Daydreamer Brunch With Debenhams & Urban Decay || Blogmas Day 16

I was recently invited by Christina from the daydreamer along to her daydreamer brunch which was being held in the Bonham hotel in the West End of Edinburgh. I was so excited about this because I love brunch type foods and I always go to events at night but I've never been to one during the day before.

I met up with my blogging buddies Jodi, Emily, Katie and Louise before hand and we all walked along together and were greeted by the lovely Christina and Debenhams staff. There was this amazing table filled with all the delicious breakfast foods you could think of and it also had pretty little goody bags laid out for us.

The most exciting part of the morning for me was that Urban Decay were there which are one of my top makeup brands ever so I really enjoyed swooning over their products and adding a few alot of things to my Christmas list. There were two lovely makeup artists there with them who were doing our makeup for us and telling us about their products, I didn't catch their names but they were really lovely and amazing at what they do!

I absolutely loved my breakfast, I was stuffed by the end of it. I'd love to know where they got their croissants from because they were the best I've ever tasted, so yummy.

Debenhams also had a few rails of their clothes there and also some shoes and necklaces. This event really was a girls dream, food, clothes, good company shoes and make-up... what more could you want?!

Lovely Louise getting her make-up done!

In our goody bags (because I'm sure you're all wondering!!) we were very spoilt and got lots of lovely new things to try! The first thing was from Ishga which is seaweed skincare and seaweed has really good properties for your skin so I'm looking forward to trying this out,

 We also got a Korres shower gel, a balance me facial expression filler, a 4 day sample detox of tea which sounds absolutely delicious even though I don't like tea! It has ice cream flavoured, Jasmine Blossom, Peaches and Cream and Strawberry Jam so I think these may be the teas that make me like tea!

We also got this gorgeous Timeless candle in the scent Christmas which of course what better time of the year to burn that than now!

The gifts that I was most excited about was this Naked gloss in the shade Liar and a double sided Urban Decay eyeliner in 'Blackheart' and 'Darkhorse'. I have been wanting to try the Naked glosses forever because the packaging is so beautiful and I've heard amazing things so super excited about that. I've also heard great things about the eyeliner so two very exciting products!

I had a fabulous time at the Daydreamer brunch and the Bonham hotel where it was held was absolutely beautiful!! Thank you so much to the Bonham, Debenhams and Urban Decay for a fabby event and I hope you really enjoyed seeing my pictures from it!

Lots of Love,

♥

Christmas Gift Guide For Him || Blogmas Day 15

 Buying boys presents as I said in my stocking filler for him gift guide is something I always struggle with. I've been pretty organised this year and have got a good proportion of my Christmas shopping done and just need to buy a few extra things! I'm really hoping my dad and Gary don't spontaneously decide to read my blog since this contains a good few of their pressies.

The first thing I got Gary this year is a set of his favourite aftershave. I got it last Christmas for him as an absolute guess and it turns out he loves it and has used it all so I've bought him a new one. This one is really good because it comes with the travel bag, a 50ml aftershave balm (which I'm not sure what that is...), a 50ml hair and body wash and the 125ml bottle of aftershave.

 This is a book I bought for my dad because he absolutely loves history especially about the area we live in. The book shows pictures of what the area was like before and now after, it also has sections on well known locations in the area and about what they were like in the olden days. It's definitely a present he is going to love, it's obviously only great if you live in the same county as me but there's loads of books out there similar. It's definitely a nice idea for dads and grandads, to get a book all about the history of your area.

A present I've previously got my dad is a canvas of our dog. I really like this picture and so does he and it sits pride of place on the living room wall. You can personalise it as much as you like and it's something that will last forever so it's a nice present to receive.

If you're really stuck for ideas and you have the budget then go for an ipad. I love my ipad and there's not a day that I don't use the full charge on it, they come in so handy for everything nowadays and it's a great gift if you're stuck for what to buy.

I usually always get Gary clothes for Christmas as part of his present because if I didn't I'd run out of ideas and I know he really loves Ralph Lauren so that's usually the brand I stick with. This year I got a long sleeved grey one and a short sleeved navy one and I know he's going to love them. A designer t-shirt is always a good present for a boy whether it's what they usually wear or a luxurious treat.

This is my dads and he was very proud that his jumper was making it into this gift guide bless him. I love the three different colours/patterns and think it's really trendy! Jumpers are good pressies for Christmas because it's such a cold time of year.

Do you have any other ideas for boys Christmas presents?

Lots of Love,

♥

Cambridge Satchel Company Event || Blogmas Day 14

I recently went along to the Cambridge Satchel Company's event in George street because they have a pop up store there which to clarify is an actual shop that's staying around for a while (not sure why it's called a pop up shop!)

It was really inspiring to see products and successful business woman Julie Deane because she set up her business in her kitchen in Cambridge and now she owns and manages a very well known brand. I absolutely adore the story behind her company, Julie needed to make money to pay school fees for her children so in 2008 she started making satchels with her mother in her own kitchen. They started with a £600 budget and her turnover four years later is £10 million a year, I don't know about you but I think that's amazing! I also think Julie is a great role model for all the right reasons and she provides the proof that if you have a passion for something and you work hard you can turn it into success.

The company has since branched out from their satchels which is something that I learnt from the event and they now do backpacks, clutch bags, handbags, trunks notepads and keyrings. I absolutely love their Oxblood handbag and I think the backpacks have a lot of character too.

One of my favourite things about the Edinburgh store is it has stayed so true to the brands roots with kitchen tables and shelves used to display the products which I think is a really nice touch.

The most exciting part of the event was that they were giving all us bloggers our very own personalised keyring. We even got to see them being made which was really interesting and with it being Christmas time I was wishing I had got my mums initials on it because it would have made a really nice gift! I got mine in purple and I absolutely love it.

I also got to catch up with some of my favourite people Jodi, Sultana, Louise and Katie which was lovely and after all the fun me and Jodi went to Costa to rest our tired legs and have a chat!

What do you think of The Cambridge Satchel Company?

Lots of Love,

♥

Stocking Filler For Her//Haul Part 2 || Blogmas Day 13

 I have actually already done Part 1 of this gift guide so if you want to check that out first I'll link it here. Basically my other stocking filler gift guide for her was huge and I've stumbled across quite a few more things that I think would make great stocking fillers and it's another huge one. This post isn't at all sponsored by the Body Shop, I just happen to have bought a lot of presents for friends and family from there and also a few bits I thought would be good for this gift guide.

The first things are the bits I bought from the Body Shop, I think this would be ideal for a stocking filler it's one of their Christmas scented products which all smell delicious, my favourite is the Glazed Apple scent. I picked up the shower gel because to me this is what smells the strongest of apples, the body shimmer also smelt amazing but personally I'm not sure when I'll want to have sparkly skin so I stuck with the shower gel.

 I also picked up some of the body sorbet's because I've been wanting these since they were released but because I have so much body stuff I put it off. The Body Shop have some amazing deals with 40% off and free gifts etc so if like me you want to pick a few bits up for yourself or for someone's Christmas then keep your eyes peeled. The body sorbets are incredibly mosturising, they are more of a Summer product but I would not complain about getting these in my stocking, they feel and smell incredible. These three are the three scents that I personally feel smell the best and the strongest.

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 The Naked lipgloss is one that could be heading more into the main gift ideas but could also be a stocking filler gift, budget depending. I love these, they're incredibly moisturising, the packaging is beautiful and the pigmentation is great too. I think most girls would appreciate receiving this all wrapped up.

This is a bit of a random one but I have this bath pillow that I received last year in my stocking from my mum and dad and I haven't had a bath without it since!!! It's a must have for anyone who likes to have a bath because it improves the whole bathing experience when you have a soft pillow to rest your head on. The best thing about these is that they're so inexpensive and can be bought both online and in supermarkets.

The perfect stocking filler for girls of all ages is this cute little body loofa/exfoliating polar bear. How cute is it? Much cuter than your average shower loofa and they also do a penguin version of this which is pretty cute too!

The vanilla brulee body butter is another one of my favourite Christmas releases from the Body shop this year. It smells amazing, quite sweet but what it really reminds me of is cocoa butter and I have every faith that it will be just as moisturising. This retails for £13.

The Body Shop also have these gorgeous tins which are filled with their Christmas goodies. These are a bargain at only £15 for what you get inside, firstly you have the gorgeous tin which I'm actually hoping I get for Christmas just so I can store things in. They also contain a shower loofa, a body butter, a body polish and a shower gel. I wish they did this in the apple scent too but unfortunately they don't so instead I got the frosted cranberry one and the vanilla brulee one.

The reason I picked up the Honeymania bubble bath melt is because it reminded me of Laura Mercier's bubble bath where you use the twizzle stick and drizzle it into the water. Obviously Laura Mercier's version is much more luxurious but for those on a budget this looks like it might compare pretty well. It has this oozy texture and a lovely sweet smell. I can imagine how satisfying this would be to drizzle into your bath and from it's name I'd imagine it's going to create a pretty bubbly bath. I think this cost around £6.

I also got this cream cleanser because it came as a free gift and I think I'm going to give this to my mum because I have plenty of cleansers to keep me going.

I also got this hand cream which sadly came crushed in the post but the Body Shop are sending me out a replacement thankfully! I think hand creams are always good for the Winter and especially good in grans or mums stockings. I also got a little vanilla lip gloss free but I haven't tried it yet so I'm not entirely sure what it's like but it shares the vanilla brulee scent so I'm sure it'll taste delicious.

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Another cute little gift that I think would be great for Christmas this year is a little mini candle like this one from Timeless in the scent 'Christmas'. Obviously it's name proves how apt it would be for a present at this time of year and it does have a gorgeous festive smell.

The last thing I bought wasn't really a Christmas gift guide thing but I thought I'd include it anyway because they don't really merit a post of their own. Boots had 3 for 2 on Eyelure products and since I always wear the same type of eyelashes and the Christmas season is approaching I splashed out and got three sets. However, if you know a girl who likes eyelashes or Eylure products then go to Boots now because the deals definitely worth taking advantage of.

Please let me know if you found this helpful and what present ideas you have for stocking fillers for her, I always like to get more ideas! 

Lots of Love,

♥

* This post contains some products gifted to me by PR companies.