Mothers Day with Partylite

With Mothers Day fast approaching, I have a series of posts aimed at spoiling your Mum, Mother-in-law, Grandma and any other female who you want to spoil.  

PartyLite are an online store which specialises in home fragrance and decor and they have a really large selection of products to choose from and I was kindly sent a package containing products which would make a lovely mothers day gift.

The first things which stood out to me once I opened the boxes was the two butterfly porcelain tealight holders which are just so pretty. 

The pots are painted on the inside to reflect the light of a tealight when it is inside and together as a pair they are just absolutely pretty and something my mum would just love.

To go with the porcelain pots, these wild lemongrass scented tealight candles are perfect. 

As soon as the box is opened, the scent of the lemongrass is more than noticeable and as a scent it is quite strong and potent, even coming from something as small as a tealight, but it is a scent I like and one, which when lit, fills the house quite quickly.

The White Flower Holder, which is not for holding a flower, but is instead used for holding SmartScents by PartyLite™ Decorative Fragrance Sticks and as something decrative to have on a shelf, I think the flower holder is quite lovely and a nice change to a tealight holder. 

The SmartScents by PartyLite™ Decorative Fragrance Sticks I have in Peony scent and they too pack a powerful punch when on display. I have them in my hallway on top of a cabinet and I can catch a whiff of the scent in my lounge or in the bedroom. With these fragrance sticks there is no liquid oil and obviously no flame, instead what you have are five rolled paper fragrance sticks which are designed to deliver the scent of Peony for up to 30 days.

The final item is the Glolite Party Candle which has the moniker "The World's Brightest Candle' emblazoned on the front of the box and this is because once it is alight, the textured wax is said to radiate a soft, all-over glow. I have scent Berry Blossom which is said to be the juicy, mouthwatering scent of sweet, sun-ripened berries touched with a trace of jasmine and when it is out of the box, it smells just heavenly and it has an impressive burn time of 50-60 hours.  

Partylite is really good value for money and a brand worth looking into to find that lovely Mothers Day Gift.

Erborian Ginseng Royale Collection

Skincare brand Erborian has announced the launch of its new Ginseng Royale Collection, available from February. The range harnesses the power of red ginseng, which helps to fight against the visible signs of ageing to moisturise the skin and improve its elasticity.  Ginseng takes 4-6 years to reach its full maturity before it can be harvested. Red Ginseng, which is used within this range is used for its moisturising and smoothing properties.

Products from this range include Eau De Ginseng, Ginseng Cleansing Milk and Elixir Au Ginseng.  I have been using two of these products and I have to admit, I am smitten with both.

Eau Ginseng (£32), a concentrated lotion to provide instant moisture to hydrate the skin and help skin look more radiant, noticeably smoother and softer; and Elixir Au Ginseng (£80), a youth micellar emulsion essence that mixes powerful ingredients to prevent the breakdown of collagen to delay to wrinkle formulation process, reduces skin redness and helps active collagen synthesis, while maintaining the structure of the dermis. I absolutely love Eau De Ginseng, it is one of those products which instantly hydrates the skin and in this weather is something we all need.  I use this after completing my cleanse both morning and evening and again apply using my fingertips but instead of massaging, I use a patting motion as suggested.

Elixir Au Ginseng (£80) - A Youth Micellar Emulsion Essence which is described as bring a youth Micellar Emulsion Essence, it has a really creamy but light texture which rapidly absorbs itself into the skin. The powerful ingredients help to prevent the breakdown of collagen, reduce redness and helps active collagen synthesis.  Again, another amazing product from the Ginseng range which is just absolutely divine to use, the pipette applicator is really helpful to dispense two drops onto your fingertips which you then massage into dry, clean skin.  It is ideal for being used both morning and evening into your face and neck.

Erborian is one of those brands that I just love.  Everything I have used has been just incredible and if you haven't yet discovered anything from the range, then it is one I really recommend trying.

L’Occitane Ultra Soft Balm for International Women’s Day 2016

Every year to mark International Women's Day, L'Occitane launches an exclusive solidarity product to support women in developing countries. This year, International Women's Day falls on March 8th. This year, L'Occitane has chosen to focus on women in Burkina Faso, a relationship which has been developing for the last 30 years. Fast forward to today and a partnership which started with just 12 local women has now developed into an enterprise of over 17,000 women which is truly astonishing, and it is those women produce the Shea Butter, an ingredient which features in so many of L'Occitane's award winning collections and an ingredient that my skin absolutely loves.

L'Occitane has its own global programme Women for Burkina which has three main objectives: to assist in literacy, to provide access to micro-loans and to promote entrepreneurial actions. Only ONE our of five women in Burkino Faso today knows how to read and write. Since 2010, 900 women have gained access to literacy programmes sponsored by the L'Occitane Foundation and more than 6,000 women have gained access to the micro-loans. These micro-loans help women to develop an activity that generates money for their households.

How can you help?  As I mentioned, each year, L'Occitane launches an exclusive solidarity product to support women in developing countries and this year it is the Ultra-soft Balm, 100%* of the profits will go to fund these special projects.  This Shea Butter Balm is a rose scented multi-purpose moisturiser and it can be used on your lips, your body especially cuticles, elbows and knees and it can also be used on your hair.  It smells just absolutely divine and comes presented inside this beautifully decorated motif tin which is said to have been designed symbolise the wax-print fabrics worn by Burkinabe women and is a symbol of festivity and tradition which is deep-rooted in African Cultural Heritage.

The tin is a perfect size for chucking in your handbag and it costs just £4 right here.  I am sure that on Women's Day there will be snippets of information about famous women who have all done their bit, but what I love about this project, is the idea of being able to champion women who have quite possibly changed more lives than we will ever appreciate by working hard to do so.

Will you be buying a tin?

*Sales price in store minus taxes, transport and production costs.

Patisserie de Bain Handcream Collection

Looking after my hands is as important to me as looking after any other part of my body. Your hands play such an important and vital role in life, that sometimes they need a little bit of love and attention. Whether you are using them to gesticulate, write, type, washing up, clean or even make food, your hands are hard at work for hours and hours everyday.

Patisserie de Bain offers a cute little hand cream collection of mouth-watering sounding creams which sound as though you want to eat them.  Each hand cream contains Shea Butter and Glycerine to help moisturise and soothe those poor hard working hands. I am one of those people who loves hand cream and goes through tubes of it every year. On my desk at work there is no less than 4 tubes at any one time, each promising to do something different. I am also quite partial to a hand scrub and I shared a new one from Lush just a few days ago here on my blog.

Those three scents are:

• Sweet as Cherry Pie is just stunning. It smell reminds me of fresh ripe cherries that have just been cooked in a pie as it happens and in the background is a slight sprinkling of vanilla to add to the sweetness.
• Cranberries and Cream is quite a sweet scent, much sweeter than I had anticipated and the fruity scent you associate with Cranberries is most definitely present with the cream part being much more dominant than in Sweet as Cherry Pie
• Sugar Rose is perhaps my favourite of the three, it combines rosehip, grapes and sugar cane which is just heavenly and for me the right sweetness to not be too vanilla based or too perfumed.

Priced at just £9.99 for this little set, it is a lovely treat for your hands or indeed someone elses.  Each tube is 50ml and can be purchased separately for just £3.99.