I'm one of those people who love buying gifts for other people - I'll put a lot of thought into it and love seeing the recipient's face when they open their present. It can be hard though, especially if perhaps you don't know the person you're buying for very well. Or maybe you just dread the thought of getting someone a gift that they're not going to like! In this post, which is written in collaboration with L'Occitane, I'll be giving you a few gift ideas for women, whatever your budget may be. Moreover, with Mother's Day just a month away, this post could be a lifesaver!

SKINCARE High budget: With their beautiful packaging and luxurious products, L'Occitane skincare items are guaranteed to make a great gift. It may be hard to know what a person's skin type is, and so my recommendation would be something like their almond oil for skin. The Almond Supple Skin Oil is light on the skin, smells amazing and leaves you feeling pampered with little effort. Perfect for anyone who deserves a treat. Low budget: For lower budgets (less than £15) you can't really go wrong with The Body Shop. Their body butters are infamous - and for good reason. One of my favourite ones is the Shea Nourishing Body Butter - the larger sized 200ml tub retails for £15, but you can get a 50ml tub for £6. They often do discount codes for 25-40% off as well, so keep an eye out for that too.


BEAUTY High budget: If you've got a bit more to spend, a make-up piece that the recipient wouldn't usually treat themselves to can be a really nice gift idea. For example, Yves Saint Laurent is a luxury brand that do some amazing make-up - treat them to a high-end mascara such as Yves Saint Laurents' Baby Doll. Or if you know they're a make-up connoisseur, a high-end eyeshadow palette is the perfect gift, such as Urban Decay's Naked Smoky palette. Low budget: Guess what - high street make-up can be great presents too! Sleek is a really affordable brand but still look gorgeous and are of a high quality. You can get some great eyeshadow palettes from them, or their blogger-favourite highlighting palettes. Even better, they all retail for £10 or less!

FASHION High budget: a simple piece of high-end jewellery can make the perfect gift. You don't have to spend hundreds to find the one - places like Swarovski and Beaverbrooks do beautiful jewellery for under £100. The necklace in the photo below is one of the first gifts I received from my boyfriend (over 2 years ago) and is from Swarovski. It's simple and goes with everything, and I still wear it now. The earrings are from Beaverbrooks and were a graduation present from my parents. I only wear them on special occasions, but I feel like I'm wearing something super luxurious when I do put them in.  Low budget: Buying fashion items as gifts can be really hard. However, something like a scarf from a high street retailer such as Topshop or River Island is a pretty safe option as its universally loved. You can spend just £10-£15 on a scarf and it can be something that really makes an outfit, and so it can make a great gift option.


Of course these are just a few options for gifts for her - I'd love to know if you have any fab gift ideas that I haven't mentioned! Let me know what you'll be buying for your mum for Mother's Day too!

Recently, while I was in Sheffield, I was invited to an event at the Kiehls counter at House of Fraser in Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre. I've heard a lot about the brand but never actually tried any of it so I was keen to give it a go! On arrival, I was greeted with a prosecco and chocolates and from then I knew it was going to be a great event.

The Kiehls girls and the other bloggers were lovely and very welcoming considering I'm a northern newbie! We were given an introduction to the brand which started in 1851 and were told about its pharmacological roots as well as its more recent charity pledges. We were also able to sample some lovely treatments, including a hand and arm massage and a facial. 

At another station at the counter, we were told our skin type and what products would help our individual skin worries. I found out that my skin type was normal-oily (which sounds about right to me!) and I was recommended their oil-free range and also their Clearly Collective Dark Spot Solution for my acne scarring. I'm keen to give these a go once I've run out of my current products!
We were given a cute little goody bag each at the end of the event with some gorgeous samples and minis of some of the products we'd been shown. I haven't tried them out yet, but I'm excited to give them a go! It was lovely to meet the girls and just mingle and chat for a bit too. Thanks for a fab evening, Kiehls!

At the end of January, I surprised Tim with a few days away in the beautiful city of York for his birthday. Having only visited once before when I was 9 years old, I did a lot of research beforehand about what was best to do and see to make the most of our three days there. We had a really great time and managed to do a hell of a lot, and now I want to share with you what I thought was worth doing and why! I'm aware that some of these are super tourist-y - but they're popular for a reason! Here's my top five:
1. Walk along the historic City Walls: York is showered in history and culture, some of which can be explored by walking along the 3.4km of city walls. There are some fantastic views along the way to enjoy and best of all it's completely free. 


2. Climb up Clifford's Tower: built in 1068, Clifford's Tower is another cultural must-see. Situated on a hill, the views once you're up at the top of the castle are beautiful. Despite the fact it was cold and foggy when we went up, it was still a great way to see across the whole of the city. Admission prices are around £5 per person, which in comparison to other attractions in York is pretty good.


3. Visit York Dungeons: If you fancy a bit of a scare whilst also learning about York's history along the way, the York Dungeons are a perfect novelty attraction. Tickets start at £10 per person and include over an hour's interactive entertainment from amateur actors. I've never been a huge fan of learning about history but the York Dungeons manage to make it an enjoyable experience at the same time.
York Minster
4. Go for a drink (or four...): York famously accommodates 365 bars a pubs - one for each day of the year. Basically, there's a bar for EVERYONE in York. For a more student-y vibe, check out The Graduate, a small chain bar with some great cocktails (which are £3 on certain nights!). If you're looking for a more traditional pub, try out The Old Starre Inn which boasts its historic roots and has a really cosy atmosphere inside. For a cool bar with a great selection of beers and gins (and an amazing tapas menu) I'd definitely recommend Sotano's. It was one of my favourite finds in York!

5. Get lost: No I don't mean this as an insult. Accidentally getting lost in York on our first day (mainly due to my terrible navigation skills) was one of the best things we could've done. There are so many quirky little lanes and streets to check out in York that you might miss if you stick to a particular route. In my opinion, it was the best way to explore and get to know the city.


I really hope this helps if you're planning to visit York soon - and of course I'd love to know if you have any recommendations. I can't wait to visit again in the future!

I get a lot of compliments on my hair, and I guess it does have a lot of qualities that others strive for - my hair is naturally blonde and thick in texture. Having only ever dyed/highlighted it a few times, my hair is also in pretty good condition. However, there are also a few products I use to keep my hair feeling soft and full of life which I'm going to share with you! This post is written in collaboration with the fab new Panosonic hair dryer which I'll be telling you more about later on.
Step 1. Wash & Condition I wash my hair every 2-3 days to ensure I'm not stripping it of all the natural oils too often, which can actually make it greasier in the long run. My current favourite shampoo and conditioner are ones that I mentioned in a previous post which you can read about here. I've been loving L'oreal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay shampoo and conditioner for a few reasons: I love the scent as it's very fresh and exactly the kind of scent I like in my hair. It also leaves my hair feeling really clean, light and soft.  On the topic of shampoo, my most popular blog post is about the ingredients you can find in a lot of high street shampoos and conditioners, so if you're interested in learning a little more about that, head over and have a read here!

Step 2. Deep Condition This is a step I only do once or twice a fortnight when I feel my hair is lacking and needs some extra hydration. The Osmo Intensive Deep Repair Mask is so affordable and feels really luxurious on my hair. It's a super thick texture and has a unique scent that's really hard to describe - it's a good scent though! I use this mainly from mid to the ends of my hair but I like to scrape the excess through the roots which I think works well and doesn't make it greasy like some masks can do! 

Step 3. Protect and Blow-dry If I've got time, I'll blow-dry my hair (upside down for extra volume). However, I always make sure I use a good heat protector as well to keep my hair in a good condition. I love this VO5 hair protecting cream as it's super silky and smells amazing. But back to blow-drying: if you're in the market for a great hairdryer, I'd urge you to check out the Panasonic EH-NA65 hairdryer, which uses nano technology to keep your hair smooth and silky while still maintaining performance. You can read more about it and purchase this Panasonic hair dryer here.

Step 4. Restore & Style Once my hair is dry, I like to keep it smooth with either an oil or this Noir Caviar restorative styling creme from Revolution Hair Concepts. You only need a tiny amount of this product so one bottle has lasted me ages! I just comb it mainly through the ends of my hair and gently through the roots which stops it from becoming frizzy.

That's it! I really think these products make a difference to the condition and style of my hair, and I'm loving this current routine. Let me know in the comments what your favourite hair products are - I'm always looking for more recommendations!

January is notoriously a lazy month, when getting stuff done just doesn't sound appealing in any way. In fact, 16th January - the day that this is being posted - is known as Blue Monday, aka the most depressing day of the year. So how can we be a little more efficient in what we do during this cold, miserable period of the year? Being efficient means being productive without wasting lots of time or energy - so if you're like me and you enjoy an extra 10 minutes in bed every morning, this can be extremely beneficial. In this post, I'm going to share with you a few beauty tips that will make your life that little bit more efficient - no extra effort required!
1. All-in-one products: nothing is more efficient than having all of your essentials in one place and luckily for us, there are many products that can do this for us now. I'm loving the Joan Collins Timeless Beauty Paparazzi Compact, which encompasses a lipstick, a powder, powder applicator and a mirror. This product is handbag-friendly so you can use it to touch up your make-up during the day, or if you're running late in the morning you can use it to apply the finishing touches to your face on the commute to work/brunch/wherever you may be going. I also think the packaging is absolutely gorgeous and would make a great gift for someone! You can find the Paparazzi Compact on the Joan Collins website here and all her other products on the QVC or M&S websites.


2. Do it the night before!: Obviously I'm not suggesting you apply make-up the night before because your skin would absolutely hate you for it. However, if you know you won't have time to wash your hair in the morning because you have other things to do (i.e. sleep) then dry shampooing your hair before you go to bed can be a godsend. Not only will it save you messing around with it in the morning, it can also look much more natural as it's had time to soak up the oils in your hair, making it look less greasy. I love Batiste's range of dry shampoos but at the moment I've really been enjoying this COLab Rio Tropical dry shampoo created by fellow blogger (and model and YouTuber) Ruth Crilly. You can buy it here.


3. Invest in an LED lamp for gel nails: Perhaps not the most budget-friendly advice (unless you regularly pay to have your nails done professionally), but gel nails are a great way to cut down on spending time on painting your nails. I usually have to repaint my nails every three days if I use a normal nail polish. However, I'm now a gel nail convert having recently received the Sensationail gel starter kit with an LED lamp for Christmas! Although it took me about 30 minutes to complete the whole process, my nail polish goes unchipped for two weeks - meaning I don't have to worry about my nails for ages. It's just a small step that frees up some more time for whatever I'd prefer to be doing on an evening in!

That's all boys and girls, I hope you make the most of this January despite the weather, despite the lack of money post-Christmas and despite these so-called January blues. Do you have any tips for upping your efficiency this month?