My week of beauty indulgence.

Over the past week I assigned myself the task of doing at least one beauty treatment each day.  Mainly because there are so many beauty things I need to do and never have (or find) the time and also because I have so many neglected body parts lately that I decided to dedicate a week to covering as many areas as I could.

Thursday: I started with a clay face mask.  Mud masks are one of the things I wish I had time to do more often (exfoliating my body is another).  I love how my skin feels and looks after a mud mask.  While I was waiting for the mask to dry I put on some music and danced – getting some exercise in at the same time.  When I rinsed off the mask I added a dollop of toner to the warm water and wiped my face with a face washer.  Then I applied toner to a cotton pad and thoroughly cleaned all residue of clay from my face.  I applied some moisturiser and eye cream to finish off my pampering.  My face was glowing and looked refreshed.

Friday: I exfoliated my face.  This helps to remove dead skin cells and keep my skin looking refresh and vibrant.  I think that I perhaps should have done this before I applied the clay mask, either way it is good to remove dead skin cells and help unclog pores.  I also gave myself a full body moisturising massage with a bath melt.  My legs, arms and torso have been neglected lately.

Saturday: was the day for a mini mani.  Plonking myself in front of the TV that night to watch a movie with  hubby, I had in hand: a face washer, a nail file, a cuticle stick, nails cutters, some moisturiser and cuticle oil.  Beginning with moisturising my cuticles, I let the moisturiser sit for a while and soak in.  Then I rubbed the moisturiser away with the face washer and pushed my cuticles back with the cuti stick.  Even though my nails are short, the longest is about 3mm, I filed my nails to shape them and have them all looking neat and alike.  I cut away any of those side parts of the nail (perionychium) that grow and catch on clothes, followed by an application of cuticle oil - vigorously rubbed into my cuticles.  This softens the cuticles, moisturises them and also strengthens nails.  I finished off with rubbing moisturiser all over my hands… and off course I remembered my elbows.

Sunday: is the day for indulging in a long hot bubble bath.  I add a liberal sprinkling of salts to the water and dash of bubble bath.  I’m not overly concerned with bubbles and tend to only like them because they cover me if anyone intrudes on my bath.  Once in the bath I rubbed massage oil all over my body to moisturise and delight in the scents.  I usually do so much more pampering while in the bath but this time I made it all about lying back and enjoying the soak.

I did finish off with soaking my feet, trimming my nails and applying peppermint foot lotion so that my tootsies are in decent condition for my pedicure on Tuesday.

Monday: Legs!  I also need to have my legs looking good for my pedicure on Tuesday.  Don’t want to be seen with spider legs (hairy) or lizard legs (dry).  For hair removal I use an epilator.  For anyone who has ever used an epilator you will know they can sting especially if you’re cold.  For this reason I like to either epilate after a shower or bath or, as was the case this time, apply an aloe gel to my legs prior to epilating.  The gel soaks into the skin and seems to absorb any excess oils on the surface of the legs.  The gel also helps the hairs stand up ready for extraction.  Gel application is also beneficial prior to waxing – which uses the same principle [extracting the hair by the root].  After epilating, I massage some leg butter into my legs leaving them silky smooth, sexy and looking amazing.

Note: it is also advisable to exfoliate your legs prior to hair removal to remove the layer of dead skin on your legs.  This dead skin is what causes blockages and ingrown hairs.

Tuesday: had a pampering and relaxing pedicure.  The beauty therapist (who knows I am a qualified nail tech) asked me why I’m not painting my own toe nails.  I explained that I’m getting too old and inflexible these days to do body contortions and wrap my knees around my ears in order to paint my toes.  It is nice to spoil myself on occasion and have someone pamper me.  It was also lovely to see the beauty therapist again and chat.  Now my toes are metallic dark red and look gorgeous!!

Wednesday: gave myself an all over body scrub with a hand held loofah.  I washed my body first then gently ran the loofah all over every inch (that I could reach) of my body.  Body scrubs are another beauty treatment I don’t give myself often enough.  As we age our skin needs to be refreshed more often or else the layers of dead skin cells we shed daily sit on the surface of our skin making our skin look dull and drab.  Removing the layers of skin cells keeps skin clear and refreshed and exposed the new skin we have underneath, leaving us looking more vibrant.

That ends my week of beauty indulgence and pampering.  I recommend trying to give yourself at least one beauty treatment a week, picking a different treatment each time, or doing a week of indulgence once a month.  Can't wait for my next week of pampering.