Four Things: Luxurious Beauty Gifts for New Mothers

In my experience, when you have a baby, you get showered in cards and gifts, but they are usually for the baby (pah!). Just after giving birth, I felt amazed and proud, but also exhausted and not looking my best, to say the least. I received some really lovely beauty products as new mum gifts and I appreciated them so much. It is nice to have treats that are just for you, and things that either help you feel or look better when you are in just about the least glamorous state it is possible to be in (that's how it was for me anyway...). If you have a friend who is just about to have a baby, I would recommend any of these as luxurious beauty treats for her:

1. Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-On: It's no surprise that new mums are often in need of regular caffeine injections - I have never known tiredness like it - but did you know you can put it on your eyes too? To be honest, I think the thing I really love about this product is the applicator, the cooling and massaging properties of the roller ball are brilliant. The online reviews of this product seem to be a bit mixed, and I don't know if it makes a long term difference to eye bags, but it does give you an instant refreshing lift which can perk you up when you feel like your eyeballs need washing out.

2. YSL Touche Eclat: Almost everyone has heard of this cult beauty product, but the classics are classics for a reason. This is another instant lift product for times when you don't have a lot of time or energy but want to perk yourself up, or just make yourself look a little more presentable. The packaging and satisfying click button operation make this feel like a super-luxurious product and a real treat.

3. Luxurious bath oils: I love a hot bath at the best of times, but it is a super-duper treat in those early weeks when you have a newborn and seem to get very little time to yourself. Ideally, you need to accompany this gift with the promise to take the baby out of earshot for the duration of the bath. I love Aromatherapy Associates bath oils, though they are pretty expensive, but their Deep Relax Bath and Shower Oil always wins awards and gets rave reviews for its almost narcotic relaxing properties.

4. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm: A totally beauty classic, one of those products that is recommended time and again by beauty experts and magazine articles and has one about a million awards. I have no idea how it works, but it makes your skin instantly look and feel tighter and fresher, and it smells delicious - I'm sure the scent is as much part of the treatment as any of the ingredients. I found this a perfect gift for when you have a new baby since it is easy to apply, almost instant and is a great product for those times when you don't have the energy to put on makeup (or wash...) but want to freshen up and smarten up, perhaps when you have guests coming.

Accompany any of these products with a large bar of chocolate and you have a gift that will make a new mum feel special and a little bit more feminine and glamourous. Incidentally, I would be thrilled to get given any of these at any time, new baby or not... : )

What's In My... Makeup Bag?

I am writing the post on the assumption that other people are as nosy as I am. I love looking through other people's makeup bags (I mean with permission, I'm not THAT nosy...) and finding out about products that work for them. If you met me you wouldn't necessarily guess from my appearance that I love cosmetics. The products, the advertising, the satisfying click when you close an expensive compact. I just love everything about the world of make up, there is just something so glamourous and ladylike and grown up about nice cosmetics. I know that a lot of the time I am buying into an impossible dream - as I say, if you saw me you would wonder if I was familiar with a hairbrush some days, let alone a lipstick - but I don't care, they are a relatively harmless pleasure, all things considered. Anyway, since we are all friends here, I thought you might be curious to know about what I carry in my basic makeup kit. Also, I make no apologies for the "Jackie Collins bonkbuster" styling of these photos, leopard and lace is a GREAT look!

By the way, this is not all of the makeup I own, but it is the stuff that I use pretty much every time I put on makeup (about once a month these days), and I have refined this collection through years of trial and error and meticulous research. Makeup is a pretty subjective thing, but I hope these recommendations might give you a few pointers towards some new products that you can love too.

Part one of my basic makeup is the base. These days I always start with Estee Lauder Double Wear Light (1) in Intensity 1.0. I discovered this when researching makeup for my wedding day (I did my own makeup on the day). A lot of people had recommended the original Double Wear foundation as one of the best long wearing foundations, but at the Estee Lauder counter the lady recommended that DW Light was better for weddings since it looked better in photographs. I was initially concerned that I needed fuller coverage than a 'light' foundation could provide, and imaged it would be more like a tinted moisturiser, but in fact  I find that this provides great coverage for my skin, which can be variable. And if you let a tiny dot dry a little on the back of your hand, it thickens up enough that I often use a little dab of this on top as a concealer. I am really happy with the consistency, colour, coverage, everything to do with this foundation. Ideally I wish it was a little cheaper, but I find it lasts well and a little goes a long way, and I definitely feel that foundation is one of the items of makeup that is worth spending a bit more on.

In terms on concealer I also use this Boots Number 7 Instant Radiance Concealer (2) under my eyes and perhaps around my nose. No offence to this product, which is great, but I do think of it as the poor woman's YSL Touche Eclat, which was the original 'clickey brush' concealer. These kind of concealers that say they add radiance (there are several brands that do them) are great for under eye shadows but too bright for covering spots and blemishes I find - those are not areas where you want to add radiance! 

Once I am happy with my base, the next stage is to add a little shine, though I mean very sparingly! This little tube (3) is a Body Shop gold highlighter cream (maybe a precursor to this product now?) that I don't think they make any more, that's how old it is. I should add that I am a terrible role model when it comes to keeping cosmetics for a long time. I have never paid much attention to all those bits of advice about throwing products out after 6 months or a year. I can only speak for myself, but I tend to keep things until I finish them, unless their consistency has changed, they smell funny or have dried up. Hence, I have the odd product like this that is older than I care to admit, but since I only use a tiny smidge each time - the aim is dewy radiance rather than disco glitter. I apply this to the tops of my cheekbones, my brow bone, perhaps the outer edge of my eyes and the inner corners of my eyelids. As I say, go slowly and be sparing, otherwise you'll look like one of the women from the start of Goldfinger.

After highlighter comes blusher. I use one of two Benefit products: Benetint cheek and lip stain (4) or this Powder Pop compact (5) which I think was limited edition and combines three of their best-selling blush/bronzer products - Hoola, Dallas, and Dandelion - with a mini brush as well. I already had the large size of Dandelion, which I totally recommend as a brightening pink blush, but I find this compact is very convenient for carrying in my makeup bag rather than separate blusher and bronzer. The bottle of Benetint is also a mini size which I got free with a magazine. It is super dinky and really handy for popping in your bag. I think the powder blushers give a more polished look but the Benetint is great for a more natural flushed look.

Of the three powders, I use Dallas the most, which I think of as a cross between a blusher and a bronzer. Though it comes with a brush, as you can see, I tend to use this larger retractable blusher brush (6) from Sephora instead since I live in fear of hard lines of stripy blusher, 80's style, so I think the larger and softer the brush the better, and retractable means it stays clean and tidy in my makeup bag. I bought this brush years ago in America and I don't think you can get it in the UK, but I'm sure you can get similar things. 

With my base done, I can move on to eyes and lips. I often put a thin layer of foundation on my eyelids to help my eye makeup last, but if I need my makeup to last all day I use this Clinique Touch Base for Eyes (1). I might also use this Laura Mercier Matte Eye Colour (2) in Buttercream to give a smooth light base for eye makeup. I then use these Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo (3) in Double Date (another mini, this time a free gift with another Clinique purchase). I love the pretty pots of brightly coloured eye shadows, but boring brown is a useful basic to have for contouring and shading, and I although I got this one by chance as a free gift I am very happy with the taupey, beigey colours and how well it lasts. Like my blusher brush, this eye shadow brush (4) from the Body Shop is retractable. Brushes work so so so much better than those little foam applicators that usually come with eye shadows and you only need one or two good ones, I would urge you to invest in one. If I want more definition I may apply black liquid liner. This one is Liner Pinceau by Bourjois (5). I have tried the more expensive gel and cream liners that come in pots, but I have come back to this cheaper one which I really like, and find easier to apply. I am all for paying for quality, but the best product for you isn't always the most expensive. The final touch is to curl my lashes (6) and apply mascara. These two are Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara (8) in black. This is the waterproof version that I bought for my wedding, after extensive research in wedding magazines. I am happy enough with it, and it worked well for my wedding day, but most of the time I don't need to wear waterproof mascara and find it harder to apply so I also use this non-waterproof one by L'Oreal (7), again in black, which is ok, but I am in the market for a replacement, if you have any recommendations? I have used Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara before, and was also thinking of trying our Maybeline Great Lash, which always gets great reviews. I don't usually wear makeup, but I might apply a bit of Benetint on my lips for a hint of colour, and top it off with a layer of good old Vaseline.

So there you go, my whole process from start to finish. The last thing I wanted to share with you is this little tine which I use for carrying cotton buds in my makeup bag. I find them essential for precise tidy ups, especially with eye makeup, but always found they got grubby and horrible at the bottom of my bag. But then I discovered this little tin, originally containing mints from Starbucks. It fits my cotton buds perfectly and keeps them fresh and clean on the go. I was so pleased with this little trick so I wanted to share it with you, especially if you've kept reading all the way to the bottom of this long post!

I hope you've found this sneak peak interesting. I'd love to hear about our favourite cosmetics and makeup tips.


PS. This font is Channel and the lace brush is by Nadine Pau on Deviant Art

Win a Diana F+ Camera with A Thrifty Mrs!

I just entered this competition and wanted to share it with you since it is SO exciting! One of my favourite daily reads, A Thrifty Mrs, is running an ace competition to win a Diana + camera, as pictured above. Look how pretty it is! You just have to leave a comment on her blog to enter - what could be easier! Jump on over to her post now and get in the game!

Mother's Day Stickygrams

Have you remembered? It's Mother's Day (in the UK at least) on 18th March, which is only a couple of weeks away, eeek! This time of year is really busy in our family for birthdays, so it is really hard to keep on top of all the presents and cards.

I ordered some Stickygram magnets for my mum for a Mother's Day gift recently and I am so thrilled at how they have come out. Stickygram are a company that link up to your Instagram account. Do you already use Instagram already? It is one of my absolute favourite iPhone photography apps, which allows you to add loads of vintage looking filters and frames to your iPhone photos and then share them, with followers. You can also follow other people: it's sort of like a visual Twitter. And the app is free, hooray!

Ordering Stickygram magnets turned out to be easy-peasy. You pick out sets of 9 Instagram photos - I picked ones of my parents with baby Joe - and they will print them as magnets and post them to you. Although the prices on the site are in US dollars, they are actually a UK company and my order arrived in a couple of days - so UK readers still have time to order for Mother's Days!

It is great to find ways to use all the photos I have taken on Instagram, and has inspired me to look into more ways to print them out. I really like these Instagram posters you can order online from Pinstagram. Have you found any great sites for using your Instagram photos? I'd love to hear about any recommendations!

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PS. This is not a sponsored post! Stickygram and Instagram have not asked me to promote them, I just like to share the love when I find something great! I will always make it clear if a post is sponsored by a company or is a promotion or review.

What's In My... Bathroom Cabinet?

Hello!

I hope you are having a good week, and if you aren't then at least you can be pleased that we've made it half way through the week now! The idea of this post came out of me wanting to post about beauty products I love. This isn't a sponsored post, no one is paying me to recommend or review anything, I just thought that you might find it useful to know which products I love. I have put many years of research into finding the products that work for me, read lots of websites, tried lots of products, and these are the ones I use most and love best. I hope you find it useful, or at least interesting to have a nose around my bathroom cabinet!

1. Gaviscon. This is left over from when I was pregnant! I suffered a lot with heartburn, which I found really miserable and uncomfortable. Gaviscon was definitely the best thing I found for it, and by the end I was swigging it straight from the bottle! I didn't realise until quite late on that if you ask your midwife you can get Gaviscon free on prescription while you are pregnant so I am always trying to spread the word to other pregnant ladies - know your rights and use them!

2. Vintage china flower basket and earthenware jar.
I was really pleased that these two charity shop finds found such convenient uses. I bought the flower basket because I loved the colour and shape, and that semi-matte glaze that ceramics from this period have. It makes such a pretty container for cotton wool pads. The little earthenware jar is really small and was part of a collection of bits and pieces someone had dug up and donated to a charity shop apparently uncleaned! I was looking for somewhere to keep my cotton buds and suddenly it occurred to me that this sweet little pot was the perfect size. I can also hook my tweezers over the side and stick my nail clippers in there. Although I can't tell you where to get your own, you can keep an eye out for unusual vintage containers to house mundane daily objects, and make your daily life a little more beautiful!


3. My perfumes.
I spent years trying out what must have been thousands of perfumes in department stores and duty free airport shops. Fragrance is such a personal, individual thing and I found it SO hard to find perfumes I really loved (and so easy to spray myself with 15 at a time that I hated!). I am not a fan of anything too flowery, too sweet, fruity or overpowering. I like perfumes that are quite fresh, with no hint of vanilla, fruit, chocolate or any of those sweet smells that seem to be used in lots of fragrances. The three I have here are all ones I love and never tire of. I know it is sort of pointless to try and describe smell in words, but if you haven't tried any of these, look out for them and give them a try the next time you're in a perfume department.

For classic ladylike occasions, I go for Chanel No. 5. This is of course a very famous and well known fragrance, and I think at first I was attracted by the Marilyn Monroe association it has, but I really do love it. It is obviously a classic for a reason. Incidentally, I always use the eau de toilette rather than the eau de parfum version since it is cheaper, but I have heard that they also smell subtly different so its worth checking. While this is a perfume that has been around for a long time, I don't find it old-ladyish at all, but modern and sophisticated. Wearing it makes me feel like a grown up woman.

For smart daytime use, I wear Hermes Eau de Merveilles eau de toilette. This is such a beautiful, unusual fragrance which I have had many complements about. I have read about it described as having a smell of salt and the sea, and it is as bracing and fresh as a sea breeze. I really can't think of another fragrance I tried that was anything like it, and can't recommend it highly enough.

For every day, I have recently started wearing The Sanctuary. I was given a really generous gift set by someone who knows how much I love the smell of their bath and body products (try their salt scrub, it is my absolute fave!). I wouldn't have thought to buy their Classic EDT fragrance but since trying it, I would definitely get it again. I find it smells fresh and clean, even on days where due to a demanding baby I haven't got a shower! It is also cheaper than the other two, hence why I think of it as an every day perfume.

4. Epson salts.
Have you ever tried adding Epson salts to your bath? They are meant to relax tired muscles, soften and detoxify your skin, and beat bloating. I am not making any medical claims for them here, but when I am tired and aching, or wanting to rid myself of water retention, I add a couple of handfuls of Epson Salts to my bath. They are easy to find in any pharmacy, and cheap too.


5. Liz Earle Skin Repair moisturiser.
Like with the perfumes, I have tried out so many moisturisers in the past, from all points on the price spectrum and this is the one I come back to. It is natural, gentle, non-greasy and effective at moisturising my erratic combination skin without leaving me greasy and shiny. My only wish is that it had an SPF, but that aside, it is my perfect day cream, and at least no SPF means you can use it at night too. I haven't yet found a Liz Earle product I don't like, and they always score highly in magazine polls. Do try them out - the Cleanse and Polish cleanser is legendary!

6. Spiezia Organics Organic Facial Cleanser
I am by no means strict about using organic beauty products, but this with this cleanser is is almost just an added bonus. It is one of those Eve Lom type oil-based cleansing balms that you remove with a muslin cloth. I find it a really effective cleanser and the oily consistency doesn't make my skin greasy, but means it doesn't have that tight stripped feeling some rinse off cleansers can give you. The main thing I love about this product though is the amazing fragrance. It is based on olive oil and scented essential oils and I couldn't tell you which of them makes me love this smell, but it is fresh and green smelling, with no hint of the lingering hippy shop smell that some essential oil based products can have.

7. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and Dermalogica Total Eye Care
My secret weapons! Beauty Flash balm is such a cult classic product that it hardly needs any introduction, but I wanted to mention it her because one of my best friends gave me this tube as a new baby gift, along with some lovely bubble bath. This seemed like such a perfect gift for that time, when you are getting lots of presents for the baby, and not looking your best. It is a perfect product for freshening up your face when you have only had a couple of hours sleep but still have to face the world. The Dermalogica eye cream is less well known, but just as good. I am surprised there aren't more similar eye creams on the market since it is a great multi-tasker. What I like is that not only does it have a brightening peachy tint and caring ingredients, but also a gentle SPF to protect the eye area as well. To me it is like a combination of a normal eye cream and a brightening/concealing product, and another must have for baggy-eyed mornings.

What's in your bathroom cabinet? What are your hero products, favourite fragrances and everyday classics? Have a fragrant Wednesday!


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