If you can't treat yourself or someone else at christmas time, then when can you! In terms of beauty products, there's nothing better than receiving a gorgeous new fragrance, especially when it's as incredibly beautiful as this new offering from Tiffany & Co. I was very kindly sent this fragrance from the lovely people over at Debenhams *thank you*.
I had no idea that Tiffany & Co created a fragrance until this week and I'm now pretty much obsessed with it as not only does it look so luxurious and fancy but it it's the kind of fragrance that I always go for and I'm usually a little let down; however, that isn't the case with this heavenly fragrance. The bottle and box are so pretty and classic but they have an even more beautiful option that would make an ideal gift for a special someone - the 'skyline' edition of the fragrance which can also be purchased from Debenhams.
The design of the perfume bottle is inspired by the iconic Tiffany & Co Lucida and Tiffany yellow cut diamonds. As for the fragrance, "master perfumer Daniela Andrier was inspired by her love for gemstones and jewellery to create this contemporary take on the most precious ingredients of traditional haute perfumery."
Top Notes: Vert de Mandarin
Heart Notes: Iris Flower
Base Notes: Patchouli & Musky Notes
There's one aspect of fragrances that is always overlooked and usually the only negative about a fragrance for me and that's the spray dispenser. It may sound inconsequential but when I use most of the fragrances in my collection, it feels as though I've been doused in fragrance with physical droplets of the perfume on my clothing; that's not what I want. This beautiful fragrance however releases a fine cloud of fragrance which is ideal for application and it means that I don't ruin clothing with drops of perfume that I can't remove!
The fragrance itself is quite familiar to me as it reminds me a little of the heavenly Aura by Swarovski fragrance that I adore but it's more sophisticated, musky and far less sweet. While it is familiar, it isn't generic or something that your gift recipient or yourself, might already own. Also it's a divine combination of notes that make it feminine without being too sweet, musky but not overpowering and it has managed to balance the line between an everyday and evening fragrance - it would be ideal for so many occasions as well as ages.
I also tend to buy eau de parfum fragrances rather than an eau de toilette as they are more long lasting and this fragrance is no different. The longevity for me is around six hours, on my clothing, which is fantastic and you could always use an atomiser to take your fragrance on the go without potentially damaging the gorgeous bottle.
Overall, I cannot recommend this fragrance enough as it's pretty much everything I look for in an everyday fragrance as it is floral and feminine but it's unique, long lasting and musky. The bottle and packaging make it a wonderful and gasp inducing gift this Christmas, especially the intricate 'skyline' option. The fragrance is available in 30ml, 50ml and 75ml sizes with a matching shower gel, body lotion and body cream products available to compliment the fragrance.
Have you tried this fragrance? Do you like to receive fragrances as Christmas gifts?
I think we all receive Christmas gifts that we receive every single year without fail so why not surprise someone with a gift that they definitely won't be expecting! I love to give gifts that are a little more unusual so Pret a Pousser is perfect! They are based in France but you can buy the mushrooms kits as well as their indoor herb garden kit on Amazon UK.
I was very kindly sent the pink oyster mushroom kit to review and you may have seen the progress of the mushrooms as well as the blogger mail unboxing on my Instagram (@ofbeautyand). I received the kit a couple of weeks ago and now I've harvested my first batch of pink oyster mushrooms (they really are pink!) which is amazing.
The kit comes with everything you need including an instruction booklet and a spray bottle. The kit is quick and easy to use, you just cut a cross in the plastic covering the soil and spray with water everyday. You should start to see mushrooms growing within a week or so as mine started to be noticeably growing after around 6 or 7 days and then they grew so quickly!
The mushroom kit can be bought a kept for 2 to 3 months in a room temperature environment before you gift it or before you use it yourself. I kept mine in the office as it's quite warm and out of direct sunlight so I think that's why they grew really well, especially over the last 8 to 10 days. It was amazing to see the progress each day and every time they seemed so much bigger than before!
I've just harvested my first batch of mushrooms so I should get another in the next 10 or so days which is amazing. They turned out so much bigger than I thought they would and the colour is gorgeous - they are a salmon pink shade. I hoped the colour would stay pink when cooked but it changes to a more orange shade; I added mine to my unusual version of pesto with basil, spinach, celery, lots of garlic and courgette along with spaghetti and it was good! As with most mushrooms they have a fairly mild and subtle flavour but I like these, especially their colour and texture.
I have tried a kit like this before but from another brand and it was much more complicated with transferring soil, keeping the kit in the dark and it's safe to say that it didn't work but this one did and very quickly too! I cannot recommend this kit enough as not only does it look like an interesting and unique present but it's a gift that keeps on giving, it's an interesting process watching the mushrooms grow and you get delicious, versatile organic mushrooms too. I think it would be great for any foodies, gardeners or families as it would be great to do with children.
Have you tried any of the Pret a Pousser kits? Have you ever tried to grow mushrooms or veggies?
Back in August, I visited London for my birthday and visited quite a few places that I've never been to before. I have visited London around four times, the first time was with my school choir as we sang at the Royal Albert Hall and afterwards we visited the Natural History Museum, Harrods and a bus tour...in the pouring rain, typical English weather. There are so many incredible sites, museums and tours around London but here are some of my recommendations:
Buckingham Palace
Until last year I didn't know that you could buy tickets to have a tour of Buckingham Palace so in August we booked a tour and it was fantastic. After walking through St James Park we went on a tour of the state rooms and then the gardens of Buckingham Palace - the gardens were my favourite part of the tour. I would say that the shops and garden cafe are a little pricy and the tour isn't guided, you just get a little tablet with audio/video to watch as you walk around which was a little disappointing; however it's an incredible palace and it's definitely one of the sites you need to visit in London.
Harrods
As well as the all of the famous and historic sites around London, it's also a shopping paradise (if you can stand the crowds). Oxford Street, Regents Street and of course, Harrods are the places to visit as well as Liberty London, Fortum & Mason and the massive Lush store on Oxford Street - I wanted to visit the Lush store in August but sadly we didn't have enough time.
Another site that I cannot recommend enough is the Tower of London as not only is it such an amazing site of historic importance but it's also home to the Crown Jewels. The tickets are a little expensive if you are in a group but it's so worth it, especially if you go on a tour with a warden of the guard - just go through the entrance and you'll see a sign for the tour which is free and very entertaining/informative - don't just walk around on your own as you won't get as much as you can out of your visit.
St James Park
London is home to quite a few parks and I've only really been in Hyde Park and St James Park, both of which are gorgeous places of calm in such a busy, bustling city but I think that out of the two, St James Park has to be my favourite! It also has a great cafe too which is great for tourists as there are lots of hot meal options and it is a great location near Horse Guards Parade, The Mall and Buckingham Palace.
Places To Stay In London
Lastly, a unique option of where to stay in London if you're only going to be there for a few days or a few weeks and instead of staying in a hotel, you can actually live in the city that you're visiting. The Urban Retreat Luxury Apartments are beautiful short stay apartments in Mayfair which look absolutely incredible. Don't get me wrong, I like hotels but I think it would be amazing to stay in a beautiful apartment and to live in the city rather than just visiting or staying in hotels.
There are two, three and four bedroom options and their penthouse apartments are located near Hyde Park and Oxford Street with modern facilities. All of the apartment interiors look so beautifully designed and I think it would be a wonderful to stay there even just for a few nights, I can dream can't I!
Do you have any tourist recommendations of places to stay or visit? Have you visited London?
We are now into December which means that if you haven't started your Christmas shopping then go, go, go! I love shopping of any kind, obviously, but I particularly love Christmas shopping for friends and family as it's so nice to find the perfect gift. Finding gifts can be challenging but for the women in my family as well as my friends it's so easy. Here are some of my favourite gifts for the women in your life, or for yourself, I'm not judging.
I was very kindly sent this gorgeous necklace from the super lovely people over at Nude Jewellery. They're an independent jewellery boutique who create beautiful handmade items and are based in Mayfair, London. Their wide range of jewellery features unique and bespoke pieces to contemporary engagement rings, designer jewellery and handmade wedding bands.
I have this simple but beautiful triple link silver necklace from their 'vanilla links' in-house collection. The chain length is 16" which is a great length for me and as the links are lightly hammered, it gives them not only a unique texture but it creates a slight sparkle and shine too. It's such a lovely everyday or formal necklace and as it's very minimal but striking, it will be perfect with so many outfits or occasions. I know my mum would adore this necklace and it's already a perfect present as it's handmade and presented beautifully too. I've tried one of their necklaces before and I love it too so I cannot recommend their jewellery enough so definitely check out their site. Also, their 'autumn leaves' and 'goddess' collections are stunning too!
Next up, a fantastic skincare gift set from Urban Veda which is a great brand that is vegetarian society approved and they don't test on animals! All of their products contain such lovely natural ingredients such as orange peel oil, tea tree leaf oil, coconut oil, witch hazel, sweet almond oil and many more!
This gift set is ideal for those with oily and more problem skin as it's focused on refining pores, reducing oil production and it helps to combat blemishes and breakouts with natural, gentle ingredients instead of harsh chemicals that are usually found in oily or blemish prone skincare products. I love the packaging for this gift set as it's not only recyclable but it's cute and a great all in one gift set with a facial wash, exfoliator and day cream in handy travel or trial sizes. They have a fantastic range of gift sets for the face or body from £120 to £11.99 - sign up to their newsletter to get 15% off your order.
*Crabtree and Evelyn Comfort & Indulgence White Cardamon Body Duo
Crabtree and Evelyn have created some of my favourite festive gifts sets as they look so incredibly beautiful and festive as well as being very luxe at a great price point! This beauty is no different and it's one of my favourite scents they've made too. For Christmas Crabtree and Evelyn have created a range of festive scents for their gifts sets including Noel, Frosted Spicewood, Red Berry & Fir and White Cardamon, the latter is my favourite and the most unique, in my opinion.
The 'Body Duo' set I was kindly sent contains the white cardamon body cream (250ml) and the white cardamon body scrub (365g). The packaging of not only the gift box but the products too is so pretty and festive especially with the gold foil. The products themselves are fantastic sizes as well and it's a well presented and luxe gift set so it would be ideal for your mum, grandma, aunties or friends.
The scent is heavenly as it's sweet, light and floral but a little musky and spicy too, I adore it! The body cream smells delicious and the scent lasts for a while too which is impressive. The texture of the body cream is also impressive and it leaves my skin velvety smooth, super soft and completely moisturised without irritating the skin. I cannot recommend this gift set enough!
I adore candles, they are some of the nicest gifts to receive as they smell amazing and can make any room so much more cosy and homely as well as being a cute container to re-use afterwards. I was very kindly sent this incredibly beautiful candle from the amazing people over at Evermore London. All of the candles are hand crafted in their East London studio using organic certified coconut wax as well as essential oils which is fantastic. I have the 250ml candle which has an approximate burn time of 50 hours.
The packaging is just gorgeous; I love the minimalist design and the copper foil so aesthetically it would make a lovely gift. I have the Christmas scent 'North' which is composed of frankincense, patchouli and myrrh, all of which I adore and are perfect for this time of the year. It is very musky, rich and festive with a hint of the coconut wax base so it's a very unusual candle and would make a great alternative to the generic Christmas candles on the market now which tend to be sickly sweet or too strong. I've been burning it for the past few days and while it is subtle, I do love it! I cannot recommend their candles enough, there are so many others to choose from as well including Tides and Moon which sound so gorgeous. They also have a candle making kit which would make an incredible Christmas gift! To get free delivery over £40 use the code: FREEDEL40.
Earlier in the year I worked with the lovely people at Sudio Sweden and reviewed their Vasa Bla Rose Gold Earphones which I adore and now we're working together again! They are the most comfortable earphones I've ever used and the Vasa earphones are no different.
The earphones come so beautifully presented in a christmassy gift box so it's already pre-packaged which is great if you're like me and you can't wrap presents without them looking as though they've been thrown around the room. The earphones come in a range of colours but obviously I chose the pink option!
The earphones come with a genuine leather pouch, extra sleeves and metal clip and the manual as well as a guarantee certificate that's valid for one year after purchase. They are in-ear earphones which means that they are super comfortable and it makes them in part, noise cancelling too.
Unlike all of the other earphones I've used they are comfortable to wear for a long period of time and it has an anti-tangle cord as well so no more earphone tangles that are irreversible! I cannot recommend these earphones enough as they are so easy to use, I love the volume controls on the cord and they are the most comfortable earphones I've ever used!
You can get 15% off at Sudio Sweden with the code: ofbeautyand15
What do you think of my womens gift guide? Have you tried any of these products or brands?
I have always had problems trying to sleep and with my sleep pattern, even as a very young child! Thankfully over the years I've found ways to help such as not using my phone before bed, breathing meditation and bubble baths but I still struggle sometimes, in comes the wonderful Feather and Down to the rescue *imagine superhero music*.
Feather and Down is a UK based brand focusing on sleep helpers including bath, body and home fragrance products as well as gift sets that would make ideal self care gifts this Christmas! I was very kindly sent a few of their products to try out and they are the best sleep and relaxation products I've ever tried (and I've tried quite a few).
Let's start with one of the most unique products of the three that I was sent a couple of weeks ago. I've tried pillow mists and pulse point gels but a shower cream with the aim of helping you relax, calm your mind and look after your skin is something new to me!
I adore the packaging of all three products and the scent is heavenly! Sometimes sleep and relaxation focused products can have a very sweet, artificial lavender scent but this one is so musky, floral and relaxing, it's my perfect calming lavender scent. The shower cream also contains so many wonderful ingredients such as sunflower oil and lavender herb oil. The texture is lovely, it's so creamy and leaves the skin feeling smooth, soft and lightly scented.
Next up is my least used product but I still love it! It's a pulse point balm with vitamin E, coconut oil, cocoa seed butter and essentials oils - their products are free from parabens, sulphates and mineral oils. As with both of the other products, it has an incredibly calming and relaxing scent and it doesn't feel greasy or oily on the skin as some balms can but the only thing I'm not a massive fan of is the packaging as I think it would be quicker and easier to use if it was in a stick or roll on container; however that's just my opinion and it's still well worth trying especially if like me, you struggle to relax and switch off your mind before bed.
Last but definitely not least is my favourite product of the three, although it's a very difficult choice as they're all lovely. I have been using the This Works pillow mist that I received a while ago and I do like it but I definitely prefer this one as I think the scent is a little more longer lasting and I prefer the scent, if I'm honest.
The pillow mist contains calming lavender and chamomile essential oils to help you relax and to calm an anxious mind. It's so quick and easy to use and it's instantly calming even with just a spray or two, although I've been using loads of it each time as I love it so much! It has definitely been helping me sleep better and for longer as well because I'm more relaxed and can drift off quicker so it's worth checking out - it's out of stock as I'm publishing this post but hopefully it will be back in stock soon.
If you didn't know, as well as my blog, I also write for the website All Subscription Boxes where I review...subscription boxes, I bet you didn't see that one coming. I adore subscription boxes, mainly because I love the mystery each month but also there are so many options of subscription boxes to choose from such as Pink Parcel which I reviewed last month or Craftiosity, Treatbox and the Lookfantastic boxes, all of which are fantastic.
Today's post is a review of a new(ish) subscription box that launched this summer! LOWTOXBOX is a UK based subscription box based around natural beauty, food and lifestyle products with as little impact on the environment as possible. They use eco-friendly packaging as well as non-toxic ink and for each box sold, they will plant a tree on your behalf!
The boxes can be bought every month for £22.50 total or you can get a one off box for £25; additionally there are three month prepay plans for £64.50 and a 6 month prepay plan for £120 - all prices include postage. It will automatically renew each month on the date that you signed up. If you order before the 20th of the month then you'll receive that months box, otherwise you'll receive next months box.
Let's start with the items in the November box, beginning with the Raw Passion Spicy Muscle Rub Body Rub Oil (60ml). I haven't seen anything like this before but it contains 100% organic and vegan ingredients including black pepper berry oil, shea butter, ginger root oil and many more. It's a great trial or travel size.
The second beauty product is the Pure Purpose Anti-Ageing Face Oil (30ml) which 100% natural and contains wonderful ingredients that are perfect for normal to dry skin types. My skin is always dry due to eczema but it's even worse at this time of the year, hence my current mini eczema flareup so facial oils are an essential for my skin during the winter months.
Now onto the food items (my favourite items from any box)! There are four food/drink items in the November box including The Protein Ball Co Goji and Coconut snack which again is vegan and contains fruit juice, pea protein, chia seeds, berries and desiccated coconut. I personally love coconut so I love these and they're great 'on the go' snacks as well as they aren't messy and for me they are surprisingly filling.
The next snack is one that didn't last very long - the Super Moon Crunchy Salt & Vinegar Lentil Puffs which have the cutest packaging ever! I couldn't wait to eat these and they were delicious. I'd definitely recommend them as a heathy alternative to crisps with such an adorable packet.
There was one drink within the box which was the Pow Powerful Water Co Cranberry & Apple Sparkling Water which contains 40 calories, natural sweeteners and 44mg of natural caffeine so if you're looking to cut down on coffee as it can stain your teeth then maybe these naturally caffeinated drinks would be a good alternative. I love this cranberry and apple flavour as it's so delicious, fruity and sweet.
Lastly the final food item are the Taking The Pea Wacky Wasabi Peas (40g) which as the name would suggest are crunchy peas that are coated in wasabi powder. They have other flavour options such as 'cheesy peasy and onion' which I definitely want to try as I did like these but they were a little too spicy for me although I seem to have the palette of a newborn baby so they'll probably be fine for everyone else!
Now we're onto the final few items including the last beauty product in the box. The Coffee Scrub Co body scrub is included and I have the cinnamon flavour which smells amazing and it's a fairly decent size as you could probably get two uses out of it. I always love body scrubs, especially at this time of the year!
As it's coming up to Christmas, there are two more festive products in the box such as the Keep This Cracker which is something I've ever heard of before as it's an eco-friendly reusable Christmas cracker...The cracker pops into shape and it does make a noise but instead of breaking like a normal Christmas cracker, it just slides open so you can re-use it! I think it's a fantastic idea!
Last but not least is another unusual product and again it's something I haven't really seen before. It's the WragWrap Re-Useable Gift Wrap. It's similar to the Lush knot wraps but the material of this one is much thicker, durable and it crinkles and sounds like rustling paper! I think it's a wonderful idea as your gift recipient sound you it themselves or pass it onto someone else.
Overall, this is my first LOWTOXBOX and I'm so incredibly impressed, not only with the number of wonderful items but the range too! I haven't tried any of these brands before and there are a few products that I'd never even thought of before as well such as the re-usble Christmas cracker and re-usable gift wrap which are amazing. I cannot recommend this box enough, it would make a great Christmas gift as a one off box or as a subscription.
Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of the November LOXTOXBOX?
I'm a university graduate, coffee drinker and beauty, book, lifestyle and fashion blogger from little old England - posts marked with an (*) contain products sent for review or sponsored posts Read More >>
