Beauty Essentials

When the nights draw in and the weather turns from cool to bloody freezing our skin and bodies suffer massively, especially once the party season is upon us and we start drinking our own body weight in alcohol! SO I try to nourish my skin and cleanse my body which helps me look and feel better. These are a few products that really do help, I'm not claiming they turn the clock back, clearly, but I do think they help my skin from becoming the texture of a nasty dried fruit and my body from bloating out like a balloon.

Skinceuticals is the best skin product I have ever used, and believe me I've tried them all!

I would also recommend a Vit C Skinceuticals facial with Sally at Beach Beauty (02072678787) in Camden. 

Black Chicken Balm of Ages sorts everything from frizzy hair to dry and irritating skin, a handbag must!

The Rodial spray tan is fab, stand in the shower, not on obviously, and spray away (remember to run the shower after)! It gives a healthy glow and it never streaks!

Skinny tea........thats your party detox girls! Lets just say it clears the toxins out!

My Christmas Gift Guide

Christmas shopping drives me crazy, I buy a few pressies in November, feel extremely proud of myself, then completely forget to buy any more and hey ho Christmas is upon us and I have a measly selection of gifts!

So this year... yes, its going to be different and I'm going to share it all with you!

Here is my super organised planner...

Husbands
(do we still do pressies after 21 years??)
Penelope Chilvers Dandy slippers - Penelope Chilvers have an amazing bespoke slipper service, choose your colour and design, I will be getting my husband's initials. A brilliant personalised gift for the man that has everything!

Teenagers

Nike x Liberty trainers - A great collaboration, the perfect gift for a teenage girl!

Brooklyn We Go Hard sweater - I picked up this sweater from Present, a great menswear shop in Shoreditch, crammed full of bits that any fashion conscious teenager would love!

Young Ones

I've got gorgeous step grandkids, so top tips for kids under 10.
Sew Heart Felt rabbit slippers - Super cute slippers, they have loads of animals to choose from!

Sew Cool Sewing Studio - A great sewing machine that is threadless and needleless! They're flying off the shelves, I was behind a lady the other day who bought 5! 

Zoomer Dino Boomer - The most technologically advanced robot dinosaur that you can teach and train, perfect for a little boy. I'll be buying all of my toys from local toyshop, Cachao, a fabulous shop stocked full of the best toys!

Girlfriends
Skinny champagne - Sugar-free, half the calories, champagne that tastes great, fab for a girlfriend that is forever on a diet!

ANNA candle - My favourite sent, fig!

Brother

Anything from the Paul Smith sale shop - Paul Smith has individual style, it's never seasonal, so always shop in the outlet! Great prices!

Sister (in law)
Whistles medium cracked clutch - I love Whistles clutches, great as an evening bag or a wallet (how I use mine). My sister in law loves all things gold, so this clutch will be a dead cert!


Oldies

Kusmi tea and tea pot - Fab flavoured green teas, great way to drink something healthy without realising it!

Fig and Yarrow facial care kit - Organic artisan beauty products that smell delicious.

The Whole Family

Failing all this get a rather large hamper for the whole family! Fortnum and Mason have a great selection.

Secret Santa

Also my top tip for ghastly 'secret santa', a 'Pochette surprise' (a lucky dip) from Colette, Parisian purveyor of all things cool.

And finally... My Wish List...

Charlotte Simone Popsicle fur- Pure luxury!

Annoushka ear cuff - I am lusting after this ear cuff from my favourite jeweller!

Chinti and Parker Love sweater (available at ANNA) - No christmas is complete without a cashmere jumper, this year I'm all about the slogans!

Texturising

I love wearing different textures together, it really gives an ordinary outfit depth. I'm also a lover of light weight fabrics in winter teamed with luxurious furs and knits for warmth. Lets face it as long as our toes are warm nothing else seems to matter! These trainer high tops have a towelling lining so super comfy and warm, especially without socks! Admittedly it was slightly warmer when I took these pics but I still wear this outfit but I now add a pair of dark navy Wolford tights. 

This lace top is by Rabens Saloner, one of my fav designers, she's Danish but lives in Bali so all her pieces have a boho twist....we sell the collection in ANNA but you have to be quick as it sells quickly as the prices are also fab! 

WHAT I WORE...
Fur - Max Mara (available at ANNA) | Shirt - Rabens Saloner (available at ANNA) | Skirt - Sea NY | Trainers - Philippe Model |

The Nutritious Nutribullet

Some of the delicious ingredients that I use in my drinks

I've Just discovered the bullet... steady on, by this I mean a nutritious blender, the new craze for all those health fanatics out there, and this really is a craze that I totally endorse.

The Nutribullet is an amazing blender, unlike it's 'blender brothers', it has a super powerful motor that not only blends vegetable and fruit flesh, it also does skin (apart from banana), pips, nuts, seeds and stalks, which means that all the nutrients found in the bits that we usually discard are now whizzed-up into a seriously yummy drink.

My morning drink

My morning fix consists of either kale or spinach, apple, ginger, and anything else lying around. I blend it with avocado (to thicken) and water, I use unflavoured coconut water for extra hydration, but you don't have to.

My husband prefers a fruit fix in the morning, so his consists of blueberries (the mother of all fruits), strawberries, a whole kiwi, half a lemon and ginger. I blend it with half a banana and coconut water. Top tip: keep frozen red fruits, so much cheaper and no nutrients are lost in the freezing.

My husband's morning drink

My friend using her blender

I recently bought one for a great friend of mine who sadly has been struck by the horrible curse of cancer. She is now happily blending and filling her beautiful body with all things healthy and nutritious.

So I urge you all to get blending- it's time to look after ourselves now that winter is upon us, especially if you want to party hard throughout the festive season like me!