Travel Essentials

April always seems to be the time people start jetting off for their first holiday of the year.

I am going on my travels tomorrow and thought I would share some of the things I am taking with me. I am trying to travel light, but there are a lot of essentials I wouldn't be without.

I don't want to be carrying round a bulky bottle of perfume so I am taking this River Island London eau de toilette rollerball as my fragrance.

I am taking my Tangle Teezer as it is a compact hair brush and it has a lid so that dirt doesn't get caught in it.

I have a monopod selfie stick which is great for taking selfies or it can be used as a monopod which can help to make video footage smoother.

I am taking a lipstick case with a mirror in it and I usually put a few loose cotton buds inside as I don't want to take the whole box of cotton buds but I don't want to carry them loose in my make-up bag as they can pick up dust or dirt.

I always seem to get dry lips when I travel so I have this Avon pink jasmine lip balm to take with me.

I opt for a rollerball deodorant as most spray deodorants are more than 50ml which I believe is the largest amount of liquid you can take on a plane in your hand luggage.

I also have my Clinique wrinkle correcting eye cream which I am taking with me as I like to look after my skin while I am travelling.

I will also be getting some sun screen when I get there. I haven't got any that is under 50ml and I am not taking a case.

What to buy a woman for Christmas

Most women are easy to buy for, but if you are a fairly clueless man left to your own devices, shopping for the woman in your life could be quite a daunting task.

I have put together a few ideas based on a budget of £100.


If you have not received any hints, I think it would be difficult to go wrong with a bottle of Chanel Chance which can be purchased from Boots (or boots.com) for £85.95 for the 100ml eau de parfum. It is a beautiful scent, which I think would appeal to almost everyone.
To reach (and go over by 95p) your £100 budget this grey loose knit snood looks super cosy and will cost you £15 from River Island or riverisland.com.

Another gift that you may want to consider is this set of 3 limited edition Diptyque candles. It is a great gift for a woman who loves her candles and it will set you back £78.00 and is available from Harrods or online at harrods.com.
To make up the gift to £100 most women would love this Urban Decay Naked Basics palette full of neutral every day colours, which is available from Debenhams or debenhams.com for £22.00.

This silver cubic zirconia and synthetic sapphire necklace is gorgeous if you want to blow the majority of the budget all in one. This costs £95 from Beaverbrooks or beaverbrooks.co.uk.
Coming in just under budget this cute pack of two pairs of cosy slipper socks are available at New Look for £3.99.

New Look have some lovely socks out for Christmas. I saw these adorable gingerbread man and candy cane design socks in New Look today. They are only £1.99.

Anyway my final gift idea is this lovely Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb gift set, which comes with a 50ml bottle of the eau de parfum, a body cream and a shower gel.
It currently costs £73.00 from Boots so I have paired it with these festive Me To You design pyjamas with, 'Feeling Snug' written on the front. They are available from Next for £25.00. There are lots of nice pyjamas on their website. Last year I struggled to find nice pyjamas anywhere and ended up eventually finding a Disney pair in Asda.

Plenty of Prints for me!

A few days ago I noticed a billboard advertising boohoo.com with, 'Pretty in prints', which was the name of my 31st August post. I didn't copy, honest!
The picture to go with it was of this dress..

I am not a fan of it myself. I don't like the black seams or the cut out design. I don't mind the print too much, but when I think of printed dresses I like to think of cute, ditsy prints that are more feminine and pretty than this heavily patterned dress.

I have gone crazy for prints this week and I have spent far too much money building up my collection and I am spending even more in my head drooling over even more pretty prints.

I ordered 4 new dresses from New Look’s website yesterday.

1) Mela Loves London Cream and Red Fruit Print Dress - This dress was in the sale for just £15.00 reduced from £25.00. I love the summery print and it has a lovely flattering shape.

2) New Look Burgundy Heart Print Pleated Sleeve Dress - I love this dress. It is a beautiful cut. The colour is gorgeous and looks great with the heart print. I absolutely love it and can't wait to wear it. It can easily be dressed up or down. It is really versatile. It only cost £19.99. Great design and great value, just like New Look's shoes!

3) Blue Vanilla Blue Blossom Floral Print Dress - Another flattering fit with gorgeous cherry blossom on blue skies. I love cherry blossom. This is a really pretty design. I paid £25.00, which I think is very reasonable.

4) Tenki Red Owl Print Dress - This cute owl print dress had me frustrated. I didn't know whether to buy it in dark blue or dark red, but ended up getting the dark red version. I love the print. This dress was £25.00.

I found a few dresses that I liked on boohoo.com at the weekend so I put an order in.

1) Imogen Feather Print Heart Back Skater Dress – This dress is described as mint coloured. It has an orange and pink feather print. It is feminine and summery. It was in the sale for just £10.00 reduced from £20.00. I absolutely love it.

2) Laura Sleeveless Printed Floral Skater Dress – A lovely pink, purple and green floral print dress, which was an absolute bargain at just £12.00 reduced from £18.00.

3) Maya Large Rose Print Knot Back Maxi Dress – I tend to only wear maxi dresses when I go on holiday and I try not to load my case full of them as they can be quite heavy so I try not to buy too many, but this colourful, large rose print maxi dress with the open back was too much for me to resist at only £12.00 reduced from £25.00.

I will be browsing Boohoo’s website a lot more in the future after finding these gems. I also ordered this pretty printed dress from House of Fraser. It is by Cutie and it cost just £20.00. The colour is lovely and the print is small and cute.

ASOS Petite Exclusive Skater Dress In Floral Print - I love this dress. I ordered it at the weekend in 'orange' although it looks red to me, but I love the blue and I really want it in blue too although they don't currently stock my size. It is on sale in limited sizes for £24.50 reduced from £35.00.

River Island Printed Smock Dress - I also decided to add this River Island dress to my collection. I love the busy, paisley pattern.
It cost £25.00 from ASOS.com.