Stressful Day? Try This Pampering Shower Routine!

Last night I came home a complete stress ball after a not so glamorous day at work. I didn’t feel like a bath but I wanted to do something relaxing, so I jumped in the shower and did my shower pampering routine. A little different to you common bath pampering session (not everyone has the option like me to have a bath or shower), I use similar products and methods to create a peaceful shower time. What is important to remember is that this routine is to help you take your mind off the day, prep your body for the evening ahead (Netflix and yummy dinner obviously).So work this into how you like your shower session to go and smile!

Shower Creams – For a pampering session you should consider using a cream based shower wash. This is moisturising and straight away makes you shower routine that more luxurious, currently I have Soap & Glory’s Rich & Foamous body wash…what makes it more a shower cream in my option is that the ingredients it has; almond milk, raw honey and extra skin conditioners. I brought this on the basis of the smell and that the fact that it is design to help with really dry skin; the scent instantly boosts my mood and the wash leave my skin feeling hydrated and silky.

 

Gloves or a Puff – Whatever your preference for a good scrub, make sure you invest in a good quality puff or gloves. I like smaller puffs, they do the same job and plus you can get 3 in a pack like below; which means you can rotate them out for cleaning #economical. So by using your luxurious body wash along with a puff/gloves you can buff your body beautiful, bye bye dead skin, hello smooth and fresh! Plus I like to think with all the vigorous buffing, you will forget about your stressful day for just a moment and focus on something with more satisfying results.

Music – For me it depends on my mood if I want music or not, but I would recommend that you have music or a candle (as a substitute) when you have your pampering shower. I wouldn’t usually recommend a candle for a shower routine as you will not see or smell the candle as you would when taking a bath. I find at the moment I listen to really upbeat music while I am showering, just to put me back in the right mood. Below I discovered a fun wireless bluetooth speaker which you can put in your shower!! Also if you decide to have music try and kept it at a level that you can sing to, but not blast your ear drums with. If it is too quiet then you might get caught up in bad thoughts as this routine is suppose to uplifting and positive, not doom and gloom…

A Damn Good Facial Cleanser – Recently I have become an advocate on improving you skincare routine, I fell in love with Caroline Hirons blog posts where she gives you her expert advice on how to take care of your skin. Now for a pampering shower routine, you should consider doing your facial routine after you shower…yip you heard right it is a big no, no! So once you have lathered, sung and scrubbed yourself clean; jump out of the shower and work on your money maker face. Maybe you want to use a different cleanser or possibly a scrub, go for it I say, just make sure it is right for your skin my dear.

Body Lotion – I confess I am not the best when it comes to use moisturiser after I shower, but don’t forget this a pampering routine you a praising your body for being so wonderful. If you have used a scented body wash, I would go for a moisturiser that has no sent to it. For me I am currently on Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion, no scent, easy to apply and quick to absorb. Plus it doesn’t break the bank!

 

So by then of this you should have unwind and forgotten about that crappy day you had, switch things around and do let me know in the comments below what your pampering shower routine is like!?!

To smelling like an angel

Own that 9-5!

A lot of us dream of becoming our own boss, but until that becomes a reality we all end up doing a 9 to 5 of sorts, so why not own that job until you break away like a beautiful hummingbird in flight. We work for well over half our lifetime, so why should we put ourselves in a job that we don’t like? Needing a job to live is understandable, however you can keep trying till you find that job is worth having a 9-5 for!

Fast forward to being in the job you wanted, how should you make the most of it?

Establishing an amazing morning routine is great way to get the most out of your 9 to 5, but what makes a great routine? Well sleep is always the first essential ingredient. For me 7-8 hours a night definitely gives me the spring in my step, to work out how many hours of sleep that will benefit you, try for one week 7 hours of sleep, then the next week 8 and so on. You should judge the result by assessing how you feel each morning, are you really groggy to for the first 10 minutes or are you tired the while way until you get to work?

Next is your breakfast routine, our bodies need to be refuelled so that we can run at optimal levels for the day. If you are not a big eater in the morning, invest in a blender and make breakfast smoothies. You can slowly drink them throughout the morning, the more fruit and nuts the better! Now if you are anything like me you like a hearty breakfast to set your day right, I added 10 extra minutes to my morning routine so that I can have 2 eggs on toast; this lasts me till late morning and I eat breakfast at 6am! Starting your morning off right makes going to work less of a hassle.

So you sorted your morning routine but that is just the first part. To love your 9 to 5 you need to have a consistent system that can adapt to your way of life.  When I arrive at work I sit down and sort out what I need to achieve today, I used my outlook calendar and notebook to write down my goals. I also have reminder in my calendar that pop up when I need to do a daily task. Using planners, notebooks and electronic calendars help me stay on top of my goals and tasks that I have at work. Knowing that I have these systems helps me be relaxed in the workplace, I feel a clear direction is needed to be good at what you are doing. It is different for other industries and it not always that straight forward, but I do recommend a form of note taking that works for you.

Making friends with work colleagues is another method to help you enjoy your 9 to 5, they can be the people you go have a drink with after work or just simply the people you can have a small chit chat with throughout the day. An upbeat environment creates positives attitudes which I fully believe is a contributing factor to productivity. Colleague friendships are a benefit work wise, when you are struggling with a task or project they will be there to help you and make the process less stressful. I mean who doesn’t want that?!

Next thing to consider is your method of transport to work, do you take public transport? or do you drive/ride to work daily? It doesn’t matter which one it is you should always make your transport an enjoyable experience. For example I have a two playlists for work, one for the journey there and one for the journey back. My morning one is all upbeat tracks design to get me in the energetic mood, plus it also helps keep my optimism and for the journey home I have mellow beats to help me unwind, so when I get home I am fully relaxed and ready to enjoy my evening.

Music its a wonderful way to help enjoy your day, it is very common in workplaces to have music on in the background. If you are not a fan of listening to music in the morning, trying reading if you take public transport or for the drivers/rider talk out about what you want to achieve today. It is a very productive way to start your morning, plus you can feel more settled as you have set tasks for yourself to achieve.

This is only the tip of the ice berg of ways you can improve your 9 – 5! Head over to my twitter or facebook page I would love to hear about you do to make your 9-5 special.

To owning your 9 – 5.

Image Credit: Wildfox Couture & Kate Spade

How to make the mornings work for you

For some people, it is not easy getting up in the morning. It is an effort to get out of their nice, cosy, warm bed and start getting ready for the day. I confess that I have never really had this problem; however, this does not make me unsympathetic to the cause. On the few occasions that I did struggle, I went to bed late or was out partying the night before. A few of my friends have asked me how I do it, and what I am going to do is share my tips and tricks to making mornings work for you. Some of my tips are general run-of-the-mill recommendations because, believe it or not, they actually work. Some of my tricks might be a little unconventional, but believe me, they work a treat! Also, these tips are for a work-focused morning, but if you are just trying to improve your morning routine, don’t worry – these tips are flexible between both types of morning.

Preparation – The Night Before

I know there are a few of you out there who just hate using their spare time in the evening to prepare for the next day. But you have to remember that 20-30 minutes of preparation can save 20-30 minutes of time in the morning, so you know what that means – more sleep, of course! The preparation I am talking about is your lunch time meal, I do this not only to save money but to keep myself on a healthy eating regime. By packing your lunch the night before, it means it is simply a case of opening the fridge, grabbing your lunch and walking away in the morning.  Another trick is to have your purse or satchel ready to go – this means keys, money/travel card and any extras you always need and use. I always have my keys, scarf and umbrella packed in my purse, plus I have a portable battery for my phone charger tucked away for emergencies. If you are anything like me, you will like to have options for what you might wear for the day. So, the night before, I make sure I have a few possible items washed and ironed. Then, in the morning, it makes my selections much quicker and easier.

GIRL always wash you hair at night! If you have hair like mine that goes fuzzy after you have washed and blow-dried it, you will hate going outside and watching all of your hard work turn into one big ball of fluff. However, if you do wash it the night before, it gives you hair time to settle in and not be affected by weather. Use a dry shampoo in the morning to manipulate it and/or hair serum, and voila! You have a quick and easy hair routine.

The Morning Routine

I am going to say this right now – if you don’t get your minimum requirement of sleep (7-8 hours), you are always going to struggle to get up in the morning. I am serious – you are setting yourself up for defeat if you do not nourish your body correctly. This means going to bed at an hour that you know will allow you to get the right amount of sleep. For example, I go to bed at 10.30pm at the latest, as I get up at 6.00am. That’s 7.5 hours-worth of amazing sleep. When my alarm goes off, I turn it off, stretch out my arms and get out of bed – lingering just makes you want to stay in bed. By getting up within two minutes of your alarm going off, you decrease your chance of grogginess. It also helps to have a dressing gown and slippers handy in the cooler months. Keeping your body temperature at a cosy level will help you move around and it also encourages your body to recognise that it’s not a bad thing to be up (because at least you are still comfy!).

Once you are up, you can eat, shower, dress and read your news via whatever social media you use. I always need to eat first, so I keep my breakfast simple but effective – granola or oats with either a protein shake or eggs on toast. I do confess, I go more for a shake (or juice when my pantry is running low), as it means less mess, noise and time in the morning. Sit in your lounge and open the curtain/blinds and let the natural light come into the room. Natural light is a great tool for making your body recognise that it’s time to get moving.

The Extras

You need to find what works for you – some people like to workout before work or watch TV for the first 30 minutes. I like to read, but only after I have done everything and can pretty much just walk out the door. It is like a treat for me and it always puts me in a good mood – choose something that makes you happy. You could listen to music while you get ready (if you live with others be classy and wear headphones), or you could write in your planner what you would like to achieve that day. Better yet, you could write sweet notes for your loved ones or flatties! Including something that isn’t part of getting ready makes your morning routine that little bit special to you, and you can relish the fact that you might get some alone time, as well as some time for things that are important to you.

Routines need to be enjoyable and malleable. When you become disinterested in your routine, change it up! Reading is what I currently love doing; before this, I was listening to classical music on the bus, and before that I was watching the news while I ate my breakfast.

You will find your body reacting in a more positive way, you will keep feeding the mind and body, and the spirit will follow. Usually, it’s the spirit that makes you feel that mornings are dreadful!

To making mornings special,

Stop Wasting Job Hunters Time!

It’s time, after the same crap over and over again. It’s time to share with you the truth about the recruitment process in England, when I read this article by Alex Hazlehurst I instantly sympathised with her story. What I want to share with you is the recruitment process that I believe is crippling the prospect of my fellow kiwis and other international buddies looking for work in the UK.

Employers who are looking for candidates are the contributing factor as to why you might miss out on working for them. So let me give you a little background history about myself, I have a degree in business and have been working as an administrator for over 5 years. I have a 5 year Ancestry visa, on paper I am an appealing candidate, friendly, motivated and a person who has references to prove my worth.

When I landed in London I delved into the job hunting process, signed up to some reputable agency and within a week I had already been to 2 interviews. I felt like this was already a positive step, I would have a job in no time, but boy I was wrong. 4 months down the track and I still have yet to secure a permanent job, yes there was a great contract job for a month but that was only for holiday cover and there were no vacancies that suited me. I have meet with lovely recruiters who have sent me to countless job interviews, to my surprise the recruiters were sending me to jobs that were interesting and within my pay expectations.

The feedback I would get back from potential employers was “she is really lovely” or “she has fantastic communication skills”, but then what really got me was…. nothing, a week would go by and I would ring my recruiter and ask “have you heard anything?” and the answer I would get is “they are still interviewing other candidates” or “they have had to delay interviewing others because of (insert excuse)”.

At first I was understanding, I had been on the recruiting end and there are certain scenarios that do happen, however it was becoming a regular occurrence. Out of 5 interviews I would go to only 1 would get back to me within a week if I was through to the next stage or not. What I do know from experience is that most of the time when companies are recruiting they want someone relatively quickly. But then again I got it wrong, what I have discovered in England is that no one is in a hurry and I mean no one.

For me the average time it takes for a company to make a decision (whether they want to proceed to the next interview) is about 3-4 weeks, now that is pretty slow. When you think about it you have already gone for the initial interview, in which the company should have seen at least 4 people in that week; It makes you think well they must have liked at least 50% of them? They probably did but that is not the issue, the issue is the length of time it takes between the first interview and the second interview.

I can guarantee that one of the reasons I didn’t make the cut for some second interviews is that they couldn’t remember how I interviewed the first time. I believe the length of time does matter when you are interviewing, companies need to set aside time slots so that they can meet potential candidates, then a minimum of a week later get the next the people they want in for a second round to eliminate any doubts. How difficult would that be? Sadly it just seem too difficult for companies to do this, why can’t they allocate someone to do the task and get the great candidates through the door? Are they searching for candidates too early? What companies need to realise is that candidates are looking to work for as soon as you want them, why waste time pushing interviews further back? I feel like companies have missed out on amazing people because of how slowly they handle things. 

So employers take a moment to realise the possibilities you have and how you can acquire an amazing employee, if you need an employee quite quickly put it out there and conduct the interviews. If you are thinking about it, sit on it, maybe talk with you recruiter and ask about the caliber of people they have. Most of all make the time for these interviews, the people you might need could just be one application away and to my fellow job hunters, keep smiling and keep applying the right employer will snap you up! as for me I am following my own advice, I feel that I am finally getting closer to securing the job that I really want.

To future employment,

Image from Anna Dziubinska

A survival guide to setting up in London

It is coming almost 3 months since I landed in London and I already feel like I have a wealth of knowledge, I confess I even have given advice to people visiting!

However I do find a common theme for and struggle for people like myself who have moved to a new country. Therefore I felt it was my duty to give a my tips and recommendations on how to make a smooth transition into the London life.

Below my list is complied of all the necessary requirements you need to be fully functional in the UK.

• Bank Account – When you get here, get into a place as quickly as you can and then get your bank in your country to post your bank statement to your new address. Banks here in the in UK want proof of address, they will not accept anything that is photocopied or emailed. Tenancy agreements work, even your new job could possibly give you a formal letter stating that you are working for them. Otherwise this will be a painful process, believe me it took me 2 months (I do confess I didn’t want to rely on getting my bank to send my statement over)
• NI Number (National Insurance Number) – apply for this straight away when you land, go to the government website find the phone number and call to apply. They will send you an application in the post, which you fill out and send back. Then they will call you once the information is processed and book you a meeting with them 3 weeks after the phone call. If you don’t have a NI number when you start working you can use a P46 form which will give you a temporary tax code. I would like to point out that the temporary tax code charges are higher than what you would have with your own. Don’t worry your job will reimburse you once you have your official NI number

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• Oyster Card – Unless you want to pay for a horrendous amount of travel costs, this card will be your best friend. You can purchase it as the ticket machines for £5 and then you are away laughing. You can also get away with debit or credit cards that have the pay wave options, but I am old fashioned and I like to have a separate card for travel.
• Sim Card – you can get a prepay card on arrival, though it is quite costly. Once you have a bank account get onto a contract, they have better deals and some will have good discounts on mobile phones as well.
• Travel Apps – Tube Map, Bus Checker and City Mapper. Also if you run out of data like I do, I use the London A-Z map book that can be purchased from Newsagents or Tesco’s.
• Supermarkets – Wherever you land up living, you need to know what supermarkets are. Unlike in New Zealand where we have 3 big chains, there are quite a few to select from here in the UK. A few examples are: Sainsbury’s, Tescos, Waitrose, Asda, Whole Foods and Lidl just to name a few. So if you hear of any of these place near where you live, woop woop! food time!
• Club Cards – Whatever store you go into and find yourself coming back again and again, invest in their club/store cards! The deals sometimes only apply to members, so keep an eye out for them and sign up.

• Discover the Market Places and High Street Shops – if you are like me and land in the UK after travelling for a long period of time, then you are definitely not going to have any work clothes to do interviews in. For me I have looked in charity shops, market stalls and some high st stores. Research, ask around and you will quickly discover there is so many options that you will jump for joy. My greatest discovery was New Look their clothes are affordable and for me there are some really nice work tops that I quickly snapped up.
• Attend Networking Events – Use sites like Eventbrite to find events on that are free or that you know you would meet like minded individuals. I recently went to my first one and it was amazing! meet so many wonderful and talented people that I can’t wait to do it all over again.

Well there you have it, my survival guide to setting up in London!

I hope this helps,

To living abroad!

 

Images credit: Superdwayne, Maria Molinero and Shane Walsh