Bedtime rituals with The White Company

After a hedonistic summer of unprecedented weather in the UK, late nights and glasses of rose I’m really happy to welcome the new season with open arms. September is a great month to set good intentions and invest in self-care without the pressure of New Year’s resolutions.

Major life changes meant that I neglected my health and I have been sleep deprived for much of 2018 but I am finally ready to be kinder to myself now that things have settled down on the business front.

Time to re-set

I have resolved to exercise regularly again, eat well and crucially get more sleep. It’s all too easy to while away an entire evening on the sofa watching Netflix and before you know it, it’s well past your bedtime. Boxsets are such sleep thieves!

Getting enough rest is crucial for living well. It’s interesting the way we are quick to attribute tiredness to the mood and general wellbeing of a child but stop applying that rule to ourselves as adults.

The fact is, we still need plenty of sleep and in my opinion, there are few things that a good night’s sleep can’t fix.

Unwinding before bed is really important to me and something I have only started paying attention to recently. The stresses of every day life mean that sleep sometimes eludes me and drifting off can be a challenge. Bedtime routines and rituals really help to set the mood for a restful night.

I have had the pleasure of sampling The White Company’s new Sleep collection for this blogpost and I can tell you that it’s heavenly. The range has been created in collaboration with British perfumers and uses a blend of sleep inducing essential oils including lavender, chamomile and clary-sage.

A recipe for sleep

The first step in my bedtime ritual is a warm bath, the perfect way to unwind after a long day in my book. Bubbles are optional of course but I like a bath soak with a strong fragrance, that fills the room as soon as it hits the water. The Sleep soak featured in this post, a blend of relaxing lavender and chamomile essential oils, certainly packs a punch. It makes a great gift too!

To further enhance both the fragrance and rest and relaxation vibes, I light a scented candle. The White Company is well known for its scented candles and this one doesn’t disappoint, made with mineral wax using the same scent across the entire collection – it’s a great one to have in your sleep arsenal.

Layer a scent across your entire bathroom and body maximises the Sleep collection’s effectiveness. To that end I am currently using the Sleep softening body oil which makes a nice change from my usual moisturiser – there is also a cream version available too, along with a pillow mist, hand cream and reed diffuser.

The oil contains natural extracts of deeply nourishing almond, jojoba and argan oils. The atomiser style bottle ensures that you don’t waste any of the product which is quickly absorbed by the skin leaving a light scent on your body.

Luxurious bedtime essentials

I may have mentioned this before but I am fanatical about my bed. I like the feeling of stepping into a high-end hotel so bed linen is key. I always buy the best I can afford and I even make the effort to iron my sheets because there’s nothing better than climbing into a luxurious bed. I have bought bed linen from The White Company many times and therefore have no hesitation in recommending it to you.

Personally I favour cotton and usually opt for whites or neutral colours. The Stanford collection ticks all the right boxes for me made with high quality 400-thread-count cotton and a timeless stripe weave. We all love a stripe, don’t we?

Finally, few things make me happier than pyjamas, I wish it was acceptable to wear them all the time! I don’t have a favourite style as long as the fabric is lightweight and soft, I’m happy. However, I do find myself turning to jersey fabrics time and time again as it has a great slouchy feel, I rather like this pair.

After all that preparation, I’m usually ready to drift off the minute my head hits the pillow.

Antonia x

This post is written in collaboration with The White Company who kindly gifted a selection of products from the Sleep Collection to me. All words and opinions are my own.

Click here to browse the full collection.