Christmas gifts for him

Woof It: White Woof-It speaker - £60
Amazon: Breaking Bad Series 1 Blu Ray £13.86
Matalan: Herringbone Mule Slippers - £6, Geo Knit Beanie - £5, Make Your Own Sci-Fi Movie - £2.50
River Island: White Eagle Print T-Shirt - £14.40
Next: Fairisle Pattern Socks - £12
Topman: Blue Geometric Print Wallet - £10
Aha, time to buy gifts for the men in your life. I find this particularly hard unless my boyfriend, Vince, has actually told me exactly what he wants. If there's nothing in particular that he wants then I'll usually go for things like socks, tshirts, jeans, wallets, gadgets and pretty much any type of accessory you can think of really.

Above are just some of my own suggestions for what I'd buy for Vince or perhaps for my dad/grandad. My dad is usually pretty easy as there's usually a DVD out that he wants and he is always in need of socks/slippers etc. For grandads I would opt for some kind of gadget, socks again and you can never go wrong with a trusty wallet.

Clothing is usually a pretty good idea for a present. I'm sure of Vince's sizes and the style of clothing he likes. You can't usually go wrong with a tshirt or jumper and if you do go horribly wrong then you can always exchange! I'd also go for CDs or boxsets of his favourite films/TV shows.

Aftershave/fragrances are always great presents and this year Vince knows I have got him one. Mainly because he didn't stop asking me to get it for him. You can usually find some pretty good deals on gift sets in places like Boots and what's even better is you get lots of great points with them too, meaning you can probably get yourself a little gift!

What are you buying the men in your life for Christmas this year?

Kiko Cosmetics Longlasting Stick Eyeshadow Set

Kiko Cosmetics Longlasting Stick Eyeshadow Set - £22.90*

From left to right: Pearly Shell, Golden Brown, Pearly Lagoon Blue, Golden Green, Pearly Onyx Black















So this is a Christmas gift and a half! I was recently sent this gorgeous set from Kiko Cosmetics and it kind of went into my box of products to review and sat there for a little while. If I knew it was as good as this I would have featured it much earlier on the blog! Apologies!

The gorgeous set contains five different shades of eyeshadow and each one is super soft and creamy, brilliantly blendable and has fab staying power. My favourite shade has got to be Pearly Onyx Black. It is a deep dark black shade with plenty of sparkle, perfect to wear for your New Year's Eve celebrations. The specks of glitter make it pretty difficult to remove, even with my trusty Bioderma, but it creates such an outstanding look I can forgive it pretty much anything.

I'm not 100% sure about the Pearly Lagoon Blue and Golden Green colours as they aren't really my everyday go-to shades. They're very vibrant and a bit out there so I'm not sure how much use I would get out of these. They could be blended together or the Pearly Shell shade could be used as some kind of base for them, bringing down the vibrancy just a little bit.

For £22.90 I think this is really reasonable and makes a lovely Christmas gift. I would certainly recommend buying this for someone or for yourself (why not?) as the eyeshadows are really great quality and will last absolutely ages.

Have you tried these eyeshadows yet or are you planning to buy the set for someone this Christmas?

This post contains PR samples

Pürminerals 'Bare It All' Collection

Pürminerals 'Bare It All' Collection - £23.20*

Tis the season for discovering new brands isn't it? This is another I hadn't heard of until now. I recently spotted the brand in Marks & Spencer and was sent the very lovely 'Bare It All' collection to take a look at.

The collection usually retails for £29 but I actually found it reduced in Marks & Spencer so I'd snap this up quick if I were you. It's the perfect Christmas gift for the make-up lover in your life. The four piece collection features a lipstick, eyeliner, blusher and highlighting powder/bronzer, all the necessary tools for creating a natural make-up look.

The products themselves are really very luxurious, despite them coming in a cardboard 'set' box, and are suitable for all skin types and all ages so it would make a great gift for your sister/mum/nan. I think the shades are ones anyone can really appreciate and ones that everyone needs in their make-up bag for various occasions.

The lipstick is a gorgeous dewy pink, which contains hydrating shea butter and jojoba oil and the blush in enriched with vitamins. Overall I think it's a lovely little set and is really reasonable for purchasing as a gift for others or even for yourself!

Will you be purchasing this for anyone this Christmas?

This post contains PR samples

The best Christmas jumpers

Topshop: Knitted Gingerbread Man Jumper - £42
Internacionale: Christmas Reindeer Jumper - £24.99
New Look: Cream Let It Snow Christmas Jumper - £14.99, Pale Blue Polka Dot Pudding Christmas Jumper - £27.99
Cream Light Up Tree Christmas Jumper - £29.99, Grey Penguin Christmas Jumper - £27.99

It's officially December, which means it's time to start thinking about your Christmas day attire. Do you go for a sophisticated, special outfit or are you one of those people that opt for a festive jumper?

Usually I'm not the Christmas jumper wearing kind of person but recently I've noticed the high street taking on the Christmas jumper and making it more stylish, while still keeping it cheerful and fun.

When you walk into Primark the range of Christmas jumpers slaps you right in the face but unfortunately they don't have a website for me to find lots on and link you to them, grr! Instead I've opted for a couple of jumpers from your usual highstreet stores, including New Look, Topshop and Internacionale.

I love New Look's offerings as they're really gorgeous colours. I particularly like the pale blue one with the Christmas pudding. I definitely wouldn't be embarrassed to wear that on Christmas day!

The one thing that worries me about these jumpers are the prices! The Topshop jumper is £42 so you really need to make a bit of an investment purchase with this one and wear it year after year. I think with the price of this one I'd want to wear it all year round to get my money's worth. New Look's jumpers are almost at the £30 mark, which again, is quite a lot of money so I would certainly be dusting these off every year. I suppose they're a lot better quality than Primark's offerings and they will last a lot longer than just one Christmas.

What Christmas jumper will you be wearing this year?

Weleda Pomegranate Gift Box

Weleda Pomegranate Gift Box - £30.90*






This Weleda Pomegranate Gift Box is the perfect Christmas gift for the bodycare lover in your life. It's not your usual everyday 'smelly' set you'd buy from any old shop, this set is much more luxurious. For around £30 you can choose from a variety of different scents including Pomegranate, Wild Rose, Citrus and Sea Buckthorn, which sounds particularly interesting! The Pomegranate scent is absolutely amazing, I can't describe to you how good it smells.

The set comes with a new regenerating body lotion, which prevents the premature ageing of skin. Something everyone can do with a little bit of! The formulation includes pomegranate seed oil, apricot kernel oil and shea butter to help keep the skin lovely and soft and the product itself is a fab size so it will last absolutely ages.

The creamy body wash is absolutely gorgeous. One of the best things ever is using a wonderfully scented product in the shower. It makes me want to stand in there all day long just so I can keep smelling the lovely scents. The wash is actually infused with pure essential oils of sandalwood davana and neroli so you know you're onto a winner! It's also loaded with nutrients that leaves the skin super soft.

The gift box costs £30.90 and personally I think its absolutely worth every pound. It's a lovely gift to receive and I'd love to try some of the other scents out!

Will you be buying the gift box for anyone you know?

This post contains PR samples

Joy to the girls - Too Faced Pop-out Make-up Palette and giveaway

Too Faced - Jingle all the way iPhone 5 palette - £20*






This is the first in a series of Christmas gift ideas here on my blog! I was recently sent this cute make-up palette by the brand Too Faced, which is not one I'd heard of until very recently. I saw the brand in a Boots store and am really impressed with the selection of products available.

Created especially for Christmas the 'Jingle all the way' make-up set contains 11 super pretty, well pigmented eye shadows, a girly pink blusher and a bronzer and if that wasn't enough, the 'iPhone' case on the back pops off and can be used on regular iPhone 5s. This is a great size and will be able to travel with you wherever you go with no problems.

The eyeshadows have got to be my absolute favourite. They're super sparkly and perfect for the festive season. I think this set is the perfect stocking filler and a great introduction to things like blusher and bronzer for those experimenting with make-up. I personally would buy this for a teenager, as the packaging is kind of childish looking but all in all it's a great little palette. One you can work into your daily make-up routine, keep for special occasions or keep for travelling with.

I'm going to be giving away this palette to one lucky winner!

T&Cs

UK only

Unfortunately due to postage and the closing date of the giveaway I can't guarantee you'll receive this for Christmas

Please, if you're from the Money Saving Expert forums or a regular 'comper' then please don't enter. I want my blog giveaways to be for regular, returning readers so I can give something back.

Giveaway will close on December 12.

This post contains PR samples

Christmas gifts for her

Boots: Yankee Candle 3 Small Jar Candles Gift Collection - £24.99, Marc Jacobs Honey 50ml - £39.50
Scented Candle Shop: Yankee Candle Housewarmer Jar - Christmas Eve - £14.99
ASOS: Elemis Indulgent Treasures - £25
Zara: Messenger Bag with zips - £39.99, OPI Christmas Pastel Liquid Sand Mini Trios - £11.99
Matalan: Lurex Knitted Snowflake Slipper Boots - £8

It's that time of year again... the tornado of gift guides and here's my take! Basically this is everything I would quite like for Christmas. Hint hint to any family reading.

Girls are SO easy to buy for. If you're really stuck then make-up or smellies should always be your go-to present but my picks above are for the sisters/mums/nans/friends in your life, the ones whose gifts you should probably put some effort into. Perfume is always a good gift - something I love receiving myself because you can never have too much perfume. It's a good idea to know the sorts of scents the person you're buying for likes but most of the time you can't go wrong.

The Zara bag is firmly on my Christmas list this year, I can't stop looking at it. It's so pretty and only £39.99 too, bargain!

I think nail polishes are always a pretty safe present to buy. They always look great in a gift set as it's makes it look that extra little bit special. I'd love to receive the OPI polishes above, they're such pretty colours.

Each and every year I receive Pyjamas, slippers, dressing gowns etc etc. Again, you can't go wrong with things like slippers because you're definitely going to need them. The same goes with PJs. My mum buys me PJs every year and it's become a bit of a tradition now. I don't really need new slippers this year but sometimes I can't resist the cute patterns. Cheap and cheerful!

What gifts are you buying the girls this year?