The Valley Gardens

   It was a lovely Saturday, one in a long while with a lot of sun and warm, only slightly bit crispy weather.

We picked up some food from our favourite Waitrose on the way there and went off for a walk and a small picnic to Virginia Water park.




Moles have been busy



Lake with the Roman style bridge
Amazing view of the Virginia Water Lake


A bit of yummy pasta salad...
Blueberry Cupcake from Waitrose with the lake on the background
...and a bit of the dessert
Starting to look a lot like spring
Berries on a bush, branch
All bushes are going to start flowering in few months time

Ducks on the surface of the iced pond
Ducks are trying to break through the iced surface of the pond



   The Valley Gardens cover a whole lot of 250 acres.


  There are 3 allocated routes available: The Hilltop Route, The Discovery route and The Lakeside Route. The most beautiful time for the visits would be March, April and May, so Easter time is the best time to go there if you want to see a lot of colour and amazing blooms.
   It still the most common place which comes to my mind when I want to go somewhere for a long or short walk and just relax. Or have a picnic in the winter sun.

   If you have got kids, they will definitely enjoy the discovery route. And for the calm walk with your friend or loved ones the Lakeside Route would be the most appropriate.
Totem at the Virginia Water Park
Totem found on the Discovery Route
   Whereas if you have dogsies, you definitely prefer to use the Hilltop Route or the Cycling Route, as these two are the ones which have plenty of dog waste bins available.

   As you are finishing or starting the 4+km circle, you are presented with the ancient site. Leptis Magna is source of majority of the stones that were used to create The Ruins at Virginia Water Park. Leptis Magna used to be Roman City site on the shores of the Mediterranean near Tripoli, in present day Libya, today is just an abandoned site. There is a whole story behind it and definitely have a read through as you visit the park.
Girl on a horse, sunset in a park
Sun started to set

The Roman City of Leptis Magna

Girl walking in the forest
Coming closer to the lake from the Saville Garden Area
  All the route information can be picked up from the cafe house (Pavilion) as you enter the Virginia Water park or here: http://www.theroyallandscape.co.uk/



Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My Face Routine - Morning and Night

Good morning, girls, 

I want to share my morning and night face care routine with you. 

Face Care Products, Vichy, Face Cream, Vichy Serum, St.Ives Apricot Scrab
Face Care Routine: Products for Day and Night
As I wake up and stretch, or have some sort of exercise on my Cross trainer or outside, I go and take care of my face.
I apply the hair band to keep hair from getting wet and also to prevent the product getting into it. Now, there are two ways of how I wash my face:
1. In the shower/sink with the St.Ives Apricot Sensitive Skin Gentle Scrab, its safe for the everyday use, but I usually use it every other day. 
2. Or I use Vichy Purete Thermale 3 in 1, which is a cleansing milk, toner and eye-make up remover, which doesnt need to be washed off and I can just use my cotton disks for that. 
As a step number 2, I am using my Vichy Normaderm Micellar Solution 3 in 1 for sensitive skin as well. It cleanses, removes even eye make-up and  soothes my skin. I have tried quite a few micellar waters and this one is very nice and gentle to my skin, it also doesnt dry it out. One of my least favourite Micellar waters was from L'oreal, pink one. It dried my skin out, skin became even more sensitive and was even hurting and uncomfortable unfortunately. 
Step number 3: 
I take a pump of my Vichy Aqualia Thermal Serum and apply it all over my face and neck. It soakes into the skin immediately and gives a lovely comforting feeling. People who have a dry, sensitive skin know how it feels immediately after the wash. After serum is fully absorbed, i move on to step 
number 4: 
A very important step is applying your eye cream. Currently, I am using an eye cream (with silk extracts) for sensitive skin as well with Stratyxil* from Bielita. I got it from Riga, when I went there for holidays. Local cosmetics there is more natural and also cheaper, than similar would cost in UK.
I apply a pea size drop on my fingers and gently pat it around my eyes in the circular direction.
Step number 5:
Is for applying the face cream. Its either the day cream in the morning or a night cream to regenerate your skin at night. 
For the morning I am currently using Organic Green Tea Morning cream for the face, and for the evening I am using a very nice, comforting cream from Fito, with Patchouli and Karite Oil**, as well as the sunflower oil. It feels like mousse and a cushion for my face. It absorbs almost immediately, which is important when I am crashing straight into my crispy bed. 

Clycolic peel, cosmetologist, salon, girl with a mask
Mask and the glycolic peel at the salon

My cosmetologist told me for a person with a skin like mine, i.e. sensitive, its important to take a proper care of it, which includes, washing it in the evening and morning and applying creams twice a day. The very important step is to go over with a non-alcoholic toner after the wash, which will even out the PH level of the skin and prevent it from being dry and have that tight feeling. And only then you can go and apply your serum and cream. 

*Stratixyl Protein: Moisturizing formulations for dry, flaky skin; after-peeling, after-dermabrasion formulations to prolong appearance of good looking skin; formulations for sensitive skin; after-shave, after-depilation formulations to help restore stratum corneum Comments: Stratixyl is a biofunctional ingredient recommended for formulations targeting reinforcement of the skin barrier and moisturization, in particular those for people having dry, flaky skin.
**Karite oil, also known as a shea oil, is an oil extracted from the fruit of the karite tree. This oil is used as a skin moisturizer in many cosmetic products like lotion, soap, lip balm, and skin cream. Karite butter is rich in vitamins A and E, and it has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.