Christmas Gifts 2015

Can you believe that it's Christmas again! It's my favorite time of year lovely cosy nights in by the fire and shopping for gifts! I am especially looking forward to christmas dinner this year as I missed out last year with morning sickness!

This year I have tried to cater for different ages as opposed to just beauty gifts although they are in there too! 

For small girls or boys I came across some beautiful Christmas themed books. I am such a book nerd my little boy is only 4 months old and already has a shelf full of books complete with some really cool dinosaur book ends (thanks julie!) 

This one is gorgeous one about Santa Claus visiting Ireland. Its a nice little story and nice to have some familiar place names too. I picked this up in tesco for €6

Next up is a gift for any man or football loving lady it is literally a gift for all ages from small boy to grandad! A personalised football from mitre.com. i was told that as footballs go mitre are really amazing ones and so a personalised one is a very special gift that will be treasured for years. The one featured here is a size 5 Training quality ball and retails for £30.
it arrives fully pumped and in a display box.

You can find all of the details to pick up one of these babies on www.mitre.com 

I have a teenage girl to try and buy for this year, i really think its the most difficult age to try buy for as i think a lot of the time they dont know what they want themselves! 

I have put together two options that you could choose either together or gift seperately both of which id be pretty happy with myself so although I'm aiming at teens they really are a great gift across the board. 

The first is a gorgeous wash bag from the quintessential by collier cambell filled with some goodies from wetnwild. Ive paired these two together as young teens starting off with makeup will often choose a more budget friendly brand like wet n wild and this wash bag is so pretty and such a great size that it makes a really lovely gift. 

The quintessential is a wholesale company (featured again below) so make sure to tell your local shopsto get onto them quickly and become stockists. http://www.thequintessential.co.uk/

Wet n wild is available in most pharmacies and dunnes stores nationwide prices for wet n' wild are from €1.99 to €6.49.

So also from the quintessential is this beautiful shawl\scarf  from their folk collection these colours are perfect for brightening up any Christmas outfits and their fabrics are fantastic quality. as the quintessential are wholesale be sure to ask your local shops to become stockists so you can get your hand on their fantastic range!

So lets get to the Christmas bit so every year christmas decor gets better and more sophisticated my absolute favorite i have seen this year is this pair of silver baby deer for on top of mantelpiece/bookshelf/window from thechristmasboutique.co.uk this is not only a christmas piece i would be quiet happy to have these in my house all year long. 

These retail at £ 14.95

Some other pieces from the christmas boutique are this hessian santa sack currently half price at         £ 4.48

And this lovely wooden  Advent house currently on offer at £22.46 

My favorite gift to get every year is one from the body shop its been a christmas tradition in my house since the time of their partnership with WWF in the 1990s  as always the body shop has teamed up with a great charity so you get to do good while getting something really lovely. This years charity is water aid and "With every specially selected gift bought this Christmas, The Body Shop will provide a family in Ethiopia with one day of safe drinking water"

the gift that caught my eye immediately is this one for the boys, the Maca Root Shaving Kit €39.95 its got gorgeous packaging and I think is a really practical gift too. 

The body shop always brings out a new festive scent ( I'm a massive fan of glazed apple) this years is frosted plum and I think the bath fizzies look like a gorgeous gift! € 20.50.

And last but not least. 

The new Instyler max is one that has been on my wishlist for a while at €120 it straightens, curls and adds volume. Having a new baby I don't get any me time so something that will give me a salon style without taking too much effort or time gets my thumbs up!

If I have missed out on any groups or you would like any more info or gift ideas drop me a comment or a tweet

clare x 

Whats in my hospital bags?

Hi everyone
a little break from my regular beauty posts to share what I have been packing into my hospital bag for my upcoming labour! I actually cant believe that I am at 36 weeks already this stage has just flown around for me and with the packing of the bag is now getting very real.

Lots of hospital lists are already out there and have such diversity so this is just my version I will be bringing a bag for labour, one for my hospital stay and as a beauty blogger the important one my washbag! I am a FTM so there may be some bits that I wont use and others that I will send for so dont judge me too harshly! I am just going to dive straight in and if anyone has any questions re quantities ect you can leave a comment at end :)

Labour Bag

2 nightdresses with button down front if you can get them
Maternity Pads-green pack
Long sleeve sleep suit
vest
Nappy
Hat & Mitts
Socks (adult ones!)
Glucose sweets
Cereal Bars
Water

Wash Bag 
This will be in my labour bag to start.

travel size where possible to save space

Shampoo- think I packed head and shoulders!
Shower gel - body shop vanilla brulee
Water Spray I've got LA Roche posay and avene and am considering adding in voya ritzy spritzy for making me feel lovely after! ( am I going overboard with these?)
toothbrush & paste
dental floss
deoderant
razor
2 face cloths
Lip balm - I've a Mia and Dom peppermint & lavender pot and LA Roche posay stick balm.
Simple moisturizer
Bioderma micellar water travel size
Hair band,clips & bobbins
Holos happy momma oil
Vaseline & sudocreme

All of this is housed in the beautiful eve wash bag from the quintessential .

Of course there is also my make up to consider , I will be going minimalist with it but I still need a little bit. It took me a while to decide what would come with me but I have decided on rimmel 25 hour foundation and my real techniques buffing brush for application, physicians formula happy booster blush its so pretty plus has the bonus of having a mirror if I can't get one elsewhere. I also would of added my physicians formula mineral wear powder but it got smashed and so would be far too messy :(
Next in is fuschia eyebrow kit and an angle brush for application, my rimmel scandal eyes mascara will also be making the trip as will wet n wild lipstick in pinkerbell to give me a pop of colour. So that's pretty minimalistic at only 5 makeup items especially when I imagine I'm going to need every bit of make up I can lay my hands on!

Main Bag

My main bag is mostly made up of very practical things

2 dark towels
Nightdresses & PJs - I got a tip from friend to get the button down front PJs, to wear a vest top with bottoms and then use the shirt part instead of a dressing gown for when I need it as in July it should be too hot to use gown.
Bridget jonses , lol you all know what I mean :-)
4 packs maternity towels
1 pack size 1 nappies - I've gone for pampers
Cotton wool
Water wipes
Cellular blankets
Baby towels
Muslin cloths
Baby hats & scratch mitts
8 baby sleep suits
8 vests
Cardigans- my mam knitted these as I couldn't find any and just couldn't get into the mind frame of knitting them myself.
Bibs
Breast pads
2 nursing bras even though I'm not planning to BF
Flip flops
Phone charger-very important for all the showing off after I imagine :-).

All of the baby clothes I have bought in size 0-1 as at 35 weeks baby is already 6lb and I've been told is gonna be a big baby!

I'd really appreciate if you would let me know any tips or anything you think I have left out in the comments so I can add more to my stash :-)

Christmas at The Body Shop

When I think of Christmas at the Body Shop I remember my first purchase from the Body Shop when I was little a Christmas gift I had saved up to buy, the most amazing red foam/felt pencil case ( it was probably for makeup brushes!) with a yellow tiger stuck to the end, I also really vividly remember that It supported the World Wildlife Federation.

The Body Shop are still continuing with the tradition of contributing to charity. This year their chosen charity is War Child a charity which supports education for children of war. For every Christmas gift purchased this year no matter how small a donation will be made to this charity. This spurred me to make my first purchase many years ago and definitely still sways me now.
The Body Shop products are always great quality with amazing smells and this years offerings are no different. I have trialed products with the smells of Vanilla, Cranberry and Glazed Apple and can 100% guarantee that each one of them smells divine!

I will start with the Schoolbook of Wishes RRP €23 this was created in honor of their children in education charity war child. There are three books Peace (glazed apple) Love (frosted cranberry) and Joy(vanilla).

Each gift set contains a 50ml of body butter, 60ml shower gel, 20ml lip balm and a pretty heart shaped soap. What I thought was a lovely touch was the different quotes on the inside cover each relating to the specific theme of the book e.g. for joy I got a quote from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol 'there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour' Its this attention to detail that makes these gifts extra special. All of the products in here are great quality and of course smell divine. They are also really good sizes for such a reasonable price. My absolute favorite from the books has to be the frosted cranberry lip balm so yummy( dont eat this please!) and Christmassy. This is the perfect gift for any lady in your life I know I would be very happy waking up to this Christmas morning.

Next up Ive got some gorgeous Glazed apple goodies!
The smell of these beauties is just out of this world it reminds me of the smell of apple drops but with a sort of Christmas twist.
These body butter €18.95, bath sprinkles €10.95 and soap €3.95 are all sold separately but I think they make a really good gift when combined together especially if you add in one of the really cute winter animal bath sponges €3.95, the penguin in the top picture is my favorite.
The body butter is really thick and creamy so luxurious and is absolutely perfect for putting on just before bed after a bath using the sprinkles......( im transporting myself mentally to such a relaxing pamper night! ) the smell is a little subtler on the skin than when you smell it out of the tub, It does manage to be just the right amount of scent neither over or under powered.

The Body Shop also have a glazed apple room spray which I will definitely be buying as I cant imagine anything nicer than my home smelling like this!

*I recieved these from the Body Shop as PR samples.
Have you got any Body Shop goodies on your Christmas list? Let me know in the comments.