Real Techniques Brushes arrive!

As a massive fan of Pixiwoo I was particularly excited when Sam announced her new business venture... her own range of make up brushes. If you don't know who Pixiwoo are, firstly where on earth have you been? And secondly you should certainly check them out on you tube. They are two experienced professional make up artists who started their own make up tutorial channel a few years ago resulting in catapulting success and have now reached over 50 million hits.  They cover editorial and catwalk inspired looks to everyday make up  tips and celebrity inspired make up tutorials. Not only are there tutorials brilliant they also seem to be really nice normal girls and seem to appreciate all they're success so far. The videos are also great fun and I am always eagerly awaiting their next upload.

Sam, the brains behind Pixiwoo, recently released her own range of make up brushes called Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman and has been demonstrating their use in several helpful technique videos demonstrating their professional application of make up at an affordable price.  

I recently and eagerly finally placed my first order for the brushes opting for the stippling brush and the starter set which comes with a convenient carry case to keep your brushes organised on the go, perfect for frequent travellers like myself.

The dual fibre stippling brush can be used to create a smooth and airbrushed look when applying foundation allowing you to work the product into the skin rather applying a layer of make up that just sits on the skin. With taklon bristles this brush is also animal friendly which is consistent with Sam's approach to product testing. With a pretty metallic pink shaft and a flat bottom this brush can be stood up on a dressing table for convenience, not to mentioning looking good.

To view a video of Sam using this brush go to their you tube channel Pixiwoo or follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEcN8yWCCjE





The clever travel starter set has a nice collection of brushes you would need to create a beautiful eye make up. The set includes a base shadow brush, a deluxe crease brush, an accent brush, a pixel point eyeliner brush and a brow brush all concealed withit a handy carry case. The carry case can be folded horizontally and clipped in place with toggle fastner ideal for sitting on your dressing table. The starter set comes in a lovely lilac colour and is perfect for weekend getaways where you don't want to be lugging about your whole brush collection.  





 http://www.youtube.com/user/realtechniques#p/u/16/DKMwwJ8z7Kw

 

I can't comment on the use of these brushes yet as I have been patiently waiting to blog about them before I used them. I am sure however that Pixiwoo would only ever create something as magnificent as their youtube make up tutorials.

I can't wait till tomorrow now so I can use them! Eeeeek very exciting!

You can see Sam use her entire brush collection on youtube. Just enter Real Techniques in the search box.

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A winter getaway

Okay I know I am a pretty lucky person when it comes to work trips of which in my 4 years with the  company has included a week in Boston, numerous trips to Amsterdam and a couple of trips to Brussels not to mention all expenses paid but when I found out I was off to Spain for a week on the 29th November I could not hide the smile on my face.

I was only just getting used to the sudden drop in outside temperature when I was whisked off to Malaga which is why I have not been able to blog post until now. There was a lot of work to be done but we did have some fun at nights including hiring a yacht and going sailing to watch the sun set.

Here are a few pictures from my trip just to make all those who haven't seen sunshine since the Summer (er hem i.e. my boyfriend) a bit jealous. But don't worry I think since returning to the UK my body has gone into shock and I think developing a cold. Well you can't win em all huh!



 




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Death in Perguia by John Follain

A slightly more controversial read than normal but after all the news coverage this case received, especially surrounding the most recent appeal case acquittal of the previously convicted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito I was so intrigued I just had to find out more. The main reason for my interest in the case and desire to explore it in more detail was the amazing acquittal of both Knox and Solectito just 2 years after being found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher and being sentenced to 26 years in prison.

I wanted to read a book on this case that really started at the very beginning with the girls moving to Perugia, a small picturesque town in Italy, and their initial acquaintance with each other, right through to the result of the appeal case. There are a number of books on the market documenting the very same story but I wanted to read an unbiased version with as many contemporaneous accounts as possible and a book which provided the facts and not some sensationalized biased patchy story. John Follian's 'definitive account of the Meredith Kercher case from her murder to the acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox' is extremely credible and thorough. His sources include both case files including the 10,000 page prosecution file including photographs, autopsy and forensic police reports, transcripts of witness statements, interrogations of suspects and Amanda Knox's taped meetings with her family in prison. He also includes excerpts from Amanda's diary she wrote while in prison, in-depth interviews with police detectives , lawyers for Amanda, Raffaele and Rudy as well as interviews with both Amanda's and Meredith's family and friends. Follain was also granted access to the crime scene, spent the entire first trial in Perugia taking verbatim notes and followed the case right to its very end. Shortly after the appeal result Follain published and released his book "Death in Perugia" which has since its release become a crime best seller.



Without voicing my opinion on what I think actually happened on the night of Meredith Kercher's murder I will say that John Follian's book is very thought-provoking and really guides you through the case carefully taking time to explain every bit of evidence, witness account or anything that became an important part of the case. At the beginning of the book Follain provides a map of Perugia marking all the important landmarks of the case. He also provides a breakdown of the principle characters including all key investigators who later become pivotal to both the first trial and the appeal trials results. He then begins with a Prologue which sets the scene on the 2nd November 2007 the night of Meredith's murder in which Monica Napoleoni the chief of Perugia's homicide squad receives a call explaining a body has been found. The reader and Napoleoni then go straight to the crime scene where it is described at length. The first thing Napoleoni thinks is if this was a break in and then the house was ransacked why are shards of glass on top of the messy belongings of the room? The second thought she had and why this has become one of the most publicised cases in decades is the nature of the murder. Meredith had been stabbed what looked like several times in the neck and had suffered for quite a long time in the final moments of her life.

Follain separates the different sections of the story into non sensationalized factual parts: Part 1 - Path to murder, Part 2 - Investigation and Part 3 - Trials, broken up by 16 pages of pictures at various stages of the investigation including pictures of the crime scene (not for the faint hearted), several pictures of Amanda and Raffaele including the famous image of them kissing while outside the crime scene.



Follain also allows you to understand many other characters in the investigation including Rudy Gede who was the first party to be found guilty after requesting a fast track trial, I presume hoping for less evidence to be collected by the time he went to court. He was eventually found guilty and was sentenced straight away. He is potentially the only person who in the future could divulge more details of the night of Meredith's murder and the evidence was certainly stacked up enough against him to find him unequivocably guilty. His involvement is however very suspicious as the wounds found on Meredith's body were always deemed too severe for one person alone to inflict. Who else then was involved? Will Gede ever speak out?

If you are interested in finding out more about the Meredith Kercher case , or are possibly curious as to how the appeal case turned everything around from Knox and Sollecito being convicted guilty and sentenced to 26 years in prison to 4 years later being acquitted then "Death in Perugia" is definitely a great place to start. At no point is the story bogged down by legal jargon or become boring. The book is notably unbiased and allows the reader to make up their own mind,simply providing the details of the case without indulging in subjection or assumptions at any point. Above all the author Follain maintains a level of respect for the Kercher family throughout and never lets the details of the case and its dramatic turnabout lose sight of the most important fact which is on the 2nd November 2007 a 22-year-old English girl was brutally murdered in the comfort of her own home while on what was presumed to be the trip of a lifetime and I'm sure now that the media circus surrounding the case has died down she will be allowed to rest in peace.

Death in Perugia by John Follain

A slightly more controversial read than normal but after all the news coverage this case received, especially surrounding the most recent appeal case acquittal of the previously convicted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito I was so intrigued I just had to find out more. The main reason for my interest in the case and desire to explore it in more detail was the amazing acquittal of both Knox and Solectito just 2 years after being found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher and being sentenced to 26 years in prison.

I wanted to read a book on this case that really started at the very beginning with the girls moving to Perugia, a small picturesque town in Italy, and their initial acquaintance with each other, right through to the result of the appeal case. There are a number of books on the market documenting the very same story but I wanted to read an unbiased version with as many contemporaneous accounts as possible and a book which provided the facts and not some sensationalized biased patchy story. John Follian's 'definitive account of the Meredith Kercher case from her murder to the acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox' is extremely credible and thorough. His sources include both case files including the 10,000 page prosecution file including photographs, autopsy and forensic police reports, transcripts of witness statements, interrogations of suspects and Amanda Knox's taped meetings with her family in prison. He also includes excerpts from Amanda's diary she wrote while in prison, in-depth interviews with police detectives , lawyers for Amanda, Raffaele and Rudy as well as interviews with both Amanda's and Meredith's family and friends. Follain was also granted access to the crime scene, spent the entire first trial in Perugia taking verbatim notes and followed the case right to its very end. Shortly after the appeal result Follain published and released his book "Death in Perugia" which has since its release become a crime best seller.



Without voicing my opinion on what I think actually happened on the night of Meredith Kercher's murder I will say that John Follian's book is very thought-provoking and really guides you through the case carefully taking time to explain every bit of evidence, witness account or anything that became an important part of the case. At the beginning of the book Follain provides a map of Perugia marking all the important landmarks of the case. He also provides a breakdown of the principle characters including all key investigators who later become pivotal to both the first trial and the appeal trials results. He then begins with a Prologue which sets the scene on the 2nd November  2007 the night of Meredith's murder in which Monica Napoleoni the chief of Perugia's homicide squad receives a call explaining a body has been found. The reader and Napoleoni then go straight to the crime scene where it is described at length. The first thing  Napoleoni thinks is if this was a break in and then the house was ransacked why are shards of glass on top of the messy belongings of the room? The second thought she had and why this has become one of the most publicised cases in decades is the nature of the murder. Meredith had been stabbed what looked like several times in the neck and had suffered for quite a long time in the final moments of her life.

Follain separates the different sections of the story into non sensationalized factual parts: Part 1 - Path to murder, Part 2 - Investigation and Part 3 - Trials, broken up by 16 pages of pictures at various stages of the investigation including pictures of the crime scene (not for the faint hearted), several pictures of Amanda and Raffaele including the famous image of them kissing while outside the crime scene.



Follain also allows you to understand many other characters in the investigation including Rudy Gede who was the first party to be found guilty after requesting a fast track trial, I presume hoping for less evidence to be collected by the time he went to court. He was eventually found guilty and was sentenced straight away. He is potentially the only person who in the future could divulge more details of the night of Meredith's murder and the evidence was certainly stacked up enough against him to find him unequivocably guilty. His involvement is however very suspicious as the wounds found on Meredith's body were always deemed too severe for one person alone to inflict. Who else then was involved? Will Gede ever speak out?

If you are interested in finding out more about the Meredith Kercher case , or are possibly curious as to how the appeal case turned everything  around from Knox and Sollecito being convicted guilty and sentenced to 26 years in prison to 4 years later being acquitted then "Death in Perugia" is definitely a great place to start. At no point is the story bogged down by legal jargon or become boring. The book is notably unbiased and allows the reader to make up their own mind,simply providing the details of the case without indulging in subjection or assumptions at any point. Above all the author Follain maintains a level of respect for the Kercher family throughout and never lets the details of the case and its dramatic turnabout lose sight of the most important fact which is on the 2nd November 2007 a 22-year-old English girl was brutally murdered in the comfort of her own home while on what was presumed to be the trip of a lifetime and I'm sure now that the media circus surrounding the case has died down she will be allowed to rest in peace.

Gifts for Mum

I was pretty excited when a little invitation popped through my letterbox this week from Harvey Nichols inviting me to their Edinburgh Christmas Shopping Party.  The event was on Tuesday 22nd November 6.30pm - 10pm and entitled the invitation holder to a night of discounts, complimentary drinks and food tasting and there was also some live music too. The discounts were offered on a lucky dip basis at the cash point when a purchase was made with prizes of 15% discount up to 50% off. All beauty and perfumery had a discount of 15% and let me tell you Harvey Nichols last night was mobbed! I have no idea how many people were there but I spoke to lots of lovely people and had a brilliant time. There was even a red carpet outside adding to that VIP event feeling though there was nothing very important about me at all.

 



I snapped up a few lovely Christmas gifts making most of the discounts, starting at the perfume counter. The helpful perfumery lady suggested a few lovely scents for me to try for my Mum suggesting sweeter scents to suit her tastes. After much deliberating and sniffing I opted for the gorgeous 'Incanto Bloom' by Salvatore Ferragamo. The bottle is packaged up now so I can't exactly describe its smell but it is a medium strength fruity and sweet smell that is not as sickly as a lot of the younger vanilla overloaded smells out there that make me feel sick when I smell them. The bottle is gorgeous, which in my opinion is almost as important as the smell with perfume, with a cute bow at the top and a solid base with pretty flower prints on the bottle to enhance the floral name of the perfume.  At £49 for the 50ml and £64 for the 100ml and the 15% discount I opted for the 100ml as ultimately its better value not to mention I really want to splash out on my mum this year.




My second, third and forth purchases happened at the Laura Mercier counter where I suddenly remembered the lovely body souffle's they had and thought with a discount now might be a good time to try one. However I spied these beautiful sets and suddenly myself and 2 other woman were discussing the smells and how amazing they were. Then the woman I was talking to literally snapped up about 6 sets and I thought okay, I need to get involved.  I had smelled the Creme Brule once before and  thought it was just amazing and smelling it again brought back all those happy feelings I felt the first time round.  However they had a limited edition Tarte au citron duo too which smells as you would imagine more fruity, Citrussy even - shock! 

In the duo sets you get 2 products, obviously, the first being the amazing souffle body creme and the second is a honey bath which froths up apparently like bubble bath but is very moisturisng and smells as good as a bath oil. You use the little honey stick to dip it in the jar and then let it run off into the bath which apparently gives you the perfect amount. I would imagine the instructions for the souffle are slather the creme all over your body until every bit of it smells delicious.



 


The Creme Brule scent is right up my Mum's street so I purchased this for a Christmas gift for her. Priced at £31 for the duo I received 15% off and therefore got both for £53.

The Tarte au Citron, I bought because it was still such an amazing smell and limited edition so how could I possibly miss out! I haven't decided whether I will give this as a gift or keep it for myself at the moment. I guess it depends how the rest of my Christmas shopping goes.  





The duo's come in lovely metallic snake skin boxes and therefore make beautiful gifts although if you wanted you could nip to the pound store or a card shop buy nice little boxes and split up the sets making your money go even further.

The last thing I purchased was for the house and if you read my previous blog post on Christmassy scented candles you will know that I though I had found the perfect one ... I was wrong! This is now my favourite Christmas candle, even when I asked my boyfriend to smell it he thought it smelt exactly like mince pies. I think it smells more gingery myself but never the less don't let the name put you off as it certainly smells like much more than warm roasted chestnuts. More like warm roasted chestnuts, nutmeg, ginger, berries, clove and sugar. Again it comes in the snake-skin print box and would also make a lovely gift even though I cannot bare to part with it myself.


I don't know how long they are supposed to burn for as it doesn't say on the box but they are pretty big, larger than my 45 hour one from Sainsbury's so fingers crossed I get 50-60 hours out of it. It has already sold out on the John Lewis website so it must be a popular choice.

They also had the candles in other scents including the Tarte au citron which I may pick up at a later date for the Spring as its limited edition but at £35 per candle these beauty's do not come cheap. I absolutely could not walk away from this candle. It was like finding my houses soul mate for a few wintry months.



Laura Mercier also have other lovely Christmas sets which I would recommend you check out even if it's just so you can smell the Creme Brule body souffle and appreciate how yummy it really does smell. They have a gift set which includes the body souffle, the honey bath and a sugar scrub for £50 which I would not mind finding in my stocking put it that way.

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Gifts for Mum

I was pretty excited when a little invitation popped through my letterbox this week from Harvey Nichols inviting me to their Edinburgh Christmas Shopping Party.  The event was on Tuesday 22nd November 6.30pm - 10pm and entitled the invitation holder to a night of discounts, complimentary drinks and food tasting and there was also some live music too. The discounts were offered on a lucky dip basis at the cash point when a purchase was made with prizes of 15% discount up to 50% off. All beauty and perfumery had a discount of 15% and let me tell you Harvey Nichols last night was mobbed! I have no idea how many people were there but I spoke to lots of lovely people and had a brilliant time. There was even a red carpet outside adding to that VIP event feeling though there was nothing very important about me at all.

 



I snapped up a few lovely Christmas gifts making most of the discounts, starting at the perfume counter. The helpful perfumery lady suggested a few lovely scents for me to try for my Mum suggesting sweeter scents to suit her tastes. After much deliberating and sniffing I opted for the gorgeous 'Incanto Bloom' by Salvatore Ferragamo. The bottle is packaged up now so I can't exactly describe its smell but it is a medium strength fruity and sweet smell that is not as sickly as a lot of the younger vanilla overloaded smells out there that make me feel sick when I smell them. The bottle is gorgeous, which in my opinion is almost as important as the smell with perfume, with a cute bow at the top and a solid base with pretty flower prints on the bottle to enhance the floral name of the perfume.  At £49 for the 50ml and £64 for the 100ml and the 15% discount I opted for the 100ml as ultimately its better value not to mention I really want to splash out on my mum this year.




My second, third and forth purchases happened at the Laura Mercier counter where I suddenly remembered the lovely body souffle's they had and thought with a discount now might be a good time to try one. However I spied these beautiful sets and suddenly myself and 2 other woman were discussing the smells and how amazing they were. Then the woman I was talking to literally snapped up about 6 sets and I thought okay, I need to get involved.  I had smelled the Creme Brule once before and  thought it was just amazing and smelling it again brought back all those happy feelings I felt the first time round.  However they had a limited edition Tarte au citron duo too which smells as you would imagine more fruity, Citrussy even - shock! 

In the duo sets you get 2 products, obviously, the first being the amazing souffle body creme and the second is a honey bath which froths up apparently like bubble bath but is very moisturisng and smells as good as a bath oil. You use the little honey stick to dip it in the jar and then let it run off into the bath which apparently gives you the perfect amount. I would imagine the instructions for the souffle are slather the creme all over your body until every bit of it smells delicious.



 


The Creme Brule scent is right up my Mum's street so I purchased this for a Christmas gift for her. Priced at £31 for the duo I received 15% off and therefore got both for £53.

The Tarte au Citron, I bought because it was still such an amazing smell and limited edition so how could I possibly miss out! I haven't decided whether I will give this as a gift or keep it for myself at the moment. I guess it depends how the rest of my Christmas shopping goes.  





The duo's come in lovely metallic snake skin boxes and therefore make beautiful gifts although if you wanted you could nip to the pound store or a card shop buy nice little boxes and split up the sets making your money go even further.

The last thing I purchased was for the house and if you read my previous blog post on Christmassy scented candles you will know that I though I had found the perfect one ... I was wrong! This is now my favourite Christmas candle, even when I asked my boyfriend to smell it he thought it smelt exactly like mince pies. I think it smells more gingery myself but never the less don't let the name put you off as it certainly smells like much more than warm roasted chestnuts. More like warm roasted chestnuts, nutmeg, ginger, berries, clove and sugar. Again it comes in the snake-skin print box and would also make a lovely gift even though I cannot bare to part with it myself.


I don't know how long they are supposed to burn for as it doesn't say on the box but they are pretty big, larger than my 45 hour one from Sainsbury's so fingers crossed I get 50-60 hours out of it. It has already sold out on the John Lewis website so it must be a popular choice.

They also had the candles in other scents including the Tarte au citron which I may pick up at a later date for the Spring as its limited edition but at £35 per candle these beauty's do not come cheap. I absolutely could not walk away from this candle. It was like finding my houses soul mate for a few wintry months.



Laura Mercier also have other lovely Christmas sets which I would recommend you check out even if it's just so you can smell the Creme Brule body souffle and appreciate how yummy it really does smell. They have a gift set which includes the body souffle, the honey bath and a sugar scrub for £50 which I would not mind finding in my stocking put it that way.

X

I'm a celebrity... Get me out of here!

Here at 2F3 my boyfriend and I are loving the new series of I'm a Celebrity which started 8 days ago on ITV. Not only does it mean the much-loved Ant and Dec are back on our screen but also probably the best bit of the show the bush tucker trials. One of the bush tucker trials meals included a pigs anus, camel toe and fermented egg which was black, gungy and looked absolutely repulsive. I always make sure I am not having my dinner when 'I'm a celeb' is on as you never know what grubs will turn up.



The line-up is pretty average this year with only a few celebrities I know, mainly Mark Wright from Towie, Antony Cotton from Corrie, Dougie Poynter from Mcfly as well as new arrivals Pat Sharp from the 90's game show 'Funhouse' and Sinitta. However they were all faced with the ultimate initiation into the camp when they were catapulted from a helicopter at 12,000 feet in a tandem sky dive before parachuting over the jungle and crashing straight into their home for the next few weeks. This brought back all the memories of when I sky dived in Australia during my gap year after University so I thought I would some pictures of my momentous 23rd birthday.

The moment I left the plane plummeting 15,000 feet towards a big hard thing called ...the ground!



Demonstrating my perfect rigid arms look...



I did my jump over the Great Barrier Reef so it was an absolutely magnificent view when my parachute opened and I stopped hurtling towards the ground.



Managed to get a smile in a few photos. It really was an amazing experience and I was so jealous when I saw all the celebrities trying to opt out. I would have jumped again straight after I landed.



Oh how I miss Australia!

I'm a celebrity... Get me out of here!

Here at 2F3 my boyfriend and I are loving the new series of I'm a Celebrity which started 8 days ago on ITV. Not only does it mean the much-loved Ant and Dec are back on our screen but also probably the best bit of the show the bush tucker trials. One of the bush tucker trials meals included a pigs anus, camel toe and fermented egg which was black, gungy and looked absolutely repulsive. I always make sure I am not having my dinner when 'I'm a celeb' is on as you never know what grubs will turn up.



The line-up is pretty average this year with only a few celebrities I know, mainly Mark Wright from Towie, Antony Cotton from Corrie, Dougie Poynter from Mcfly as well as new arrivals Pat Sharp from the 90's game show 'Funhouse' and Sinitta. However they were all faced with the ultimate initiation into the camp when they were catapulted from a helicopter at 12,000 feet in a tandem sky dive before parachuting over the jungle and crashing straight into their home for the next few weeks. This brought back all the memories of when I sky dived in Australia during my gap year after University so I thought I would some pictures of my momentous 23rd birthday.

The moment I left the plane plummeting 15,000 feet towards a big hard thing called ...the ground!



Demonstrating my perfect rigid arms look...



I did my jump over the Great Barrier Reef so it was an absolutely magnificent view when my parachute opened and I stopped hurtling towards the ground.



Managed to get a smile in a few photos. It really was an amazing experience and I was so jealous when I saw all the celebrities trying to opt out. I would have jumped again straight after I landed.



Oh how I miss Australia!

Can't decide on your winter candle scent?

I have trawled the shops for the last few weeks trying to find a lovely Christmassy scented candle or two for the living room over the festive season in an ain to defy the dark and cold weather outside. I think lighting candles in winter gives the a room a nice cosy atmosphere adding a bit of luxury to your normal surroundings not to mention scented candles fill the room with a beautiful aroma.

When I started my search I was initially looking for a cinnamon, ginger, orange, mulled wine sort of smell. Something unequivocably synonymous with Christmas. However after being really disappointed with all the ones I had picked up and sniffed I opted for one from Sainsbury's called Christmas Spice at £5. In a nice red jar it does also contain some of those citrus and spicy notes I was hoping to find. It is however a bit more vanilla scented than I was hoping for although at only £5 is it a great purchase for any household that is not looking so specifically for a certain smell and claims to provide 45 hours burning time.



Not however entirely happy with my first purchase I continued my search looking for that perfect candle and I found it in the Yankee Candle range while out shopping for Christmas cards in Clinton cards. Clinton Cards had an impressive display of Yankee Candles that caught my eye as I was walking briskly past. Stopped in my tracks I was drawn to the Christmas display containing a wide selection of colours, sizes of candles and of course scents. After a lot of sniffing i eventually opted for 'The Cinnamon Stick' candle which is perfect and absolutely what I was looking for. It has a strong overtone of Cinnamon and orange and creates that perfect fruity and spicy smell that makes me want to indulge in mulled wine and mince pies while cuddled up in front of the fire. I also feel the smell is a bit stronger than the one from Sainsburys although the jars are slightly higher in cost at £7.50 for only 25-40 hours burning time.  



While in Clinton Cards however I spotted a lovely gist set which would be perfect if like me you are unsure which candle you wanted to buy or are looking for a selection of Christmassy smells in cute packaging. The set would also make a lovely Christmas gift for someone who always loves having a scented candle burning in the house.



The set includes 12 differently scented sample size candles all in delicious Christmas smells providing 15 hours burn time. The candles come in a beautiful book package which opens up to display its contents. Retailing at £20 or less with some certain in store discounts and 15 hours burn time each means you can afford to light a different candle every day for the 12 days of Christmas filling your home full of Christmas cheers all of December.



The scented candles included in the set are:

1. Christmas Eve


2. Kiss under the mistletoe


3. The Holidays


4. Sparkling Snow


5. Christmas Cupcake


6. Christmas Wreath


7. Sparkling Cinnamon


8. Christmas Cookie


9. Home Sweet Home


10. Red Apple Wreath


11. Buttercream


12. Balsam and Cedar

The only reason why I didn't go for the set was because disappointingly Cinnamon Sticks was not included in the set otherwise I would have jumped at the chance. I had found my perfect scent in the single candle I bought. This does not mean I can't sneak back later this week and buy it as a gift for someone... Check out pricing at the Yankee website http://www.yankee.co.uk/yankee-candle/743/1/christmas.aspx?expandable=1 but definitely keep your eyes peeled for any high street offers. You could also opt from something less expensive in their little Christmas tarts. Available in all the above scents this is another good way to find your favourite.



Happy shopping X

Can't decide on your winter candle scent?

I have trawled the shops for the last few weeks trying to find a lovely Christmassy scented candle or two for the living room over the festive season in an ain to defy the dark and cold weather outside. I think lighting candles in winter gives the a room a nice cosy atmosphere adding a bit of luxury to your normal surroundings not to mention scented candles fill the room with a beautiful aroma.

When I started my search I was initially looking for a cinnamon, ginger, orange, mulled wine sort of smell. Something unequivocably synonymous with Christmas. However after being really disappointed with all the ones I had picked up and sniffed I opted for one from Sainsbury's called Christmas Spice at £5. In a nice red jar it does also contain some of those citrus and spicy notes I was hoping to find. It is however a bit more vanilla scented than I was hoping for although at only £5 is it a great purchase for any household that is not looking so specifically for a certain smell and claims to provide 45 hours burning time.



Not however entirely happy with my first purchase I continued my search looking for that perfect candle and I found it in the Yankee Candle range while out shopping for Christmas cards in Clinton cards. Clinton Cards had an impressive display of Yankee Candles that caught my eye as I was walking briskly past. Stopped in my tracks I was drawn to the Christmas display containing a wide selection of colours, sizes of candles and of course scents. After a lot of sniffing i eventually opted for 'The Cinnamon Stick' candle which is perfect and absolutely what I was looking for. It has a strong overtone of Cinnamon and orange and creates that perfect fruity and spicy smell that makes me want to indulge in mulled wine and mince pies while cuddled up in front of the fire. I also feel the smell is a bit stronger than the one from Sainsburys although the jars are slightly higher in cost at £7.50 for only 25-40 hours burning time.  



While in Clinton Cards however I spotted a lovely gist set which would be perfect if like me you are unsure which candle you wanted to buy or are looking for a selection of Christmassy smells in cute packaging. The set would also make a lovely Christmas gift for someone who always loves having a scented candle burning in the house.



The set includes 12 differently scented sample size candles all in delicious Christmas smells providing 15 hours burn time. The candles come in a beautiful book package which opens up to display its contents. Retailing at £20 or less with some certain in store discounts and 15 hours burn time each means you can afford to light a different candle every day for the 12 days of Christmas filling your home full of Christmas cheers all of December.



The scented candles included in the set are:

1. Christmas Eve


2. Kiss under the mistletoe


3. The Holidays


4. Sparkling Snow


5. Christmas Cupcake


6. Christmas Wreath


7. Sparkling Cinnamon


8. Christmas Cookie


9. Home Sweet Home


10. Red Apple Wreath


11. Buttercream


12. Balsam and Cedar

The only reason why I didn't go for the set was because disappointingly Cinnamon Sticks was not included in the set otherwise I would have jumped at the chance. I had found my perfect scent in the single candle I bought. This does not mean I can't sneak back later this week and buy it as a gift for someone... Check out pricing at the Yankee website http://www.yankee.co.uk/yankee-candle/743/1/christmas.aspx?expandable=1 but definitely keep your eyes peeled for any high street offers. You could also opt from something less expensive in their little Christmas tarts. Available in all the above scents this is another good way to find your favourite.



Happy shopping X