Over the next few weeks and most likely months of spending most of our time at home there is going to be unexpected items we with require. I mean, there will be no popping out for a hair trim and there's likely to be side effects of sitting inside most of the time.
So I thought I'd put together a list of health and beauty essentials you may have overlooked that could be vital for your time spent at home! I hope this list helps.
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At Home Health and Beauty Essentials
With a hell of a lot more hand washing and use of hand sanitiser going on it's important to keep your hands moisturised. This is important not only to keep them feeling comfortable and nourished but to prevent any open sore from developing which can be a way for germs to enter the body.
I will be writing up a post on my favourite, most used hand creams that you can buy online in the next few days but I've included a few of the best below. These are heavy-duty hand creams for dealing with dry skin, eczema and contact dermatitis which can develop with over-use of fragranced hand sanitiser in particular.
Heavy Duty Cream for all skin concerns: Weleda Skin Food (£7.50/75ml)
Best Budget Hand Cream: The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector (£5/30ml)
Best Anti-ageing Hand Cream: The Chemistry Brand Hand Chemistry (£8/30ml)
Best Pocket Size Hand Cream: Lavera Basis Sensitiv Organic Hand Cream (£1.50/20ml)
Best Hand Cream for Eczema or Dermatitis: Aveeno Dermexa Dail Emollient Cream (£6.66/200ml)
Best Hand Cream for next to the sink: Neal's Yard Geranium & Orange Hand Lotion (£14.00/200ml)
2. Vitamin D
Whether you believe Vitamin D helps the immune system or not, it's a fact that spending more time inside will result in lower vitamin D levels (if not deficiencies ) that can result in fatigue, weakness, hairless and pain to name but a few symptoms.
I myself struggled with an undiagnosed Vitamin D deficiency for over six months a few years back and know the awful symptoms it can bring. So I strongly believe in taking a Vitamin D supplement all year round with this time bringing an even greater need.
As for what dose to opt for, I personally discovered that anything under 1000iu daily is pretty ineffective, with it also being very difficult to have too much Vitamin D. So anything from 1000-3000iu is great. For a tablet supplement to take at the start of the day I highly recommend Vitabiotics Ultra Vitamin D (£5.43) or the spray I use - BetterYou Dlux 3000 Vitamin D Oral Spray (£7.99) which has a pleasant mint flavour and does a great job of supporting the immune system and keeping Vitamin D levels in check.
3. Professional Hair Cutting Scissors
I mentioned at the start of this post it's very likely you will need to cut your own hair (or your child's hair) at some point over the next few months - which is a daunting thought for most!
However, if you are armed with a ton of YouTube hair cutting tutorials and a pair of professional hairdressing scissors you should be good to go. Please NEVER attempt to cut or even trim your own hair with a hair of kitchen scissors; trust me you will be hacking away and be glad you aren't going out!
As you can imagine a lot of other people have realised a pair of professional hair cutting scissors would be pretty handy so stocks on Amazon are pretty low right now, unless you want to drop £136 on a pair. But, I did manage to find these Professional Stainless Steel Scissors for Hairdressers for only £6.99 and there look like there will do the trick!
As for supermarkets, I know Sainsbury's do have their own pair which can be found on the beauty aisle for around £8 so if you do shop there it may be worth checking. These are the hair cutting scissors I own and they are sharp and have lasted two years so far.
4. Pillow Spray
I think we are all finding adjusting to this new 'normal' to be quite difficult in many ways. So at the end of the day when you've most likely not expended enough energy, consumed too much news and worried about endless things, it's no surprise sleep may not come easy.
There are some amazing apps such as Headspace that can help quieten anxious thoughts especially at night but I find deeper breathing without being overly conscious of it to be really helpful. Meditation and relaxing breathing techniques also work well before you get into bed.
However, to encourage deeper breathing to help you drift off to sleep I like to use a lavender based pillow spray. This encourages you to naturally take in deeper breathes without realising you are and I've found that to really work.
Well, I say that but sadly not all lavender pillow sprays work, in fact most of them don't and the one I've found to work is sadly a little pricey.... but so worth it. This works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray (£19.50/75ml) while lavender scented isn't overpowering and simply works, helping you get to sleep faster. I've used this pillow spray for over 5 years now and use it most nights. I also find the matching pulse point roller ball to also be really calming and effective.
5. Hand Wash & Hand Sanitiser
Now in no way am I assuming you may have overlooked hand soap and hand sanitiser right now. But if your stocks are running low then I thought I could point you in the right direction, especially as most supermarket shelves of hand soap are still pretty bare right now.
When it comes to hand soap, unfortunately, cheaper liquid soap are pretty much sold out wherever you look. But if you don't mind spending a little more then it's worth checking out more premium brands online such as Shay & Blue, Neom, Neal's Yard and L'occitane.
However if like me, you feel like soap is soap then I highly recommend switching to bar soap for the time being. Currently, The Body Shop have all bar soaps in stock here and they cost only £4 for a 100g bar.
But if you are wanting something a little fancier then Lush have a huge range of handmade soaps that last months - I highly recommend Honey I Washed the Kids and Sultana of Soap as they not only smell divine but are two of the most moisturising.
As for hand sanitiser, it seems like it's still impossible to get hold of, but if you are going food shopping or needing to visit a vulnerable relative then it's essential. While I'm sure more stocks will come available you can make your own DIY Hand sanitiser at home - but proceed with caution as a lot of videos and blog posts being created aren't getting the alcohol concretion right and will be totally ineffective at protecting you from germs, therefore putting you at risk.
If you do want to make your own DIY hand sanitiser then I recommend checking out this video made my an actual chemist, where she will point you in the right direction of some trusted DIY videos and will tell you what advice to stay away from!
6. Non-foaming Cleanser
While a cleanser may seem a trivial essential it's something you will still need though the coming months even if you aren't wearing makeup.
This is a time to ditch the heavy-duty cleansing balms that are more suited to removing makeup at the end of the day and instead switch to a lighter non-sls (i.e non-striping) liquid cleanser that will remove surface oil and dirt on the skin. Below is a list of a few cleansers, however, if you already have a suitable cleanser then of course that will work fine.
Best budget cleanser: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (£5.66)
Best cleanser for oily skin: La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel (£12.50)
Best cleanser for sensitive skin: Jurlique Nourishing Cleansing Oil (£28.00)
7. Self-Massage Rollers
Over the next few weeks and months, it's safe to say we will all be doing a lot more sitting and sedentary living which while temporary can cause muscle stiffness and other problems.
Sitting all day actually makes the front of the body tighten up, especially you're hip flexors, chest muscles and upper traps (shoulder blades up to your neck) so getting into a combined routine of getting up and walking around every hour, along with a simple stretching routine and using foam rollers on muscles that feel tense is good practice.
For larger muscles such as the glutes and leg muscles, a foam roller is great. However, for trigger points and smaller muscles, I find a single or double massage ball to work well, I also find because I can have them close by I'm more likely to roll out a tense muscle as and when I feel tight or sore.
Favourite lacrosse ball: Protone Double Lacrosse Ball for Trigger Point Massage (£8.99)
Foam Roller: We R Sports Grid Foam Roller (£9.99)
Hope this little round-up of health and beauty essentials has helped!
Fee xo.
