Mother's Day Recommendations

Hi all!

I've done a quick post to share a few Mother's Day ideas that you can send or arrange as a surprise. These are all local to South Wales so are great if you don't want to travel far or give local!

I have personal experience of each of these places, treatments and products so can fully recommend as a gift for your mum (or any other worthy female in your life!)

Taste Cocktail Kits*

Hey All

L and I are massive cocktail fans, we've spent many years sampling them on nights out and making up our own (check out are cocktail series from when the blog first started here!) so this was a box we were interested in receiving through the post.

Taste cocktails offer a subscription service where you get a box a month or you can order one off boxes. This means you can test it out to see if it's something you want or gift them as presents. With fathers day just around the corner I think they'd be great. Had we not already got my dad a bottle of whiskey I'd have ordered him the gin box but I think two alcohol gifts may not go down too well.

As soon as the box arrived I loved the packaging. It just feels like something a bit different. Sometimes simple is all you need and the brown packaging with the stamp of the logo fits this well. Everything is well protected to help prevent any breakages in transit.

Inside the box comes a recipe card explaining the background behind the spirits. I like this touch as I love to know random bits of information. You never know when it may pop up on a pub quiz! The recipes are simple and easy to follow and you get enough of the spirits to make about 4 cocktails (2 of each). The box comes with all you need except the lime juice and grapefruit peel.

I love the little glass bottles. I've kept them and like to put single flowers in them. I love the slightly vintage feel to the presentation of these. 

I am gutted my martini glasses are currently in storage so we had to use wine glass which don't look quite as good. L and I had a film night last week and got stuck into the cocktails. If we're honest the box wasn't to our taste as we aren't Chartreuse fans but the recipes were quick and easy to follow and the we're eyeing up the other boxes. The Daiquiri and Gin box we could see ourselves loving.

What are your thoughts on a cocktail subscription box? Would you like to receive it as a present? You can see all of the different boxes here.

Love M

xxx

Rodology - Lady Charlotte

Hey All

Hope you had great weekends. Mine was a busy one after a day/night out on Saturday and heading home to Somerset yesterday to spend Mother's Day with my Mum.

When I was home last weekend I was extremely hungover and ended up leaving stuff behind including the necklace my other half got me last year

year. I'm very sentimental about jewellery and always where that necklace and two rings from my parents. As he's currently away with work (3 and a half weeks till I get him back!) I was gutted I wouldn't have my necklace for a week. After a skype last Monday I casually mentioned I'd left it behind but at least I'd get it back in a week. 

So on Wednesday I got home from work to find a parcel I wasn’t expecting and opened it up to find this beauty. I'd sent him the photo of it a month ago in passing as I'm desperate for a skeleton face watch and the necklace reminded me of it. I was so surprised he'd ordered it for me.

It's even more beautiful im real life. It's also quite unusual which I love. If I had to describe my jewellery taste it would probably be unique. The pieces I like to wear everyday I like to be different. 

I have it in silver but the pendant can come im gold and rose gold. Lady Charlotte is also the largest. When people have seen it in real life they've always commented on it smaller than they thought. At about the size of a 10p I think it's perfect.  I wouldn't want it any bigger. You can also get different chain materials and lengths but as mine was a gift I don't know what my other half picked.

I love the detail on it. It also ticks if you shake it. How amazing is that. If you go on Rodology's Instagram page you can see a video of mine ticking. I love the little hints of red in the watch's mechanism too.

They also have cool cufflinks on the site.

Have you heard of Rodology. You should check them out if not at www.rodology.co.uk.

Love M

Xxx

Ted Baker False Nails

Hey All

Hope you've had a good weekend. L and I went out for a few and to watch the rugby on Saturday and then I spent Sunday cooking a roast for my housemates and others half.

A few weeks me and the other half went to a wedding. I had originally planned to wear the nail wraps L wrote about here but I've been biting my nails again so went to boots to grab some falsies! As soon as I saw these beautiful Ted Baker ones I couldn't resist! At £8 and on 3 for 2 I needed them.

These instantly stuck out to me. I loved the pretty floral art and the fading pattern down the nail is how I love to apply glitter! After browsing boots.com I want to order more as they have the nail wrap styles L and I got.

They come with glue (which I wasn't holding out much hope on. I find nail glue is like eye lash glue and my favourite only ever work!) and an applicator with a suction on to make it easy to apply the nails with out getting glue on your fingers! Let's face it whenever I use false nails I end up with glue on the underside of my hands and end up trying to bite it off! Maybe it's just me that's messy!!

First of all I sorted the nails out and put all the ones I was going to use on the other side. One thing I loved about the set is that it had lots of small nails! I find some false nails aren't small enough for me. I then used the suction ended thing! I love this. More nail sets need to come with this!

I love the way they look! They are literally the prettiest nails. They are a really great wearable length, the proof of this was also that they lasted 5 days!!! That was with working in a lab. I was so impressed! Great glue Ted Baker. They also still looked great so I've saved them to wear again! The nails also weren't too thick or curved so didn't look fake.

I've never received so many compliments on my nails! I'll be bringing these out for the Christmas parties! A perfect pretty manicure in literally 10 minutes!





These sets are on my wishlist!

A Little selfie from the wedding!

Have you tried the Ted Baker nail range? L and I have used the wraps and nail polishes! I always love the packaging it makes amazing gifts!!

Love M

xxx

Christmas Gift Guide II

Two weeks ago I wrote a Christmas Gift Guide based solely on Boots, Debenhams and Space NK - product heaven if you ask me!

Not only is Christmas a time for pampering though, it's a time for personalised and fun gifts that mean something to the recipient. Here's my round up of some fun, indulgent and unique gifts.

Not on the High Street

I've been browsing the gift site for a while for a range of gifts for various occasions including weddings and new babies; it certainly doesn't disappoint in that!

This Cocktail Garden kit is a great way for a friend to get more involved with their cocktails whilst getting mildly green fingers. I for one would love to try it out and make a mojito with my own mint that I'd grown. For £13.50 its a lot of fun! Find it here.

I always love this gift too. not only does it show where you've been but it's also a check list for new places you can discover in future. I'd love one for my future property (in my dreams!) and it will only set you back £15.95. Find it here.

The Personalised Gift section is one of my favourites; there's nothing like a unique gift for making it into your friend or relative's top present for all time!

You can browse the art prints that can be personalised here, I couldn't choose a picture as there so many lovely ones to look at!

Amelia Rope

I've written about Amelia Rope before (post here). She makes a wonderful range of chocolate with a twist and creates amazing flavours with sea salt, honeycomb, nuts, rose and so much more. A bar will set you back around £5.60 but the bundles can be great value ranging from £16 to £28 for the chocolate lover in your life.

These bars really are special and I cannot recommend them enough, me and my family have shared bars and had a right giggle over the flavours and surprised ourselves with how much we loved the combinations. She uses fruits, nuts, seeds, plants and everything edible to create amazing new flavours and I believe many people would love such a treat.

You can find her site here - don't blame me if you end up buying them all!

Barnes and Noble Books

Most people love a good read, and there's nothing like a classic. I absolutely love old books and like a lot of people my aim when I buy my own place is to get a seriously big book case and fill it.

Barnes and Noble's Leatherbound Classics are the most perfect collectible books I've ever seen. Any book lover would appreciate them on their own but as the start of a collection it's a lovely present.

Image from Barnes and Noble

Each cover is different and with 113 different classics to collect you are sure to find one to suit. I can't stop staring that them and how beautiful they are!

Find the full list here

Liberty Scarves

I don't know about you but I loved watching the Liberty of London tv program, it's a lovely shop to go in but seeing all of the staff and how quirky and creative they are is fascinating to me. As a scientist most of my day is so far from the artistic creations that I used to be part of when doing art at school and working in retail so I love watching when other people do it!

When thinking of Liberty it's obvious that you will think of their scarves so when browsing and making my own wishlist of silk scarves I couldn't resist but share these lovely ones for a real Christmas treat.

CashCa Black Cashmere Scarf £105

You cannot go wrong with a simple black cashmere scarf and this one is all about luxury! 

Vivienne Westwood Blue Dyed Flag Viscose Scarf £120

I love a bit of VW for her love of the Union Jack and typical British colours, a scarf like this would look gorgeous with any outfit but I'd love it to throw on at work and brighten up my black and grey work outfits! 

Navy Liberty London Star Paisley Silk Scarf £110

The Liberty scarves are second to none when it comes to the timeless wild scarf. There are people who flock from all over the world to get them and their prints are infamous. I particularly like this one as it looks so much like peacock feathers and the colours are gorgeous. I don't think anyone would be angry for receiving a timeless classic like this. 

Frame Again*

We were contacted by Frame Again after writing the previous Gift Guide and it was lovely of them to allow us to create our own to see how the process works. Frame Again have featured on Dragon's Den but after turning down Peter Jones have built up their company on funds from the public. Their business specialises in printing and framing photos of your choice with multiple colour choices.

The best part of these frames? Not only are they able to be fixed to a wall but they are also magnetic, meaning you can fix them together back to back or side by side for a really cool effect. I've seen many images where others have tiled them on walls for a wall of photos which looks really cool, as well as sticking them together on a desk in series.

I chose to send them a picture of me and M at Glastonbury to test out the service and it was so much fun choosing the colour combinations. The delivery service was also super speedy and I received it just over a day after ordering.



The frame feels really sturdy and good quality and I look forward to getting more in future. I'd love to have a wall of them in multiple colours; they'd look great in a study, kitchen or hallway as a feature wall.

You can personalise your own Frames here for £9.99 at the moment instead of £19.99.

What do you think of these gifts? Would you love to receive them on Christmas Day? 

Let me know!

L xxx

Christmas Gift Guide

Happy Sunday morning!

I expect by now most of you have started to turn to the brochures and internet adverts that have suddenly been making its way into our inboxes and shopping baskets.

I have had loads of fun making wishlists and my own Christmas list from the Debenhams, Boots and Space NK Gift guides. So without further ado here are my picks of products that you might want to add to your wishlists or buy for fellow friends or loved ones.

Starting off with Boots, full of amazing product goodness that it would take a rather strong individual to ignore.

Smashbox always have some cracking products out for Christmas and I've always got my eye on the miniature primers. I've heard they're amazing and for £25 for the trio it's a good way to try them out.
The On The Rocks palette is also an extensive range of eye shadows for a bargainous £49 and would make a great gift.

Benefit gifts are extremely popular and it's not hard to see why, they're beautifully packaged and usually contain a great variety of their products as the perfect trial of something that may be new to you or as a travel kit. The above is the perfect pick me up for on the go make up or a cohesive travel kit, all you're missing is your base products and you're good to go! For £29.50 the Sexy and Scrumptious gift set is amazing.

Liz Earle have never sold their gift sets anywhere other than John Lewis. I think it's great they've gone more mainstream by selling at Boots and this gift set contains their infamous Cleanse and Polish followed by a skin tonic and eye cream. All have very good reviews and contain natural products so would be an ideal gift for someone new to the brand for £19.75

These pages are my favourite! It's like a perfect mix and match section; Nails Inc polishes ranging from £15/16, Benefit's Hoola bronzer, Lancome mascara and YSL Touche Eclat. All of which have rave reviews and anyone would be happy to receive. 

Ted Baker produce some amazing gift sets also and i particularly like their designs this year. I'm a fan of coral anyway but the bottles lined up in different colours as above remind me of being on holiday in Southern Italy on the Amalfi Coast as the houses are similar colours and this makes me happy.
The UpTed Abbey set above looks like a lovely gift and I would imagine it will be on offer as a star gift at Boots sometime soon.

Origins also have some great gift sets where the value can be worth around £30 more than the price it is on sale for. The set below costs £40 though is worth somewhere near £68. Ginzing is one of their most popular ranges and this gift set is the perfect range of products for someone who deserves a pamper via a skincare set packed with vitamins and minerals.

So what do Debenhams have to offer?

You can never go wrong with a bit of sparkle in the form of a piece of jewellery. Watches are a classic item and rose gold is a popular choice at the moment, although silver and gold are still the classics.

The Clarins palette contains a gorgeous selection of eyeshadows that anyone can wear, especially over the Christmas season and would be perfect in time for New Year's Eve. The ten shades are a great basic palette for £35, meaning it's only £3.50 per eyeshadow which is pretty good value for Clarins!

Lancome sets are also really good value for money and the larger set has a massive variety of trial sized products and an eyeshadow palette:

It is hard to even think about Debenhams without considering Urban Decay. They have plenty of products available year round but this year their Christmas sets are awesome. The limited edition Vice 3 palette is sure to sell out and the eyeliner and lipstick sets are musts in every beauty addicts collection. I've got Vice 3 and the Black Magic eyeliner set already, the others are sure to find their way into my life too! These products range from £27 to £42.

Lastly L'Occitane are another brand where you just cannot go wrong with gift sets, especially with scents such as Shea Butter as they're so soft and light that anyone would be happy to receive it and you just cannot go wrong, especially for £20 or £35.

I couldn't complete these Gift Guides without a mention from Space NK, my latest favourite store. Having never bought from them before until a few weeks ago I'm now a constant browser of their site and some gift sets have particularly caught my eye:

Nars Virtual Domination cheek palette; £45 but worth £117. I really need it but cannot afford it; I need to find someone who can afford to buy it for me! A lovely present for any female who loves good quality blushes.

This is nicely followed up with the Digital World Lip Coffret also from Nars featuring 5 lip pencils, 3 of which are limited edition all of £32. They also allegedly come in an acrylic style box for future storage which I always thing is a good idea.

GlamGlow have a gorgeous skincare set out containing three different mud treatments for £50. With a huge following for its tingling and cleansing muds this one is sure to make a skincare obsessive extremely happy!

In fact i imagine at this rate I will be producing another Gift Guide in a week or so with other new products that I've found!

Do you find it easy or hard to buy for fellow females are Christmas time?
I think I could quite easily do it but may come into problems when a budget is required and also stopping myself from buying one for me too!

What are on your Gift Guides?

I've got another 'product free' gift guide coming next week!

L xxx

Benefit's Christmas Gift Sets: Cheeky Sweet Spot

Good morning!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend, we are currently suffering with hangovers and craving a greasy breakfast after spending the weekend at our friends house for a Harry Potter themed party, tour around the studios included! No doubt the themed cocktails and games will be explained in an upcoming post!

A few weeks ago we snapped up the Cheeky Sweet Spot blush set from Benefit after seeing it in Boots, and what a beauty it is:

How can you argue with a range of blush like this?!

I can't get my head around what an amazing set it is, especially for the £29.50 price tag. Not only is there 6 blushes in a range of colours and finishes there's also a brush and a little pot of Watt's Up.

I love the packaging style, it's like a gingerbread house and I love the Christmassy trees and colours on it too.

The box opens up to show the palette inside and also contains a booklet with tips and tricks on the best ways to use the blushes and bronzer.

The image above shows the Box o' Powder products laid out in a palette and the names of each one.

I've had Dandelion for years and Coralista is a firm fave with me; I've been raving about it for ages! You can see it's own review here.

The others are ones I've been desperate to try but never actually managed to get round to it (I've been saving my points for ages!)



Bella Bamba is a pink toned blush with a shimmer to it that I've often been recommended but I've never tried it myself having been obsessed with Coralista. Bella Bamba is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe I haven't listened to those who have recommended it to me, even Lisa Benefit herself told me I should be wearing it and now it's my new obsession. I can see me buying this in future!

Sugarbomb looks amazing in the palette and I was excited to try this after the success of BB, however I was really disappointed with this one. It's a quadrant of different colours but all have the same finish. For REALLY pale girls this might be great as a blush but as a fairly pale girl myself I didn't find this had much pigmentation, so I've been using it with the other blushes as a highlighter and it works great for that, though not for every day use!



Hoola is a gorgeous bronzer that doesn't have any shimmer in it and can be great for contouring. I tend to save this for weekends as I use my Bourjois one for work but the Hoola one is a perfect bronzer for contouring the cheekbones and adding a more defined look to the face.

Rockateur is another gorgeous shimmer blush, but it tends to be another highlighter for me as it's such a light rose gold colour.



This has been a perfect buy for me and I've loved trying out the new colours (new to me). Not to mention it's a bargain considering the weights of the products where Rockateur is actually the same size as the product to buy on its own.

Watt's Up is also a beautiful highlighter that can be blended into the cheekbones and eye bone for a soft and dewy glow.

Would fully recommend this as a Christmas present for a loved one or make up addict...........or maybe even yourself??

BUY IT!

L xxx





Hey All

As L said we've had a great weekend catching up with friends in lots of Harry Potter themed goodness!

After a stroll through boots and seeing this beauty I took L to go and see it too! We were both totally persuaded! Who could leave such a beauty behind. It's a great way to try other blushes!

I own Dandelion and Rockateur. Dandelion is one of my all time favourite blushes. It's such a beautiful soft pink. You can see a full review on it here.

Rockateur is a warm rose gold colour and there is a full review of that here.

Cheeky Sweet Spot costs £29.50! It's such a bargain considering one powder is £23.50. The products are all different sizes. The rockateur in the box is actually the same size as the full size box! The others are less.

Hoola is a colour I've been wanting to try for ages. It's not got glitter or shimmer so is a perfect contour colour and doesn't have an orange undertone. So far it's not disappointed and is so pigmented.

Coralista is one of L's favourites but it's not a colour I'd picked up for myself. I'm not an orange girl. I never thought it really suited my skin tone. I was wrong this looks gorgeous on the cheeks!

Bellabamba is a colour I've never even considered. A shimmery pink is just a colour I didn't think I needed. It's great to shave shades in you wouldn't normally try. It looks gorgeous on pale skin and gives a nice flush.

Sugarbomb is a colour I've been a little disappointed in. It doesn't seem to be as pigmented as the others but it does have it's uses and does add a gorgeous shimmer over colours like Dandelion. It would also look good over hoola if you were going for a bronzed look.

Watt's up is another product I've wanted to try for ages. I'm a massive fan of highlighters but a cream one isn't that always appeals to me as I wasn't sure how it would be over powder. It gives a gorgeous subtle glow without looking like a glitter ball. It's perfect for day and night!

I absolutely love this!! I love the metal tin and it's such a great mix of all the colours you need so would be perfect for travelling! This is a must have set in my opinion!

Thanks benefit for such an awesome set. I can see a lot more of my money going on the gift sets! Are any taking your fancy?

Love M

xxx