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 

Flirty False lashes by KiSS

So here it is, my first post with sparkleblossombeauty 💜
I was asked to give these bad boy lashes a try & let me tell you I was pleasently surprised.

As I have long lashes myself, I have never felt the need to use false lashes but as I had a wedding to attend to, I thought it would be a great time to test them out.

At first, I found them a bit fidgety, but mainly due to the fact that my lashes have a natural curl & they got in the way. I also found them slightly too long for me but I just measured them & trimmed them to size.

I'll be honest, I didn't feel like they made a huge difference until I began to get compliments. And then I saw some photos. My eyes looked wider and bigger & excuse the pun but well "flirty" 😆

They did irritate my inner eyelids by the end of the night but I didn't trim them enough. So today I applied them again and this time I cut each one in half. I applied them with no issues and they looked and felt so natural.

There are 5 sets in the pack and rrp is €21.99. Lashes are available from Dunnes Stores and Pharmacies nationwide. 

Needless to say I think I am now a lash addict !

Mum & Baby : Multi use products

Hi all this post is slightly different than the regular beauty posts that I do as since becoming a mum I've found that I don't have as much time (as much being none!) To spend on myself.
The idea for this post came from a friend telling me about a cream her sister bought for her baby but now uses on herself. It got me thinking about how much time and money could be saved by investing in dual use products that are not only suitable but really work for mum and baby.
I have tested out a couple of different products for this post  I have only included the ones that I really liked as I want the post to only focus on what works.

I'm going to start with the basics and move along from there.

Simple Baby Moisturising Shampoo

You will start to see a pattern during this post that there is a very well known baby brand completely left out and the reason is I simply don't like it. So this led me from the beginning to explore other brands for baby essentials. This has been a great find for me not only is it really gentle on my little boy but since giving birth I've gotten a serious case of dry scalp! My problem with my scalp is that regular shampoos that work eg head and shoulders is just far to harsh on me at the moment. Well to say I am delighted is an understatement this shampoo has been great since first use it moisturised and stopped my itching ( majorly embarrassing thing to have ) I shouldn't be surprised as simple is one of my favourite brands. This one will be a firm fixture for the future.

Cussons Mum & Me Wash

I am in love with this baby wash it smells like a newborn baby in a bottle its just so warm and fuzzy that I just want to wrap myself up in it :)
I'm pretty sure I bought this to make up the price to get free delivery on a boots order but I am so glad that I did. I have tested a little for myself too of course and its a great wash that can be used by all of the family. I really like the packaging and the pump is so handy when you are trying to get baby bath ready you would be surprised how inconvenient it can be to have to open a bottle lid. So as I said although it can be used by everyone I am going to keep this one special just for baby's baths so I can keep the lovely feeling that I get every time I smell it associated with the lovely ritual of bathing baby!

 

Elave Baby Lotion

I'm delighted to be able to include an Irish brand in this post as I always like to support them if I can. So it isn't advertised as such but I have been using this and finding it really good for clearing up baby's cradle cap. It looks very messy at first when you use it for this so I'd maybe suggest using it at night and washing baby's hair the next morning as at first it goes clumpy and looks way worse but then when you wash it using a little shampoo and a soft cloth it just slides away. Of course this is also a great general baby lotion and very handy to use on yourself I apply to my arms while standing beside the changing table every morning and I have to say they are baby soft. It takes slightly longer to dry in than regular body lotions that mums might be used to but to be honest it is worth the wait as the results are so much better than what I had expected. This lotion is approved by paediatricians for use from newborn and it contains no (take a breath!) sulfates,parabens, perfumes, formaldehyde, alcohol & soap.  Its also a great price retailing at just under €8 a quality product at a budget price. This was my first time to use this brand and I am looking forward to trying out some more of their stuff.

Pure Potions Lavender Nappy Salve

This little pot of nappy balm is absolutely the stand out of the bunch, its like a magic potion that can be used for everything! It does so much it would almost be easier for them to only list what it doesn't do.
The only rule with this is that as it is a nappy balm if you want to use it for all of the other things you absolutely have to maintain a strict no double dip policy.
Once you keep to that rule it is first of all a great nappy balm that clears up any redness & sore spots within a couple of hours you just need to warm it between your fingertips before applying. This doubles as a really good lip balm for mum - again only if you keep your double dip rule! I also used this on some really stubborn dry patches I was having around my nose I applied morning and night and my skin was almost back to normal after only two days. I fell in love with lavender while I was pregnant as I religiously used waxperts beautiful body oil and I loved being pregnant so the scent has lovely associations for me. The salve is made with 100% natural ingredients with no perfume or parabens.
All in all a very good investment retailing at £ 8.99.

Bioderma atoderm nourishing cream

Bioderma is a French skincare brand that is new to Ireland, it is gaining popularity really quickly. I have tried a couple of products from their range which I'll be talking about in an upcoming post but today the focus is on the nourishing cream from the atoderm range for dry skin. The atoderm range is suitable for babies from newborn or 7 weeks depending on the particular product. 

This is the one product from this post that is aimed towards grown ups with the bonus of being suitable for baby. As I mentioned before since giving birth I have been suffering with very dry skin and having a new baby have not had much time to do anything about it. I have been using this cream every morning on both baby and me to combat the dryness. It works instantly and has a gorgeous texture that holds the moisture in skin but dosnt feel greasy. My absolute favourite thing about this cream is that you can use it on your face as well as your body which saves time and money! I must add here that this cream is suitable for use on dermatitis. The cream is fragrance & paraben free and the rrp is €12.50.

Voya Ritzy Spritzy

I was first introduced to Voya a few months ago during a trip to The Twelve hotel in Barna.
All of the products supplied in the suite were Voya and it definitely added to the luxury of our stay, fast forward a few months when I was asked if I would like to review Ritzy Spritzy I didn't think twice I was just like hells yeah they're products were amazing I definitely want to try more!
It also helped that I am in the final stretch of my third trimester and I was told that Ritzy Spritzy ( isn't the name amazing!) Would help to keep me cool in the hot weather, seeing as I feel like I'm on fire from the inside I doubted it could do me any harm.

So Ritzy Spritzy is an anti-ageing toner from Voya made with an impressive 94.5% organic ingredients the main one being Voya trade mark ingredient of hand harvested seaweed. Voya has very popular seaweed baths in Sligo which sound amazing and have made the top of my must visit list for next years summer holidays :-)
Voya prides themselves on the simplicity and honesty of their products and it really is something they should be proud of.
I tested Ritzy Spritzy daily for over two weeks before this review and each spray was as lovely as the one before. I used it morning after cleansing before applying make up and then at numerous times during the day to keep myself cool and just to refresh my face a little. The second that you spray it you get that luxury that you would normally associate with a salon treatment, one whiff and you can just tell how good the quality of the product is, I hope you understand what I mean by that? I find with lower end products they can be overly perfumed and just smell cheap.
My wrinkles are definitely less visible but I can't give all the credit to this as I am 39 weeks pregnant right now so I know my face is slightly more 'plump' than it would be regularly ;-) but I definitely notice it more hydrated which I will give 100% credit to Voya for. This worked absolute wonders for keeping me cool in the hot weather that we were having during the testing especially as I felt on fire from the inside out!
I was so impressed with the way that it kept me cool while giving me some luxury that the rest of the bottle is currently sitting in my labour bag waiting to provide me with some loveliness in what I am told is a tropical delivery room.

I am seriously impressed with this product and Voya as a brand especially because they are Irish, actually I may try to do another block of my beautiful Irish brands series and feature some more Voya loveliness in the future. Log onto www.voya.ie take a peek and get yourself some of their products if they are all like the ones I have tried you will not be disappointed. 

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 :-)