Sale shopping, NUDE skincare and some other ramblings..

Christmas has been and gone and levels of daily food intake are back down to an acceptable level.  With the end of Christmas comes the start of the traditional post Christmas sales and the rush of sale shoppers.

I remember being younger and yearning to be earning (mad rhyming skills gwan) a nice wage so I could buy things from the Harrods sale.  It didn't register with me that if you were earning a nice amount, you wouldn't need to be sale shopping there.

Back when I was a poor student there was always a plethora of things I wanted to buy but now that I have a job and can buy things without worrying about paying for textbooks and travelcards..there is nothing I want to buy!

I went to Westfields with my brother today and we walked around for AGES..what did I buy? One top and two DVDs and that was all.  There was literally NOTHING I liked..plus the rush doesn't help.  I'm glad we took the car because I was shattered by the time we'd finished and my feet hurt so much I had to drive home barefoot. 

I have a million and one samples which I have been using..most of them from Nude.  I used the miracle mask and it was fantastic!  I might treat myself and get it as it really made my skin feel super soft and the effects lasted..I'm not so sure about the cleansing oil.  It made my skin feel a bit tight but it went back to normal a while later and it did feel smoother..

Hmm..that's all for now..there won't be any beauty related posts until after the new year so have a good one!

My alternative Christmas message

You'll notice that I haven't updated my blog that much recently and that is for many reasons..the least of which being a mad rush to tie up any loose ends at work and the rush to pick up my turkey and bring it home via the joy that is the London Underground.

I'm pleased to report that the ends have been tied and the turkey is currently defrosting.  That's another thing actually..my dad put the turkey out to defrost last night (I know this because I'm the Christmas cook and nothing gets done in that house on Christmas Day without getting my approval first..though I let approval slide if anything alcoholic comes out as the sooner that's travelling down your the hatch..the better).

My dad being my dad has some very funny ideas about defrosting..he was convinced the turkey would defrost in the garage.  Now in years past, that was fine but this year it has snowed so it is colder outside than it is in the fridge..so, the turkey has is now "coming to temp" in the kitchen.

Anyway, to my Christmas message..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Eat a lot

Drink a lot

Be merry..a lot!

From Russia with love

I have always wanted to go to Russia, I've seen it on countless TV programmes but I truly fell in love with it when I saw it on one of Anthony Bourdain's shows.  It was the furry hats and the thick snow that drew me in.

I'm not ashamed to say that I let out a squeal of delight when I was told I'd be going.  I got an email the other day from someone who was going on holiday to Moscow and they asked which products helped me keep my skin in decent condition whilst I was there.

Here's what I took..

1. Aveeno Skin Moisturising Lotion.  I have reviewed this before (click here).  My skin is drier than the Sahara as it is so I was applying this like it was going out of fashion in Moscow.  It kept my properly hydrated and for that I am very grateful.
2. Purity Organic Skincare Facial Moisturiser.  I am really loving this brand, I raved about their cleansing makeup remover and I have just as much love for this face cream.  It manages to hydrate my skin (which was going through a horrible dry, flaky patch before I started using this) without making me greasy.  The only issue I first had with it is that it feels a bit too solid and you have to work it into your hands and then into your skin but I have found that the massaging part helps really sink the cream in.  I used more of this in Moscow than I would in England and it did a brilliant job of keeping me moisturised without turning me greasy which is no mean feat.
3. Jessica Nails Nourish Cuticle Formula.  I have reviewed this before and of all the cuticle smooth makers (we're hot on technical terms around these parts) this is the best one I have ever used.  I was using this every morning and every night whilst in Moscow.  It also helped keep the finger tips moisturised and it healed up a cut I had on my thumb in record speed.  This is seen as a product you think you don't really need but once you start using it, you do wonder why you didn't start earlier.
4. Carmex Lip Balm.  I love this.  I've mentioned this before.  I forgot to use it on the first day and my lips were crying out for it come the evening.  I applied copious amounts of this and it never failed to work.
5. Aveeno Hand Cream.  You will see that I took two hand creams out with me, this is because I rely too much on it.  This moisturises my hands like no other so it was the first thing I put in my skincare bag.
6. Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate.  I love this for many reasons.  Firstly, it works.  It looks like a mixture between oil and water (ha!) and I find it is a very indulgent product.  This is the kind of product that I can imagine someone with a dressing table having.  The kind of person who has time to sit down at the end of a day/start of a day and look into a massive mirror whilst savouring the products they are using.  I do not have time for this..and even if I did..I don't have a dressing table (boo!) The directions say to warm it up in your hands but I find it warms itself up once it touches skin.  In England, I just used on my face and was done with it but in Moscow I decided to rub it on the decolletage because touching that part of your body is quite comforting when you're freezing *ahem*.  It doesn't leave behind a greasy film and just gets to work overnight.  My skin always looks better in the morning for having used it.  I can see it lasting me ages as one pump is all I need (double entendre FTW).
7. Anatomicals Help the Paw.  I love love love using this whilst in London as it gives me the perfect amount of moisture. My hands also really dry out when I'm on the aeroplane and this cream is the perfect consistency to moisturise but also not leave my hands so greasy that I can't hold a glass/fork/knife.

Now, about Russia.  I still love it.  If you've seen it on TV and it looks magical..just wait til you get there.  I went to Moscow and I have fallen in love with it.  I went to Prague earlier this year and announced that it had stolen my heart..it is now my bit on the side, Moscow is my love.  Me being the idiot I am wanted to know how cold -25 °C actually was so I decided to go out in the dead of night.  It was freezing..well, about 25 degrees MORE than freezing.  We did the old "take out a glass of water and see how quickly it freezes" experiment.  It was about 2 seconds before we saw little icy bits forming.

The Christmas Present Buying Guide: Cloud Nine's Gifts of Christmas

Cloud Nine have something which goes beyond the standard curler/straightener setup you can buy all year round and is a limited edition dealy just for Christmas..

The Gift of Christmas Volume
For those who want to romance the curl (see what I did there?), there is TheO. 

My cousin has this and she has thin, straight hair.  I have thick, curly hair and it works just as well on both of us.  Alls you do is pop a curler in the pod (the contraption on top of the turquoise box on the right) and let it warm up.  It warms up and lets you know it's ready for action.  You put the next curler in and start putting the first one in your hair.  By the time number one is in the hair, number two is ready so there's not really much waiting around.  The roller gets warm from the inside out so it's practically impossible to burn yourself on it.

What do you get in the pack?

• TheO Pod (as I called it, the "contraption")
• 4 x 30 mm rollers
• 4 x 40 mm rollers
• 4 x 50 mm rollers
• Cloud Nine Amplify Spray
• Sectioning comb
• A case to carry it all around in.

The whole shebang will cost you £199.95.

Now the baby that I want under my Christmas tree..

The Gift of Christmas Straight

There isn't much to explain here really, straightening your hair isn't the arduous task it once was..your arms are free to enjoy a life where stiffness isn't impending every time you wash your hair and decide to straighten it.

The straightening irons come with a temperature control panel which makes them very versatile, you get the same results even if your hair is thicker than thick or thinner than thin.  I quite like the idea of temperature control because if you're just doing the morning after straighten, you can turn the heat down so you don't inflict more heat on your locks than is needed.

What do you get in the pack?

• Cloud Nine iron
• Cloud Nine micro iron
• Two carry pouches
• Gift bag
• Two Iron Heat guards
• Two presentation boxes

This will set you back £154.95.

Now I bet you want to know where you can buy these from, well, you can get them in salons nationwide and also directly from the Cloud Nine website, click here to be taken there.

Get on my belley..my take on a traditional Japanese tummy wrap

I make no apologies for the shoddy Austin Powers influenced title to this post as it made me laugh..

When I got an email about this, I practically leapt at the chance to try it..mainly because I'd been freezing in the winter despite wrapping a million and one layers arond me and also because I'd seen someone in the office wearing it but she was very secretive as to what it was so all Google searches had proved pointless. 

They must have read my mind because I never mentioned my want for one of these to anyone apart from my mate at work..

The size I have is a medium and it fits..nice and snug and it does keep you very warm.

One of the things I've had problems with this winter is cold fingers.  Some of my fingers were cold and the rest were warm..the Genki Haramaki said it would combat this and I have to say that it did.  I found myself not needing to wear my trusty mittens or wear any socks when at home.  Simon usually whinges about how cold my feet are and I didn't notice this until he pointed it out the other day..he hasn't moaned about them once since I've been wearing this so it must really work.

Without reintroducing you to the last meal you ate, I can safely say that the claim listed under "aids digestion" is also true..I usually have one day where I need a tablet to get through but this hasn't happened whilst I've been wearing this..  My boss also thinks that I have been given a super power as he dared me to go out of the office in just my shirt and trousers to pick something up and I did it without feeling cold..

It comes in a variety of colours, mine is blue which isn't really a big problem for me..it does what it's meant to do but I can see why people would want different colours.  It is available in nine different colours (black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, white and yellow).  The suggested way to wear it is to have it under your boobs and onto the hips but I can't wear it like that at work and as my hips don't really get cold, I decided to pull it over the boobs and wear it like a boob tube.  I suppose if your back gets cold and seizes up, it would be better to wear it in the way it is suggested but I don't suffer from that *touches wood* so I adjusted it.

All in all, I have to say that I am really impressed with this..it keeps me nice and warm without making me sweat like a pig.  I find it is better than layering as you don't look like you've put on some extra pounds but you get a lot more warmth than you do with just layering clothes on.  I was a bit funny about washing it as I thought it might get loose and take the warmth away but it didn't..

You can pick up one from the Haramaki website for £19.99.  They come in two different sizes, medium (30-33 inch waist) and large (33-37 inch waist) but as I said, I had the smaller size and it was nice and snug on me so they can take a fair bit of stretching.

The Christmas Present Buying Guide: The smellies

In the vein of time saving, this post will be picture heavy and ramble light as the last thing you want to do is read through lines of stuff when you just need to buy something and be done with it..

I've left this post late (says she as if it was done on purpose!) as there's a wide range of scents and products which would be suitable for the whole age spectrum..

Cast your eye over these wares, I  doubt anybody receiving these would be unhappy..

These babies smell gorgeous, I have the Rum and Blackcurrant and Champagne and Spice variants.  My favourite is the rum one (no surprise there) but they both smell gorgeous and the smell actually lasts on me which is a plus as my body seems to reject nice smells.  The Champage and Spice one smells a bit more earthy than the Rum and Blackcurrant one but then I suppose that's the spice in it.  If you love the way Molton Brown smells, you will love this.  The smell isn't similar but it's of the same "class" if that makes sense? I think what I'm trying to say is that it smells sophisticated without being in your face.  The Rum and Blackcurrant one just smells handsome.  All the creams are free from nasties and are a godsend for dry skin.  My favourite way to use them was to slather my feet in them, pop some socks on and go to sleep...perfect moisturised feet in the morning.

You know sometimes you can smell someone's body moisturiser and it smells really sickly and is way too overpowering? I found these to be gentle enough to not be vomit inducing but a lot of people did ask me what they were when I had them on..

They retail for £14.99 each and can be bought on the Bettyhula website.  They also do sample sizes which, at any other time of the year, you could use as a taster but at this time, you can use a crafty stocking filler.

These would be perfect stocking fillers..

1. Fruit Works Cherry and Rosehip body butter: £2.49.
2. Fruit Works Nectarine and Orange Blossom body scrub: £1.79.
3. Fruit Works Apple and Ginger shower gel: £1.79.

Click here to buy all three of them..they have different scents available to the ones I've featured.  They also do lip balms and handwashes.

1.  Miss Cole Gym'll Fix it: £11.99, click here to buy.
2. Miss Cole The Bold and the Beautiful: £17.50, click here to buy.

1.  Fruit Works Paradise Punch: £11.00, click here to buy.
2. Fruit Works Energiser: £9.99, click here to buy.

1.  Signature Handcare Duo: £10.90, click here to buy.
2. Signature Vanity Fair: £10.79, click here to buy.
3. Lavender Apothecary Peace and Quiet: £15.00, click here to buy.
4. Lavender Apothecary Contagious Smile: £5.99, click here to buy.

1.  The Haynes Guide to Grooming Strip Bare Facial Fuel Injection: £8.99, click here to buy.
2. The Haynes Guide to Grooming Fully Loaded: £9.99, click here to buy.

The Swatch Files: Revlon Silver Fox Quad

It's not very often that I find a quad which not only has the desired amount of pigmentation but also has a decent enough variety of colour so that you're able to switch your look up from day to night by just adding another colour.

This palette is one of the good ones...

The grey and minty green shade are matte, the white and purple have a slight (very slight) shimmer to them..

I'm pretty impressed that the mint actually came out mint on my skin as usually they come out white.  They're all very soft and easy to blend..not so soft that they crumble..

The white looks a bit chalky but it's easy to blend out with a brush.  As for the sparkle..

It looks a bit gritty but that is due to my camera playing up, in reality, it catches the light really well without making you look like a glitterball.

Get Nude with Batiste!

I quite like Batiste as a brand, they make a product that everyone knows and uses and they haven't jacked the price up since the secret was let out and their packaging hasn't changed too much either.

I have used this a fair bit and I quite like it.

The natural dry shampoo I had before this was a bit hit and miss, the exit route for the product was similar to the top of those containers you get hundreds and thousands in and so you had to shake it to ensure the powder was loose and then put the powder in your hands and rake your hands through your hair.  A whole lot of fuss for something that didn't really do anything..

This is why I was super glad that Batiste had a nozzle instead of just an open topped bottle under a cap.

I used it when my hair was just slightly greasy and when it really needed a wash and it was up to task of refreshing it on both occassions.  I found the best way to use it was to clip my hair up and give my roots some nozzle action.

There was a tiny bit of fallout but that's to be expected and it didn't rub into my clothes, I just shook it off.

It says it is fragrance free and it is.  That brings me onto something else...it eliminates smell from your hair like nothing else.  When you make Indian food, you have to fry up garlic, onions etc..and you get a smell.  This takes the smell right of your hair which is brilliant as it saves you a job, all you need to do is shower or change your clothes.  I read somewhere that you weren't meant to put perfume in your hair unless it was freshly washed because it took the moisture out of it but I'm not sure how true that is.  If it is true, this would be brilliant if you worked with food and washing your hair took too long.

It's not fiddly to use.  You can just tip the bottle and squeeze and a decent amount of product comes out.  Also, I forgot to add this before but it doesn't make your hair look white/grey at all which is really good if you're a brunette because you don't want tell tale patches of dry shampoo usage.

If you want a dry shampoo to get rid of the grease and takes smells right out, this would be the one for you.  It will set you back less than £4 in both Superdrug and Boots.

Revlon A/W 2010 Suede Rhapsody: Mink, Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink lipsticks

I've never been a great lipstick expert so I've never really paid much attention to their different finishes.  When I was of makeup wearing age, the in thing was lipgloss so that's all we wore.  It's only now that I'm a bit older and that the major crush on lipgloss has gone that people are turning back to lipsticks.

This post has been a long, long time in the making as the weather changed before I was able to swatch Mink but I've finally managed a decent shot..

Anyway, rambles aside, the three I have from the Suede Rhapsody collection are Mink, Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink.  The former is creme and the latter two are mattes.

When I first saw these colours I was adamant they wouldn't work for me.  Mink really looks that dark in real life.  Then I saw Mink in a different light (ba dam tshhh) and it looked like it would suit my lips pretty well.  I still had reservations about the other two.

Then we went pink..

I really really like this.  It is one a very few pink lipsticks in my collection and it works very well with my skintone.  I find a lot of pink lipsticks make me look like I've stolen them from someone else with far paler skin than mine but this works well with my skintone.  I think(!) it is called a pink with blue undertones because I can see a bit of lilacy blueness in it when I have it on.  If that's the case, I know my shading at long last!  As you can see, it is a little drying but nothing some lipbalm underneath it and some lipgloss on top of it wouldn't fix.

Then things took a more orangey turn:

Words cannot express how terrible this looked on me.  It looks cringeworthly bad.  It looked even worse in the full face pic before I edited it down.  It is also a lot drier than Stormy Pink as you can see.  I'm not sure which skintone this lipstick would look good on.

Then came my favourite one, Mr Mink to you, Minky Minkerson to me..

This has been my go to worksafe colour ever since I got it.  It has the right amount of pigment, glides very nicely on the lips and the colour lasts a fair while.  It's a very easy colour to wear, I've managed to master putting it on without the aid of a mirror!

I've done some on the hand swatches for those who don't have pigmented lips like mine..

Although Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink are matte, I find they behave differently.  Stormy Pink isn't as drying as Smoked Peach.  You really need some extra moisture giver when applying Smoked Peach.  You need a little less if wearing Stormy Pink.

I have been alternating between Mink and Stormy Pink as I love how both of them look.  Mink is a brilliant "my lips but better shade" for us WOCs and Stormy Pink is the pink that I have been waiting for.  It works in perfect harmony with my skin.

Which of these three are your favourites? Do you like matte lipsticks or do you think they should have a bit of shine to them?

My Christmas Wishlist

I have been swatching and perving on products with wild abandon this year and I have finally decided on my top 10 presents..and these are them..(is that grammatically correct? It sounded wrong in my head)  I think I'm entitled to all of them seeing as I've been very well behaved this year but that is a matter of conjecture.

In no particular order..

1

I saw this palette when I went shopping and was instantly bowled over by the glittery shade (the third one in).  The SA told me they didn't sell it on its own which is a shame as I'd have snapped it up.  The whole palette is very Christmassy and I can see myself using it for many an Indian wedding.  The glittery shade caught my attention as the glitter is perfect.  It applies smoothly and doesn't feel chalky at all.  It grabs the right amount of light and looks fantastic layered over darker shadows.  I got an invitation to my cousin's 18th birthday party whilst I was in Moscow and the outfit I'm going to wear is a purple and pistachio colour and this palette would be perfect to craft an eye from.

2

I saw these at the same time as seeing the palette above, I was going to go back to buy them but the freezing weather addled our brains.  The green is a gorgeous sumptuous (it really is) colour.  It's like a mixture of black and green and it would work brilliantly on my eyes.  There is a really good swatch of it here.  I found out by accident that blue really makes my eyes pop and as I love Bobbi Brown gel liners, there was only one I could buy.  It's dark enough to show up on my lids but you can still see that it is blue and not black.

3

A fellow beauty blogger told me to buy this when she picked her one up but I was too busy swatching the Black palette (which has the most perfect matte black in it).  I didn't bother getting it and when I went back to buy it, I was told they were all sold out..boo!

4

For the longest time I have wanted an ice cream maker.  I see myself as a Willy Wonka, concocting up exotic ice creams that nobody else has tried.  Had I had one of these a few years ago, I'd have easily usurped Heston Blumenthal.  Anyway, I really want one and I'm going to get it.

5

This again is something I have wanted for as long as I can remember.  To knead dough into my wounds, my dad bought my mum one and she doesn't even use it! I'm getting one of these by hook or by crook..

6

I didn't want a Clarisonic at first but then I saw possibly the best review of this product by Resha.  Now I want it as I shudder thinking how much makeup I go to sleep with on my face.

7

I never paid this brand much attention and just assumed they did bog standard colours.  I was minding my 8 year old cousin and watching the Sunday beauty thing they have on QVC and they came on.  The polishes come in really original colours, they look bog standard in the bottle but once they're applied, they're very individual colours which is something I always look for.  I've chosen this set because when I saw them applied, the colours looked brilliant, especially the middle one..and you can layer the light blue over the others.

8

My lust for these was created by Charlotte.  The only way I can describe what these look like is "sex in a bottle".  They don't look like nail polish, they look like satin.  They apply just as well which is always a good thing and I can just see how fantastic Minger will look against my skintone.

9

These aren't from the official UGG site and they do look rather fake.

I had a pair of these before buy my grandmother fell in love with them so I gave them to her as she needed them more than me.  It has been freezing here recently and these were perfect the last time we had snow and I miss them terribly.  If I don't get them for Christmas then I'm going to get them in the post Christmas sales.

10

Another Bobbi Brown palette.  I love her palettes because it's clear she thinks about which colours you could need for any eventuality and I can take this one palette, my primer and a lipstick and I could easily use it for an entire week without getting bored.  The size of the shadows is pretty generous too so it'd last me ages.

I know the present buyers read this so step to it!

The Christmas Present Buying Guide: Centrepoint More than a Gift

This is probably the most serious post I will ever post on here and thus, there is a minimum amount of rambling..

Homelessness is a cause very close to my heart because it hurts me to think of people being without the basics that humans need.

Centrepoint is a charity which was set up to help homeless children.  On their site they have a wide range of gifts you can gift to a homeless child this Christmas.

All you have to do is go to their site and select which present you’d like to give. This could be the gift of a meal, a book, baby clothes or a room.  You can also buy a Centrepoint gift voucher and let the person you are giving a virtual gift to decide what kind of donation to make to help a homeless young person at Centrepoint.  Gifts start from as little as £7 for a warm meal.

Remember how freezing you are on your ten minute walk to the office and just think about how cold it would be to spend an entire night in that kind of weather..

The Christmas Present Buying Guide: Nail buffs

See what I did there?

I bought some Models Own gear back when they had their 50% off sale on.  A sale which I find they dealt with very well, there were minimal complaints and everybody was able to order what they wanted AND they updated their stock properly..unlike another brand who ballsed theirs right up.

When I first saw these on their website I knew I would want them all, namely because Models Own are very good at seeing a trend and making a polish to answer it..I bought their set of glittery polishes and my mum has stolen them so I'm going to buy her a set of these and hope to get mine back..Or I could just keep the new ones.  You know sometimes when companies make sets of polish and all the shades are similar? You don't have that problem here as all the shades are very different from each other so nobody would ever know.  Models Own is one of my favourite nail polish brands (the other being Jessica Nails) as they're very easy to apply, they dry quickly and they don't chip for ages. Each set contains 6 nail polishes and will set you back £20.00 and you can pick them up here.

The next products bring a joy to my heart as I have enquired as to why this company stopped making nail varnish in the first place as they had their formula spot on!  These two are more like stocking fillers but you could buy other items and group them together as a present..

I have bought both of these for myself from The Body Shop and I'm glad to report that the formula from the old polishes hasn't changed..the black one is a joy to apply, the glitter is the perfect size for attracting attention.  I wore it when I was driving at night and my nails really sparkled.  I wore it over a white nail polish on my toes and my 8 year old cousin told me it looked as if I'd dipped my toes in the sky at night time..I also used the Barry M nail polish over the top of the glittery shade and my cousin was amazed as to how I managed to do such intricate nail art on my toes..

I gave the pink one to my mum and she really likes it, they stay chip free for a fair old while.

Each of these retail for £5.00 which is a bargain! My mum has used the pink one so much that I've bought her two backups incase these are seasonal products..  You can buy them from The Body Shop stores or online.

My most practical purchase of the winter..

Are these..

They're not this orange in real life, they're a darker brown but flash is a git.

Yep, flat, suede shoes are just what everyone needs when trudging to and from work in snow.  I don't know what possessed me to buy these, we popped into Sainsburys to pick up some cheap booze..my dad told me that Bacardi was on for £13 per litre bottle so me and Simon naturally bought 12 bottles (6 max. per person).  My defence is that these shoes were in my eyeline and thus they came to me.

*ahem*

The Christmas Present Buying Guide: On a budget/Stocking fillers from Tesco

Whenever it comes to Christmas time you can bet your bottom dollar that you always need a present to fill a gap, be it a secret Santa at work or a distant relative.  You want to give them something nice but on a budget.  Thankfully, long gone are the days when all you could take them were a bunch of smellies that you were given last year..long gone are the days when the recipient would know this and give you a dignified look of disgust and make a mental note to give you the same sort of "present" next year.

By the time this post is published I will be in Russia, Moscow to be precise.  I'm stupidely excited by it as I have always wanted to go and we are off for a work thingy..anywho, I'll be Russian to my hotel room as fast as my porky legs can carry me as I plan on buying my hat, scarf etc..once I arrive..

Tesco have a massive range of affordable presents which can be doled out in the situations mentioned above. 

The Nivea Beautiful Christmas Gift set is exclusive to Tesco and contains a Nivea shower gel, body moisturiser and a lip balm.  Just what you need when you're getting ready for the many Xmas parties you have over the festive period.

I'm all for practical presents like this, they always get used in my house. I have been working on a backlog of Molton Brown shower gels and I've finally come to the last of them..it beats getting something you will never use and having it sit in your cupboards until it goes all leaky and funny and you decide to chuck it out whilst cussing the person who bought you something so ridiculous.

This retails for £4.00..not often you can buy three products like this and get change from a fiver.

This is a perfect present for teens or those who have to be surgically removed from their lipbalms.  I have a cousin who is 16 and this would be perfect for her.

A very well known balm maker (it comes in a blue tin *ahem*) seems to strive to make all their balms smell the same so you can't help but feel you're always using the same but with this set you get Mango and Papaya, Pomegranate and Fig and Cocoa Butter and Almond so you're actually getting three different balms.  You know what they say..variation is the spice of life.

There is a corresponding body butter set to go with the lipbalms which is perfect for those who always want to smell that extra bit fragrant and you get the variation of having three different butters to choose from.

These babies are the perfect post Xmas treat for anyone.  They'd be great for those who have had copious amounts of overtime, those who have cooked and cleaned for their entire family and those who have behaved well all year and want a break over the festive period.  There are designs to suit all different demographics, they have classic designs and contemporary ones.

You can buy everything for a good old pamper in the same place which is brilliant because you're not rushing around trying to get smells to match, they all compliment each other.

There's something for the makeup lovers too..This set is jam packed full of lipglosses, eyeshadows and nail polishes so you're never rushing around to find what you need.  As you can tell, I'm a big fan of everything being all in one place.  Plus, once you've taken the makeup out, you can use the box to store your nail polishes in.

All their Christmas presents are on a "3 for the price of 2" dealy so you can keep a little treat back for yourself..you know you do it!  What more could you ask for?