Wow my favourite season is nearly here! Everyone says i’m crazy for loving the chilly cold winter more than the warm sunny sun! But to me there is something wonderful about snuggling on the sofa with blankets, hot water bottle, cute slipper boots and pyjamas, lighting candles, switching on fairy lights, topped off with a nice warming mug of tea! Even if you are one who is already missing the summer sun and the lighter evenings then i hope what i do for my wintery night time routine inspires you somehow to embrace these colder evenings. 

Often beforehand if my boyfriend is off work we will have a nice brisk walk in the evening as it feels lovely stepping into a warming house afterwards but even better with the company. It allows me to feel the cold air on my face (whilst being all wrapped up of course) clears any worrying thoughts i may have or helps to release any tension i may be feeling. After that to start off my calming, cosy evening i will always turn  main harsh lights off and dim the rooms with my side lights….turn on any fairy lights and light all candles i have making the room have a gorgeous cosy wintery feel. In December i prefer to have Winter scented candles and obviously a great option is Yankee Candle. So i will have to pick out a festive scent closer to christmas. I love turning on side/fairy lights and having candles glowing, it really gives a house a homely comforting feel. 

A little note i would love to have a cosy fireplace but at the moment in our house we dont have one sadly! But hearing the crackling pop of the wood and having the woody notes fill up a home, with a warming glow orange really makes it feel like winter to me. 

Then i like to choose my favourite pair of pyjamas for the evening…i dont mind having tank top/hotpant pyjamas as i always wrap up in a snuggly blanket anyway to keep extra warm. I have lots of different pyjama sets to choose from as i have a bit of an obsession for cute pyjamas. The darker the evening the earlier i get my pyjamas on! I am often cooking tea in them! 

Then after choosing a comfy pair and a cosy pair of slipper boots to match with them i often grab a blanket to pop around my shoulders and to snuggle up with! (If you couldn’t tell by now i am very into cosy evenings!)  Oh and this little doggie is definitely how i end up looking like hehe!

My boyfriend will then come home (he’s a chef so works till late evening) and it’s so nice to be able to chat about our day together relaxing and snuggling up on the sofa, possibly playing a few card games 🙂 Then often we will stick on a movie… nearly always disney 😉 and silently enjoy each others company (but not too silently because i always end up chatting again haha)

We then go prepare a small bedtime snack just to get us through the night. I am terrible for waking up on an empty stomach so every night i have a little food to keep me sleeping. I prepare whatever i really feel like but like to ensure it’s quite light and not too heavy.

After eating it, i like to go and do my skincare routine. I am halfway between changing it now i am 20 and out of my teenage years skin. So i will in the future be doing a blog post once i have all the skincare products i am using. But on a proper skincare night routine i use cleansing water to remove any makeup i may have on, use a cleansing facial exfoliater, occasionally use  a facial serum (i’ve been trying some out recently), apply my eye cream and end it all with a nighttime facial moisturiser. 

Then if it’s a super relaxing evening pamper i am doing i will run a nice warm bubble bath but this isn’t often as i love to fake tan and soaking in warm bubbly water tends to strip it off quicker. So i’ll often have this when i’m not tanned in between my sessions. My favourite bubble baths are anything Rose scented and i also have been loving these Elderflower Fizz bath crystals from Oliver Bonus they have a really gorgeous scent.

During my bubble baths i like to just lie and relax,  feeling all the warm water and bubbles against my skin relaxing every muscle and part of my body…so i often light some candles in the bathroom and will put on my favourite guitar acoustic relaxation music with this (I find some on YouTube). it really does help me to relax and let go even more. 

After i am super relaxed, i will then make sure i grab a night time bottle of water for my bedside table and will start to make my routine camomile tea. I love the Twinings brand for this. I have struggled with anxiety for 7 years and this is a very important step to my night routine ( i have only really recently discovered how calming and soothing this really is.) Since Mindfulness has been explored and shared about more now it is an important aspect of everyday life for me, it takes a while to get into the swing of being mindful instead of rushing around though. So during the day i do try and get a few minutes of mindfulness practice in but sometimes it can be hard  so this is the one moment of the evening where i really do try and apply mindfulness.  

I then like to slowly pour my camomile tea into my choice of mug. You leave the teabag in for no longer than 2 mintues for a perfect cuppa. This is when i like to do my mindfulness exercise.

If your into mindfulness read this part if not then you can skip 🙂

• I like to take time to observe the teabag infuse the water and create swirls, I like to take in the aroma of the tea as its brewing, looking at the colour of the tea and just watching it with complete awareness. I like to then find a nice cosy spot on the sofa and take the time to just ‘sit’  with it, just breathing in the smell and feeling how warm it is in my hands. Sipping nice and slowly, savouring every bit and tasting all the flavour fully. I like to focus on how warm it is and how it really does feel like “a hug in a mug.” I then focus on the warmth going into my body and just feeling at peace. If i find that my mind starts to wander i like to have this tea to bring me back and focus on this relaxing feeling instead. I find that when i do this mindfulness activity is helps me to focus on staying relaxed and helps me to stay grounded before bedtime. Everything is so fast past and connected in this world so it’s so important to let your body take a mindful break to help create relaxation and the feeling of refreshment. I am still learning to do this regularly instead of just having my tea fast and i do find this really helps me before bedtime to find clarity of mind and helps me to reduce my anxiety. 

 

After my cup of camomile i like to go upstairs to bed (obviously blow out the candles), brush my teeth (get ready to hop into bed) and apply my sleep balm. This is a new product i have been using (1001 Remedies GoodNight Relaxing Sleep Balm) i used to use an Avon sleep balm that had a very soothing scent however i had read great reviews on this one so recently i changed to it. It’s results are incredible! It has helped me to sleep all through the night not waking anxious and keeps me calm so that when i wake i actually feel very very refreshed! It’s wonderful! So i like to apply this just before i read my magazines or book because i feel it gives the herbs time to work their magic and i can smell the scent which helps me stay calm before i sleep. 

Lastly, i like to just read my magazines or a good book that i may be reading to just let my eyes feel heavy enough for me to want to sleep.  At the moment i have been loving these articles in my monthly magazine Psychologies. 

Thank you for reading this post! I appreciate all the support i have been getting 🙂 I would love to know what your winter night time routines are (if you have any) …Sharing them would be wonderful! 

Love, Charlotte XO

Until next time beyou-tiful inside and out XOXO