Ah common’ – you know I love a good pamper. Nine times out of ten I spend Sunday evenings locked in my bathroom with my laptop propped up on my loo lid loaded with The Office re-runs while I primp and preen the night away. I’ve got my routine down and for the most part it’s pretty extensive and expensive; so for the first instalment of a two-post drugstore weekend takeover I thought I’d set myself the task of rewriting my routine without breaking the bank. The same amount of pamper, for a much cheaper price. And you know what? I’ve found the secret. A good unrefined, organic, extra virgin, cold-pressed Coconut Oil (I use this beasty tub of Nutiva Coconut Oil I picked up from Whole Foods) is the key…
HAIR. While conducting ‘research’ *pfft* for this piece I stumbled across two old favourites that I couldn’t understand why I’d allowed a repurchase of to slip through my hands. At the weekend I like to give my hair a real deep clean – squeaky almost – to wash out all those va-va-voomers I spritz and sweep through Monday to Friday – and for that the Boots Expert Build Up Removal Shampoo is up there with my go-to Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo in terms of dirt ridding ability. To add a dose of gloss back in for the week ahead, Dove’s Express Treatment Conditioner makes my locks smell good enough to eat (sorta like holidays and Pina Colada mixed together) and leaves a lightweight shine to the lengths. If a bit more nourishment is needed, enter the first appearance of the Coconut Oil. A tiny, tiny amount through the ends will see to any fried follicles or if you’re feeling adventurous work through all-over pre-shampoo for a root-to-tip moisture mask.
BODY. The aisles of Boots, Superdrug and the likes have bath time seriously covered. I was spoilt for choice when it came to what to include for this step. I’ve plumped for three products; including Coconut Oil (again). I’m a bath girl, but before taking a dip I’ve become quite taken with giving myself a good buff with the Botanics Detox Brush. Long strokes, towards the heart is the motion and afterwards I feel very….refreshed and resurfaced. For my bath I swap in my usual fancy schmanzy bath oils for a teaspoon of the Coconut Oil melted into the tub with makes things a little more emollient and for my in-bath rinse the Botanics Rebalance Restoring Cream Body Wash has been doing the job and fills that good smelling, mild mannered shower gel bill perfectly.
FACE. Scaling back my skincare effort into a bitesize budget portion was a bit of toughie, but I’ve taken a leaf out of my Boyfriend Mark’s book to achieve it. It’s all about the two product skincare regime. All you need is that trusty Coconut Oil again and a mask of your choice. Firstly take a dollop of the oil massaged into dry skin and muslined off with a damp flannel  – cleansing, done. Then whip out your mask. I’ve chosen to slather on Avene’s Cleanance Mask – a spot busting, exfoliating bad-boy – follow the prescribed instructions and again rinse off. Take a rice-sized amount of the Coconut Oil again and work it into your chops to finish off. It’s not the most elaborate of routines; but it ticks the cleanse, mask and moisturise boxes and my skin feels pretty darn soft come Monday morning.
NAILS. This is the one part of my preening posse that already is a pretty drugstore-centric affair. Tool-wise I always use a kit that I picked up from Kiss that takes care of all cuticle matters and combo-ed up with the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover they get the job done. Once my beds are tended to (get the full low-down on that here) it’s time to pick a polish and when it comes to the highstreet there’s a hella’ load of good’uns to choose from. Essie, though not strictly durgstore, is always a safe bet, but Rimmel and Revlon make some great formulas in spendy looking shades. Speaking of the latter, Revlon Nail Varnish in Vixen is a current favourite (and a possible dupe for CHANEL Le Vernis in Rouge Noir). Layer on whatever top coat you’ve got hanging around and that’s mani method sorted for cheaper than an in-salon sesh.
See? Bargain-a-licious. And the Coconut Oil comes in handy for frying-up your Sunday serving of pancakes in the morning too. Got to love a multi-tasker.
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