Clean Sheets

Sandal Fit Feet

Noone except my nearest and dearest have seen my feet for months. If neglected at this time of year  - calloused and dry they will emerge, shocked, in a couple of months time, expected to look their best in the new seasons open foot wear. Don't let them be exposed in this state take action now!

In a previous life I worked in a skin care factory, we produced lots of creams including a lavender foot cream, a great staff discount and the odd tube that didn't pass stringent quality control (nothing wrong with the cream, the label might have been off centre) convinced me to try it. This was the start of a daily habit which I am amazed to count is ten years old this year! I would consider myself low maintenance (lazy) but I apply foot cream every morning after my shower. This really adds to their comfort, keeps tough hard bits at bay and keeps my toenail cuticles soft.

I no longer use the Lavender foot cream as the nearest supplier is in Cork and I usually used the Body Shop Peppermint Foot Lotion until I picked up a tube of the Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Creme you see pictured above in my local Horan's Health Food Store (€13.95). It's no secret I am a fan of Burts Bees Lip Balm and this product is similarly incredibly effective. Despite the years of foot cream use I still had a stubborn hard bit at the base of my heels which I had learned to accept but this creme has really softened this. I apply it very sparingly each morning, but if you are making up for some foot negelct here's what the Burt's Bees website recommmends:

"Take a walk on the wild side! This pampering natural foot cream combines coconut oil, lanolin and vegetable glycerin to revive and rejuvenate even the driest, most neglected feet. There's also a hint of rosemary and peppermint oils to refresh tired feet. Go nuts for incredibly soft feet, naturally. Your feet will never be the same.

Apply liberally and allow the cream to fully absorb. For a luxurious way to treat your feet, soak feet in warm water for 10-15 minutes and rub gently with a pumice stone. Massage Coconut Foot Creme into feet, paying close attention to heels and calloused skin. Then cover your feet with cotton socks overnight to soothe and seal in moisture."

Put it on your shopping list today, it really does live up to its description and look forward to showing your feet off.

 

 

This is no time for resolutions...

I am working from home this morning, putting the finishing touches to this months recipe sheet and contacting the retailers to see how December's offering went down - well, it seems - thankfully!

The Rugby Player, Princess and Happy One are gone back to work, Montessori and creche respectively and were all happy to do so. Our house is unbelievably untidy. Presents haven't found a home yet. The decorations no longer look festive, just cluttered and day trips and nights away have filled the hall with detritus but with the exception of filling the washing machine as soon as I hear a cycle end I have stuck to my cleansheets work as the house work will wait.

Last year I made 2 resolutions which I stuck to throughout the year this was the first time ever I managed that and I think the reason was that they weren't "new" year resolutions at all. I held off until the end of January and when everyone was back in their routine and the last glittering bauble had been banished under the spare bed and the last box of chocolates demolished. Only then  I quietly and determinedly started menu planning every week and  I am proud to say never missed a week, except when we were on holidays. I have posted about it before here. I'd thoroughly recommend it.

The other reason for success was that I really wanted to do it and it actually made my life easier and saved us money.

My second resolution was more personal and that was to manage to put some scrape of make up on everyday, I hope this improved my appearance marginally but most importantly it improved my self esteem and an extra few minutes spent on myself everyday was a lovely indulgence.

As the Cleansheets household are off on holidays next week. There is barely time to clear the hall, put away the decorations, do the laundry and pack this week, let alone take up any new habits so I will be making no resolutions for now.  In a fortnight or so when routine has returned and I have time to decide what I really want to do (or not do) this year I will change my world, at least a little part of it! So if you've already fallen off the wagon of resolve, let it go and jump on again when life has returned to "normal!"

Chapped Lips? Burt's Bees is the the best!

All this cold weather is hard on the skin and especially the lips. Lots of lip balms need to be applied often to give any protection at all but after years of trying all sorts of lip balms I keep coming back to Burt's Bees when the going gets tough for lesser lip balms. It may seem pricy but you'll apply it less and it really works. It zings when you put it on and that reassures me it's working!

I got mine in Horan's Helath Food Stores for €3.95 and I've seen it in many healthfood shops and pharmacies. There are very cute little multi packs around for Christmas in a little case. I'd love one in my stocking!They make lip glosses too and I have just purchased their Coconut foot creme and as soon as I've had time to pass judgement you'll hear all about it.

Retail oasis in the middle of a mad week

We are doing a lot of entertaining in the Cleansheets household this week. Dinner guests and overnighters from Wednesday to Monday next. I love it and I think I am fairly organised. So it should all go quite well. (She says hopefully!)  

Yesterday afternoon my parents kindly minded the Princess and the Happy One while I did the big food shop, and picked up a new pair of jeans (badly needed).

I had a very pleasant surprise as I strolled through a department store, as a lady from the Benefit counter asked me if I was familiar with Benefit - yes I am! and would I like a mini make over - yes I would! It took a few minutes was very enjoyable, and the results were pleasing to the eye. I felt no pressure to purchase but did walk away with a wish list which I may publish online for anyone who wishes to buy me a Christmas gift!

Next was Next to hopefully purchase similar skinny jeans to the ones I had bought in the spring and still really like. Skinny jeans were a big departure for me and one I only made after reading this encouraging article on whatshewears.ie.  A very helpful assistant asked me to give her the 6 digit code off the jeans ( I was wearing them) she checked if they were still available but alas they weren't. Undeterred she found the closest 3 pairs, I tried them on and had selected another pair in just 15 minutes or so. I was brave and bought sufficiently tight enough to allow for stretch, this is mistake I have made before to my disgust.

Happily they were only 23 euro and I had paid 39 in the spring so that was a boost for the budget!

I felt so rested and indulged after 2 and a half hours shopping alone, something I would have taken completely for granted 4 years ago.

Take a break , it need only be little one!

  

Launch Party and Sweet Chilli Dip Recipe

I had great fun at the whatshewears launch party and it was an excellent excuse to escape to "the big smoke."

If you are not already a regular visitor to whatshewears.ie then check it out

Cleansheets made a contribution to the goody bag which you can download right here:

Download Whatshewears recipes

The homemade hummus recipe was posted here before and the sweet chili dip is so simple calling it a recipe is a bit of an exaggeration.

Intended for a girls night in both would make great stress free starters, lunch box fillers or even kids' tea.

An apology

I have not completed any posts yet this week, I have been working though. The October recipe sheet is almost complete and Cleansheets have published a special recipe sheet to celebrate the official launch of whatshewears.ie Congratulations to the team at wsw. If you haven't checked out their daily digest of what's hot in the fashion world you are missing out, and my favourite thing about it is the Irish slant, nothing more frustrating than magazines chock full of gorgeous things unavailable here.  

Both these recipe sheets are coming your way along with lots more posts which are awaiting completion or photos. Thanks for your patience. Normal service will resume on Monday!

Eye make up advice from the young.

I am lucky enough to have cousins in their teens and very early twenties. I exploit this in a number of ways from the obvious babysitting to the not so obvious brutally honest wardrobe weeding and frugal fashion tips.

The latest knowledge I garnered form the ladies was an introduction to Benefit make up. I am generally low maintenance, I enjoy getting dressed up with the best of them but on a day to day basis my grooming is limited to tinted moisturiser and mascara. For the past month or so I have taken a few extra minutes with a self contained step by step quartet from Benefit called Big Beautiful Eyes . There's an under eye concealer, a base shadow, a contour shadow and a liner along with brushes to apply all four products. It may seem a expensive at 33.50 euro but even the budget brands would struggle to offer 4 products, applicators and step by step instructions for the price.

I do wonder if the products are sized proportionally and if one will run out before the other but only time will tell, in the meantime I am delighted that cousin H (affectionately known as the "screaming sheep") offered to do my eye make up one evening and I can't imagine any other way that I would have added 4 products to my morning routine without any stress.

Positively Autumn

The Rugby Player returned to pre season training last week. It's the closest thing we have to "back to school" in our house. There's lots more evidence of the Summer drawing to a close including autumn fashion in the shops which disappoints me but there is some things about the autumn and start of winter I love, so I am trying to focus on those.

I am looking forward to new winter boots and wearing cosy knitwear again, to making stew, shepherd's pie and apple crumble, to planning for Christmas (love it ... but more of that later,) and to it being slightly easier to convince the princess to go to bed as it'll be dark.

In the meantime I plan to use the bar-b-q, clothes line and buckets and spades well into October so I'm not wishing it away yet!

   

New Habits

Starting to do something new is not easy. Changing anything is a challenge, and the first hurdle will usually be provided by ourselves. If we don't want to to something we won't. I am guilty of this... a friend would suggest I do something new or in a different way and I would be able to come up with several reasons why it was easier for her but,  if I was honest there was usually several different reasons why it would be easier for me, but I chose to ignore those.

If you really want to become more organised, get fitter, or learn something new then do it, if not, accept you don't really want to and let it go. I am afraid this realisation did not come from soul searching within, but a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness at a friends house where a pragmatic style coach made me confront the fact that the only thing between me and change was my lack of will to actually do it.

Since then I have found it much easier to dismiss habits or routines I don't adopt, with the knowledge that I just didn't want that badly enough right now and I have taken up new habits such as weekly menu planning with much less fuss. Less guilt, more action. Good for me and those around me.

Put simply:    WANT IT?       DO IT!

Cheap treat: Make your bling sing...

I feel strangely protective of Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman. Amy's brother is a friend of a friend, and as a rugby fan Brian has given us so much, I will never forget his hat trick in Paris, through my teens I dreaded the winter afternoons watching Ireland bravely battle for up to 60 minutes against the French only to have them mercilessly breach our defense repeatedly  with style and flair to leave the scoreline make us look like a team who should have known better than to have any hope or expectations, those days are thankfully history and while Brian is not alone responsible, his hat trick showed we were right to believe... so for that, I will be eternally grateful. The rugby player and I also saw them on what I assume to be one of their first dates at The Olympia Theatre in Dublin at a wonderful one man show  about Tom Crean. I know that all of this is a tenous connection but, I did admit it's strange that I feel this way.

In the papers recently I read how much they apparently spent on their engagement ring, I won't be repeating  it here. I don't think it's any of our business, but it is gorgeous and sparkly in the photos which got me to thinking about how long it had been since I had my own sparkler cleaned, The answer was a shameful 2 years. So off to the jewellers I went and as always the results are stunning and here on my hand for me to admire all day. Do it today, drop into your local jeweller and when you return I guarantee you will not be disappointed. This goes for any jewellery but there's an extra special buzz if it's a piece that brings back great memories.