This Works Deep Sleep Bath Soak

Knowing that I am a really rubbish sleeper my boyfriend bought me this bath soak for my birthday. 

I've mentioned previously that my favourite pillow spray is by  This Works so I instantly had high hopes for the Deep Sleep Bath Soak. 

The Soak itself is bath salts, and they are lavender and vetivert scented, they claim to soothe and help you relax in order to get a good nights sleep.

I know plenty of people are skeptical about whether things like this will help you sleep, but let me just say this, the first time I used these afterwards I felt the most relaxed I'd felt in a very long time, even a very small amount creates such a heavily scented bath, which really does smell incredible.

The lavender also does not irritate my skin which can be common with some products.

 Obviously if you are sensitive to scents you may not love this product.

However I do not doubt at all it's relaxing ability this will definitely be a repurchase for me!!

It is fairly pricey for £22.00 for 200g, and is available from Feel Unique.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox

My Bedtime Routine...

I've mentioned in past posts that I have a terrible time sleeping, this is partly due to the fact that I work what are known as sleeping nights, so I'll go to work do my shift and then go to sleep at work, I'm then on call throughout the night and I generally get woken up most nights atleast once or twice, then at 6:30am I get up and work another couple of hours in the morning. 

This has had an impact on how well I sleep (although I want to make it clear I love my job), I'm lucky if I go to sleep before midnight pretty much every night, and I never sleep throughout the night (I tend to wake up every few hours). I've had to develop a good night time routine to get me settled before bed, otherwise I can literally lie awake for HOURS!

1. I cleanse my skin - generally I try to do this as soon as I've finished working or when I'm home. I love makeup but I feel much more comfortable with bare skin. 

2. I will then spray my pillows with Lavender pillow spray and the top of my quilt, I've tried many over the years, the Boots own one and one from This Works are the best I've found so far. I also light a candle normally (only when I'm not at work) and switch the fairy lights near my bed on. Dimmer lights help your body wind down and get ready for sleep. 

3. I will brush my teeth then either have a shower or bath, I always try to have a bath as I find this most relaxing, but it tends to depend on how late it is, I love to go to bed feeling clean and fresh. I then will dry and apply moisturiser to my body and put on my pj's. 

4. I get in bed and I listen to my hypnotherapy. A vital part of my daily routine. It keeps me on track.

5. I will have a quick check of facebook and twitter, and then usually will encourage myself to read, I don't always read but it tends to depend on how active my mind is, sometimes I need to be distracted from my stresses and worries. 

6. Finally I'll put on my Ocean Waves sounds, this is also known as natural white noise, it has been used for many years to help sleep, one of my old teachers once told me they'd listen to the static on the radio every night before they went to sleep because it helped them 'tune' out. This really does work and there are thousands of different types out there, along with things like wildlife sounds, birds, rainforest, and wind. I will normally fall asleep with this on and it just plays until it stops, however sometimes I will listen for about half an hour and be settled enough to turn it off myself. 

This may seem like quite a drawn out process, and you're probably thinking no wonder you're not asleep until midnight, but this is what works for me, it doesn't happen like clockwork every night, but if I have a few really bad nights sleep this is what I do to get myself settled and back into what a 'normal' sleeping pattern is for me.

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah -ox

Boots Re:balance Dream Pillow Mist Lavender

I'm a terrible sleeper, a really really terrible sleeper. I am planning a post about sleeping in general but I'm still deciding how I want to do it. 

In my long term quest to try promote some normality to my sleeping pattern I bought this pillow spray, I've tried loads of pillow sprays, and my favourite is from This Works, it is truly something special, however it's fairly pricey at £16.00 for 75ml so decided to buy Boot's alternative which is only £6.15 for 100ml.

I definitely prefer to use Lavender scented sprays as I find them the most relaxing, but you need to be careful as Lavender can irritate the skin so if you're really sensitive you may want to try something else like Geranium.

Pillow sprays are something I personally use to relax, it doesn't literally make me go to sleep it's just something to help me along the way.

Overall the boots version is average, I still prefer the This Works one, and would buy that over this one even though it is more expensive. 

I think if you're new too pillow sprays this is definitely a good first one to try, and it will give you some perception to whether or not pillow sprays will work for you, I realise that some people will think this is faddy, but from personal experience I really do think that they help.

I hope if you do try it, it aids you to a better nights sleep!

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox