The enthusiastic girl at my side is busy telling me that the frothing water she’s dipped my hands into is vegan, organic and very soothing for sensitive skin.
Then, dripping suds, I’m led over to what can only be described as a bank of lotions, where my new friend starts gently rubbing cream into the dry skin on the back of my hand, beaming at me like the Cheshire Cat.
It’s an intimate moment to be sharing with a person whom two minutes ago I wouldn’t have known from Adam.
I am, of course, in the Derby branch of handmade cosmetics chain Lush. Walking through the door of this shop is pretty much the equivalent of bellowing “COME AND GET ME” as you immediately find yourself surrounded by insanely cheery people who want to smother you in brightly-coloured goo. It’s impossible to leave without smelling like you’ve had a pillow fight in a potpourri factory.
But cheeky quips aside I actually really love Lush. As a company this place has got its head screwed on – it runs human rights and environmental campaigns, it makes sure none of its products are tested on animals, it uses loads of natural ingredients and it runs initiatives to cut its water usage and carbon footprint.
And its staff are just insanely friendly, welcoming, happy people. It doesn’t matter what mood you’re in when you enter Lush – you will always end up feeling a little bit better by the time you leave and usually you’ve got a big smile on your face.
I was in the Derby branch yesterday looking for a little gift for one of my best friends who has been feeling a bit under the weather recently. But she has sensitive skin so I don’t want my goodwill to bring her out in a rash.
With the help of my new buddy, I find her a bath bomb made with relaxing, soothing cocoa butter and I'm also sent away away with a free skin cream sample that might agree with my pal’s skin type.
It’s part of a weekend of gift giving; I’ve got several friends who have been up to interesting things and I want to give them presents. Not massive gifts – just little tokens that say “thinking of you”.
Normally these sort of occasions send me scurrying into a supermarket to grab bottles of fizzy wine or generic bunches of flowers.
But a gift is, after all, a way of being thoughtful so staying away from the supermarkets is a great opportunity to put more thought into the presents I’m buying.
One gift is for friends who have just had a baby, but they’ve really been through the mill and thankfully their story has a happy ending. Baby was extremely poorly and needed emergency surgery just a week after he was born. After spending a month in hospital my friends have finally brought their new arrival home this week and I’m visiting them to meet him this afternoon.
My normal response when friends have kids is to give them a Tesco babygro. But yesterday I went hunting for something a bit more thoughtful.
I’m really starting to enjoy these lunchtime walks – it was cold and crisp, the sun was shining and everyone out and about in Derby seemed to be in a good mood.
After leaving Lush I ended up in wholefood shop SoundBites for the second time this week, and had an interesting chat with the shop assistant about all the things you have to avoid when you’re expecting. It’s a list so long it makes me wonder how anyone actually manages to survive being pregnant... but apparently people do....
I came away with some organic Lavender and Honey Baby Balm, which will apparently help lull baby off to sleep while soothing chapped skin, and if my friends find parenting stressful (which again, apparently people do...!) they can use it too.
Finally, I needed to complete my hat-trick of gift-buying by finding something for a friend who has just bought her first home. I'm visiting tomorrow and am very excited to see her new pad so I want to take a little housewarming present.
Seeing as my days of giving supermarket flowers are now over (and this isn't a bad thing - the choice tends to be really bland) I popped to the row of shops in Hasland, just round the corner from my house, this morning. We're really lucky because we have two greengrocers within walking distance of our house that also both double-up as florists.
I found a lovely little pot of pink hyacinthus bulbs (god I'm starting to sound more and more like my mother every day - does this happen to all women?!) sat in a quirky little tin basket. It's more original than a bunch of flowers and hopefully will brighten up her kitchen windowsill and last a bit longer too.
So it looks my resolution will earn me some Brownie Points from my friends. Every Little definitely Helps!
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