Louise McSharry: From Turkish towels to gorgeous jellies and spiffy speakers — these shower accessories are sure to propel you out of bed

As it turns out, it’s just one of many symptoms of my personal experience with ADHD. Having been diagnosed with it last March, I’ve spent a year having “aha” moments in which I realise that something I’d previously classified as me being a bad person was actually just an example of my brain not behaving like other people’s.

People with ADHD have brains that are dopamine-deficient, meaning we don’t get the same internal reward that others do from everyday activities. As a result, we struggle to motivate ourselves to do them. Showering just isn’t exciting enough to get me moving. Unless… I have an exciting product to try. These are the products I’m currently using to trick myself into the shower.

Turkish cotton bath towels (€38, via thesoftcottonshop.com) — I’m honestly not sure why we’ve persisted so long with classic bath towels when traditional Turkish ones were available. Made from 100pc cotton, these towels are highly absorbent and fast-drying. They take up far less space than the towels most of us use, and look very chic as well. These towels become softer and softer with every use and, if cared for properly, should last you years. On top of all that, they’re better for your hair as they are less abrasive than a fluffy towel. I’m a total convert.

Lush Shower Jelly in Twilight (€8.50, via lush.com) — This mostly solid lump of shower gel (shower jelly) is a texture lover’s dream. Squashy and slippery, it’s a joy to use, and that’s aside from its gorgeous petrolesque colour. It doesn’t smell like petrol, though (sorry, petrol fans). Instead it combines the sleep-inducing fragrances of lavender and tonka bean.

2. Sundae Very Vanilla Whipped Shower Foam (€15, via cultbeauty.com) — Few things are as pleasing as squirting a burst of whipped cream from a can, which this genius brand figured out. They filled cans with beautiful-smelling shower foam, so you can squirt to your heart’s content, and get clean at the same time.

3. Byredo Body Wash (€46, via byredo.com) — Look, things don’t have to be expensive to be exciting, but sometimes it just is exciting to have a fancy product to use. Byredo are one of the chicest fragrance brands around and their accompanying body-wash products are gorgeous.

4. Estrid Razor Starter Kit (€12.99, via boots.ie) — This weighted razor looks chic, comes with a holder that sticks easily on to your shower, and feels lovely in the hand. You can also order a handy rubber pouch to pack it in for travel, plus its hydration strip is vegan. Aside from all of that, this razor comes in a beautiful array of colours, which is enough to give me the required dopamine hit.

5. Sony SRS-XB100 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (€49.99, via currys.ie) — Yes, I’m stepping outside the beauty realm for this one, but if all else fails, a speaker can really help. Pop on some tunes or a juicy podcast, and all of a sudden the shower is a lot more exciting. This waterproof speaker has saved me on many an occasion.

Buying Irish

Ayu is an Irish vegan cosmetics brand founded by makeup artist Suzie O’Neill. The products are designed to enhance, rather than mask, people’s inherent beauty, and are easy to use and well-priced in comparison to similar products on the market. Ayu’s latest launch is an Anti-Redness Colour Corrector with SPF30 (€34.50, via ayucosmetics.com), which is a nourishing, green-tinted cream designed to balance redness in the skin while protecting it from the sun. This can be worn on its own or under makeup and is ideal for people who suffer from rosacea, as it was formulated with sensitive skin in mind.

Something old...

MAC’s Glow Play Blush (€34, via boots.ie) is similar to today’s Something New in that its formula is outside the traditional realm of blush products. In fact, I find it hard to describe. It’s not a jelly, it’s not a cream, it’s not a powder and it’s not a gel. Instead, it’s a bouncy, almost putty-like formula that offers beautifully buildable sheer-to-medium coverage. I love these guys that blend incredibly easily and deliver a pretty, soft-focus finish. I also love that you can absolutely apply this with your fingers, meaning you can throw it in your pocket or handbag for a night out without having to carry any extra tools. Glow Play Blush is available in nine shades, with all the bold hues you could wish for. For once, though, it’s the quietness of So Natural I continue to come back to. It’s a golden beige that never looks overdone but helps you to give your face a bit of extra life when you feel it’s lacking.

​... Something new

I’ve been dying to try Milk Makeup’s Cooling Water Jelly Tint (€28, via spacenk.com) since it first launched in America a few months ago and all my favourite TikTok girlies started raving about it. Its formula could be considered gimmicky — it’s a stick of squashy jelly, which means it looks like a lollipop. Still, if you’ve read the above, you can probably tell I love a gimmick, and this one appears to actually work as a product as well. In fact, if there’s any criticism, it’s that its highly pigmented staying power might be too powerful! That’s only if you work slowly, though — as long as you blend this product quickly, you’ll end up with a beautiful, healthy-looking flush that lasts the day. Vegan and cruelty-free, this is available in four colours: Spritz, a coral; Burst, a bright pink; Splash, a berry; and Chill, a rosy red. I want them all.