We all need a little 'me-time', believes beauty writer Josephine Fairley – and now we have the perfect treat to help. Our Umi range has been specially created to pamper and protect your skin and hair. So go on, book the bathroom now…
Cocoon. Nourish. Indulge…
Do these words apply to your pampering ritual? If the idea
of even having a pampering ritual seems self-indulgent, or impossible, then think again.
At this time of year, we all need some extra TLC, to compensate for the change of seasons. The long nights and dark days, cold winds outside and, of course,
the effect that central heating
has on our skins by robbing the air indoors (and our complexions) of moisture, all affect our mood and energy levels. Ask any health and wellbeing expert
and they'll tell you that a little pampering is essential for
re-charging our batteries.
Affordable luxury
The Umi (pronounced 'you me') range is made up of quality pampering treats that won't break the family's grocery budget. Available in all branches of Waitrose, and most John Lewis stores, the range has been specially created by Waitrose's dedicated team of beauty buyers to appeal to all our senses, and is based on skin/hair/body/spirit-boosting natural ingredients, harvested from food, plants and flowers. Make each Umi experience
a mini-voyage through your senses. To enhance your enjoyment breathe deeply, inhale the scents and put the world on hold for a while.
Crucially, Umi has been created to first seduce our sensitive sense of smell. Because the nose is hot-wired to the emotional centre of the brain, fragrance is all-important, instantly easing the mind or lifting energy levels, while the other ingredients prepare to kick in and work their magic.
So Umi is, well, yummy as the name suggests, and infused with ingredients such as soothing vanilla, wake-you-up grapefruit and comforting cardamom. Textures, meanwhile, are specially formulated to appeal to the sense of touch – the Vanilla and Cardamom Body Soufflé is light-as-air, to nourish and leave the body ultra-velvety. Gentle-on-the-skin White Rice and Wheatgerm Bath Soak infuses the water with delicious skin-softening elements. Milk Thistle and Honey Milk Intensive Conditioner has been created for hungry hair
– feeding and re-glossing with its richly-textured double-cream-like formulation.
Then there's the Umi skincare ritual. This has been designed
to suit all skin types, with time-saving, skin-boosting options for morning and night-time.
Honey and Rice Bran Oil Face Wash has rice bran oil to soften the skin and honey to nourish; Thai Ginger and Pumpkin Face Wipes contain stimulating ginger and line-softening pumpkin in sweep-away-the-day, easy-to-use disposable wipes; Lotus Flower and Oat Ceramide Face Cream features skin-compatible oat ceramides, to nourish and repair, in a light cream that
sinks in so fast – yet is so deeply replenishing – that at this time of year, you can virtually hear parched complexions slurping up its goodness.
Take time, at night, to cleanse away the day, imagining cares and stresses swirling away with the water. In the morning, your skin will be refreshed, revived, replenished – no matter how parched the environment in your office, your home, or outdoors.
Throughout the Umi range, natural ingredients have been chosen for their potency, such as antioxidant white tea (to shield skin against environmental damage) and moisturising
brown sugar – which you'll find in Vanilla and Brown Sugar Bath Grains. Honey, too, is another skin-nurturing ingredient that's been harnessed, acting like a humectant to attract water to the skin so it feels dewy and moisturised – enjoy
it in a face wash and an indulgent bath soak.
Umi creations smell good, feel gorgeous, and they look great on any bathroom shelf. What's more, they're unisex, to be enjoyed equally by men or women. And because they look so stylish, Umi products make the perfect gift, too.
Time to relax
It's wonderful to have time to close the door on the world for an hour, an evening, a weekend. But let's get real: most of us
are lucky if we can grab a few minutes behind a locked bathroom door once a day.
So let's not leave pampering, cocooning and nourishing for special occasions, but instead, turbo-charge life's pleasure quotient whenever you can. With Umi.
This article was first published on Waitrose.com in February 2005