And Relax... How to cut back on stress

A working day can be so stressful. I'm in the middle of some very important exams, and to be honest it can be really hard coming home from hours of examinations to then have to lock yourself away and complete that pile of coursework that seems to keep growing. Sometimes, if I really stress out, my mind wanders and that artist research or draft for analysing that sonnet will not click, and I end up three hours into the evening with only my name at the top of the page. I definitely don't relax enough, and it can be really important to wind down at the end of a hard days work, it can actually help get more done. Here are a few things I do to help have that half an hour of relaxation I need...


1. Shut off from communication for a bit. Switch your phone to airplane mode, shut your bedroom door, unplug the phone, anything that will help the winding down process. You can't stay calm with emails and texts and social network notifications flooding through your phone, this is a half an hour off.

2. Candles! Because... Well who needs a reason. They've got a lovely warm glow and make the room smell greaatt.....

Definitely not a flattering picture, but just an idea of the Aloe Vera face mask....

3. Put on a face mask. Stress can take a toll on the skin too, so a nice thing to do is to remove all your make-up, smooth a nice deep cleanse face mask - (I really like Superdrugs Face masks, I'm trying 'Mud Therapy Aloe Vera Deep cleansing Mud Mask' and its great) You can get the single packs for a pound,  I forget what they're called but they're just the BEST fragrances ever. Chocolate and orange, Rasberry and vanilla , Passion fruit scrubs, just too good. I see them in most chemists/Pharmacies, they're always in boots and are normally at the counter at most drugstores.

4. Do something you love. If its reading a book on the kindle, watching a few beauty vids or catching up on the (i hate to admit it) very addictive Made in Chelsea, its so nice to just do something calm for a while.

5. Chocolate! A vital step, never chill out without a bit of indulgence. *Picturing the advert where the woman is hiding the Galaxy in a little box, and nibbles seductively*. I have to careful because when I'm stressed I always reach for the sugariest thing I can find, but a nice chunky of cookie crumble won't hurt.. will it?