Self Care At Kate Preston

It’s a Thursday afternoon, it’s been a busy week at work and it looks like it’s going to be a late night. Or a few late nights should I say. I’ve got a weekend of blog posts to write, photos to shoot, recipes to create and days where my fingers will be wrapped around my laptop. The first thing I do? Cancel my weekend plans. Forget my social life and crack on with the work.

This isn’t unusual for me. In fact, up until a few weeks ago, I rarely put myself first in the means of self care. I don’t do hair dates, I don’t do nail care and I rarely do spa days. Let’s just say I’m not the typical ‘girly girl’ and I certainly lack in the self care department. Looking after myself in the forms of beauty has never been a priority of mine. My priority? Work, work, a little more work, and CrossFit. Now whilst that’s all well and dandy in the land of H&F, to keep up with the life of a roadrunner however, one often has to put their self care, social life and actual life on the back burner whilst juggling a million and one things. Self care? What’s that? A 7am lie in? It then takes a wake up call to realise that this kind of lifestyle is far from healthy and actually, doing more harm than good.

My wake up call came after returning home from my visit to Rome. After spending four days in the beautiful city – work free, stress free and social media free – it made me realise how self care, whatever form it may be, can truly benefit your health in the smallest ways possible. Whether that’s a city break, a date at the hair saloon or treating yourself to a spa visit, it’s all a form of self care and no matter how indulgent or selfish it may sound, it is 100% essential to living a healthy and happy life. End of. Here are a few benefits to looking after yourself…

• Self importance – Have you ever considered that the relationship you have with yourself is just as important as looking after your physical self? By having a healthy relationship with yourself, not only are you able to boost your self confidence but your able to look after yourself the best way possible. Your needs are just as important as the one’s you look after too. Remember that.
• #Balance – Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to work until darkness every dang day. Take note, Hannah. By overworking, not only are we adding extra stress to our bodies but it also sends our hormones into overdrive and could quite possibly, lead to weight gain/loss. Not to mention that an overworked body can lead to exhaustion and this in turn can mean that our bodies will take longer to recover from the gym and ultimately, all our hard work goes straight out the front door. Other health problems of an unbalanced work and social life can lead to anxiety, depression and insomnia. However, by taking out some time for yourself every now and then, this can help the body to de-stress, boost endorphins and can help us stay positive, motivated and re-genevated – especially in the gym!
• Physical care –  As much as self care is amazing for our mental health, it can also be a miracle worker for our physical self too. How? Well have you ever noticed that once you feel and look good, your motivation to work harder, keep your body appearance up together, and let off some steam also increases? That’s because looking after yourself boosts your self confidence and this in turn drastically increases your mood and your drive. You’ll find that you’ll start to care more about your quality of sleep, outlook on life, hygiene and overall movement/exercise. Not to mention that your sex drive will increase too ladies. Uhhh huh. 

Kate Preston

So last week I took myself to Kate Preston’s salon in Fareham, Hampshire for a major fixer upper. I decided that after 24 years of brunette locks that the time had come to take the plunge and go for a more blonder and softer look. Or so I thought. Upon arrival I was greeted by a lovely bunch of smiles – which is always a nice welcome – and a mug of green tea sided with a biccy (double whammy). After being greeted by Jo (director level and management) she sat me down in my chair and simply asked what I was after. After explaining my love for a blonder balayage look she insisted that I went for more of a golden blonde style to avoid the road of bleaching and, trusting her skills and experience, I decided to leave her in charge. Full throttle shall we say? For somebody whose always played it safe at the hairdressers and avoided dying my hair as much as possible (I broke my hair dye virginity last November), it’s safe to say that I was definitely a little bit nervous. After we got to grips with the style, Jo grabbed the hair dye and foil and got to work.

Jo was also great to chat to throughout my visit – providing me with lots of tips for styling my wavy hair and what products to use to keep my colour fresh and shiny. One of the best bit’s about my visit? The head massage Jo gave me when rinsing out the dye in my hair! Believe it or not, when having my hair washed at the hairdressers I have never had the pleasure of having a head message. Oh the little things. Once the dye was rinsed out we headed back to the chair for the ultimate reveal. Jo prepped my hair with a few products and blasted me with the hairdryer. After a good 5 minutes or so, the final colour started to show properly and to my delight, I fell in love with it completely. With the light strands that fell from the front of my face, the higher balayage and the finished cut, I simply wouldn’t have changed a thing and for once, I feel like I came away from the hairdresser’s with a truly bespoke treatment. Two weeks later and I’m still as happy as Larry with my hair as I was on the day.

Jo finished by styling my hair with some beautiful loose curls (which I always try and fail at home) and within 3 hours, I was re-vamped and feeling like a new person.  Quite literally. But the self care didn’t stop there. Oh no. Straight after my hair do, I sat myself down, plonked my hands in front of me and treated myself to a fresh set of gel nails. Now let me say this… Never, in my entire 24 years of existstence have I ever had the pleasure of treating myself to two forms of pampering in one day. So whilst it’s not within my usual character to treat myself so much, I can assure you that I left Kate Preston that afternoon with a boost of confidence, a re-vamp in my self confidence and a healthy dose of self love. Should we be ashamed to admit this as women, that every now and then we seek self care in the form of boosting our confidence? Absolutely not. Ladies, life is too short to work until you fall asleep, to worry about the housework day in and day out. Treat yourself. Do the things you really want to do. Make yourself feel and look pretty. Be pretty. Be confident. Be proud.

As I left Kate Preston that afternoon I was gifted with a gorgeous goodie bag filled with, in my opinion, a very generous case full of the mini products that Jo used on my hair. The bag itself is lovely and I have been using the products ever since. The shampoo is one of my new favourite things. All in all, my visit to Kate Preston was absolutely lovely from the first hello, to the last goodbye. The room was filled with smiles, the atmosphere was spot on and the salon itself was simply beautiful. It’s obvious from arrival that this is a Salon that prides itself not only by one’s work, but by it’s customer’s too. For somebody who’s always been shy when it comes to getting my hair done, I can safely say that Kate Preston has restored my faith in salon visits, not only from the work done, but because of the delightful atmosphere too. They’ve certainly gained a new customer from me.

 From salon of the year, to life time achievement, Kate Preston has been rated 5 star by good salon guide and holds several certifcations of excellence from Goldwell. For more information about Kate Preston Fareham and Gosport Salon’s in Hampshire, visit their website and facebook page. 

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