TOP FIVE HAND CREAMS

I don't smoke, rarely drink, have the odd flutter on the lottery or the horses. No addiction. I can take it or leave it. But, the one thing I can't live without.... is hand cream - what a vice. I go through tubes, tubs, jars and pots of it. Before I've finished one, I've bought the next. I must not run out. You get the picture - I neeeeeed it. My name is Stephanie, and I am a hand cream addict. So here are my top five...



Barbara Daly Helping Hands Serum, £6.75
Tesco

I've been using hair serums for years, more recently, face serums but now... hand serum! And how lovely it is too. Soft like satin and smooth to the touch, Helping Hands by Barbara Daly (no relation) for Tesco is designed to moisturise, soothe and protect. Just one tiny drop reduces dryness to create healthy hands with fewer lines. It's the perfect size for a handbag, so slip one in your shopping basket. 

Herbal Aloe Hand Cream, £8.50
http://products.herbalife.co.uk/

Herbal Aloe Hand Cream will make your hands super soft. As the name suggests, the range contains Aloe Vera, a natural moisturiser recognised for thousands of years for its nourishing and vitalizing benefits. This hand cream is the perfect thirst-quencher for people with dry skin - it will leave your hands feeling soft and your cuticles smooth. It's subtle scent is really lovely too.

Hands First Invisible Gloves, £4.99 (75ml)
Superdrug

Busy hands need a resisiliant hand cream. Hands First Invisible Gloves not only moisturise skin to keep it silky soft but it also builds a protective layer over your skin - making it ideal for applying before household chores or gardening to protect them from detergents and dirt. Rumour has it that using it pre-fake tan will protect you from staining your hands. I've not fake tanned in a while, but will give it a go and report back! This is fragrance free too, so suitable for people with sensitive skin.

VIE at Home Blissful Hands Softening Hand Cream, £7.50

http://www.vieathome.com/

Vie Blissful Hands Softening Hnd Cream has a delicious smelling fruity fragrance. The cream contains Rosehip Seed Oil, Chamomile, Allantoin, Glycerine and Cocoa Butter to keep hands super-soft. The packaging is super-girly, and would make a great gift for a hand cream lover!

Dove Visible Effects Hand Cream, £3.56 for 75ml
Boots

Finally, Dove Visible Effects Hand Cream is a fab new product to give hands deep-down mositurisation. It has a 'Multi-Layer Complex', which basically means that it doesn't just sit on the top layer of skin, it sinks into lower layers to offer lasting hydration that lasts for ages.

All this talk is making my hands thirsty. I need my next fix...

TOP FIVE SPRING CLEANING PRODUCTS

I love a good spring clean! Particularly going out afterwards, and coming home to a sparkling, sweet smelling home. Bliss. Waking up with a small hangover, I worked through it this morning, trying out some new cleaning products - where's my medal? Below are my top five spring cleaning products.



Narcissi Spring multi-surface cleaner, £5.15 http://www.homescents.co.uk/



Numero uno. You need a good cleaner, as well as being good at getting things clean, it's nice to know that it's also good for the environment. The Home Scents range of eco cleaning products are scented with essential oils, and leave things sparkling - and smelling lovely. The multi-surface cleaner can be used neat on surfaces or diluted to clean floors.

Sarah Smith Ultra Absorbent Cloths, £2.05
http://www.sarah-smith.co.uk/

There's no need for drab cleaning cloths - Sarah Smiths Ultra Absorbent Cloths have really cute designs - so they'll brighten up you cleaning cupboard! They're machine washable too - so you can get lots of use out of them. 

Flash Power Mop

Her name is Mrs Mop, and she is bloody good at her job. Push the button on the handle of the Flash Power Mop - a battery-powered gadget -  and she'll spray cleaner across the floor - you then just whizz her over dirt or spills and she sucks it all up! She has changeable cleaning pads, so you just bin them after they're dirty. There's even a scourer on the side to scrub stubborn splodges of dirt without getting on your hands and needs. Get one.

E-cloth Window Pack, £8.99
http://www.e-cloth.com/

Sometimes when I'm cleaning, I want feel like I need a little bit of magic... et voila. The E-cloth - it cleans with water alone. Wow! The cloths breaks up, traps and absorbs grease, dirt and bacteria from all hard surfaces - leaving them cleaner for longer. I've been using the e-cloth Window Pack - you can use it on mirrors and the window frame too. Simply wet the cloth, wring out any excess water and use as required, then follow up with the Glass & Polishing Cloth to remove any remaining smears. It really does work - a great space-saving product if you live in a small flat.

Oust

Once your home is clean, it also needs to smell nice. Oust is a great air freshener - as it doesn't just put a flowery smell over a bad smell - if  attaches to odour-causing bacteria, killing them and taking them out of the air. Amazing.

TOP FIVE SHOWER GELS

Showers. Something we do everyday, and what a difference a shower gel can make. No really, it can leave your skin - and therefore you - feeling amazing, it can be so zingy that it wakes you up or so full of foam that you can't help but smile among all the bubbles. Maybe I'm just a little over-excitable, but what the hell, here are my top five shower gels!



Dr Organic’s Organic Rose Otto Body Wash, £5.49
Holland & Barrett



Wake-up!  Dr Organic’s Organic Rose Otto Body Wash is cleansing cocktail of organic Rose Otto Oil, Aloe Vera, Lime and Passion Flower extracts. The ingredients were chosen to be perfect for waking you up by  invigorating skin. This shower gel smells lovely, and the gel glides onto skin and washes off easily - leaving it silky-soft. This product claims to be anti-aging too - not quite clear on how this works - but if youre searching for eternal youth - this could be the shower gel of your dreams?!

Kings & Queens Chinese Princess Jasmin Shower Gel, £5
Waitrose 

The ingredients for this shower gel were based on a Chinese legend that tells of a princess who planted jasmine so that her lover would never forget his vows. The results of whether her man strayed were not shared, but she may have had more luck getting him to stick-around by using Chinese Princess Jasmin Shower Gel from Kings & Queens - it smells so great that he'd have hung around just to steal her shower gel! This shower gel is enriched with Pomegranate, Blue Egyptian Lotus and Malachite - it's really dreamy.

Skin Wisdom Day Spa Gingerlily & Orange Body Wash, £3.97
Tesco (pictured on left)

Launched exclusively in Tesco, Skin Wisdom Day Spa is a new bathing range created with the help of award winning spas across the UK. I've tested out the Gingerlily & Orange range - including its shower gel and it really is lovely - a luxury silky-soft shower gel that feels really premium. It's only £3.97, and would look great in your bathroom. The range also has a shower scrub for body buffing and a great hand and body lotion too. So, for about a tenner, you can turn your bathroom into a home spa. Pick one up on your next supermarket trip!

Paul Mitchell Lavender Mint Moisturizing Body Wash, £8.35 for 200ml

                    http://www.paul-mitchell.co.uk/

If you've had a hard day, then melt away the day’s stresses with Paul Mitchell Lavender Mint Moisturizing Body Wash. Mmmmm, this luxurious, conditioning cleanser is scented with lavender, mint and tea tree to soothe senses. Skin is left squeaky clean and silky-soft thanks to the natural oils in this lush body wash. It's not cheap, but some of the best things in life aren't, so if you feel like treating yourself, pick one of these up.

Impereal Leather Foamburst in Japanese Spa, £2.54

I'm all in a lather! And there can only be one thing to blame - Foamburst! When you press the top of this miracle can, a gel comes out, which quickly transforms into a really rich, creamy lather. I really love the scent of the Japanese Spa variant - it contains a blend of green tea, rice milk and jasmine. It's the among the most fun you can have in a bathroom. Enjoy!

TOP FIVE HOME FITNESS PRODUCTS

If you've been reading this blog, you may have noticed that this year, I'm getting buff! I love the gym, but I think it's a bit pricey and struggle to find the time. Anyhow, this month I've been testing some great equipment that will help you get fit in the comfort of your own home. There's a range of price points, depending on how much you want to commit, and how much you have left over after January sales shopping!



iJoy Human Touch Board, £344.99
http://www.surfdome.com/

I've had this gadget for a few years. To use it you stand on a motorised skateboard-sized platform and try to stay upright while it wobbles about. I call it my 'surfboard machine' - which is basically what it is. It's not a cardio workout, but it will strengthen your core. To see effects, you should use it twice a day for 15 mins. The handy part about this machine is that it shuts off after 15 mins, so you know that you've done one session. I recommend playing some of your favourite tunes while using it, and having a little dance. I also use it with some small dumbbells to workout my arms while I'm on it. It's really heavy, so you'll need a space for it at home - but it doesn't need much space while you're using it - so could be a viable option for someone in a small flat.

Silva ex series Pedometer, from £13.99
http://www.silva.se/

Research has found that walking 10,000 steps per day can do great things for your health - it also burns 300-400 calories. I'm a Londoner, and I think we probably walk more than most people - to the tube, around underground tunnels, on the busy streets (and round the shops!) so I was clocking 10K without even trying, which is way above the UK average of 3K-4K steps. The Silva pedometer can count your steps or can convert them into calories burned - its up to you. It's actually quite scary how far you need to walk to burn foods (you need to take 1,750 steps to burn off a digestive biscuit)... I better go for a long walk!



Easyshaper, £29.95
http://www.argos.co.uk/



The Easyshaper is an innovative product that can give a great home workout for men or women. It's perfect if you want to tone up - I particularly like the pilates element of the DVD (that comes free with the Easyshaper). There are hundreds of moves you can create with this bar - from the one pictured - which will work your abs, to tricep dips (where you stand up with your feet in the stirups, raise the bar above your head, and then let your forearms drop behind your head). You change the resistance of the Easyshaper by twisting the bar forward - which tightens the strings, so you can use this piece of equipment forever - changing the resistance to make moves harder as you progress. Three metal bars slip together to build the Easyshaper in seconds (they can easily be disassembled for storage - although I just keep the whole pole in my wardrobe!). I've heard that Danielle Linekar is a fan of this, using it to tone up at home. Bargain price too - less than £30. 

CafePress personalised yoga mat, £22
www.cafepress.co.uk/+yoga-mats

I have wooden floors, so floor exercises need a mat. There's a fab website called CafePress were you can design your own yoga mat - simply select a mat colour, then chose either a pre-loaded design template or upload your own image or graphics. They're really fun and easy to create - and would make a fab gift for a yoga bunny. You can add text too - perfect for a birthday message. Et voila - a comfy home yoga mat.



Dumbells

Ok, so there's nothing new and innovative about dumbells, but they are super versatile. As mentioned, I use them when I use my Human Touchboard, they're also handy to have to hand when doing home workout DVDs. If you do 50 reps a night for a week, you'll have solid arms in no time. I am guilty of using them more as a doorstop than an exercise tool, but I'm going to pick them up right now and get me some Madonna arms! They vary in price, but you can pick them up from a few pounds. If you don't want to commit to a set - just get a pair.

TOP FIVE HAIR REMOVAL PRODUCTS

I do get a little sad that we've not fully evolved. There's no logical reason why any woman should have hair below her bottom lashes. Until the scientist have conquered cancer, and moved onto more important things - like creating a genetic mutation that prevents unwanted hair growth - I've put together my top five products for removal of unwanted hair...

Gillette Venus Embrace
www.gillettevenus.com/uk

Usually, it's men that get the high-tech shavers. We've seen the ads. There's always multiple blades at optimum angles and titanium coatings... Well, now girls can have that 'close shave' too, with Gillette Venus Embrace. This razor is extra special, as it has a protective moisture ribbon that lets the razor glide smoothly. I use this razor for my legs, and it really is the best shave your pins are ever likely to get. The five blades individually adjust so that even the tricky bits - like ankles - can be shaved to within an inch of their life! I've been loyal to Venus for years, and long may this relationship continue.

www.sknclinics.co.uk/
Prices vary

Ouch, ow, ahhhh, agggghhhh I think they were the words coming out of my mouth during my first laser hair removal session at SK:N... and then I bit my hand as I thought it might just numb the pain as my bikini area was zapped. I've had seven sessions at SK:N clinics, and I must say, the hair is gone - Woo hoo! No more shaving or  waxing 'downstairs' for me. Each session did hurt, but the bikini-area session is over in ten minutes, so you just have to lie back and put mind over matter (washed down with some Ibuprofen). It's expensive, but if you can find the money, it's well worth investing.

parissa Express Wax Strips, £7.99
Sainsbury's and Boots

I'm not a particularly hairy person, but sometimes I'll see a few hairs on my top lip (or on my toes) that I want to get rid of, and fast. A really quick and easy way to remove hair that will last a few weeks is, obviously, waxing. Parissa make great express wax strips that are perfect for keeping on-hand for any hairy emergencies. The pack contains 8 double sided wax strips. Simply warm one between your palms for a few seconds to loosen the wax, apply to your 'hairy area' - wherever it may be - and then pull away against the direction of hair growth. You'll be fuzz free in seconds. I'd always use these at night if possible, so that your skin has time to calm down afterwards - as waxing can leave skin a little red afterwards.

parissa Azulene Oil, £7.99
Sainsbury's and Boots

My next fuzz-free product actually comes with the above-mentioned wax kit, but can also be bought on its own; Parissa Azulene Oil. It's a nifty little oil that prevents in-grown hairs - fab for using post shave or wax.

Threading

Finally, the brows. I'm always torn about the best course of action, as mine are naturally quite a decent shape - so I tend to just pluck the strays. However, I really need to haul my ass down to the nearest threader to have a professional shape. These little cotton-waving magicians really can transform a face. There's threaders everywhere - particularly in Asian neighbourhoods (as they're the real threading pros), and they start at cheapy-cheap prices like £3! Perfect brows. Done.