Lifestyle and Parenting blog based in Surrey.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

The White Company New Fresh Fig Fragrance


The White Company Fresh Fig Fragrance

I am just a little obsessed about The White Company - I just want to live in their shops. As well as their styling being gorgeous, the stores always smell amazing with a mix of their beautiful fragrances. This week The White Company have added a new fragrance to their offering - Fresh Fig. Reminding me of balmy late summer evenings, the warm fragrance combines fig with cassis, citrus, tomato-leaf, vetivert and sweet lilac. Fresh Fig is available in the home and body fragrance products you can see the full range here.

The White Company Fresh Fig Candle


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Monday 27 July 2015

Mani Monday: Topshop Summer Nails


Topshop’s summer nail collection (£5-6 Topshop) inspired by the British seaside, - having lots of pastel pink shades. I have fallen in love with the formula, it is super long lasting and hard wearing, staying chip free for about a week (with topcoat)! Wowzers! It is also really quick drying, with two coats giving great coverage. My fave of the shades is the muted lilac Dynasty - what is yours?

Pale Pink - Trust Me




Lilac - Dynasty




Shimmery Pink - Spill The T





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Friday 24 July 2015

No 7 Protect and Perfect Intense Advanced


With the reduced sleep and increased stress of my little bundle, it is no surprise that fine lines and wrinkles have appeared, especially around my eyes. 

 You can't have missed the hype around the original No 7 Protect and Perfect serum, which has now been superseded by the Intense Advance version which has now been expanded into a complete skin care regime. To try an combat my tired skin, I've been putting No 7 Protect and Perfect Intense Advanced day (£24.99 Boots) , night (£24.99 Boots) and eye (£17 Boots) creams  to the test over the last few weeks.

The major benefit I have noticed is that the skin on my chin which was dry and a bit flakey (how gross do I sound!) is now really happy, which I put down to the hydrating benefits of the increased levels of Hyaluronic Acid and the broad spectrum antioxidants which naturalise any free radicals.

I have also been suffering from dryness around my eyes and lips and again this has noticeably improved after using the eye cream in both of these zones - the skin around your lips is really similar to that around your eyes, so a top tip is to use your eye cream here too, which will also help reduced lip wrinkles.

All of the creams contain No 7's new most concentrated peptide technology which helps to target wrinkles and prevent new ones too. I do think the secret to banishing my wrinkles is a sleep of more than three hours at one time, but I've been impressed at how my skin has improved since using it.

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Wednesday 22 July 2015

Baby Fashion Sale Buys

I do love a spot of sale shopping and I thought I'd share with you some baby fashion bargains I picked up recently. As with the best deals, these beauties can only be found in the shops and not online, so hit the high street and see what you can find!

In Joules I picked up this UV protection swimming outfit half price, reduced to £9.99 and the cutest of dresses with the street print for £16.95 (similar style here



At The Little White Company this cute pick smock and matching bloomers and dress (similar here) with matching knickers just couldn't be left behind with 30% off.




Half price at Mini Club in boots, this cute baby grow, vest and bib (not pictured) set was reduced to £5 and this hooded cardigan again was only £6.





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Saturday 18 July 2015

Jimmy Choo fragrance: Illicit


At the end of August, Jimmy Choo are launching their new fragrance - Illicit which I can't wait until the end of the summer to share with you. Warm and sweet, this evening scent combines ginger, rose and jasmine with honey-amber and sandlewood to give a seductive and glamorous fragrance. I have fallen in love with the bottle which looks like it has fallen out of the art-deco era, with cut glass facets and a contrasting cued-edged lid. So done you highest heels, sip champagne  and dose yourself in this   illicit scent. John Lewis £42/40ml £54/60ml £78/100ml



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Wednesday 15 July 2015

Label m Brunette texturing spray


I love hair with volume, sadly my locks have other ideas. In order to create the effect, over the years I have tried a variety of tactics with varying success, including backcombing (brutal but effective!) dry shampoo and litres of hair spray. Recently I have been giving Label M's Brunette Texturising Spray (£12.95 label m). A hybrid between a dry shampoo and hair spray the mist create lift by adding texture to the hair, without the damage of backcombing and the dryness of hairspray. For lazy days it creates a messy backcombed look, but for a more glamorous occasion you can then smooth over with a bristle brush and pin into place.

Why it is aimed for brunette's I'm unsure as there doesn't appear to be any pigment in the product, but label m do have a standard texturising volume spray (£12.95 label m) with similar properties you could do for as a blonde or red-head.

As a current promotion, if you purchase 2 label m products you will also receive Jean-Pierre Braganza label m unisex sunglasses (pictured) to complete your look.
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Tuesday 14 July 2015

What colour should I be wearing?



We all know the colours we like, but there are so many times when I look back of photos and think how washed out I look in certain outfits. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to meet stylist Alex Longmore at the Dove Invisible Dry event who talked me through which colours actually suit me. 

As the event was all about colour, I had donned my sunshine yellow coat and cobalt blue silk top (Embroidered Front T-Shirt with Linen £22.50 M&S pictured) to demonstrate my wiliness to embrace brights. Funnily enough, Alex told me that the intense blue I was wearing was my perfect colour, and that jewel shades are the most flattering on my hair and skin colour. This seemed like the perfect excuse to hit the shops to add a few more pieces of my now signature shade to my wardrobe. So I treated myself to the Phase Eight Blue Elissa Silk Maxi Skirt £85 and Coast Fey Printed Top £29 in the sale, which although is mainly black has the cobalt blue orchids which is a nod to the blue - I can't be constantly in head to toe. As cobalt blue looks so fab with gold, I've teamed the maxi skinny with these gorgeous Diamante Chain Mail Sandals (M&S £19.50).

What would be disastrous is if I got deodorant marks on my new threads, as they would stand out a mile, but luckily Dove's Invisible deodorant (£3.75 Boots) has been tested on 100 colours and doesn't leave marks, phew.







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Wednesday 8 July 2015

New Mummy Skin Care

Since baby Sophie was born I have changed my body care regime quite considerably as my skin needs and time available has changed a bit.



It's not just new mums who need to grab a super quick shower in the morning and I'm loving shower products that multi task. I'm currently using Dove Gentle Exfoliating Nourishing Body Wash (£2.55 Tesco) which as a everyday exfoliator is perfect as I haven't so far been managing to do my weekly deep body scrub I used to. It also moisturises so if I don't have time to put on body cream it's not the end of the world. 

To try and combat my post baby tummy I've been using Mustela Body Reconstructing Gel (£16.95 The Garden Pharmacy) in the mornings and some evenings when I remember(!) This gel helps tighten and firm this previously stretch skin and although I'm not back to pre baby taughtness I've seen an improvement in elasticity and tone in the last 11 weeks. 

I've noticed my skin has been more sensitive so I've ditched my highly fragranced body lotions, instead opting for Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion (£7.65 Boots) which contains oatmeal which helps sooth irritated skin and locks in moisture. On my hands which have been super dry from the increased hand washing I've been popping on SBC Cotton hand and body cream (£22 QVC) which is really mild and doesn't irritate my grumpy skin around my wrists. To moisturise on the go, I've been keeping cute pots of Steam Cream (£13.95 Look Fantastic) in my bag that I can lather on when needed. I love this bright pink floral tin and there are so many patterns to choose from.

During my pregnancy I became bath-obsessed having one pretty much every evening. Although I'm not having them at this frequency, when I've taken a soak I've been adding a splash of Neil's Yard Mother's Bath Oil (£15 John Lewis) which smells amazing and really helps me unwind, relax and makes my skin feel super soft and smooth afterwards. I'm also loving Clarins Relax Bath & Shower Concentrate (£20 House of Fraser) which smells dreamy.

I hope you find these products useful and if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear about them!
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Monday 6 July 2015

Mani Monday: DIY Mani that looks salon perfect


As you can tell from my weekly Mani Monday posts, I do love painting my nails - feeling much more girlie and feminine when they are done. As much as I would love to be at the nail bar every week, time and limited funds mean that, like most, it is a DIY job most of the time, but with the right  products you can make the process much more time efficient, luxurious and give a more professional finish.

I have raved on about Dr LeWinn's Renunail (£17.85 Feel Unique)too many times - but it really does strengthen my nails amazingly well. When I feel like they are getting weak, I run the course for the week and ta-dah, great nails once more!

Getting a good nail shape and taking your cuticles will help give you a salon-finish. Try the Stylfile 2 (£4.49 Boots) from Apprentice winner Tom Pellereau. The S shape helps get a even length on your nails and the new version has a nail cleaner and cuticle pusher built in.

A base coat will help your chosen colour stand out and prevent staining of your nails. I love butter London's Nail Foundation (£13.50 Feel Unique), which you can also layer up for a nude nail shade too.

After your colour, a good top coat is essential for given your mani staying power and a good shine. No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat (£6 Boots) was recommended to me by nail art blogger Fundamentally Flawless and I've never looked bak. It adds amazing shine and dries super quick too. For a gel-look I also really like Seche Vite Top Coat (£9 Boots), which again dries super quick.

After my DIY mani has dried I layer on some hand and nail cream and Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Hand Cream (£26 Debenhams) is one of my faves, with a subtle smell and epic hydration.




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Saturday 4 July 2015

The Pig Hotel Review


When your summer holiday has been and gone, if you are anything like me you need to get your next get-away booked to avoid PVS (post-vacation-sadness). Last autumn Mr BMB took me away to Bath for the weekend (there happened to be a rugby match on - always a catch!) and we popped into The Pig-Near-Bath for lunch and a spa treatment. This gorgeous old English house was just stunning. We were treated at the entrance and taken through to the lounge for coffee and sat by the fire place pretending we owned the place.



We then were taken down through the garden to The Potting Sheds where our heavenly massages took place. You each have your own little (heated!) shed which is just too cute and a far cry from a super-swish spa. 




We then sat down in the conservatory for lunch - what a feast! All the ingredients come from the garden, or within a 25-mile radius so are super fresh. My scallop starter was to-die-for.


After lunch we fretted to another cozy nook where we sat and had a glass of bubbles and wished we'd booked to stay the night. This was such a cracker of an afternoon I'm definitely going back for a weekend stay. There are a couple of other Pig destinations to choose from - excitedly a Devon version will be opening next Summer too.





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Wednesday 1 July 2015

Beat The Heat Beauty


So today is going to be HOT, 35 degrees, jeeps! I love the warm weather but you can end up a hot sticky mess if you don’t use the right products when the mercury rises. 

 Most moisturisers will make you sweat more in the heat and can block your pores, so I recommend banning the creams and opting for gels or sparks instead. Indeed Labs hydraluron moisture jelly (£24.99 Boots) is my must-use facial moisturiser as it really doesn’t make you perspire, but the ingredients lock in moisture and leave your skin feeling supple, so you won’t miss your normal face cream. You will have to add an extra SPF though to stop UV damage. 

 The same rule applies for the body, even more so if you are opting for bare legs. I am loving Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser (£4.99 Superdrug), as the fine miss hydrates without the greasiness - and is super quick to apply. 

 Inevitably you will overheat at some point, be it on the tube or walking in the sunshine, so I freshen up with a spritz of Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist (£46 House of Fraser) which smells amazing and is an instant refresh and pick-me-up, especially straight from the fridge. 

 It goes without saying that you need a super good deodorant today, so I’m opting for Dove Soft Feel Antiperspirant Deodorant Compressed (£3.25 Tesco) which smells like baby powder and being a dinky compressed bottle, you can keep hand-bag ready.

 Finally, having a fresh gorgeous summer scent will make you feel like you are pool side in the Mediterranean rather than stifling in the city heat and I’m opting for Elie Saab Resort Collection Eau de Toilette (£47 John Lewis) which I talked about more in my Summer Fragrance Edit. So I hope these products help you beat the heat today!



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