My alarm goes off at 6am. It’s one of those irritating ones on a mobile phone. The kind that is so shrill the only way you’ll ever wake is with a start and an uncomfortable feeling of confused horror.

I could sleep later but I enjoy the peace that waking before the rest of my family affords me. I’m also much nicer to be around {read: less of a bitch} if I’m able to wake slowly. Think multiple cups of tea, a long, hot shower and plenty of time to mull over my sartorial choices . I also factor in a little time for blog reading and the odd moment of vacantly staring into space. It’s good for the soul.

I make my tea {and Mr. LA’s strong, sweet coffee} pre-shower. This way it has time to cool to the perfect sippable temperature while I immerse myself under the stream of the hot shower.

And I do like my shower hot, searingly so Mr LA would say. I like to see my skin pink up while I wash. It gets the blood circulating and helps clear my head.

But, as this is my perfect shower {and I’m not worrying about the time constraints of the school run or the pressure to pack lunches and iron uniform}, before I even set foot inside the cubicle I’ll soak my hair in my favourite deep conditioner.
I used Lush’s The Strokes for years and was genuinely distraught when it was discontinued a few years ago. A recent order from the online-only Retro range has reunited me with this old staple and my hair is so grateful. It does wonderful things to my locks, leaving them soft and shiny and banishing the merest hint of fluffiness. It smells of beer {proper stout, not a can of Stella} and herbs and lemon. Not every bodys cup of tea I’m sure but I love it. I find it’s fresh and comforting all at once.

I apply the conditioner to dry hair while the water warms up and then climb gracefully {the perfect shower remember} into the steamy cubicle. I like to give The Strokes a few minutes to do it’s thang so I set about scrubbing and polishing in the meantime.

I love a good exfoliator, I really do, but more often than not I rely on those funky looking gloves you can get and a really scrummy shower gel.

I keep a veritable cornucopia of things with which to cleanse my body in the shower. Behold…What can I say, I have a *thing* for Lush shower gel. I like the big shiny bottles and the bright colours and some of the scents are amazing, especially in the Retro range.

From L-R ~

Chai {retro} transports me to exotic, far off places while I wash by reminding me of perfect moments spent with Mr. LA and my little ones while holidaying in China and Thailand. The scent is incredibly unique, I’ve never smelt another shower product like it. It’s spicy {the cinnamon, ginger and all spice}, floral {the orange blossom} and herbal {the chai tea infusion} all at once, a blend that reminds me of sipping tea in a humid but beautiful tea house on a hot afternoon in Beijing.

Back For Breakfast {retro} is a citrus shower gel on acid. Sure, there’s lemon but it’s undercut with a sweetness that is addictive. The lime, lemon and grapefruit with a dash of honey has me dreaming of lemon sherbet while I wash. I first used this over 10 years ago on a trip to Australia and every time I wash with this, without fail, I close my eyes and remember the Queensland sunshine on my skin.

Dirty *technically* belongs to Mr. LA. It’s a super tingly spearmint shower gel that doubles as an amazing shampoo too {mega volume from the sea salt it contains} and on my fella’s skin smells like pure sex. For real.

Olive Branch is my old-faithful-never-without-a-bottle shower gel. I adore the subtle scent of bergamot oil and mandarin juice and its skin softening olive oil. You have to shake-it-to-wake-it Orangina stylee as the oils and juices separate but once you’ve doused yourself in this gel your skin will feel heavenly.

The same can be said for Almond & Coconut Smoothie. This is a thick, creamy soap as opposed to a gel and I love to use this for shaving for my legs. The name is somewhat misleading, referring to the oils and butters it contains rather than the scent which is delicate and subtle, something many wouldn’t expect from a Lush product. I can remember the first time I bought this, aged 12, from the Covent Garden branch. I felt incredibly grown up having my own shower soap to wash with instead of my mother’s favoured bar of trusty Imperial Leather.

If this was truly the perfect shower there would also be a big bottle of their ultra-violet shower gel Happy for Sad. This reappeared on Retro for a while but I was disappointed to see that it had disappeared last time I placed an order {doubly discontinued I guess}. It contained my most beloved of all essential oils, neroli, and I washed with it every day that I was pregnant with Izzy.

Now that I’m buffed, and polished and de-fuzzed, I like to spend a few minutes shampooing and rinsing my hair. I recently switched from a high end range to this purse friendly Vo5 duo.It was an impulsive purchase in Superdrug, fuelled by feelings of poverty and anxiety over the importance of eating over washing my hair, but actually I’m really impressed.

My hair feels soft and healthy and I’ve even had a few compliments from colleagues at work since I switched. They {the products, not my colleagues} don’t smell particularly remarkable but they lather nicely, rinse easily and don’t make my hair greasy any quicker than the products I was using before.

The final step before I leave the warmth of the shower, wrap my wet hair in a fluffy towel and cloak myself in my black bathrobe is to wash my face with my Neals Yard Palmarosa face wash. I’ve reviewed this numerous times before and, although I’ve blown hot and cold for it over the years, it remains my face wash of choice. It seems to keep spots at bay and maintain an acceptable level of oil production without being too astringent for my somewhat sensitive visage.

With any luck, as I close the bathroom door behind me, the children won’t even have stirred and I’ll have another 20 minutes to drink my tea and dress in peace.

Sometimes I can hear them chatting to each other in the darkness of their shared bedroom. I love that sound.And as much as I enjoy my blissful hour of me-time and the perfect shower, I love the way Jesse yells ‘Good morning mummy, I love you too’ at the top of his voice as he bounces awake in his cot even more.

Tell me, what makes your perfect shower?

Loveaudrey xxx