A few weeks before my trip to Portugal I met up with the people from Mira Showers to learn more about how by spoiling my senses I could enhance my everyday routine. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? But after a week away and trying out three different bathrooms (none of them bad) I've come to realise that there really is no shower like home!

But can you really make the most of your senses in your own bathroom?

I think you can, whether you're a shower or a bath person, whether that's a morning blast or a relaxing evening routine. For me, it depends on my mood, and more often than not the state of my hair. Most mornings I wake up to discover my hair must have been having its own party on my pillow and needs taming before I can call myself anywhere near presentable.

But back to those senses. Mira Showers challenged me to see, if by putting their tips and tricks into practice how I could make little changes and if they'd affect my mood and senses. So how do our senses - touch, taste, smell, sight and sound - play their part?

Here for me touch is all about my bathrobe, and soft luxurious towels. Thinking about it now my bathrobe is one of my favourite items of clothing but one I'm sure i don't spend anywhere near enough time in! More time relaxing is something I should build into my day, and something that I'm hoping I can put into practice more often after our week away. Mornings are usually a rush. A rush to get up - I wouldn't call myself a natural morning person - to have breakfast, to make lunch and to get out the door.

I say I'm not a natural morning person but since I've started having my weekly veg box delivered, usually around 7am, I've found it's nice to have some time in the quiet of the house, and in my dressing gown. I'm hoping that the veg box delivery man doesn't mind that part of my routine too much, and I know having that extra bit of morning means I get to enjoy rather than rush through my shower!

And afterwards, not forgetting taste, sitting down with a cuppa in my hand to either catch up with my emails, a quick check on social media or a glance at the paper feels indulgent and my reward for being up earlier. I think I should do this more often, at least a couple of times a week, and maybe I will.

At the bloggers event I got to make some natural and organic beauty products for the first time. They smell amazing and I amazed it's something I've not tried before. Using many store cupboard ingredients, like oats and coconut oil, they were easy to make too, and at risk of using a word too many times in one paragraph, they do make my skin feel amazing.

I arrived at the event with a bit of a sore neck, nothing major, I think I'd slept on it funny. Or perhaps my neck joined in the party that my hair has on the pillow and ended up worse off, who knows. But I've never been more pleased to see a mobile massaging station. And when one became free, I didn't need asking twice.

We all know the advantages of relaxing, but I'd never really thought about how a knotty neck might feel to someone else. I was surprised to find that almost immediately hands were gently working on the spot that felt tight and even after a short massage my neck felt less tense and more relaxed.

There was also some great food and drink at the event which were both a feast for our eyes and to eat and drink. I couldn't not share a couple of photos of them, the cocktails and the bacon "jammy dodgers" - yum!

I've not touched on sight or sound in this post, and while baths are so much better with a scented candle I'm still not convinced that with a shower they'd have the same effect. It's something I'll have to try. And as for sound, sometimes it's nice to escape the sounds of everyday life and just be, so for me, depending on my mood sound can be an intrusion.

At the start of this post I said there's no shower like home, and you may be wondering why. That's down to the Mira Switch, which is a showerhead that switches easily - quite literally at the press of a button - between saturate, stimulate, soothe and soak. In the short time I've been using this shower head I've realised how useful it is, and being away for a week emphasised this.

It's funny the things you quickly take for granted isn't it? And the things that you look forward to when coming back from a trip away.

* This is a collaborative post but all views and opinions are my own.