I think it's fair to say that while writing my dissertation, I haven't remained a bastion of beauty and mental stability.
I'm more of a gibbering wreck to be quite honest.
I'm sure there's a lot of other finalists and summer exam candidates out there who are feeling much the same. (In fact, I know there are - I walked into the British Library earlier this week and it was absolutely crammed with grey-faced fellow students). The four products in this post are the little artillery that I bust out whenever my skin, or my head, needs a little bit of chill time. Warning: this post is extremely Origins-heavy. This is partially because there are two Origins shops in Cambridge, and partially because I love Origins!
- Origins Peace of Mind (£13). This one's technically not a beauty product, as it's from Origins' Sensory Therapy range, but it's still a favourite. You pump a little bit on to your finger and massage it into your earlobes, behind your ears and into the back of your neck. Then breathe deeply and relax. Perhaps it's a placebo effect, but the cool pepperminty smell really does seem to calm me down.
- Aesop Protective Lip Balm (£13). I've often got cracked lips during the lead up to exams, as I tend to bite them nervously, or avoid moisturising them because I get terrible stress ulcers on the insides of my lips. Living the glamorous life. This really helps to soothe them - it's a super-strong enriching formula, and also has UVA/UVB filters to protect lips from the sun.
- Origins Dr. Weil Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief (£48). Right, so this lotion is expensive, but it's extremely effective (as you'd expect at that price!) It helps to calm down redness and breakouts as well as making skin more resilient for the future. One to pop on the birthday or Christmas wishlist.
- Origins Out of Trouble skin mask (£22, but £19.80 at House of Fraser right now!). I've been quite lucky with my skin since I entered my twenties, but during the exam period my skin regresses to adolescence and tends to flare up occasionally. This mask helps fight blemishes but is also quite therapeutic - it feels nice to smooth on after cleansing and is cool and tingly, with camphor and salicylic acid. Ten minutes later you can wash it off with warm water. Sometimes I apply a blob of it straight on to a problem area at night time and wash it off the next morning or just before going to sleep, which seems to work quite well.
Do you have any salvation-worthy products that you break out in busy or stressful periods?
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