I'm going to be honest here, I'm the worlds worst at being ill. I just can't deal with it. I sit there feeling beyond sorry for myself and can't get why people feel no sympathy for me. I'm agitated, feel bunged up, the nose is constantly pouring, I go from being hot to being cold. Have the worse fevers known to man and basically feel like giving up.... by the way, I'm never one to be over dramatic at all!
Aside from taking the usual cold and flu tablets, permanently having a vapour inhaler stuck up my nose, constantly rubbing Vicks Vapourub on to my chest and going through two boxes of tissues in three days, there were other things I used/did that helped me deal with being ill a little better, or at least helped me deal with the boredom of being stuck in bed ill, and these are what I'm going to share with you today. I will add that a few of these products were sent to me by some lovely PR women who I had been emailing in regards to my giveaway that I was planning. I mentioned I was ill and was kindly sent a few products to help me feel better, which was lovely of them as I honestly wasn't expecting to be sent some products after I was asking for products for my giveaway!
It's easy to stay in bed in sweaty clothes and avoid wanting to jump in a bath. Getting wet and cold is never great when you're ill, but nonetheless it needs to be done, if not for wanting to get rid of the smell of sweat (yes I sound sexy but it happens to us all) but it does actually help you breath and makes you feel slightly more awake. On day two of being ill I was sent some lovely products from Aromatherapy Associates to help me feel better. Aromatherapy Associates Support Breathe Bath & Shower Oil* is a bath oil that has some gorgeous clearing ingredients in including eucalyptus, pine, tea tree and peppermint, which all help you to breathe and clear your stuffy head. Now if anyone has ever used an Aromatherapy Associates bath oils you'll know just a few drops is needed. The scent is very strong. I closed my bathroom door whilst the bath was running which helped fill up the room with the strong aroma, which immediately cleared up my head and nose straight away. Sitting in the bath for 45 minutes and the scent does not go. The hot bathroom with this scent really helped me feel slightly better, not only that my skin was left feeling less dry and more moisturised. I recommend using this every day of being ill.
Next up I used Aromatherapy Associates Support Breathe Essence* like the bath oil, this too includes eucalyptus and peppermint oils, which I have discovered since using both products that they are amazing at clearing your nose and head up. This is to be used on a tissue, again only a small amount is needed. I placed the tissue over my nose and took in deep breaths to really breath the scent in. This immediately gives you a boost so that you can breath. At night time I placed a tissue with a few more drops on underneath my pillow and the aromas helped me to breath whilst I slept. Both of these are amazing products and I can't recommend them enough for when you're ill.
I don't know about you but when I'm ill everything about me becomes dry, especially my lips. After just one day my lips became so dry and flaky and were very sore. I've always just used a normal lip balm but it wasn't doing the job and these two products shown above are serious life savers, and products I now use every other day to keep my lips feeling soft. First up for dry lips you need to exfoliate the dry flaky skin away . I recently posted a review of the Lush Santas Lip Scrub just HERE this does a remarkable job of gently removing away dry skin, not to mention it smells nice (cola flavour) and tastes even nicer, as this is edible! Check out my review for my full thoughts. You may not be able to buy this now as it was a Christmas limited edition, however they sell different lip scrubs with different tastes, all I'm sure would do the same job.
After I had scrubbed away the flaky skin I needed a super rich lip cream to help put back a huge boost of moisture into my lips. Something very rich was needed. I received Lipglam in a Birchbox a few months ago and feel in love with it straight away. The key ingredient within Lipglam is Lanolin, which is proven to relieve dryness immediately, as well as continuing to moisturise for over 8 hours. Not only that this is 100% natural and paraben free. This is very thick but it's ideal for dry lips. This healed my lips after one use. I honestly think this is amazing, I have two back ups currently as I just can't go to bed and not use this. Also I used this around my nose. You know what happens, you blow your nose so much and your nostrils start to flake, applying this around the nose at night time really helped to heal that flaking up.
These two products together really heeled my lips up instantly. I love them
As well as suffering with dry lips when ill your skin suffers too. Although my skin is oily, it really dried out and became quite flaky. I don't really own many products that are moisturing (as I said my skins oily so use oil free, hydrating moisturisers) so I needed something that would give my skin back some moisture and something that would help it look less dull and feel more plump. Dr. Lewinns Instant Beauty Rdiance Booster* is full of fruit oils and algae extract amongst other things that helped my skin not only feel more moisturised but it really helped my complexion look fresher and less dull and tired looking. This can be used as a moisturiser or as a primer for your makeup, which makes it a great multi-purpose product. I will say this didn't make my skin more oily, so I'd say that this would be suitable for any skin type if used on a daily basis.
And finally you will need something to watch whilst your stuck in bed ill. Some people will say if you're ill you should just sleep, and that's not entirely wrong, but there is only so much sleeping one person can do. Netflix has been my favourite app that I have downloaded in ages. There are a ton of shows and films on there to watch. I was at the time watch Pretty Little Liars, which I had only just started before I became ill. There were four seasons (plus half of one that was available yet) for me to work my way through. I would put my iPad on, prop it up next to me and get all snuggled up in my duvet. Yes I feel alseep throughout most of it, but when I was awake it really helped to ease my boredom and gave me something else to focus on instead of feeling sorry for myself. Friends has just landed on Netflix, however it's just in the US, but there are ways of getting the US Netflix on your iPad, just google it. If you get ill and find yourself stuck in bed then I would recommend starting up a whole new TV show or watching re-runs of Friends, there's no better excuse to watch tv shows than when you're ill!
So those are the things that helped me feel better in someway. It's easy to forget about the little things that your body/skin needs when you're ill, it's not always about taking as many medications as possible, your skin, lips and brain also need something too! I hope this post has been helpful in someway.
What do you use/do when you're stuck in bed ill?
*Includes some PR samples
Until Next Time
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