a humongous fruit salad. 8) Yum!

To finish my pamper session, I like to give my hands and feet a pamper by slathering on some Soap & Glory Hand Food and Heel Genius foot cream. Both of these products are great when you want to give your skin an extra treat and they do exactly what they say on the tubes - give your hands and feet a good moisturise. I'd advice sticking a pair of thick socks on after applying the foot cream too so it can really sink in.

So there we have it, my bath time beauty routine. Every time I treat myself to one of these pamper evenings I feel relaxed, radiant and more importantly, confident. I don't know about you ladies but giving myself a good pamper makes me feel a million times better about myself. Who doesn't like to feel smooth and moisturised, smell amazing, have clear glowy skin and super soft shiny hair? If I had the time to do this every day, I would. 

If you'd like to find out a bit more information or buy any of the products I mentioned in this post, just click on the links and it will take you straight to the website I bought/received it from. The only product I couldn't track down online is the nspa body butter but they stock the whole nspa range in ASDA so if you ever spot it while doing your weekly food shop, I can't recommend you try it enough.

Do you like pampering yourself? What does your bath time beauty routine involve?

Lots of Love,