Naturismo Starter Kits

Naturismo is one of my favourite places to shop for beauty products. Not necessarily for saving money but because they've taken the hard work out of choosing ethical products - they have really great brands, articles and ideas to help you choose which products will work best for you and their monthly discovery box is the best of the monthly 'subscription' boxes available. 

And now they've put together these starter kits which are a fantastic way to start 

They target a specific skin topic - hydrate, glow, purify - there's even one to help you sleep and to support new mums. 

Each kit is £18 (worth lots more) and is a great way to try out products that you may not want to spend the full whack on without trying first. They would also make lovely gifts for friends. 

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's day is a tricky one. Men are so different. We used to take my father out for lunch as he was away working a lot, we lived in London and it was really nice to spend some time together. Also I find with men if they want something they usually get it themselves. My husband has a horror of more stuff being bought into the house having spent the last couple of years sorting through his late father's hoarded belongings and acquiring two children and the plastic tat that inevitably comes with them. For our anniversary I tend to take him out for supper.

Father's Day though is different. Taking a hugely pregnant wife and two small children anywhere to eat isn't that relaxing and though I'm pretty sure he'd love it if I sent him to the pub for the afternoon I'm not sure that really counts. Of course I'm hoping Ned will create something at pre-school for his dad (I had a beautiful earring dish made) but in case that doesn't happen I have a few back-ups.

Accessories  - I love these skull cufflinks from The Great Frog (all their cufflinks are pretty awesome). I'm also always on the hunt for a vintage silver belt buckle for him but I think I need to go to America to track one of these down. These Gaucho belts look great and go with everything - Joe has the Neopolitan which has lasted for years and he wears it most days.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

God, gift idea posts are so tricky. The PR emails start coming in before Christmas and to come up with suggestions that are going to be right for everyone is an impossibility. I know Mother's Day like Valentine's Day, Father's Day and any other day may not be everyone's cup of tea.

But some people like it and struggle with what to do so here are my suggestions. As always I've decided to basically go with things that I would like, or that my mum would like, and hope that there is something here that either fits the bill or inspires you.

Some links are to specific websites that you should definitely have a proper look at... Blue Bowl being one of them. I just picked some of my favourite things but you'll no doubt find the perfect present somewhere on there.

L'Occitane Almond Lighter Legs

Mum's are great because they always remember those little hang-ups you have even though most of the time they don't mention it. My mum and sister went to Paris for the night a couple of weeks ago and bought me back some really lovely  hand cream (the L'Occitane handcream is one of my absolute favourites) and some L'Occitane Almond Lighter Legs gel cream because I've always had incredibly dry, eczema-prone skin on my legs, especially my calves which has been hard to get rid of over the years.

I've been using the Almond Lighter Legs for just over two weeks and I love it. Not only is the almond smell absolutely divine - not too sickly as almond often can be - but my legs look so much better and still feel soft and moisturised well into the next day. The gel-cream contains peppermint which makes you legs feel fresh and soothed even when you've been pounding pavements all day and it absorbs into the legs really well, no greasiness at all. As for making my legs feel lighter I'm not sure about that as they didn't feel particularly heavy to begin with but I'm so impressed with its moisturising qualities I don't doubt it would do everything else it claims to.

I particularly love this because I wouldn't have bought it for myself but I will definitely re-buy and get it for friends as gifts.

Liz Earle Gush

Now if you read this blog at all then you'll know I'm a big fan of Liz Earle products but now I'm being wowed not only by the products (and the customer service) but also their website which has a gift finder on it which is just perfect if you can't think what to get for someone. You can choose the price and the type of person and they recommend a product - having struggled to think of what to get a friend who's going away for a month I was recommended the Flight Essentials kit which seems the perfect thing for a long flight and a great size to have in your bag for the whole of your trip. xx