Sparkle And Shade

The always lovely Emily over at Sparkle & Shade asked me to take part in her "Inspirational Interviews" series this weekend.  I was very flattered - and amused - to be asked to take part, and loved answering the questions!

You can see what I had to say for myself here: Sparkle & Shade's Inspirational Interview

Christmas Countdown - Bits and bobs

Continuing my Christmas gift guide, here are some other bits and bobs that I thought might make great gifts for people (including me!).

First of all, one of the more prettily packaged palettes I've seen this season:

Dior Minaudiere

I actually bought one of these for my mum last week, having seen it on a variety of US blogs recently, but if you follow me on Twitter at all, you'll know it was stolen from me when I was mugged last week.  I'm fine, but I'm still heartbroken that I lost this.  Containing three toning eyeshadows and two lipglosses, these are destined to be a collectors item of the future, I think.  They cost £59 from Debenhams, and are well worth the investment, just tuck the Dior bag well away in your shopping!

Jonathan Ward Candles

I mention Jonathan at any possible opportunity, I realise, but for me, his really have become the standard against which I measure all candles.  Clean burning, organic, lovingly presented and always gloriously scented, Jonathan's candles are extremely difficult to beat.  In particular at the moment I'm enjoying the Amber & Spice collection, of which I cleared Wholefoods out of almost its entire stock, recently!  Even the £20 "gift size" candle burns for an extremely long time, and doesn't look at all miserly. Very highly recommended indeed.

Incidentally, Tom Ford has recently introduced a range of candles based on his Private Blend Collection of scents, and I think the Tuscan Leather would be a great addition to my candle wall!

Affordable makeup-wise, ELF makeup is difficult to beat and they've brought out a lovely range of eyeshadow sets for Christmas this year:

I've got my hands on a couple of these sets already, and I think they're astonishing value at £3.50 for the sets of six shadows, to £9 for a set of 32, to £15 for a set of 100!  I adore their Studio line of brushes too, and think that a lot of pro lines will find it hard to compete with their quality at only £3.50 each.

And finally - it's not beauty related, I know, but this IS a beauty, believe you me! - there is this:

Yes, it's a filofax, but to be precise it is the Filofax Gourmet Society giftbox, which contains an organiser (in either the grape that you see here, or Slate Grey), a pen, and a year's membership to the Gourmet Society which gets you up to 50% in thousands of restaurants around the UK.  I was the lucky recipient of one of these a couple of weeks ago, and it has been in daily use ever since, I can't imagine life without it.  This normally retails at £43 (and is a bargain even then, as the Gourmet Society membership alone costs more than that) but is currently on special offer on the filofax website at £38.  I know at least three people who'd love one of these, and probably more!

So, that's it for my Christmas gift guide (for now), I may add to it later ... what are you thinking of getting people?

Christmas Countdown - Hair

Continuing the gift guide theme for this week, I've moved onto gifts for hair.  Truly, for me, there are only two contenders this year, and they're expensive, admittedly, so hold onto your hats ...

Cloud Nine The O - Gift of Volume.

Coming in at a whopping £199, this is an amazing gift.  I first saw TheO way back in June, and was astonished at the technology on display.  Essentially, TheO is a set of heated rollers, but with a big difference, the round base you see at the back there remains cool, and the rollers are popped into it one by one to heat up, which takes approximately exactly four seconds per roller.  I've not seen anything like it, and this pack which contains TheO, three sets of rollers (normally bought separately) a carrying case and a bottle of amplifying spray is actually good value.  TheO normally retails at £149 alone.  I'm actually trialling one of these at the moment, so look out for a full review very soon.

And now you've seen that, feast your eyes on this:

GHD Midnight Deluxe Set

I've seen this in the flesh, and I think that hands down this is one of the most beautifully packaged gift sets I've laid eyes on this year.  Presented in a gorgeous taffeta-covered trinket box, the set contains a travel hair-dryer, sectioning clips, a gorgeous little mirror, a heat-resistant carry case (which rolls out into a mat during use) for the - also included  - new GHD "Gold" styler.  This new styler promises smoother gliding over the hair and cooler handles. At a cost of £149, I think anyone would be delighted when unwrapping this, me included!


The Fine Print: Again, links provided for information purposes only, and are not affliate links.

Christmas Countdown - Gift sets

This week, I'm mainly going to be showing you a mixture of stuff I'm getting for people for Christmas, and the odd piece of random stuff that I want for Christmas myself ...

For Him:

Neals Yard Smooth gift set:

Yes, I'm starting of with a present for a male, I thought why not?  Costing £27, this set includes face wash, moisturiser, body wash and shaving cream, and is an ideal way to introduce organic and natural products to the men in your life.  The smell isn't too overwhelmingly "aromatherapy", they're rather neutral, in fact, but this remains a good value set filled with award winning products from Neal's Yard, I swear by their Frankincense Hydrator at this time of year, and this little box is definitely ending up under my tree for someone this Christmas!

For Her:

Sanctuary Spa Kyphi and Mande Luxury Body Treat Set.

Costing just £20 this is an ideal set for someone who can't make it to The Sanctuary themselves, filled as it is with a selection of The Sanctuary's signature spa treats.  The set contains:  Sensuous Body Souffle, Sensuous Bath Creme,  Sensuous Body Scrub all  in the Mande Lular scent, alongside Kyphi Honey & Lotus Nourishing Bath Creme, with some Kyphi Shea and Almond Body Lotion.  They kindly add in a "Spa Skin Body Polisher", which is a shower puff to you and me.  Personally, I love the good-sized red vanity case you get with this, just hoping the recipient this one is going to this year.


 For Me:

Tom Ford Black Orchid gift set:

Yes, I've mentioned this one before.  But I still want it.  A lipstick, a nail varnish and perfume, all named Black Orchid, this is a gift set to treasure.  And, I promise, I will...

The Fine Print: No samples harmed in the writing of this guide - all links provided for imformation purposes only, and are not affiliate links.

NotD: Deborah Lippmann - Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Deborah Lippmann is famous for her glitter polishes. I don't like glitter, alas, but this shade (created for Pat Benatar) is, as they say: "right up my street".

A glorious "blue steel" shade (why yes, I am doing my best Zoolander impression as I type this!), this was a total dream to apply, silky, not too thick, and opaque in two coats:




In some lights it's dark blue, in others it's grey, and in still others it's a gloriously twinkly delight:





Love it. I'm wearing it for a board meeting later today. I think Pat Benatar would approve.

Pics show two coats over Orly Bonder base coat and Seche Vite on top, which accounts for the tipwear. Deborah Lippmann polishes are available exclusively from House of Fraser Apothecaries in the UK.

Browhaus

I am genetically incapable of plucking my own eyebrows, I make a mess of it leaving them uneven and prone to bald spots.  Add in my general poor eyesight, and the fact that I'm a total cack handed muppet anyway, and it's mainly just a recipe for disaster, so I just pay someone to do it for me.  I can't leave them to their own devices, as then I would look like this:

For the last few years, I've been a regular at Malika in Westfield, as I've found that in there it doesn't matter who you see, you always get a damn good threading.  I do not, under any circumstances, ever get my brows waxed anymore after being left once with the most surprised expression in the world for several months after a therapist got a bit over-excited with the spatula!

Last week, however, I was invited to pop along to Browhaus for a complimentary threading (and a bit of a tweeze) in their newly opened premises at Floral Street in Covent Garden, and, I have to say that I was very, very impressed.  Housed in the same building as the Ministry of Waxing, the entire complex is devoted to depilation of every kind, and they do it very, very well. 

My therapist, Ellie, was very friendly, and very obviously knew precisely what she was doing, and I'm happy to report that it was the most pain-free threading I've ever had.  Whilst the girls as Malika also know what they are doing, they can be a little ... erm ... brusque in style, bless 'em!  I also loved the heated chairs, which were perfect for falling asleep in.  Well, they would have been had someone not been, you know, ripping tiny hairs out of my face ...

Browhaus also had some great offers on, normally a brow-threading will cost you £15, but if you buy ten (and I'm tempted, believe you me) it will only cost you £100 - which you can pay in two instalments - and you can just pop in for shapings as and when you like.  They also do lash extensions, which I'm also really, really interested in.  I love my new eyebrow shape, which is a little rounder and softer than what I'm used to from Malika, and I'll definitely be back, especially as it's just on my (work) doorstep.

Thank you Browhaus!  Just wish you didn't have the visual cliff on the way in, it's an horrific entrance for vertigo sufferers!

Top Shop Lipsticks

 I'm a makeup snob.  I know it, and I rarely make any apologies for it!  However, I do like a little look around makeup from the high street every now and again.  Now, I am old enough to remember TopShop's original range of makeup (which, if memory serves was based around rip-offs homages of Nars Multiples, I still have both the silver and the gold one around somewhere, which, as they must be almost 15 years old now is rather disgusting now I come to think of it), and I was under the impression that Top Shop's makeup range wasn't for me.  Well, it turns out I was wrong.  And right, but more about that later ...

I was unexpectedly sent two of the latest lipsticks from the range, and I've been rather pleasantly surprised by the quality.  Ruthless and Beguiled are bang on the "goth lips" trend for this winter, Ruthless being a deep purple, and beguiled being a red:

Swatched, here's how they look:

As you can see Beguiled swatches rather lighter than you'd expect from the bullet shot, and Ruthless isn't actually black ...

On the lips:

Love Beguiled, and I've worn it a lot since it appeared.  I find the texture velvety and moisturising, and it's non-staining too.








However:

Ruthless won't ever be worn outside of the house, unless I want to give MrLippie a shock, he nearly had a heart attack when he saw me in this!  All I can say is that ... well, it didn't look as bad as I anticipated, but ... I don't think I'll be wearing it for work any time soon.

All in all a definite two thumbs up for the formula - and I like the quirky packaging, though for some reason I was under the impression that these were originally presented in cardboard tubes, mine are in matte metal tubes - but, as I suspect that the only things in Top Shop that would fit me are the lipsticks, I don't think I'll be picking any more up, unless you can buy them online!

Lipsticks are £8 each and available from Top Shop stores now.