The Weekend Post #1

Taking example from Vivianna Does Makeup (who also heavily inspired me to start my own blog) I've decided to do my own Weekend Post every weekend... we'll see how it goes! Go over and check out her blog, I absolutely love it! Anywho... Last week was dead week and this week is finals, which means no sleep and no relaxing but today I decided to take a little time to pamper myself. Now, living in a dorm I can't light candles and can't soak in bubble bath but i think I did pretty good with what I had.

This was my relaxing shower! I put my iDuck which I ordered from the UK through Amazon, and I absolutely LOVE, and found the Christmas radio station and put it on full blast.

I used my Renpure Organics I Love My Hair! Body and Shine shampoo and conditioner because it smells so good! Whenever I use it, I think of the good smelling shampoo they use at the salons! I got this as a gift from my mom last Christmas and I think she found it at Ulta, and I'm so glad she got it. I rotate the shampoo and conditioner I use every few days and this is in my weekly rotation. I found it on drugstore.com for $7 so it doesn't brake the bank and makes my hair feel and smell fantastic!

As for body wash, I used two- the first one I used I got at Bath and Bodyworks over the summer and it's part of their Aromatherapy Collection. It's the scent Sleep- Lavender and Chamomile, it's so soothing and it helps me to be able to relax a little bit more. I followed that with my Dove Nutrium Moisture with Shea Butter in the scent in Warm Vanilla and Brown Sugar. It's really thick and creamy, and helps to add extra moisture to your skin. It's like having a nice vanilla candle in your bath, without the candle! I'd been reading that to get a really smooth shave, you had to exfoliate. I don't own any body exfoliaters (yet) so I used a Neutragena face exfoliater on my legs before I shaved, and boy were all of the blogs right! My legs have never felt so smooth. All of the dead and dry skin from the winter was taken off, and left them softer before I even shaved. I will definitely keep doing this, I am now in love! After I get out of the shower, I put some body oil on. I started doing this about two months ago when my skin started to feel so tight and so dry when I would get out of the shower. Now, I know that there are fancy body oils that people use but I just use the Walmart brand baby oil in the Lavender scent and put it on my legs and arms and my skin feels so much healthier. Especially after the first couple of weeks after I started using this, I noticed a difference in my skin throughout the day- it wasn't drying out as fast.

Then after I leave the shower, I slather some Gold Bond Ultimate Skin Therapy Lotion in Healing with Aloe on my hands, elbows, and feet. It's a heavy cream that comes in a pump bottle and lasts a good while. Online it costs about $9 but in the store for 16 oz it costs about $12, I think, but for how much you get and how good it is I think it's a great price. When I first came out to college, my mom told me to use it especially in the winter because my skin would dry out like no tomorrow because it's not used to the cold winters and it has become my Holy Grail moisturizer. I use nice scented ones from Bath and Bodyworks too, but only during the day and during classes. It's a heavy cream and does take a couple of minutes to absorb but after it has, your skin stays moisturized for a good long while. I always put it on right before I go to bed every night and in the morning before I go to class and it's just my favorite.

As I said, it is finals week so I've been drinking way more tea than usual which I already drink a lot of. I had two cups of Throat Coat, I am a performer so this is a lifesaver, and I also had Easy Now which is supposed to help relieve stress and tension. Both are from a brand called Traditional Medicinals, and I love their tea. They also have one called Nighty Night as well as lavender and other really good flavors, and don't worry, there are your everyday tea flavors too. I get mine in combination boxes when it comes to the Lavender ones but I will also just get a whole box of Throat Coat because I go through it so fast. You can get them at almost any grocery store but I get mine mainly at Walmart when I'm here at school. I ended the night by going to a set of final directing 1 scenes (I go tomorrow) and then to a show called Christmas with the Kernel which was written and directed and acted in my theatre students. It was completely original work, and full of many much needed laughs as well as one very sentimental and sweet moment no one saw coming. I am so super lucky to go to a school and in a program that fosters such creativity. I then came back and kept studying for my finals which are all back to back tomorrow, but after that I'm done. This is mainly why I gave myself a mini pamper break because when studying, you should always take a break to let your mind reset. How do or did you pamper yourself and relax when you were in University? What did you like to use? XOXO