Tag: sleep
For most of my life, I fall asleep quickly and can sleep just about anywhere other than in economy class on a flight. but for the past few months, I’ve been using This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray, not so much to help me fall asleep, but more for it being a nice nighttime ritual and the scent is soothing.
This Works has just launched Morning Expert, a collection of products designed to target morning skin concerns to help you wake-up well and restore morning glow. And this is definitely something I can use; I am not a morning person, and I keep late hours so mornings are rough. As I’ve only been using the products about a week, I can’t yet speak to how beneficial they are, but based on their best-selling Deep Sleep Pillow Spray (one I know many of my friends who do have trouble with sleep swear by), I’m trusting they’re going to be staples for the morning regimen.
The collection includes:
Morning Expert Wake Up Drops, a 100% natural essential oil of rosemary, peppermint and lavender. You can use it in a diffuser, sprinkle some on a warm washcloth, or into your shower (not pictured as I haven’t gotten my hands on this one yet, but will have it in a few weeks).
Morning Expert Open Eyes, with giant kelp and Persian silk tree extract, to help de-puff, detox and brighten eyes.
Morning Expert Hyaluronic Serum, 2% HA complex and vitamin C to help hydrate, plump sleep creases and brighten skin.
Morning Expert Vitamin C Power Mask, a five-minute balm with vitamin C and jojoba to invigorate and exfoliate with twice a week.
Morning Expert Multi-Acid Pads, bamboo pads with azelaic acid, vitamin B3 and liquorice root, to perk up skin and help fight breakouts.
Because I want you to enjoy great mornings as well, I’ve got one prize package from This Works including the five Morning Expert products plus their best-selling Deep Sleep Pillow Spray to give away! The prize is valued at approximately $270. Here’s how to enter:
- Check out my Instagram post for this THIS WORKS giveaway and enter there (details are on the IG post).
- Get an additional entry by commenting on this blog post by sharing how many hours of sleep you typically get.
This giveaway ends at 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. It is open to Canadian residents. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on my Instagram Stories on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. The prize is awarded as is.
March 13, 2019
Although I’ve gone through periods of insomnia, for the most part, I”m a pretty good sleeper. I fall asleep quickly, and generally stay asleep through the night. My main issue is that I don’t make sleep a priority. I’m naturally a night owl and spoke to sleep experts a couple of years ago about this, and one doctor noted that my main problem is just not valuing sleep enough.
And he is right about that. I always see more things to get done on my to-do list, or there’s another TV show I want to watch, or maybe there’s something super, super important someone posted on Instagram that I must see ASAP (PSA: there never is). And yet I continue to struggle with making sleep a priority, and that’s even knowing that my body needs that downtime to recuperate. Knowing that it’d help with my running. And knowing it’d help me feel refreshed for the day instead of like I need an IV of coffee to get me feeling human.
And so, this year I’m looking to make sleep more of a priority. Self care is so important and I need to make that my focus. My goal is to get a good eight-hours of sleep a night, on a regular schedule. This will not be an easy task; I’ve been struggling with this ever since writing that article about being a night owl.
But I’m going to approach it with a plan now. I’m going to set an alarm to remind me to start winding my night down with taking Billie Jean for her evening walk, doing my nighttime beauty routine, etc. And I’m going to make my bedroom a sleeping haven with a new mattress and pillows. My current mattress is probably about a decade old and there’s definitely at least one spring out of place.
To replace it, I’m welcoming an Endy mattress and pillows into my home. Why Endy? To start, I like that there’s a 100-day trial period; I’ve always found it hard to judge from a quick lie-down in a store. This Canadian company (another selling point!) also features three layers of foam, which I hear are medium firm (I tend to prefer a decent level of firmness). Another standout feature? I run really warm; I’m not a furnace like I used to be (that was thanks to my overactive thyroid) but still warmer than most folks.So Endy’s top layer, infused with cooling gel, is designed to release body heat. Plus, its foam is non-temperature-sensitive—so while other foam mattresses sink in the summer and feel like a rock in the winter, Endy retains the same firmness year-round.
Stay tuned for updates on how it goes with my new soon-to-arrive Endy and whether I become the sleeping beauty I aim to become.
Also, this probably calls for some cute new pyjamas, too, don’t you think? I’ve been coveting the Sleep Shirt for more than a year now…
Disclosure: I am an Endy partner and am receiving Endy products for review.
January 22, 2018
February’s come to a close and I’d say so long to the February blues, but the thing is, I didn’t experience them this year.
Part of the reason is the mild winter we have been having here in Toronto (I’m grateful every day that we haven’t been in a deep freeze for weeks and weeks). And yet, we still have many gray skies, and the daylight hours are still limited. The difference in my life this February? Using the Philips Wake-up Light.
To get you up to speed, if you follow me on Twitter, you may be aware I have some pretty poor sleeping habits. And towards the end of last year, I was suffering from insomnia. Then during the Christmas holidays, I simply could not fall asleep until 5 or 6 a.m. And this meant I’d sleep until noon at the earliest. This wasn’t ideal but I was able to let it slide during the holidays, but once we hit the new year, and I attempted to get up at a more reasonable hour, so that I could email and hold phone calls with people who work regular office hours, well, I was an exhausted mess. Either I’d get up late and miss time I could be working, or on the days I managed to force myself up in the morning, by 1:30 p.m., with my eyelids heavy, I’d nap for several hours.
And when Philips asked me to try out their Philips Vitalight products, I was desperate and ready to try anything. I’d heard of the Wake-up Light before, but I’ll be frank, I thought it sounded like it made sense in theory but I was doubtful and how much better it’d make my wake up routine and how much more refreshed I’d feel. How it works and what it says it’ll do: The light simulates sunlight and it increases in brightness over a period of 30 minutes (so if you set your alarm for 7 a.m., starting at 6:30 a.m., the lamp starts to glow until reaching its maximum brightness at 7 a.m., at which time an alarm goes off — you can choose between two natural sounds or FM radio). The idea is that it’s meant to be a more natural way to wake up (with the sunrise) and as a result, you wake up feeling more refreshed and so rather than dragging yourself out of bed, you can get up more easily.
Sure sounds nice, but c’mon really? I was open to trying it (again, I was feeling so horrible from my wacky sleep pattern) but how could a fancy light and the sound of nature make that much a difference? I’d be in the same tired and weary position by the end of the month.
I WAS WRONG. SO WRONG.
Using the Philips Wake-up Light in February has managed to help me shift my sleep schedule to a more reasonable time (I was also more diligent about forcing myself to get into bed earlier); I now go to bed anywhere from midnight to 2 a.m. most nights and get up before 10 a.m. More surprising to me, though, as I have had to shift my sleep patterns in the past, is how much more pleasant my wake-up routine is. When I’m still in a sleepy phase, I can sense the “sunshine” getting stronger, even though I haven’t opened my eyes yet. Then comes the birds chirping (that’s my preferred alarm choice) and it’s such a welcome sound — now that I live in a downtown condo, that’s a sound I hear rarely (and it’s one that I miss from my house where I had a huge front yard tree and I’d always hear birds chirping). I usually hit snooze once or twice, but that’s it; then I get up. In the last month, I’ve had the occasional night where I’ve set the alarm clock on my cell phone instead, and I get jolted awake, disoriented and hating the incessant beeping of the alarm.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but I feel like this Wake-up Light has changed how I wake up and face each day, turning it from a dreaded groggy, okay cranky, ordeal, to a calm and agreeable routine.
(Looking for the Wake-up Light for yourself? It’s available at London Drugs and amazon.ca and retails for $99.99)
The Philips Wake-up Light isn’t the only Vitalight product I tested out in February. Stay tuned for my review of the goLITE BLU, which is designed to help you feel more energized.
(sponsored)
P.S. I’m not the only one who’s enjoyed the Wake-up Light. This one’s basking in it like it’s actually sunlight!
March 1, 2016
Previous page
