Little Luxuries: Jo Malone Hand Massage

One of my absolute favourite luxury companies is Jo Malone. I'm just totally in love with everything - the scents, the stores, the branding, and possibly most of all with the free arm and hand massages they lavish on anyone who walks through their doors.

Yes, you read that correctly, Jo Malone boutiques give free hand and arm massages - and chocolates!!! And even better - the lovely Stylists don't give you the hard sell while you're blissed out over their counter!

I recently received an invitation through the post for a special edition hand & arm massage, showcasing a couple of new products - Geranium & Walnut Body Scrub and the new range of shower oils - and decided that me and my littlest sister deserved a bit of a treat!

Little Luxuries: Sunday Chill Out

If you're anything like me, you'll always have a "to-do" list on the go. The items on my list vary in significance from "take laundry out of the washing machine" to "work out how to build a global business empire" - on the same sheet of paper.

To-do lists are great for organising your life and prioritising your day to day activities, keeping you on track to achieve your goals (even if that goal is just to change your bed sheets!) but the down side is that you have a constant reminder of what you should be doing. And the problem with always knowing what you should be doing is that when you're not doing it you can't really relax, even if you're taking a few moments out to watch The Real Housewives of Wherever [insert your own guilty pleasure here].

Little Luxuries: Time for Tea

East Asian tea ceremonies elevate tea making to a meditative art form, with the rituals aiming to highlight the special and beautiful moments in everyday life - which is exactly the premise of  my Little Luxuries series.

I think it's important to savour the little things in life - to literally stop and smell the roses. It's these little things that add up to the big picture: fresh bed sheets, a bubble bath, clean fluffy towels. These small touches add a bit of luxury to the everyday routine and provide moments of sanity in an otherwise hectic life.

Introducing the Little Luxuries Series....

You may think that "luxurious living" is not synonymous with life on a reduced budget  (and please note that says reduced budget - everyone is on a budget, some are just larger than others!), or when, for what ever reason, you are trying to spend less. The Google definition of luxury is "a state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense". 

Well I agree with the first part but who says it needs to involve great expense?

Money, money, money...

One of the things I internally struggle with the most is personal financial responsibility. On one hand I want to be frugal, pay down my mortgage and save for the future but on the other hand I want to buy all of the shiny things that catch my eye and all of the wonderful lotions and potions that are going to make me beautiful.

For one reason or another I've had a pretty tough few years and I have learnt that shopping doesn't actually solve any problems (and makes you feel even worse when you get your credit card statement) but also that squirrelling away all of your cash, whilst satisfying to see your savings increase / mortgage decrease, isn't so much fun either.

As with a lot of things in life, you need a balance.