Last month, we shared our top tips on how to ‘spring clean’ your mind and body and we’re so glad that many of you found our juice cleanse, power yoga and ikigai advice useful. Missed the blog? You can read it here.

This month, we’re all about cleaning, decluttering and refreshing your home. Easier said than done you might say…Who has time for a major haul with everything going on in life? Don’t despair! We’ve done the research for you and we bring you the professionals that can help you with all your domestic chores in just a few taps!

THE OLD CAN BE WORTH GOLD

We usually do a minor wardrobe clean out once every couple of months or so, but every year around May, we move big winter clothes into storage and bring out summer clothes. This gives us a chance to really re-evaluate our inventory. Charity is always a good option to give clothes and shoes to, but you may want to get some of your money back if you have invested in some designer pieces. Our go to website for selling designer items online is Vestiaire Collective. It’s never been more simple! They make the process super quick and easy, and the site has a great reputation so you’re likely to fetch a higher price for your item, than say, on ebay. We’ve sold a couple of barely worn dresses which (sadly) did not fit us anymore, (#summerbody is still in progress) and we were delighted to earn enough for a new pair of designer espadrilles! Woohoo!

SUPER CLEAN THROWS, BLANKETS AND PILLOWS

If you’re anything like us, every sofa and bed in your home would be adorned with cosy throws, matching soft decorative pillows, or wool blankets. But cleaning those things can be an absolute nightmare! From gathering all the heavy pieces, to taking the pillow covers off and lugging it all to the dry cleaners, the whole process is quite cumbersome. Enter Laundrapp! The on-demand laundry and dry cleaning app, serving Londoners for years. You tap the app, choose a pick up and drop off time slot, and voila! Their team will come to collect all your items, have them professionally cleaned, and returned in as little as 24hrs. It’s as easy as that! And what’s even better, you can get 15% off your first order with code USPAAH15 (hurry, offer expires 31 July 2018)

SPRING CLEAN YOUR HOME

“My house is naturally as clean as a pharmacy”… Said no-one, ever. For the rest of us, cleaning is part of daily life, and sure you can do all the surface bits yourself. Hoover here, mop there, dust here and there, but do you know how much dirt gathers, for example, INside your kitchen cabinets? Have you seen the hair balls growing behind the sofa or under your bed? Or how about your curtains and carpets? We all wish they could clean themselves! As clean as we think our homes may be, it’s scientifically proven that untold amounts of germs live all around us, and they can really cause havoc for yourself and your family, especially if you have heightened skin sensitivity or suffer from allergies.

Spring cleaning is not just an old wives’ tale, it is a necessary ritual that helps remedy this problem. As with any big task, it is always helpful to know there are professionals out there that literally do all the dirty work for you. Our long term partners at Fantastic Services, have never let us down and we’ve used them for everything from cleaning after builders, to removals, to pest control (after a particularly nasty ant invasion in the backyard). They are truly a one-stop shop for all your home maintenance needs, and as a valued customer, you can enjoy £10 off your first and second booking with the code USPAAH. Book on their easy iPhone or Android app, and enjoy peace of mind knowing that you’re in good hands.

Now the only thing left is to decide on what to do with all the extra time you’ve saved. We can certainly help in that department, with a blissful massage or beauty treatment at home! Enjoy 😉

Whether it’s saving you time on your weekly grooming routine, or sharing the latest organic cosmetics, we are always looking for ways to help you live a more balanced life and to enhance your wellbeing. Here are three of our top tried and tested tips for kickstarting your metabolism and giving your body and mind a much needed spring clean.

JUICE CLEANSES: THEY REALLY WORK

We promise you they do work, if you do them regularly and don’t cheat (much). We were sceptical at first, but once we put ourselves through the test, the results were quite noticeable. For a full day by day review of our juice cleanse experience, click here, but in short, we highly recommend starting with a 3-day cleanse and then following up with 1 day cleanses every 6-8 weeks. You will feel lighter, less lethargic, your skin will get a healthy fresh glow, and you will enjoy better sleep with your body now rid of various harmful toxins. Our friends at Plenish have juice packages to suit anyone from cleansing novices, to metabolic gurus and you can get a special discount if you enter code USPAAH at checkout.

AM POWER, ROCKET & SURRENDER: YOGA, RE-IMAGED 

If you’ve been practicing yoga for a while, you might be getting a bit too familiar with the classic routines, Hatha, Iyengar, Vinyasa etc. But what if we told you there’s a boutique studio in the heart of London that is taking city dwellers by storm? AM Power Yoga is just a 4 minute walk from Old Street station, and they host over a 170 classes a month, ranging from calming Yin Yoga to fast paced Rocket Yoga which will leave you dripping in sweat. Their signature classes like Sweat & Surrender and Hot Flow Abs combine elements of fast body movements with Yoga poses and are a fun way to lose weight and tone your muscles. If you live or work in the city, there will definitely be a class to fit your schedule, and you can get 20% off all prices with code USPAAH20. Tried, tested and approved!

IKIGAI: THE JAPANESE SECRET TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

Looking for your next book to read? Look no further than this thought provoking collection of wise teachings, that sheds light on the secrets of longevity of the people in Okinawa, Japan. A place with more centennials than anywhere else in the world. With everyday lives going at ever increasing speeds, we get so bogged down in our routines that we forget to stop and think about what actually makes us get out of bed in the morning. This book will help you answer that question for yourself, and help you re-discover your priorities. It definitely helped us switch off for a while, and give our hard-wired minds a much needed spring clean. Want a second a opinion? Read this fun review by The Telegraph, or buy the book online here.