Heya Perfume Posse! Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies dropping by with 5 easy things to do that can change your life from DRAB to FAB!! I think I know what you’re thinking, “Not another rubbish list of crap 5 easy things!” Well, in my past life wasn’t always so rosy, there have been a load of ups but many were followed by very dark valleys. Sometimes it only takes one positive thought or action to change the course of your day from black to rainbow. Here are 5 easy things, and though they take some thought or organising they are easy, just 5 easy things that have helped me through black days and I’ve kept them even though I am now living rainbow days.

5 Easy Things That Help Me Feel FAB-U-LOUS!!

Photo Stolen Michael Napoleon Flickr

1) Set the Alarm 20 Minutes EARLY

It feels counter intuitive at first, especially if you are a night owl like me, to set the alarm 20 minutes earlier than you need to be out of bed but it works a treat. Why? Well I also set it to go off again 10 minutes early and on time. The first alarm wakes me up with a jolt from wherever I am in dreamland and scares the living shit out of me with its air raid siren buzzes but I am awake. I then have 10 dreamy half asleep/half awake minutes to just lay there and think no thoughts at all except to either grab Jin’s pillow and cuddle it or lie flat on my back and float. The second alarm is much calmer and a bit pretty even, bells chiming and softly increasing. Once #2 is turned off I then have 10 luxurious minutes to think about my day ahead, organise my thoughts and ready myself for alarm #3 which is a real get out of bed you lazy bastard buzzer. I think the 20 minutes spent on this gives me more rest than the whole night of sleep before it and I can go into my day feeling ready.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

2) Say Thank You

Another thing that feels like “super weirdo” when you first start doing it but it does help to remind me how lucky I am. Every time anything even slightly good happens I say in my head THANK YOU. Sunny day? Thank You. Find a car park? Thank You. Coffee is hot and yummy? Thank You. Spell Check catches your mistakes? Thank You. Parcel arrives in the post? Thank You. Stranger smiles at you in the street? Thank You. Pretty soon you will be saying Thank You a lot and realise how lucky you are just to be given today, every day.

Photo Stolen GraziaDaily

3) Pay Off Some Extra Credit Card

We all spend too much, let’s face it. Sometimes I fill my cart at the online fragrance store with a few things I really want to own. Wish List Stuff. Then I delete everything I can’t currently afford. Some days that is nearly everything, some days there’s a hefty three figure number there. Then, instead of spending I take that money and use it to pay off some of my Credit Card. I will not run out of perfume anytime soon and the feeling at having that EXTRA payment done is WONDERFUL. It can get my balance to zero in no time if I put my mind to it.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

4) Have A Bath

I know that loads of you don’t have a bathtub so a foot-soak will have to do for you. Every day I have a bath, I love that it takes 5 minutes to fill and the oil (currently using a vintage 500ml Penhaligon’s Bath Oil, Olympic Orchids Amber Labdanum Bath Oil and various Essential Oils) or salts (Radox Bath Salts, Pure & Basic:Passionate Pear or plain rock salt) that I put in scent half the house every day. Already, before I even get in I feel lavish. While in the bath I completely submerge with rises from the depths to breathe while it’s still super hot, I clean myself then play Words With Friends till finished all games. A >1 minute sluice in a cool shower and out. I feel like a complete beauty queen after it every day, gorgeous and spoiled.

Photo Stolen Simon Pielow Flickr

5) Never Save Anything For Best

Do you continue to use the old chipped every day set of crockery? Have some beautiful unused towels in the cupboard? Leave your vintage parfums for occasions? STOP! Every day that you are alive is one you should celebrate by using the best you have. Sure, it doesn’t make sense to walk the dog in your vintage Balenciaga couture gown, but nothing should stop you from enjoying your vintage Quadrille as often as possible. Eat off the good china instead, put the best sheets on your bed, use those lavish thick bath sheets and be glad and grateful that you can and have. You are the best you’ve got, give yourself the gift of the best you have. So you may one day have no vintage Quadrille left, so what! The memories of shopping, loving, dining, cleaning or whatever you have done in it will last you a lifetime and the simple, self indulgent fun of wearing such outrageously lavish perfume is happiness itself.

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings and thanks for sticking around. Yes, none of these are particularly new thoughts or profound but they are 5 easy things that I have found effective. They up my happiness and delete some of my darknesses. What fragrance did I wear while creating this fun, light hearted, mini list of 5 easy things that help my Fab-O-Meter rise to the top? The lovely soft remnants of Sushi Imperial by Bois 1920 and Dew Musk by Montale, together they smell like Amouage Ubar, not exactly but there are definite references throughout and that has had me smiling all day.

If you though this was cool and want some more perfume fun why not trot over to Australian Perfume Junkies and see what we have going on. We’d love to see you over there too.

What do you waft when you want to feel particularly lavish?
Portia xx