skincare – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

Yesterday was a long but exciting day. It was my first day working with a new team in Academic Services (exciting projects coming up!) and when I got home I was exhausted.

I thought that was the perfect opportunity to finally try the handmade bath treats sent to me to test and review by a new local business, Sabão. Nisha, the lovely owner sent me a pretty, colourful little package with a couple of bath bomb and body butter samples I received at the weekend. As soon as I opened the box I fell in love. The scents were just magical.

So after my day 10 yoga session and quick dinner I lit some candles, I’ve put a relaxing Spa Music playlist on Spotify and I got in my filled with hot water and smelling like I’d imagine heaven would smell like bathtub.

As you may know, I’m obsessed with smells so I chose to go for the one I liked the smell the most first. It was a tough choice but I went for the West Indian Amyris & Egyptian Geranium one. That’s exactly how I’d thought Ancient, Exotic Asian baths would have smelled.

Honest to God, I do not remember the last time I felt so relaxed. The scents, the music, the tranquil sound of the water, the candles and their reflection… I’ve created my own, personal home spa and it was pretty special.

I’ve never tried a bath bomb before, I tend to go for bubble bath foams or soaks mixed with sea salts so I didn’t know what to expect. But I absolutely loved it.

As soon I got out of the bath my skin smelled incredible and felt as soft as silk (unlike other bath products that sometimes leave my skin dry, Nisha uses essential oils in her bath bombs, which makes a huge difference.)

I tried some of the organic raw shea butter afterwards purely because I wanted to see how it smelled on my skin and I can’t even put in words how amazing it did smell.

I honestly think everything I tried was worth more than their actual price.

As you know I’m not a professional blogger and I don’t get paid to write this, so this is my personal opinion.

For someone who is enchanted by smells, like myself, my home spa evening was an incredible experience.

If you want to find out more on Nisha’s story and support a local business whilst treating yourself to luxurious bath bombs and other handmade, organic skincare goodies all details are on their website.

Thank you lovely lady again for the amazing treats you sent me. I absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to try the rest.

Namaste

Eleni

Whilst I was on my holiday in Italy I got a message on Twitter by a lovely lady called Mel, inviting me to the launch of a new, ethical, organic skincare company just starting in Southampton called Cherish skincare.

I’m not sure why I was invited. I’m not a professional or a fashion/beauty blogger and make no money off my blog, but I was really excited as I’m a big advocate of wellbeing, self care and loving oneself as well as local, independent companies, and I love meeting new people and trying new things so the combination of the four grabbed my attention and I actually looked forward to it.

Unfortunately I could not make it on the day, it was on the week I was back from my holiday, it was crazy busy at work and I was extremely tired for the whole week. I went to bed at 9:30pm on a Friday! So I asked Mel and Beth, the awesome gals who invited me initially and the co-founders of Cherish if they’d like to meet for lunch and tell me all about it.

So yesterday we spent more than an hour at Mettricks telling me all about their business, how Cherish is not just about skincare but a holistic approach on caring and treating yourself, and ended up chatting about digital marketing, the 5Ps of copywriting and other useful tips and advice I discovered through my personal interest and reading on marketing and social media on how to promote their business.

Mel is a full-time mum of two and Beth is actually a recent hair and make-up graduate. I felt immensely proud when I found out she just graduated from Southampton Solent University, my work home for the last six years. I told her all about the support and advice she can get from our Employability (Solent Futures) department and offered any help I could. I posted about it on LinkedIn today and I have already been contacted by our PR and Comms team asking me how they can get in touch with Beth!

All their products are organic produced by Mel and Beth and the idea of Cherish is to offer a suite of products from night oils to spray on your pillow to help you sleep better to day creams, anything to improve your skin but also your health and quality of life.

I left from our meeting genuinely excited and grateful I got to meet these two inspiring ladies. I can’t wait to see their business flourish!

They have just set up their website so if you want to find out more go have a look here and if you like what you see, spread the word! You’ll be supporting an inspiring local business as well as promoting wellbeing and self-care, something so basic but essential more than ever in the busy, crazy world we live in.

I wish you all the best Mel and Beth!

Eleni

Category: skincare

A magical home spa evening, courtesy of Sabão