Wellness & Wellbeing : The Beauty PRs

1. What are your own essentials for your personal wellness and wellbeing, what do you need on a daily basis? If you only manage one of them during the day, which one can't you do without? 

I couldn’t live without my bath.....my week days are all so different and I’m kept very busy so I don’t get much time for thinking about wellness, but I do treat myself to Cowshed and Decleor spa treatments whenever I can find the time, but the only stress relieving calming ritual I can guarantee myself is my bath!  

2. What are your favourite wellbeing treatments/routines - exercise or beauty? What are your quick-fixes?

My two favourite treatments are the Cowshed Massage and Decleor Aroma Expert Facial.  

I try to have these as often as possible as I really do leave the spas feeling like a different person, taking that time to relax is essential, I absolutely always fall asleep during my treatments!

3. When we work as well, it can be a huge challenge to find any time during the day to focus on ourselves - how do you juggle work/health/family commitments/sanity?

I have a 20-30 minute bath every evening where I am not to be disturbed, that is my time to relax, think about the day, what I have got to do the following day, but most importantly to chill out. 

I am currently 6 months pregnant so know this may be a luxury I will have to give up, but for now I am making the most of it! 

4. What makes you feel good about yourself? 

Being there for my friends and family, doing the best job I possibly can for my clients, achieving great results for them, making people happy. 

5. Does working in the beauty industry mean added pressure to look/feel good or is it simply an incentive to really be aware of how you present and care for yourself?

I guess there is an added pressure to look good, when you work in beauty PR you are representing each of your clients, so have to look presentable, but to be honest I would have always taken care of myself whatever profession I ended up in as I am completely obsessed with beauty products. 

Jo Tutchener Sharp

Founding Partner of Beauty Seen PR

For me, it's all about balance.  

Beauty should be about fun and confidence, and wellbeing should be about ensuring that you take care of your self - both physically and mentally.  

We know that modern living can take its toll but if you take a few small steps you can keep on top of it and ensure that your day is more up than down.  

There's no secret:  plenty of sleep, exercise two or three times a week (even if that's just a brisk walk around the block if you can't always get to the zumba class), a balanced diet (and by balanced I mean a wide variety of all types of food, not just fruit and veg - yawn!) and that will help to give you a positive outlook on all that comes your way.

What couldn't I do without during the day?  

Well there's two things.  Water.  Everyone says it and it works.  I personally think 2 litres a day is too much (where did that figure come from?) but a good few glasses a day keeps you more alert and helps to stop you looking tired and drawn.  

It also helps immensely if you partook in a few too many mojitos the night before!  

Always remove make up at night, no matter what time you stagger home from a press launch or awards event and always, always moisturise day and night.  

In your free time, find a creative activity that absorbs you and calms your mind from the days work.  

I love to cook (and you get to eat your work afterwards. Perfect) but I know people who draw, write or listen to music - anything that takes you to your happy place will do! 

Above all, work hard and go easy on yourself!

Kate Robson

Soapbox PR

My own definition of ‘wellness’ : 

a happy heart, a calm mind, an influence (be it work, partner, hobby) in your life that stretches your boundaries and a long, hot, bubble bath.

Robyn Upton

Senior Account Director

Beauty Seen PR

I have been helped enormously in my Wellness & Wellbeing project by some fabulous beauty PRs....Jo, Kate, Dominic, Georgie, Sophie and Robyn amongst them. 

They have been fabulously generous with their time, advice, answering my questions and sending me some wonderful products to try out and to give away.

I asked and they all said yes....I couldn't have done it without them....they couldn't have been nicer....
A huge thank you to all of them.

Simone

Finally, when I asked lovely Dom at Gleam Digital for a quote, he replied

 "I love a cup of tea and having 20 minutes to sit down and read a paper" 

and actually, some days....that's all it takes isn't it? 

Perfect :)

Twisted Sista Hair Products Giveaway

I have been testing products from Twisted Sista for the last month, the pricepoint is very good (£1.99) for most products.

I have been using the de-frizz shampoo and conditioner, the blow-drying creme and the different strokes serum and would give all of them a thumbs up. 

I tend to avoid putting product in my hair after I've washed it - mainly because I never seem to be able to get it right - but these have worked perfectly for me and I have noticed a difference.

I have a set of de-frizz shampoo/conditioner + curl activator and 30 curl spray to give away....

To win, just leave me a comment today, tell me which products you would like and please go over and "like" their Facebook page here 

All competition winners will be announced tomorrow....

The $100 Shopbop giftcard is still open here 

The Masqueliers French Pine Bark Extract is still open here

Good luck!   

Planet Baby : Wellness & Wellbeing - A Blogger's View

Well hello, you gorgeous readers of sweet Simone’s pretty little haven in Blogland.
Isn’t it just the most uplifting, soul-enriching experience to visit here? 

She has such immaculate taste, a fabulous eye for captivating photos and such warmth and honesty that I really treasure – don’t you? 

I was *utterly thrilled* when she invited me to write a guest post as part of her November ‘wellness month".

I’m Jane and I live in faraway Hobart, Australia. Keep heading south from here and you’ll hit Antarctica!

I am a lawyer and currently the stay-at-home-mum to our three pixies, Joshua aged 6, India (nearly) 4 and Sam 2. 

My blog, Life on Planet Baby, is about our family life and my rediscovery of myself. 

After having had our 3 children in 3½ years, maintaining my ‘wellness’ has been a huge priority for me. 

So let me answer Simone’s questions - let’s go!

What does ‘wellness’ means to you in your daily life?

Okay, let’s start with the big one! 

Years ago, I found a little list of the 5 needs which are vitally important to one’s quality of life. 

They sum up ‘wellness’ to me. They are:

1. Vibrant health;

2. Economic security;

3. Rich, satisfying personal relationships;

4. Ongoing personal and professional development; and

5. A deep sense of purpose, contribution and personal congruence.

That’s a fabulous wishlist, don’t you think? 

Hmm, if only life were that easy that we could line up all those ducks in a row at the same time…

How conscious are you are (or not) of working towards it?

Achieving wellness is my ongoing and most important quest, after looking after the pixies and my husband, Mr PB (short for Planet Baby). 

It is imperative that I work out that balance between family and personal time. Why? 

Well, after living in Sydney for 11 years, back in September 2009, we returned to live in our childhood home, Hobart, with our 3 pixies under 3½, including 6 week old Sam as Mr PB had found the job of his dreams. We’d always intended to return here to raise the pixies as both sets of our parents live here, together with some siblings and lots of our friends.

However, the timing wasn’t great. At all. The day after we arrived, Sam was diagnosed as having a ‘failure to thrive’ (don’t those words strike fear into every mother’s heart?) and we were admitted to the local Mother and Baby Unit. 

Sam’s feeding problems were soon rectified but I was quickly diagnosed as having severe post-natal depression. 

You can read my story here, here and here. 

After living there for 3 months, we went home and I had to face the reality of looking after the 3 pixies whilst trying to find the right mix of medication to help me recover from my PND. 

I posted about my reality of that time here.

Given all I’ve had to contend with, I’ve been a stay-at-home mum for the past two years which has been wonderful, exhausting, satisfying, frustrating and stressful as we’ve made do on a single income. 

I’m now pretty much recovered from my PND, to my great relief. 

We were planning on reducing my medication but then my darling Dad died about 3 months ago, after a long illness. 

So right now, my achieving ‘wellness’ is more critical than ever as I deal with that grief and juggle life on our busy planet!

Once I’m back on track, then I’ll hop off my Pandora’s box of what-will-I -do-when-have-to-go-back-to-work (which I’m sitting on with a tonne of lead!) and head back into the workforce. 

Then with two incomes, the financial pressure will ease and our family life should improve as a result.

How much of a challenge is it to achieve/manage it with everything else going on in your life?

Given all those circumstances, managing that is incredibly tricky. 

I’m a juggler, constantly swaying around, trying to catch each ball as I throw another in the air. 

But just like life showed me when I was diagnosed with PND, now I’m realising that I have to put my balls down for a while and sit on my hands. 

That’s so difficult for a (recovering) perfectionist like me but I’ve learned the hard way that I have to do it. 

If I fall apart, it all falls apart. 

I need to prioritise my health first, something so many of us mums find so hard to do when our children clamour for our attention, don’t you think?

Has it become increasingly important to you as you have got ‘older’?

I do think ageing has brought a clarity to my thinking I lacked before. 

Oh, and motherhood as well, of course. 

Now I’ve passed the Big Four-Oh, I realise that my body can’t tolerate the poor care I might have given it in my 20s when at uni and enjoying a *full social life*.

I need to *be kind to myself* and *go gently*.

What does that mean? 

Part of it involves altering (the perfectionist in me would have said ‘lowering’!) my expectations of myself and others, not worrying what others think about me and not pushing myself beyond reasonable limits (hmm, the lawyer in me asks me to define ‘reasonable’!).

I have learnt the hard way how damaging a build-up of cortisol due to stress can have on my body.

Is it something you manage well/yearn for/find a real challenge/often think about?

I’m a constant work-in-progress, I must admit. 

Some days are better than others. 

But I just have to mentally press ‘reset’, not beat myself up about ‘failing’ and start again. 

Do any of you relate to that?

What is your daily checklist for your own personal wellbeing - diet, exercise, regular cups of tea, being outdoors, cake or all of the above?

I find this really tricky to answer. 

Ideally, I would like to focus again on diet and exercise. 

It’s a complicated story. 

I’ve battled with my weight all my life. 

Then after having our pixies in rapid succession, I lost my baby weight quickly, to my utter amazement. 

But then once I started my medication for my PND, I put on 17 kg in 7 months. 

Yes, that was horrible – at home with 3 littlies, severely depressed and fat!

We finally found the right mix of medication, I went on a weight loss programme and ended up losing 24 kg in a year. 

So now I am in the position of weighing about as much as I when I was 18 – madness! 

But my medication suppresses my appetite and speeds up my metabolism. 

When added to the fact that all 3 pixies have *eating issues* (let’s not touch that topic – it’s too painful ☺), I have zero appetite and very little interest in food. 

Oh, and no pressing need to exercise as I’m still losing weight due to the stress caused by my grief of missing my Dad.

However, now that summer’s arriving down here and our strawberries and raspberries are ripening in our garden, I’m hoping that I’ll tune into eating healthily again and regain my zest for creating delicious food. 

Now if only we could get the pixies to eat it, too…

Source: My photo of my hand holding a strawberry from our garden!

I also hope to take up walking and stretching again. 

The weight loss has left my muscles untoned so I’d like to work on that. 

Another thing I want to do is race around with Mr PB and the pixies – we want to be good role models for them as well as have some fun!

Do you have warning signs that tell you that you need to focus more on yourself?

My body soon lets me know if I’ve been overdoing things and neglecting my self-care. I’ll end up with conjunctivitis, skin infections or poisoned fingers. 

But I know the warning signs now and pounce on the problem, lickety-split!

Do you have a go-to treatment/activity/place/person that you know will almost certainly get you back to that place you need to be and/or can re-connect you?

As for treatments, I absolutely adore full body massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, having my hair cut and coloured – pampering is my middle name! 

My go-to when I need an instant pick-me-up is my Clarins Beauty Flash Balm - it gives my face an instant feeling of vitality. 

Aveda hair products are my firm favourites, especially their Volumising Tonic and Hair Potion.

Source: My photo of my painting

Painting calms me down and centres me in a way nothing else can. I’m self-taught and dabble in acrylics and watercolours. 

I also yearn to have another go at marbling – such a satisfying and beautiful experience.

Source: My photo of my painting

I also adore papercrafting of any type.

Source: My own photo

I’ve also started covering words in Liberty fabric like this which brings me untold joy.

Having grown up in harbourside Hobart and spent so many years in Sydney, being near the water instantly calms me, especially if there’s a fresh, southerly breeze. 

I cherish days spent on my godfather’s yacht, fishing for flathead or just enjoying the wind in my hair or the sparkle of the sunlight on the waves. 

Here are some yachts moored in Hobart.

Source: Unknown

Catching up with my closest girlfriends, whether in person, on the phone or online, is such a heart-lifting and soul-enriching treat for me. 

They *get* me and I *get* them. 

It’s just simple. I love simple! 

Blogging has brought so many precious new friends into my life and I count my blessings every single day that I’ve found them in Blogland. 

Just like Miss Simone.

How much does food play a part in all this, from having a healthy diet to feeding your family and to nurturing and creating wellbeing?

Well, given Mr PB and I have managed to raise *fussy eaters*, much to our astonishment, food isn’t bringing me nearly the pleasure I had hoped it would have by now. 

Hopefully with the work of the pixies’ dedicated and delightful dietician, we might make a breakthrough soon ☺.

Source: My photo of my pavlova

And with all those strawberries and raspberries in the garden, I might well whip up one of my pavlovas as a treat – get the recipe here!

Reverie-Daydream : A Blogger's View on Wellness

Wellness is being balanced in every aspect of your life.  

Eating healthy, working smart, playing hard, loving deeply, and taking time to just simply be.

Balancing acts are not just for the yogis or ballerinas of this world.

Our lives run smoother, our health is better, our souls are happier, and our spirits are higher when day-to-day living falls into harmony.

An easy task?  No, but it is something to strive for.

Small steps are the way to GIANT change.

For me, it is vital to eat healthy 24/7.  Filling my body with goodness offered directly from mother nature keeps me healthy, focused and fit.

My adopted mantra is “you are what you eat”.  Eat healthy, be healthy.

A regular practice of yoga {even if only 15 minutes of vinyasa flow} centers me, stretches my muscles, and helps me live through my core.

Laughter, Love, Family and Friends is what your soul needs most...give it plenty {and then a little more}.

Learn to say no.  It’s a simple word we all forget to use when it needs to be said more often.

Time is precious.  Fill it with moments, dreams and events that enrich you rather than deplete you.

Remember every day will not be a perfect balancing act, tomorrow is another day…make it worthwhile.

You owe it to yourself and those you love to be healthy. well. balanced. whole.

Melissa lives in a gorgeous part of California and writes the beautiful blog 

Reverie-Daydream ....

go visit her, you will fall in love with her style - and her life too!

Giveaway : Masquelier's French Pine Bark Extract....

Masquelier’s French Pine Bark Extract is a food supplement which contains OPCs (oligomeric proanthocyanins), highly potent antioxidants found in red wine and apples, that help neutralise free radicals and toxins. They also help keep blood vessels strong and supple to allow oxygen and nutrients to flow to vital organs effectively, helping you look and feel like a French belle!

The ingredients Masquelier’s French Pine Bark Extract is naturally derived from the French Maritime pine tree. Research supports that Masquelier’s unique three-way action provides:

* a powerful antioxidant protection, fighting the free radicals that exacerbate

ageing

* improves circulation and the supply of oxygen to the cells

* powerful collagen support, improving skin firmness and diminishing visible

signs of ageing

Over 40 years ago, Professor Dr. Masquelier, a ground-breaking French scientist in the field of nutrition and health, was famously the first to discover how to produce an extract from the bark tree and maximise its health benefits. 

Dr. Masquelier’s lifetime of research resulted in the discovery of OPCs and earned him a position as official expert for the French Ministry of Health. 

The extract continues to be produced under

the inspection of the French Ministry of Health today for its remarkable health benefits.

I have been trying out the Masquelier's French Pine Bark Extract during my Wellness and Wellbeing month and all I can say is that I feel very well!

A pack of 30 tablets (one month's supply) costs £19.95 but I have some to give away. 

Leave me a comment, follow my blog and this Thursday I will pick three winners.

Wellness.....in quotes

"I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace".

Dalai Lama

"Health, contentment, and trust are your greatest possessions. And freedom your greatest joy".

Buddha

"I promise myself…to be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind; to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet; to make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them; to look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true; to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own; to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future; to wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet; to give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble; to think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds; to live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me".

Christian D. Larson

"To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness and maintain an interest in life".

William Louden

These quotes were sent to me by Cathi who writes the blog Everyday Adventures of A Curious Gal and I love them....thanks Cathi!

Happy Monday!

Happy Friday....

This has been one of my favourite weeks ever on my blog...

due mostly to the wonderful guestposts I have had from some fabulous girls willing to share their thoughts on their own "wellness & wellbeing".....

if you haven't read them yet, please go back and take a look....

there is a real wealth of experience and inspiration there.

My weekend ....

time spent away from my laptop

coffee with an-old-but-not-yet-met-friend

painting & decorating

a little bit of organisation

hunting for 4 old wooden kitchen chairs that I can paint myself

a Starbucks red cup....eggnog latte....

getting those Christmas wishlists finished

Saturday night TV

a beauty treatment or two

recipe hunting for some Christmas party dishes 

time alone with my six year old ie, treats,snuggles and apparently a midnight feast - how I can refuse?!

reading at least one of the stack of untouched magazines currently sitting next to my bed

and hopefully....

....music, dancing, good food, cake, a sunny day and some smiles....

Have a wonderful weekend!

Signed by Ange : A Blogger's View of Wellness....

Thanks so much Simone for asking me to contribute to your Wellness month.

It’s been a really enriching experience trying to articulate what Wellness means to me.

Here it is in a nutshell… mmm, tome.

Wellness = Harmony

Finding a balance between family committments, quiet time for my art and building up associated projects, time with friends and squeezing in a relatively regular physical routine.

Ideally that means paying equal attention to body, mind and spirit.

And what does that require other than super human doses of self-discipline and time management skills ? Good friends. Coffee. Faith. Healthy diet. Sufficient sleep

(thankfully you can’t see the hour I’m up writing this ;) and an ingrained sense of humour.

For my own peace of mind, and the subsequent sanity of those who inhabit the same house, I do strive to create and maintain that harmony on an on-going basis.

Bugger it's hard!

Going out for that run when it’s been raining for so long I wouldn’t be surprised to see Noah sailing past, takes a will power I have to wrench from the soles of my Asics most days.

But the glorious feeling of having exorcised my inner demons after an hour's jog (even 40 minutes sometimes), and forced my body to breathe, makes me a much sweeter person to live with.

I can feel it in the kids' reactions.

You know, a bit like ' Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!!'

I find that I deal with our internal family dynamics (read: screaming children) much more calmly and wisely when I've allowed myself 'me' time, and pushed myself out the door to exercise, meditate or paint.

I also find that taking some time out every day for exercise and meditation means I focus better and become more efficient, rather than dispersing myself in a panicked flurry of activity that best resembles a blowfly trying to get out of a bottle.

Something I’ve found really helpful when I inevitably slip out of the groove is trying not to beat myself up about it, but being kind to myself and making a firm resolve to get myself back on track as quickly as possible.

Most times… Most… I do.

It's important to me.

It also goes hand in hand with the ideals I try to instill in my messmonsters : being kind to and tolerant of ourselves and others when we slip up.

It’s all part of the equilibrium…

What role does food play in wellness ?

Arrgghhh ! I LOVE food.

Too much. I'm an epicurean and a glutton by nature.

I love a good party and for a long time my social calendar would fill up sometimes 6 months in advance, almost every weekend.

My nickname when I started working was ‘Foodie’

This was never a problem when I had no children, no committments other than work and I could train all the excess off.

Three kids and 13 years later it finally sunk in that time was no longer on my side, and that my body was going to change just like my mother's and grandmother's.

I had to wake up and smell the coffee (without the pancakes and maple syrup)!

What wellness really embodies for me then is moderating the amount I eat and generally watching what type of food I eat.

Let me be clear about this, declining rich food goes ENTIRELY against my gluttonous character.

But preparing healthy, organic meals is right in line with my taste buds, the way I like my body to feel and the values I want to teach those little beings who spend all their time observing my every move.

Fortunately, I am a sucker for crispy chicken skin, roast potatoes and confit de canard, which FORTUNATELY only make me feel dull and heavy.

It takes great personal sacrifice for me to refuse that extra roast potato or 5 that I really don't need!

Problem is, I also live in a country where most meals have an entrée, main and dessert.

I find it painfully unfair that my gorgeous French friends manage to restrain themselves systematically to a portion half the size of mine.

The jury's not out yet for me on whether it's due to ‘rigeur’ or lack of appetite!

In any case no other French woman I know is capable of eating a whole tin of condensed milk in one day like I am.

So in the name of ‘Wellness’ I've had to develop some cunning strategies to steer clear of the traps ;-)

One is just not buying the temptations. The other is sport. Again.

Not for burning the extra kilos off, but for helping to ward off the sugar cravings.

Luckily also, nature is sometimes on my side.

Since I've turned 40 I feel particularly uncomfortable with an overfull stomach.

I have to admit I’ve made friends with the surprisingly satisfying notion of ‘moderation’ and practically ousted the instant pleasure inherent in succumbing to temptation.

Wellness : trusting and respecting the sensations my poor body goes through – whatever the immediate sacrifice!

Sigh : No pain. NO Gain, as they say !

All this waffling has led me to another realisation.

Wellness to my mind is essentially about knowing myself, being crystal clear about what I really want for myself and my family, and taking the appropriate actions to achieve that.

It took me a long time to stop deluding myself that my body was going to look like my pre-child, 28 year old body again without considerable time (that I don’t have) and effort.

It's also taken till now for me to accept that I will never be able to get the multitude of projects I want to set up achieved in one lifetime.

That realisation allows me to redefine what is most important and concentrate all my energy on one or two worthwhile aims.

Accepting myself as I am (warts 'n' all as they say ;-), as well as my external constraints, has gone a long way to cultivating an inner calm that I associate with wellness.

While I haven’t exactly resigned myself to a life of rollers, hair nets and muffin tops, I have accepted the different stages of life so I can make them work for me instead of against me.

By now you may be asking yourself if I am some demoniac weirdo who single-handedly represses her inner cravings for fine wines and roast spuds and forces an organic diet of grated carrot and lemon juice on her children, while simultaneously running a marathon and deftly folding the week’s washing in the blink of an eye.

Don’t be fooled ! I couldn’t do it all on my own.

Come hell or high water I go on a meditation retreat two times a year in Wales after which, regular, ongoing contact with the participants helps me keep on the straight and narrow when weakness threatens to settle in! There’s a gentle reminder in there that I'm responsible for my own happiness - another cornerstone in the ol’ homeschooling curriculum à la Ange – and need to take appropriate measures to ensure it.

The sooner we see we're responsible for our own happiness, bodies and actions the sooner we're free to become who we really are.

To get there though, we all need a cunning plan, fool proof strategies, a helping hand and some external motivation from time to time.

Lord knows I do anyhow.

I’d be a quivering mess without my fabulous girlfriends and various ‘mentors’ who’ve popped up at the right moments in my life.

All in all it's a bit like tending to a garden I guess.

There are days when I'd say I can't be bothered to go out and weed my garden because it’s too much effort. In some areas of my life, particularly ones I love, like sport, meditation or even calligraphy, I'll talk myself out of making the effort required to start.

Paradoxically, these are the very actions I most associate with wellness and feeling great ‘in my skin’ as the French say.

My grandest intentions are easy prey for flimsy excuses like : 'I only have an hour and there's still the dinner to cook, the kids' work to mark, a mountain of washing invading the laundry …’ etc.

However, if I don't take the time needed to look after my own garden; it rapidly becomes over over-run with weeds (bad attitude, bad habits, bad hair days, bad breath !) running completely wild.

Although there is beauty in a wild garden, all the potential it has to really blossom can be strangled under those weeds.

ellness to me means frequently tending to our own garden so we can make the most of the harvest and share it with those around us.

Ange lives in France and writes the blog Signed by Ange ....

Susie Amy : Wellness, Wellbeing and Me....

1. How do you define Wellness and Wellbeing?

Being genuinely happy within oneself is the most important part of wellness and wellbeing.

It's important to look after yourself physically, of course, for health reasons - ideally a good balanced diet, regular exercise and nothing in excess, but I really do believe even a perfect specimen of a person is only as 'well' as they are inside their head.

2. What are your own essentials for your personal wellness and wellbeing, what do you need on a daily basis? If you only manage one of them during the day, which one is non-negotiable?

I try not to sleep in in the mornings for too long, even if I have had a late night.

I find nothing worse or more depressing than sleeping a day away.

My sleep patterns aren't always perfect so that's something I try to work on.

I go through phases of exercise, and phases of being not so bothered, and I realise exercise is something that makes me feel good and healthy and I should be consistent with it.

3. What are your favourite wellbeing treatments/routines - exercise or beauty? What are your quick-fixes?

Treatments have always been my way to relax.

I have regular reflexology with Paolo at Neville's in London, a monthly Dermalogica facial, and massages whenever I can - my last one was at the new Aromatherapy Associates Spa on Montpelier Street in London, and I can't remember the last time I felt that relaxed.

4. As women we take care of others all the time but aren't not always good at taking care of ourselves, how do you manage it when very often it feels as though there aren't enough hours in the day? When we work as well, it can be a huge challenge to find any time during the day to focus on ourselves - how do you do it?

Routine can be a helpful thing, I love working to a schedule because I know what I can fit in and what is simply impossible.

I find erratic schedules very difficult to deal with because I never feel I am getting done all of the things that I need to.

I like to list make in that situation.

5. Food and wellbeing are obviously linked but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Everything in moderation has always worked better for me than something too rigid.

Restricting yourself of everything you enjoy to eat can feel pretty miserable but then again so can being at a weight you don't want to be at.

I think different things work for different people.

6. What makes you feel good about yourself?

Spending quality time with people, snatched moments and brief coffees are never very fulfilling.

Working and being creative - I'm about to start a 7 month play - but am also working on things I want to be doing for the future.

I also love a day with my best friend on the sofa, watching a film and needing to be nowhere.

Those days are possibly my favourite days.

Susie Amy is a British actress.

She also writes the beauty blog Blusher and Blogging ....