Feet Favourites

Good Day Everyone,

Today I wanted to talk about a few products that my feet have been loving lately. Since moving to Japan we walk a lot more than we used to in Singapore. In Singapore, there was a bus stop right outside our apartment block and the public transport system is all in English which made it very easy to just jump on the subway or the bus. In Japan it is extremely difficult to travel on the buses if you don't speak or read Japanese. Taxis are super expensive here. As a result, hubby and I walk almost everywhere. All this walking and the colder weather started to take a bit of a toll on my poor arthritic feet.

Feet are one part of my body that often get neglected when it comes to beauty and skincare. With all the walking, I noticed that I'd started to get very dry heels, and not only that, but the soles of my feet were becoming dry and flaky (eeeww, I know!). This led to me finally cracking open (haa haa see what I did there ;o)) the Soap & Glory Heel Genius foot cream that I had in my stash. This foot cream has worked wonders, I kid you not! After just a few uses it was goodbye to dry flaky soles and hello silky smooth skin. I know there's a lot of hype around this foot cream within the beauty world but I can honestly tell you that the hype is justified. After all, how many beauty/skincare products have a '93% would repurchase' percentage on MakeupAlley... Not many let me tell you ;o)

The foot cream is a pale sky blue colour with a slightly fruity come minty/menthol scent. It's not in the least bit overpowering. Even if you aren't particularly partial to the scent, it's going on your feet which is about as far away from your nose as possible on your body ;o). The cream has a balmy consistency and it sinks into the skin well without leaving a greasy residue. I tend to massage this into the soles and sides of my feet in the evenings, as well as a tiny bit around my toe nails, before popping on my comfiest, fluffiest socks and letting the cream do its magic. I don't wear my socks to bed, even though the packaging does say to pop on cotton socks and let the cream soak in as you sleep. In the morning I wake up to the softest skin my feet have ever had. It really is genius!

This brings me nicely on to the second thing that my feet have been loving lately and that's my fluffy, bright pink, Christmas socks.Whilst at home, instead of wearing slippers, I wear these socks that enable my feet to feel the heat coming through from the underfloor heating. I picked these socks up from H&M here in Japan and they are lined with this fleecy fabric.The inside of the socks is incredibly soft and oh so warm. I tend to wear these in the evening, after putting on my Heel Genius foot cream. Together, these two items not only keep my feet warm but in tip top condition. The socks were so comfortable that I picked up a blue pair for my hubby and told him that I got them from the men's section. It was the only way to get him to wear them ;o). Now we are one of those couples with his 'n' her matching socks lol.

Since I developed arthritis in both my feet and toes, I've been unable to wear shoes with any form of a heel. This was fine in the warmer climates of Singapore where I lived in flat sandals and ballet flats but the weather in Japan is similar to England, which means it's pretty cold right now. Ballet flats just don't cut the mustard when it comes to keeping my feet warm. The cold goes right through the soles of my shoes and so my feet are constantly freezing. When I was back home last month, in my ballet flats, trying to navigate the street puddles, I finally decided enough was enough... I needed some warmer shoes, or ideally boots. After spending two days trawling the shops trying to find boots that were completely flat but failing miserably, I came across these in H&M. They're basically a spin off of the UGG boots but without the hefty price tag. I'll be honest, they're not my favourite style of footwear but they are sooo comfortable. Most importantly they keep my feet nice and warm, and dry. I've been living out of these since we got back to Japan. They're all I where when I go outside and they'll be pretty much all I wear for the next three months or so until the warmer weather arrives :o).

I hope you enjoyed this little post. What are your feet liking these days? Have you tried the Heel Genius foot cream? What did you think of it?

Love Sheen xxx

Feeling Bleurgh And Photos From Home

Good Day Everyone,

Yesterday I went for a Thai massage as I've really been struggling with the arthritis in my spine lately. I had so many knots and so much tension built up in my shoulders that they really did look as though they were carrying the weight of the world on them. It was not a relaxing experience but it was a very functional experience! I spent the hour clenching my teeth, trying really hard not to scream out in pain as the stubborn knots were massaged out of my aching arthritic body. Afterwards I felt like I’d just done ten rounds with Mike Tyson but I also felt an amazing release, so much so that it was really hard not to fall asleep on the bus home!

Today, even though my joints and I feel better, I am struggling with my shoulder joints which are radiating pain down my arm and into my hands and fingers. As a result I’m struggling with typing today and just generally feeling a bit bleurgh, very tired and a bit homesick and missing my friends. Believe it or not after almost 2.5 years in Singapore I still get bouts of homesickness. To cheer myself up a bit I was looking through photos of our recent trip home to England and thought I’d share a few of them with you (plus it means I don’t have to type so much but I'm sure you gorgeous glisteners won't mind :o).

Luckily, as my hubby and I are going away tomorrow for the weekend, I have planned Sunday’s post in advance and trust me when I say it’s good one. Hopefully, I’ll feel better after a weekend of relaxation and some quality time with hubby and I’ll be back on track next week :o)

Have a lovely weekend all.

Love Sheen xxx

The world's first iron bridge in Ironbridge, Shropshire

View from the iron bridge

Love these types of signs

Flowers always make me smile

Rosemary and peach - a surprisingly delicious combination

You don't get canal boats in Singapore

View of cars down 23 floors through a glass panel in the floor

How many modes of transport can you spot?

Sunny Summer Day

Good Day Everyone,

I’ve really been enjoying being back home in England this past week. I arrived in time to enjoy a few days of the glorious weather England has been having recently. I absolutely love love love the English countryside. The bright colours of nature with the green hills and fields against the bright blue sky are great for lifting one’s spirit. From the vibrancy in the colour of flowers and summer berries to the sunshine yellow of the rapeseed fields, beautiful hedgerows, and not to mention fields of sheep, cows, and hens – it really is idyllic. Whilst Singapore is incredibly green and beautiful in its own right – it has more of a ‘man-made’ beauty about it. You just don’t get the stunning views of nature or see fields of animals or crops.

Although, it has turned a bit chilly these last couple of days, I managed to spend a few leisurely afternoons out in the sun. One particular afternoon, my hubby and I took his mum to Lakeside Plant and Garden Centre in Shropshire (website). It is a lovely family run garden centre that, as well as having the usual plants, garden furniture and ornaments, also has a dedicated farm area where various animals, that would otherwise be homeless, are now homed.  We saw a pigmy goat, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks and even wallabies.

The garden centre has an allotment area where the family grow fresh fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, peas, runner beans, potatoes, strawberries and lots more. Walking around the allotment really tugged at mine and my hubby’s heartstrings as one of the things we miss most about living in England is growing our own fruit, vegetables and herbs. During our last couple of years in England we had our own house with a small garden where we grew our own tomatoes, peas, potatoes, strawberries, carrots and a huge variety of herbs including basil, coriander, mint (our favourite herb), sage, rosemary and thyme (I’m sure there’s some that I’ve missed but you get the idea ;o)).

In Singapore my hubby has tried so many times to grow our own tomatoes, even experimenting with different methods but to no avail. Even our herbs don’t tend to do very well on our balcony :o( So this garden centre visit was a lovely treat for us. We even walked away with a few vegetable seeds for my mum to grow as she has a large garden.

Do you grow your own herbs, fruits or vegetables? What, in particular, do you grow? Or do you have your own allotment? That would be amazing!

Love Sheen xxx