062 : Mother's Day Gift Guide 2015

It's Spring! February came and went really quickly, we saw Pancake Day and Valentines come and go in a flash, now, I'm not a massive fan of sentimental days, but I am a firm believer in Mother's Day, it's so nice to have a day to appreciate the woman who bought you into the world & spend time with family. I'm really lucky to have a wonderful mum who's supported me through my brightest and darkest days. Mother's Day also gives me time to reflect on myself as a mother, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be blessed with my two beautiful sons. While I'm incredibly close to my own mum, I do find her difficult to buy for, we have entirely different tastes in everything which always makes it a little tricky. I've put together this little guide with a few of my favourite gift ideas for Mothers Day 2015, spoil her rotten!

(in numerical order, Elemis Sparkling Care Gift Set - £56, Neom Happiness Travel Candle - £16, Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Honey Bath - £33, Emma Bridgewater Personalised Rose & Bee Vase - From £25, Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne - £82/100ml, Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball Gardening Range - £9-£25, Ted Baker Casine Cascading Floral Skinny Scarf - £35, Cath Kidston Clouds iPad Cover - £28)

For the beauty loving mum, I've picked this gorgeous little Elemis Sparkling Skin Gift Set, it comes in an adorable silver box with lots of little Elemis goodies in it, including; Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm, Aboslute Eye Mask, Rehydrating Gingseng Toner, Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser, Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream and White Flowers Eye & Lip Make-Up Remover. This set is designed to rejuvinate and revitalise the skin,ideal for those mama's that work just a little too hard! Second up, I have the 'Happiness' Travel Candle by Neom. I'm an absolute sucker for a scented candle, I love anything that smells amazing and makes me feel super chilled. The Happiness candle contains white neroli, mimosa, lemon and fresh grass notes, helping to balance emotions and promote a more uplifted and positive state of mind. Neom products are also vegetarian and Neom are massively against animal testing. This sweet little candle would be perfect to have lit whilst having a nice long soak in the bath, hopefully using the Laura Mercier Creme Brulee bath, with scents of caramel, vanilla beans, white musk and creme, it smells divine - it also firms, lifts and tones the skin. Containing vitamins A & E, it moisturises and conditions the skin too. I bought the Laura Mercier Fig Body Scrub a few weeks and I'm besotted with it, it smells gorgeous and has left my skin so soft - a nice alternate option! 

On the subject of smelling gorgeous, is the Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne, described as having the 'sensuality of a seductive red dress' this dark, enigmatic fragrance is laced with pomegranate, raspberry & plum, with subtle hints of pink pepper and Casablanca lily - you can also get your bottle engraved on the Jo Malone website too. I think any mama would be happy to get this on Mothers Day (and Jo Malone boxes with the black ribbons... love some good packaging!). For the mum that loves flowers, I found this amazing vase by Emma Bridgewater, you can have these personalised with anything you like and they come in a range of different designs, I think it's a really nice touch rather than buying a standard vase. It's far more personal & just looks a little more thoughtful, if you've never shopped online with Emma Bridgewater before you also get 15% off your first order. Next up is the Sophie Conran range for Burgon and Ball - this range is priced from £9-£25 so it's good for the purse strings and its a really sweet little range, I love the herb pots - there's a lot of choice, it's worth a look if your mum likes to spend a lot of time preening the garden!

For the more fashion savvy mum, I love this Ted Baker Casine scarf, it's probably not something my own mum would wear but I think it's really chic and I love the bright cascading florals against the dark fabric. At £35 it's a bit of a steal! Finally, if your mum is a little more technologically advanced than mine and knows how to work an Apple product (sorry mum!) this Cath Kidston clouds iPad cover is utterly beautiful, I love the new Clouds range and can imagine laying on the beach or in the garden, iPad in one hand, cocktail in the other! 

I really love the idea of homemade gifts, they're so thoughtful and you can make them so personal to your mum. A little hamper of her favourite homemade foods, you can handmake soap or bath bombs, candles, if you're good at sewing perhaps a sweet cushion. And pop in your favourite picture of the two of you together. Pinterest is full of amazing ideas for homemade Mothers Day gifts - it's definitely worth a browse.

I hope this has given some of you a little inspiration on what to buy one of the most important women in your life this Mothers Day! Let me know what you have planned for your mum this year! 

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008 Valentines Wishlist

As Valentines sneaks upon us, I have to admit, I'm not feeling particularly full of the romantic spirit, unfortunately, Mr Blush & Belle and I are unable to spend Valentines Day together this year, which is a massive downer for me. I'm a total sucker for anything cute, romantic/remotely loving and Valentines is definitely no exception. I adore having that one day a year to make an extra special effort to show someone how much you really do care for them.Here's what's on my Valentines wishlist for this year...

EOS Lip Sphere in Strawberry Sorbet £5.99 (available from Naturisimo)
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser £14.25 (available from Liz Earle)
Wal G Lace Dress £35 (available from Topshop)
Nail Rock nail wraps, in Loverheart £6.65 (available from Topshop)
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green £3.99 (available from Amazon)
Bird Earrings £1.50 (available from River Island)
Charbonnel Et Walker Milk Chocolate Truffles - 110g £9.75 (available from John Lewis)
Floral Gift Boxes £6.95 (available from dotcomgiftshop)
Cath Kidston Fold & Mail Stationary £7 (available from Cath Kidston)
Pink Lace Collar Top £16 (available from Topshop)

Whats on your Valentines wishlist this year..? 

Blush & Belle x

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007 What's In My Make-Up Bag?

Every girls make-up bag is a messy haven of our essential, everyday, can't-be-without products. Mine is absolutely no different, I tend to take everything I know I'm going to use during the day out of my bigger make-up bag and throw into one small essential one. I love having a little peep in my friends' make-up bags to see which products they just can't be without!
 
Here's what's in mine: 

 

The make-up bag I use for my essentials is from Cath Kidston, I picked it up in the sale for a teeny £7! Before I bought it I was just chucking my make-up loose into my handbag, I'd end up with foundation all over my diary and eyeliner on my keys, blusher over my purse. You get the idea! It was definitely a well needed investment and the print is so beautiful!

 

I don't tend to carry too much around with me, I can't stand my handbag being too heavy. 
Here's a little overview of what I like to have on me:

- Mac Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage - this was a sample sent to me by Mac, it's absolutely amazing, I'd definitely buy the full size, you pop it on after moisturizing and your foundation just slides on beautifully and gives you a really stunning, flawless look. It's definitely become a staple product for me.

- Mac Studio Fix SPF15 (shade NC15) - Mac is the only foundation I've found that really suits my skin, I was blessed with natural English Rose pale skin, I've found it really hard finding a foundation that suits my skintone and doesn't make me look even slightly orange, for me, the palest shade of Studio Fix works amazingly. I've learned to embrace my pale skin over the years, no fake tan for me!

- Bare Minerals Around the Clock eyeliner (shade 1am) - This eyeliner is amazing, it's a really dark beautiful black with little specks of glitter in, it looks so cute when its on and lasts absolutely ages and ages! It came with the 'Scene Stealer' set, which is half price at just £13 from Debenhams/Asos/Bare Minerals - it's a complete bargain and I'd highly recommend it!

- Bare Minerals Buxom Lips (shade Katie) - Katie was a recent purchase, a little pricey at £18 but it looks stunning on, its a pretty coral-y shade, Buxom Lips creates the look of fuller, voluptuous lips. I couldn't decide between Katie and Trixie, Trixie is a little pinker, but I'm definitely going to go back and buy it!

- Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil (shade Dark Brown) - This has become a real staple for me, I never used to use eyebrow pencils because I just didn't see the point, but having tried it out, my eyebrows do look so much neater, I'd heard really good things about this pencil and I don't use many Rimmel products, but its completely amazing, it lasts ages and the cute little brush on the end of the lid is perfect for taming unkempt brows!

- Rimmel Hide The Blemish Concealer (fairest shade) - Concealer is definitely essential if my skin isn't looking as great as it should be, sometimes when it gets to the end of the week and I'm feeling a little tired I suffer with the dreaded under eye circles, this helps massively as well as covering any little blemishes that pop up every now and then! It applies just like lipstick and lasts absolutely ages as you only need a tiny amount, it's definitely been a facesaver!

- Mac Fix+ - I bought this a little while ago, I was a little unsure of fixing sprays to begin with but I couldn't be without it now, it keeps your make-up in place all day and is so refreshing on the skin, it feels cool, calming and energizing, it definitely leaves me feeling refreshed during the day.

- Mac Dazzle Lash Mascara - I adore this mascara, I was blessed with naturally long eyelashes but they're quite fair, this is a gorgeous blacker-than-black shade. It's not quite as amazing as Benefit's They're Real but for the price tag it's definitely worth it!

- Mac Blush (shade Well Dressed) - This was a recent purchase of mine, I tend to get bored of blushers quite quickly and change shades pretty often, I love this shade though, its so pretty, it's a really delicate pink which looks beautiful against my pale skin, without leaving me looking embarrassed or overly warm! I tend to apply it quite often during the day, I hate looking washed out and tired because my skins so pale! 

So there's my everyday essentials! I'd love to hear what yours are! 

Blush & Belle x

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