Workspace: Personalised Address Stamp

Living in London when so many of my friends and all my family are back in Manchester means that staying in touch becomes even more important. Receiving christmas cards always makes me realise how nice it is to get something in the post other than bills and junk mail, so I'm going to treat myself to one of these personalised address stamps and some lovely stationery so there's never an excuse not to write when I think of a friend. Texting may be quick, but with something so beautiful, the lost-art of letter writing could be on it's way to a comeback.

Stamp available here for £12.61

Travel: Hotel Daniel, Vienna

Although I haven't made any new year's resolutions, I want to start making better use of my holidays and visit some new destinations. Last year was incredibly busy, and I was stunned when I got to December, checked my calendar and realised that I still had ten days holiday left: shocking!

So, to remedy that, I'm going to start posting about some most beautiful hotels in the cities that are high on my 'to visit' list in the hope that it will inspire me to book some flights. First off, Vienna!

I came across the Hotel Daniel in Elle Decoration a few months ago and have been haunting their website ever since. Everyone I know who has been to Vienna says it's the most beautiful city, and this hotel looks like the perfect base from which to explore it.


Who wouldn't want a hammock in their bedroom?

Beautiful copper pot for afternoon kaffee und kuchen. Yum

.And if that wasn't good enough, they keep bees. How cool.

Rooms at the Daniel start from 92 Euro. Their gorgeous website can be found here.

Skincare: Glycolic Skincare Review

I'm no skincare expert, but I certainly know what I like. One thing that has slipped pretty easily into my night time routine over the past few months is a once-a-week glycolic application, and it seems to be having a rather nice effect on my 30 year old chops.

Glycolic acid gets rid of dead skin cells and targets those pesky first signs of ageing - pretty much music to my ears. Most are marketed as being gentle enough for frequent use but as it's an acid, I tend to find once a week is sufficient. 

I'm alternating between two products at the moment - REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate and Bliss That's Incredi-'peel'! pads. 

The Bliss pads are a higher 'spa strength' concentration and need to be followed with a moisturiser a few minutes after application. REN advises to follow application with the serum in the range but I have to confess that I've just used it on its own before bed and all has been well. Waking up to radiant skin that lasts for the next few days makes these products the perfect investment for me.

At the moment, I'm using REN at home and pack the Bliss sachets for nights away. The slight fiddly opening of the Bliss sachets is the only thing that has pushed them slightly behind REN for convenience, but I would always want to have a supply of these at home to pack for holidays as they take up zero space.

One thing to be aware of when using glycolic is that you must use an SPF for a few days after your treatment (that said, you're hopefully using an SPF everyday anyway, so won't need to do anything extra!)

REN AHA Resurfacing Concentrate is £30 and available here.

Bliss That's Incredi-'peel'! pads are £39 and available here.

Hair: Updated Routine and Reviews

Image from http://www.babble.com/home/rifle-paper-co-prints-for-the-powder-room/

Miraculous things have happened to my hair over the past few months. I bit the bullet and had about four inches off the length at the beginning of September. This followed me taking my permanent blow dry custom back from Trevor Sorbie (disappointing) to Daniel Hersheson (amazing). In the intervening months, I've tried some new products, thrown in a few supplements, adapted my diet, and changed up my routine a little bit. The result? Unprecedented growth, shine, and most exciting of all, no split ends (it's been seven weeks since my cut and normally we're seeing signs around week five!) So, what's in and what's out?

Pre-shampoo

I've read so much about Phillip Kingsley's Elasticizer over the years and yet weirdly, I've only tried it in the past few months. All I can say is that if you haven't tried it yet, don't wait another minute. Applied to damp hair for 20 minutes before you shampoo, it leaves hair silky, revitalised and strengthened. I had the privilege of meeting the man himself a few weeks ago and he told me the story of how he created this wonderful product for Audrey Hepburn, who tried it, loved it and used it for the rest of her life. My life isn't quite as glamorous, but anything that brings me a little closer to Audrey can only be a good thing.

Shampoo

My criteria for shampoo is that it should be as natural as possible and SLS-free, which means it's all round more gentle on hair. Australian Natural Botanicals is a new player on the market and the divinely scented shampoos and conditioners are 98% natural. I've tried both the normal and dry shampoos and have found them both excellent. Dry would be my usual choice, but the scent of the normal shampoo is so delicious and the results lovely and lustrous, they're both contenders.

Conditioner

Ojon's Damage Reverse has been my staple over the past few months, closely followed by Philip Kingsley Moisture Extreme. Both are rich, moisturising and beautifully scented - perfect for hair that needs a bit of extra TLC.

Styling

Toni & Guy's Heat Protection spray has well and truly replaced Aussie's Take The Heat. Both are great products but T&G just seems to have given my hair weeks longer between cuts, making me think the defence is a little more robust. It also has a great little button on the head to stop it leaking if you pack it and I now have a bottle in the three places I'm ever likely to be styling my hair!

Tara Smith's Shining Moment Glossing Spray is a complete revelation to me. Another of the recent M&S beauty hall additions, it gives mega watt gloss without weighing hair down. The beautiful botanical scent means it's gender neutral (I observed a bewildered man being spritzed by Tara and then admiring his newly sheeny crop!) and the product really performs.

Supplements and diet

After reading an article in Elle magazine, I've been taking biotin, cod liver oil and vitamin B12 for two months. It apparently takes three months to see results in your hair, but the unusually quick growth makes me think these additions to my routine are already contributing.

Besides this, I've added more good fats to my diet, including oily fish, ground flaxseed (added to porridge) and avocado. This has been a constant in my routine for five months and after years of low fat eating and what I thought was naturally dry hair, my new growth is glossy and silky: to say I'm delighted is an understatement!

Interiors: Kooky Display Cloche Ideas

For a while I've been desperate to get my hands on some display cloches and always think that the weirder the contents are, the better the effect. I have a big square shelving unit from Ikea to fill with books and some other interesting pieces as part of my reading nook project and I think a few cloches would make a really fun display.

I'd love to rig up my sunglasses like this but I'm sure I'd just end up with lots of empty jars!

Image from http://pinterest.com/Optigirls/

Part of me also wants to curate strange little scenes under a cloche, and I was browsing on Etsy for a little brass deer figurine for a woodland idea and came across the weirdest thing which I now think I have to have!

Isn't it bizarre?! This is marketed as a wedding cake topper and I found myself trying to imagine what kind of bride and groom would go for something like this on their cake! It's so odd that I can't stop looking at it and I can't decide if it's meant to be ironic (I hope so) but there's something about it that I think is so weirdly brilliant that it may find itself under a cloche on my shelves sometime soon!

If you've got the same weird taste as me, you can find the deer statue (and some even stranger ones!) here.

Interiors: Jewellery Organisation

How absolutely stunning is this branch jewellery stand from Branchidermy? I've been looking for something to display my ever-expanding accessory collection, but I'd be worried about spoiling its beauty by covering it with sparkly bits! So beautiful.

Available here for £47.75. 

Hair: January Empties - James Brown Intensive Moisture Mask and Tara Smith Shine On Review

Returning back to London after the Christmas break is always a little hectic. The bump back to reality is a bit of a shock to the system, and somehow, I managed to exacerbate that upheaval by leaving my shower filled with empty hair products: bad blogger! What we can learn from this event is that a) I'm occasionally lazy b) there were some good products in that shower! 

And here they are - Tara Smith's Shine On shampoo and conditioner and James Brown Intensive Moisture Mask.

First up, James Brown. This conditioner is lovely and rich, beautifully scented, and easily translatable to an everyday conditioner. My hair is naturally dry and quite thick, and so I like something deeply nourishing to follow my daily shampoo: this delivers perfectly on that front. If your hair is less dry, this would be perfect as a weekly treat.

Next up, Tara Smith. I have met Tara a couple of times and think she's a star. Passionate, innovative and utterly driven to deliver on products that meet her high ethical standards, as well as giving us the movie star hair she's renowned for. The range - which comprises four shampoos and conditioners and some wonderful styling products - is entirely vegan and SLS-free. Tara recommended the Shine On duo for me and I happily zipped through the fabulous travel-size bottles in a couple of weeks. It does exactly what it says on the bottle

These products will now absolutely be my go-to for when I'm travelling, rather than fussing over decanting my larger products into dinky bottles. Perfect!

Tara Smith is available at Marks & Spencer (link!), with the range starting at £5 for travel size bottles.

James Brown Intensive Moisture Mask is available from Boots (link!) for £8.16, but is on 2 for £8 at the moment, so grab a bargain!