Christmas Reviews and Sales

Now that Christmas is over and the subsequent sales are under way, I thought I would share a few of my favourite beauty treats that are currently available for great prices.

Emma Hardie's 'The Midas Touch Tutorial Box' is a product design marvel. It comes with video screen, which shows tutorials. Yes, of course it's unique and eye catching, especially as there are buttons to press to select the tutorials, but the tutorials are really interesting and show the different ways to use the products, even down to the way to use the muslin cloth with the lines of the face. By doing it in the suggested way, the face immediately looks more toned and tight. It reminds me of the way the face looks after a facial. Actually, the music and soft spoken instructions make the whole experience very spa like! 

The products are gorgeous and include Moringa Cleansing Balm (see review), which is the best cleansing product that I have used to date. Dry skin is transformed and makeup is quickly removed.

I am yet to try the Midas Touch Serum and Age Support Face Cream but the Serum tutorial made it look like some kind of skin medication, where it is strategically placed on specific points of the face, so I'm excited to work that one out!  

The Midas Touch Box is £99 and an online exclusive. However, in the sale, Feel Unique are offering the Morninga Cleansing Balm for £32.30 and the Midas Touch Box for £69.30 

www.feelunique.com 

Space NK is one of my favourite shops and their gift boxes are a lovely present. However, in the 50% off sale, the products are even better! REN, Aromatherapy Associates, By Terry, Diptyque and others are included. Hurrah! 

www.uk.spacenk.com 

Debenhams are also doing some amazing perfume deals, especially perfume gift sets. Soft, floral scents, such as Marc Jacobs Daisy collections, Thierry Mugler, Jimmy Choo and Gucci are all down in price. It is also doing some amazing makeup deals, including Urban Decay and YSL. 

www.debenhams.com 

Amazon are doing deals left right and centre. This Christmas seemed to be the year of the watches in our house and I am particularly fond of the Daniel Wellington collection. I like the masculine, no nonsense design, which doesn't look overly manly for women, with a classic design. 

The watches have gone down from £159 to approximately £78, so it's an amazing time to nab a good deal. 

www.amazon.co.uk 

Happy shopping everyone! 

Last minute beauty gifts!

With only three days to go until Christmas here is a very last-minute beauty gift guide. Everything is under £100 and available on Net-A-Porter. Best of all if you get your orders in by 3pm they will be delivered the next day!

Clockwise from top left:
• SMITH & CULT Nail polish in Lover's Creep, £19
• NAILS INC Nail polish in Belgrave Square, £14
• TOM FORD BEAUTY Lips & Boys lipstick in Tony 72, £27
• BURBERRY BEAUTY Warm Glow Bronzer, £31
• AERIN Large gold-toned hairbrush, £66
• BY TERRY Baume De Rose Nutri-Couleur in Cherry Bomb, £36
• DIPTYQUE Set of three 70g candles, £60
• HOURGLASS Ambient lighting Edit £65

www.net-a-porter.com/Giftshop

Best Beauty Advent Calendars 2015

First of all I must apologise for talking about Christmas when we are only three days into November. Yes, we all know people who have finished their Christmas shopping already, however (if you are anything like me and want to keep Christmas in December where it belongs) please bear with me...

Beauty advent calendars have been getting bigger and better over the last few years. They are now available to suit every budget and the high street is getting involved in what was once a solely high-end domain. Most are either 12 or 24 days and (as much as I love chocolate) what could be better than getting a beauty-related present each morning in the run up to Christmas?! There's only one problem – many of the most popular brands sell out quickly. So if you fancy treating yourself, or someone else, you will need to get in quick. Hence the unnaturally early festive post from me.

So without further ado, here are 8 of the best beauty advent calendars:

CHARLOTTE TILBURY
The Book of Makeup Magic is a fabulous calendar by the one and only Charlotte Tilbury. It contains 12 of her most popular products: Magic Cream 15ml, Take It All Off 15ml, Wonderglow 15ml, Multi Miracle Glow 15ml, Supermodel Body 15ml, Goddess Skin Clay Mask 15ml, Mini K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick, Matte Revolution lipstick, Lip Magic, Mini Rock n Kohl liner, Nocturnal Cat eyes Eyeshadow, Magic Night cream.
£150, www.charlottetilbury.com

SELFRIDGES
The Selfridges Beauty Workshop Advent Calendar is a lot like their seasonal beauty boxes – exceptional value for money. The 24 little beauty treats are worth £226 in total and include Tweezerman tweezers, Eyeko skinny liquid liner, Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, Caudalie Divine Oil and lots more.
£60 www.selfridges.com

KERASTASE
This limited edition calendar contains 24 iconic Kérastase deluxe travel size products and one full size Elixir product worth £28.50 alone. If you are a Kérastase fan you won't want to miss this one. Visit the link below for details of all the products included.
£79.99 www.kerastase.co.uk

LUSH
Fans of Lush can enjoy 12 days of bath bombs, bubble bars, bath melts and body lotions! All products are vegan making it an ideal gift for anyone who likes to buy cruelty-free brands.
£49.95 www.lush.co.uk

CIATÉ
Fellow nail-polish addicts will love this Mini Mani Month advent calendar by Ciaté. This is another one that is excellent value for money as it contains 23 nail polishes and a nail file worth £124 in total.
£49 www.selfridges.com

THE BODY SHOP
The Body Shop's 24 Happy Days calendar has a really wide variety of treats, from cult classics to new products, including bath and bodycare, skincare, fragrance and more. Check out the full list at the link below
£60 www.thebodyshop.co.uk

LIBERTY LONDON
This calendar is a real luxury treat.. possibly the one I want to get my paws on the most! Who could resist that beautiful packaging with the iconic Liberty building illustration? Yes it is a little pricey at £149, but with over £400 worth of products inside, my beauty maths tells me it is actually a real bargain! It even contains 11 full-sized products alongside the deluxe sample sizes. Gifts include skin care from Eve Lom and Dr Sebagh, candles by Diptyque, cosmetics by Surratt and haircare from Davines.
£149 www.liberty.co.uk

JO MALONE
Jo Malone's advent calendar is always a hot favourite and rightly so. However, as a result it sells out very quickly. It is currently unavailable on their website but it might be worth checking your nearest store. If you can get hold of you one you will have 24 days of beautiful treats to look forward to! This is another one that scores highly on the packaging front too, with the brand's Georgian townhouse illustrated on the front.
£260, www.jomalone.co.uk


Other brands worth checking out include L'Occitane, Benefit (although I believe this has sold out online!), No7 and M&S Beauty. If you know of any others we would love to hear from you!

Space NK Apothecary

Having said in a previous post that I wanted a Sephora near to my front door, I realised how lucky us Brits are to have Space NK. Even if we are nowhere near a store, their website is thoroughly stocked and even though there are many expensive products listed, there are some great deals and products. Brands such as Emma Hardie – that you assume would cost the earth – are actually pretty reasonably priced.

Now, in times of tightening our financial belts, I love the fact that I can pop to Boots and buy a makeup remover for £2.99 but it is nice to have a fancier option, without the feeling that you are being pressurised to buy the whole shop.

The employees are very knowledgeable about the products and seem to have a genuine interest in skincare and beauty. I don't know how, but I almost feel like it's a calming experience! Maybe it's the decor and the presentation of the products, and, as I tend to go in at non peak times, the lack of people helps too.

My favourite store is the Covent Garden one, which is located in Shelton Street. The lady that tends to help me never pushes any of the products but instead, really listens to the type of product that I am after. She also gives out really good samples, which I nearly always return to buy. Smart move Space NK! 

My favourite Space NK products/brands include: 

1. Colbert MD Ilłumino Facial Oil (I reviewed this last week and having recommended it to friends and family, they have echoed my praise for this product)

2. Kevyn Aucoin makeup range/ Nars range

3. Ren 

4. Eve Lom/Emma Hardie (see review) 

5. By Terry 

6. Caudalie 

7. Glam Glow (see review) 

8. Beauty Blender

9. Diptyque candles (to me, they are just the kings of candles)
10. Algenist

I could go on but the point is, when you are in the mood to buy something that is a bit more than the basic product, you get lovely service whilst being given specific information about the product, that up until now has never been wrong. I have never regretted purchase from here and, shamefully, I shop here more than I go food shopping! Cooking just isn't my forte.... Luckily, for Space NK, skincare and beauty are!

uk.spacenk.com 

Diptyque Bougie Parfumee

I love a good candle. Actually, I love buying home bits in general but I am a total sucker for a candle. I had heard that Diptyque was worth a look, with excellent reviews about their longevity (because nobody wants a candle to last a week before it's burnt through), the fragrance and the history behind the company.

The company was established in Paris, France in 1963 and the candles continue to be hand made, containing 8-12% fragrance concentration. This may not seem much but trust me and my nose when I say these candles pack a punch. I had to put mine in a drawer when I first bought it because it was more of an autumn scent and, as I bought it in July, I wanted to save it. However, you could still smell it in its package, with the plastic still on! 

It's not really a surprise when you have a look at the process used to make it. From choosing the right wick, to protecting the scent by filling the glasses to the right amount and temperature, there seems to be a step by step process for it all and, quite frankly, you can tell. A beautiful scent is currently wafting across my livingroom and the candle isn't even lit! That being said, when it is, it promises 60 hours of burning time, which will last through the autumn and winter....to be fair, probably until next winter. 

The scent that I chose was Pomander, which to me smells like fruity pumpkin! It's described as 'Christmas joy in a jar' because of its spicy notes, including cinnamon, cloves and orange. 

   £40 for 6.5oz. 

Cost wise, it is on par with Jo Malone scents and actually, scents such as Vanilla and Mimosa come in different sizes and start at £20. As Jen and I often say, you get what you pay for. This doesn't always apply but in this case, it 100% does. 

This was worth every penny and I look forward to the many burning hours of filling my house with this yummy warm, comforting scent. 

uk.spacenk.com

diptyqueparis.co.uk