*This blog post is sponsored by L’Oreal Paris*
Recently, I have been feeling a little stressed. Okay scrap the little, more like I’ve been feeling very stressed. The past few months have been nonstop, and I still don’t feel like I have truly recovered from our house move back in November never mind add the stress of buying a house on top! Some days, I feel like having a meltdown so I’ve been trying to pamper myself to relieve stress recently. You know taking some me time to unwind and relax.
Whether it’s working out (which yes I’m a changed woman and see this as ‘me time’ now) or having a bath, it’s important to take some time for you and to take your mind off things. Due to me being a bit stressed out, my skin has suffered. I always think that the littlest bit of stress can show on your skin, and my skin has been breaking out left right and centre. So when I’ve been trying to take some me time, I’ve also been trying to make myself feel better by pampering my skin to try and clear it up a little.
A pamper evening is always one of my fave ways to unwind and relax, shutting down my laptop, popping my phone on airplane mode and pretending the outside world doesn’t exist for an hour or two. I’ve been relaxing mainly by binging on my latest box set and sitting with a face mask on to try and clear up my pesky spots.
I’ve been trying out the new L’Oréal Paris Pure Clay Masks for my skin which have been helping to make my skin clearer, brighter and definitely a little less stressed. There are three masks, which can be used for different areas of your skin. My skin isn’t the same all over, for example my chin houses the majority of my breakouts, my cheeks are dry and uneven. Whilst my t-zone, nose and forehead are always oily. So using one mask on my whole face doesn’t actually work so much, as each area needs a different treatment. So using the three masks; I use the Purity Mask (green clay with eucalyptus to purify and mattify) on my t-zone, nose and forehead, the Glow Mask (Red clay with algae and exfoliating beads to brighten and smoothen) on my cheeks, then the Detox Mask (Black clay with charcoal to detoxify and clarify) on my chin and any areas where I have a breakout.
These three work at the same time but on different areas, the end result is overall better because I’ve treated my target areas individually. Although you won’t see a difference overnight, my skin always seems calmer, and clearer when I’ve used the masks. They’re gentle enough to use up to 2-3 times a week (which I’ve been making the most of seeing how stressful buying a house has become these past two weeks!)
I had a mask on the other night and I thought to myself, ‘hmm what do I do now?’ I’m not good at sitting still or switching off, so I thought I’d try and come up with a list of 10 things to do when you have a face mask on. I thought I’d pop them on my blog just in case any of you, are as fidgety as I am!
1. First of all, get in some comfy Pj’s, grab some snacks and slather on the face mask. I either use an old foundation brush to apply the masks or I’ll just apply with my fingers.
2. Set a timer for how long you want the mask to stay on for. I usually always forget and either wash it off too soon, or after I can barely move my face. So setting a timer can help how effective the mask is.
3. Chill out with a box set or something on TV but make sure you decide in advance what you want to watch or you’ll end up like me not being able to decide and then the mask setting by the time you’ve settled down.
4. Waste time by taking funny pictures with the filters on Snapchat, which are always hilarious but even better with a face mask. Just be careful you don’t send one to A. Your whole story or B. to someone who you definitely don’t want to send a snap of your face mask face to. I think we’ve all had that mini heart attack of almost sending or sending someone an accidental snap.
5. Think of an emergency plan in case someone rings the door. Curtains/blinds shut and turning off the hallway lights are my top tricks.
6. Grab some snacks to eat, but be careful to not get snacks stuck in your face mask or get face mask in your snacks. Neither are a good combination.
7. Dance around the living room if you can’t sit still, it’s also a little exercise I say to myself. See having a face mask is good for you in more ways than one. Just don’t do what I do and look up in to a mirror and give yourself a shock as you forgot you had a mask on.
8. The time when you have a face mask on is the perfect time to take those online personality quizzes that you’re always tempted by when you should be doing actual work. Can we work out your fave pizza from answering one question? That kinda thing.
9. Pamper the rest of yourself; paint your nails, wash your hair, fake tan, whatever you fancy, do it all. You’ll wake up the next morning feeling like that sassy emoji lady, trust me.
10. Listen to relaxing videos/music. If I’m feeling particularly stressed out, I’ll sit and listen to either a nice relaxing YouTube video, or music and just sit back and focus on breathing. This is really good for when you’ve had a particularly stressful day!
After this, you should be ready to take off your mask. I always feel a little better and more like myself after a little pamper, and I have been loving the multimasking concept from these L’Oreal masks. I think my skin has been appreciating it and I seem to be having more good days with my skin these past couple of weeks, so that’s a bonus! L’Oréal’s Pure Clay Masks are now available at Boots, and you can use the code LOREAL12 to get 3 for £12 – now that’s a real bonus!
Find out more about the new clay masks here.
In fact I think I’m going to finish this post right now and go have another pamper, I guess one good thing from going through a stressful time, is having the excuse to unwind 😉
What’s your favourite way to unwind and which clay masks will you be picking up?
This blog post is sponsored by L’Oreal Paris
