Valentine's Day Gift Suggestions: Luxury Beauty, Fragrance & Jewellery Options For Your Loved One!

This guide was meant to be my part 3 in my Luxury Christmas Gift Guide, but alas my scheduling failed and Christmas came and went, so I have adapted it for Valentine’s Day as I thought it a shame to go to waste! Obviously with it being luxury products, I’m not suggesting that you go out and purchase the most expensive gifts for somebody you’ve only just met… unless you’re rolling in the readies and can afford it, in which case go for it! ;-)

Searching for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your loved one can invariably lead to stress, headache, and panic (especially for the unprepared, last minute Larrys)… not to mention extremely painful feet and potential for mild assault from other keen, or spatially unaware shoppers if you’re braving the shops, rather than shopping online. Personally, I try to stick to buying online as much as I can in life, so as to avoid the physically painful part, at least.

Now I know there’s probably loads of Valentine’s guides floating around, but I firmly believe that you can never have too much inspiration if you’re truly stumped for things to buy – especially if you have to buy for somebody who may seemingly have everything, or somebody who appears to want nothing; and so I’ve compiled a couple of guides for you covering a whole host of fabulous looking ‘stuff and things’ in the hope that I can maybe inspire you on the perfect gift to buy for your Valentine.

This guide focuses on luxurious beauty products, fragrancing and sparkly shit (jewellery)… my favourite! It was always going to be seriously difficult to keep the amount of ‘stuff and things’ that I want… errrr I mean that would be lovely for you to purchase for your loved one to so few items – especially because I’m such a magpie who likes lots of things, and so I must add a serious disclaimer that this is by no means a frank, full and complete list of things that I desire. ;-)

So without further ado, here’s a whole heap of fabulousness that I’d personally love to own/receive. I could probably just call all my guides ‘Claire’s Wish Lists’ if I’m honest.

1. Charlotte Tilbury The Glamour Muse and 2. The Rebel Look Gift Boxes £165 each – These complete ‘get the look’ sets are right up my street. I love that you can select a ‘look’ that appeals to your general style, specific outfit, occasion, mood or even knickers (if you so wish) and then be beautifully presented with all the products needed to recreate it. I would probably weep a little with utter joy if any of these were presented to me, at any point, let alone on Valentine’s Day. 

3. Tom Ford Bronzer Brush, £80 – I probably wouldn’t even be able to bring myself to tarnish those perfect white bristles enough to make full use of this with actual, coloured bronzer, and would probably be more likely to be found swiping it across my skin, cooing about how soft it feels instead. Still, it’s a fabulous looking brush and I’m guessing applies bronzer like a dream, for those who are bold enough to use it for the purpose it was made for.

4. Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in L’Exhubérante, £26 and/or 5. Chanel Le Vernis Nail Lacquer in Pink Tonic 619, £18 – I always think it’s worth spending money where it makes a difference with makeup, and I think lipstick is one of the areas where you get better wear from higher end brands (mostly), and this gorgeous pink- hued Chanel lipstick is no exception. Plus, if you were to team it with with this perfect pink polish, not only would it look great, but it would totally have the wow factor for the recipient, in my opinion.

6. Dior 5 Couleurs Limited Edition Eyeshadow Palette in Golden Shock, £42 – I love pretty much all of the Dior eyeshadow palettes, they always have gorgeous sparkly colours that appeal to my inner (and outer) magpie, but aren’t too in your face shade wise, so are totally wearable at any time of year. This one suits Valentine's Day due to its plummy hues, and is pretty universally wearable due to the muted tones.

7. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne 100ml, £82 – This is a heady, but fruity scent which I think suits Valentine’s Day perfectly. If I received this tomorrow, I would be over the moon! Then again, I’d be over the moon just receiving a card this year, probably. ;-)

8. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, £95.50 – I have had so many compliments when wearing this perfume, literally people stopping me in my tracks and asking what I’m wearing!! I adore it, and I find it to be a fragrance suitable for pretty much any age… plus it’ll look great on the dressing table to boot. ;-)

9. Links of London Effervescence Pearl Necklace £695, currently reduced to £347 – I couldn’t not include this necklace in the guide due to my incredible inability to ignore any innuendo (or inyourendo as my friends and I call it) that presents itself to me. I mean who wouldn’t want the gift of a pearl necklace this Valentine's? Especially a fizzy one; better get that looked at, mate. ;-)

10. Tresor Paris Metric Bangle £197 – This is such an unusual piece due to its shape, which is what caught my eye… after the sparkle of course!! I’m obviously partial to the bling, and this appears to satisfy that criteria. Love it.

Due to yet another scheduling fail (come on, Blogger) I've had to adjust this guide, meaning it's somewhat shorter as I've removed products that are seemingly only available online... and edited links to purchase where you can also visit the shop, as it's now too late to have items posted in time for tomorrow.

Whatever you're doing for Valentine's day, I hope you have a great day. If, like me you're a singleton then do what I'm doing, get yourself out with friends and give Valentine's Day two fingers... until such a day where you're not single, in which case I love you Valentine's Day. :-P x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

eBay Introduces New Collections Tool - See My Collections & Tell me What You Think!

eBay to me has always been the place that I turned to when I couldn’t find an item in stock, or had baulked at paying, or just couldn’t stretch to paying full price for something in a shop/online. Yep, it’s hit and miss as to what you find on there, but that’s the beauty of it as, whilst at times it may not have what you’re looking for, you can set up alerts for these searches… and when you get that email saying something you had been looking for has been listed, it is game on!!

Sometimes though, eBay can be daunting, with the sheer volume of items on there that it can be hard to find the products you want, especially when running with a theme, or trying to match them up to other items in general. So, eBay have come up with a pretty cool solution with their new Collections tool, a way of saving, and showing items that you think work well together.

This is perfect for your own organisational reasons or for sharing with friends and family; and I can totally imagine this working well for things like birthday and Christmas wish lists, as when people are asking what you’d like, you can just point them in the direction of your collections. Clever, huh?!

In preparation for the launch, eBay asked me to make some collections of my own and so I spent a good few hours scouring the site to see what treats took my fancy. You could say this was just a more elaborate form of my usual way to window shop, where I add everything I would like to own into any given ‘cart’, see the total cost, laugh (and cry) before closing the tab in defeat – as attempting to whittle down any shopping cart like that is near on impossible for this indecisive lady. ;-)

Here are just a few of my favourite collections from all of the collections I have been making (all clickable):

Modern Twist on a Vintage Wedding

Natural Glamour.

GOLD...

Wild About Animal Print.

Girls Night Out!

All Hail The Nail.

The rest can be found HERE!

The collections format actually reminds me somewhat of Pinterest, and other similar sites in the way that you add items, and the way it appears overall, and I think it’s going to be a great addition to the site. I’m already making more collections to lust after, in the hope that I come into some money. Ha.

What do you think about the new addition? Have you seen or used the new collections tool? Could you make use of it? x

P.S: Apologies if you're using a mobile to view this post, if the images are a bit wonky - not entirely sure what has happened with that.

This post has been sponsored by eBay.

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

My Littlewoods Shopping Wishlist!

I'm a prolific online window shopper! I'm always adding thousands of pounds worth of stuff I'd like to have in my life into virtual shopping trollies... usually with the intention of whittling it all down to maybe just one or 2 things that I *must* own and that my bank balance can stretch to, but without the decisiveness to actually do so.

So, when I was asked to make a wishlist of things I'd like from Littlewoods, I jumped straight on it as this is totally my forte. As usual, when adding products to my wishlist, I went TOTALLY overboard, so I then had to limit myself to just my favourite 8 items from each of the departments I was 'shopping' from.

First stop was Littlewoods range of Jewellery, and I'd say this was probably the hardest department to limit myself to just 8 items in, due to the sheer volume of different items available added to my magpie 'shiny shiny' tendencies. I tried to do a mix of fashion and more classic products, as I do like both... they all have a place in my jewellery box, but I do love a statement piece of jewellery. The products I've chosen relate to each of the links below, numerically.

1. Lipsy Bow Stretch Bracelet, £15
2. Fiorelli Stretch Crystal Wide Bracelet, £42
3. PIECES Knot Necklace, £27
4. Sterling Silver and Purple Cubic Zirconia Ring, £55,
5. Tanzanite and Silver Ring, £117
6. 9 Carat White Gold 50 Point Diamond Cluster Ring, £326
7. 9 Carat White Gold, White Topaz, Diamond Set, Radiance Set Ring, £276
8. Sterling Silver and Pink and White Cubic Zirconia Ring, £19

Total spent: £877.

Next up I headed to Littlewoods range of Women's Jackets, since I've been desperate for a winter coat or 3 for some time now, since losing all the weight, as everything is way too big. There's a mixture of styles included here because to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure which style will suit me more these days.  Before, I used to just go for items that fit me and were quite loose in fitting so as not to show my numerous lumps and bumps. however I do like the look of all of these, and so that's why I chose them.

1. South Leather Biker Jacket, £139
2. South Fur Lined Biker Jacket, £60
3. Love Label Dolly Fur Collar Coat, £85
4 Superdry Eskimo Cape, £118
5. Lipsy Belted Coat, £105
6. Definitions Lux Military Parka, £110
7. Vero Moda Yatsy Padded Coat, £44
8. Myleene Klass Genuine Leather Biker Jacket, £160

Total spent:  £821.

Finally, I found myself loitering in Littlewoods range of Lipsy Dresses, because again, now I've lost weight, I am a total sucker for a pretty party dress; and, since we're rapidly heading towards party season, I thought what better way to warm up than by choosing some of my favourite dresses from the range.

1. Lipsy Bandage and Lace Dress, £68
2. Lipsy Bodycon Illusion Dress, £74
3. Lipsy Jersey Bodycon Dress, £62
4. Lipsy Lace Detail Bodycon Dress, £74
5. Lipsy VIP Lace Feather Dress, £142
6. Lipsy Sleeveless Sequin Lace Dress, £44
7. Lipsy Shimmer Bandeau Dress, £60
8. Lipsy Cap Sleeve Dress with Stud Detail, £62

Total spent: £586.

So, there you have it... my 8 favourites from each of just 3 of the Littlewoods ranges available online. Being the indecisive madam I am, this was actually incredibly difficult to do; and should I ever be asked to further whittle it down to less than these 8 items per department, well I just don't think that would be possible, I would be totally bamboozled and probably end up in an indecisive heap on the floor. Ha.

My only wish, is that these items were being sent to me right now, instead of still only being a distant dream in my virtual trolley.


What do you think to my choices? Are there any items from the ranges that you'd have picked differently? x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Buckley Poppy Designs for Remembrance Day!

My favourite Buckley Poppy Products.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month... the moment hostilities ended in World War 1, and what we now know to be Armistice day, Remembrance day, or Poppy day. Whatever you call it, it's a significant day that every one of us should acknowledge.

The poppy has long been the emblem of Remembrance day, and I can still remember my days back in primary school where we'd all wear our paper poppies both to school, and special remembrance services alike.

Nowadays, whilst the paper poppies are still going strong, and are still the first choice for the majority of people; there's also the option to get a fancier option (sported by many celebrities), such as the ones I'm showing you in this post. Now these options don't always get a good reception with some people, who think that the simple paper poppy is a perfectly good option (which it is, I would never say it's not good enough), and that it is disrespectful to make such an occasion into a fashion thing. But honestly, I quite like the sparkly poppies that are widely available, and in my opinion, any money and awareness being raised for the cause is allll good with me.

I make no secret of being a magpie who loves a bit of bling, which is why I really do love these sparkly/glossy Buckley created poppy designs; and I totally don't see it as being disrespectful either... especially if it gets people to wear poppies/donate to the cause who normally wouldn't bother. My favourite absolutely HAS to be the 'Large Poppy Brooch' and also the keyring too... bling-a-ling.

All items will be available from either QVC, The Poppy Shop, Or Buckley London.

What do you think of these? Do you prefer the paper version, or are you also partial to a bit of sparkle?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Lola Rose Boutique 'Lily-Anne' Blue Sandstone Ring!

I love a bit of bling, sparkle, glitter... whatever. You all know this, I make no bones about it. So when I saw this ring, I absolutely had to have it. It's from the Lola Rose Boutique, a brand that seems to work a lot with the blue sandstone that this ring is largely made from - obviously other than the silver on the band itself.

This particular ring doesn't appear to be available any longer, but I wanted to show it to you anyway as I adore the blue sandstone in it, how it sparkles from the inside and how stunning it looked when it catches the light. In fact, whilst wearing the ring this weekend, I got a lot of compliments about it and how sparkly it is, what's not to love about that?!

The photographs do not do it justice, I couldn't catch the sparkle, so I did a bit of a video - my apologies, it's not the greatest video I've ever made, I was rather tipsy at the time.

Blue sandstone I believe is also called sunstone and goldstone, and also comes in an orange-y/gold colour too and a lot of jewellery made from it is to be found online, so even though this particular ring doesn't appear to be available (except maybe on eBay), I can guarantee that you will find something made in this, if you're also prone to magpie tendencies like me.

What do you think of it, is it something you'd wear? I'm actually going to to look for some matching jewellery for future nights out - not necessarily to be worn at the same time, just more statement, sparkly pieces.

Sorry for the phone quality images and video, they were all taken on a whim in a club when the ring caught my eye in the light, ha. x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

I Don't Have a Drink Problem, But I Do Need These in My Life.

Since I've been single, my social life has been my life. I have lived for the weekends, and spent a lot of time with friends. This has made a massive dent in my bank balance, since getting tipsy in clubs and pubs isn't the cheapest way to get your tipsy on.

So when I heard about a couple of fashion items that could carry booze secretly, my interest was immediately piqued, especially as I tend to drink spirits, since they're less calorific (gin is almost healthy, since it's made with berries, practically one of your five a day, surely?! Ha!), less bloating, and you can sneak more volume in than things like wine and beer.

Unfortunately it appears that these are either available from the USA (with expensive shipping costs), or expensive full stop, so I shall be on the hunt for something similar over here/for less, in a bid to get leathered for less.

The first thing on my *need to have* list just HAS to be this fantastic bracelet from Cynthia Rowley ($225 from cynthiarowley.com/) which is made from stainless steel. You can order from outside of the US by contacting them directly here! I have no idea how much it holds, but frankly, I don't care as I love the chunky styling of the bracelet anyway. The image on the right is apparently Gwyneth Paltrow, who is also meant to be a fan, and if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me. ;-)

The final thing, which I can only find on American sites is the "Wine Rack Flask Bra" for $27.59 (but works out at about $82 with shipping to UK, eek), which is genius... but I'd never put wine in it; I mean who would want warm wine?

This is perfect for spirits in my opinion, as you could buy a mixer with ice in, and top it up with your bra haha. The only concern for me would be the decreasing boobs throughout the night, and also the space left in the top half of your clothing.

Do you have any top tips for sneaking booze into events, what's the most creative you've been when doing this... or am I alone in my plight? xx

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk