Febreze Sleep Easy Range #Sleephappy

I've just completed 6 weeks of using Febreze Sleep Serenity on behalf of Super Savvy Me testing board. I got given a kit with some money off vouchers as well as a bottle of each scent to try out over the weeks before going to bed.

As being a new Mum sleep is not only vital but also it is broken up as we care for our babies. I was sleeping OK but finding it hard to switch off and fall asleep as I reel off lists of things that need to be done or worrying that Beth is not breathing etc. I was eager to try these out and see if they could give me more of a restful sleep.

They come in three fragrances:

• Moonlit Lavender - Famous for it soothing and relaxing properties.
• Quiet Jasmine -Is an anti depressant and relaxes jangled nerves.
• Warm Milk and Honey - A hug in the spray, deeply comforting.

They also contain the Febreze technology that eliminates odours so all you can smell is the fragrance.

Working with the National Sleep Foundation to offer all the partakers advice on how to improve their nights sleep. We need sleep to recharge our brain, improve our mood and be creative and we should be looking at between 6-8 hours a night. It is recommended for this to to have a routine to wind down for the evenings rest. This can be from reading to taking a bath, but it is recommended that you avoid technology an hour before bed because of the light emitted from it can mimic daylight and keep you awake.

With this in mind, I changed the sheets (fresher sheets always feel better) and sprayed different ones each week to see what worked as well as what was preferred. I also sprayed it on the far side of the room before settling Bethany to sleep to also see if it would settle her down.

I tried to keep to the same bedtimes as possible, Hubby and I agreed that an hour before bed we spend some time together winding down and worked a routine that would help me wind down. A hour before Beth's bedtime I work spray the room and it would still be there when we went to bed a few hours later. I did on the whole sleep a lot more soundly and found it easier to fall asleep.

Out of the scents I tried so far I liked this range the most, Hubby preferred Milk and Honey, I liked Quiet Jasmine and Beth slept better with the Moonlit Lavender. As well as the sprays there is plug in and reed diffusers, all available at your local supermarket.

World Mental Health Day

There is a majority of people who will read the title of this and skip over it, Mental Health still has a huge stigma clapped onto it. I am one of the 1 in 4 people who suffer with a 'illness', and I mean 'illness' loosely. Why do I mean 'illness' in that way? Because it's something that never be cured like an illness, and you will never really recover from it.

Mental illness is something that you live with, you learn how to cope, where to go if you need help and guidance. You have great, good, poor and horrid days (sometimes even minutes and seconds). Everyone also has different symptoms, different ways that it effects their life but also different ways of coping.

It's encouraging for someone like myself who are the 1 in 4, that there has been some progress - Time-To-Change that works towards openly talking about it, politicians and celebrities 'coming out', channel 4's Mad Season (however for me the name still re-enforced the 'mad part of mental health.). There are however many things that need to improve but the seeds have been sow.

There are many inspiring people out there who are knocking down the stigmas that people not in the know have. Rachael at Live, Food, Love writes the most honest and beautiful entries on her life that includes coping with Mental Health. Then, there's Amanda from Beauty From Pain Blog who not voices her opinions on Mental Health but SHOUTS about it for other sufferers, using her experiences to re-educate non-suffers.

You can also read my other entry Hope You're OK about my mental illness.

If you have read this, thank you for taking the time to stop, taking the first step of breaking the stigma and reading this rather than skipping over.

H2Oh Yeah!

A hashtag discussion was going on on Monday regarding beauty tips, and of course I shared mine,

" @unevenlemming :#beautytip: The easiest & most repeated but never followed, drink more water! Keep a bottle with you so you can track of it. It does show!". I was never much of a water drinker being on a shop floor for 8 hours a day there was never really a chance to grab a glass of water. Now, I'm in office work and have a bottle on my desk I've noticed a huge difference in the plumpness and brightness of my skin. I wanted to look a little more in depth on why this really cheap beauty (and health) aid really does help.

The human body is made up 55 to 75% of water (depending on the size of person), and around 80% of people on a day-to-day basis are not getting enough water to hydrate they're body. So why start the habit of sipping the wet stuff?

Fend off hungry prangs

Most people feel that they're hungry prangs is because they are hungry when it is actually your body saying that it is thirsty. We start to feel the effects of dehydration (headaches, dizziness, and fatigue) when it can almost be too late, by getting into a habit of sipping regularly throughout the day can prevent this from happening and can be a factor towards weight loss as you are hydrating the body rather than feeding it when it doesn't need it. One of the best tips I've read is to drink a glass of water wait 20 Min's if still hungry then eat.

Cheapest Anti-ageing Product, Ever!

I noticed after spending a week on the wet stuff is that my skin looked a lot more clearer, in my early thirties I still get the odd spot and during this time I was braking out constantly. I hadn't changed my skincare routine a lot apart from being little more strict about it. What water does is support in the clearing of waste products out of the body, replenishing the lost liquid from this process, as well as act as a inner moisturiser. Look at the ingredients on most of your skin care products, the first (which means it contains the most of) ingredient is aqua or water to you and me.

It fights nasty bugs

Being dehydrated can also open up your body to infections because your body is focusing on supporting everyday function rather than fighting any baddies that can attack the body. We've mentioned that it flushes toxins out of the system where the kidneys and urine system are a key part. Water can help and prevent painful infections in this organs. When you have colds it can clear out airways for better breathing, so that is why your mother nags you to drink fluids every time you get sick.

Keeps you going harder and longer

Being rightful hydrated means that your concentration levels are higher, but also your body works better. For example, your muscles are around 75% water, your bones are about 22% and your blood is around 83%. Not that including the brain that is 85% water, that is a lot of high numbers that the water you do intake needs to reach!

Looks after your heart

When you are dehydrated your blood thickens, so the heart works harder to pump the blood around the body which puts more strain. Drinking more than 5 glasses a day can cut the risk of a heart attack by 41%.

So how to get into the water habit? I started by putting a bottle of water at my desk and sip during the day. I also drink a lot of tea, but try to cut back in the caffeine as this can also dehydrate as well as make you wee more. Talking about wee, if it's a pale straw colour already you have very little to worry about, if it's darker and cloudy then you need to boost your intake.

Grab a glass when get up as your body will be needing to replace water it's lost over the nighttime, give it squeeze of lemon and you also be having a clean out boost. Check for vegetables that have a higher water content like lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots and watermelon that not only count towards the water total but also towards your five-a-day - Multi tasking at it's best!

Hope You're OK

My name is Helen and suffer with bouts of depression.

On my darker days I cannot get out of bed, even getting dressed is an accomplishment. I'd rather hide away and disappear into my shell then having to deal with situations. Most of time I feel like I am the only person in the world dealing with this, and constantly feel emotionless. I call my depression "black cloud" because it builds up and rains when it wants to.

It can affect anyone, not only the people themselves but the knock on effect on families, loved ones, friends. A depression suffer will often suffer in slience because they feel they don't deserve help or don't want to bother anyone. The biggest thing for anyone to do is admit that they need help and actively reach out for it.

There is still much of stigma attached to having a mental illness, all most of us want is someone just to show that we're there when we need them. The Mind Charity were there when I needed them (and still there for me while I battle on through bouts), they provide a safe welcoming, enviroment where people can get help or just be with people who are going through the same thing.

You want see true beauty and strength, go to twitter and search #mymind.

If you want more information on how you can help, please go here