Sweet Smell of Spring

There is something about the beginning of spring that make me want to update my fragrance collection. All the fresh smells of a new season and blossoming trees get me giddy with excitement about summer.

This year, like any other, I wanted to get a fragrance that was fresh, spring-like but not too-sugary-sweet. Salvatore Ferragamo’s (best shoe designer ever, anyone?) Segnorina fits this description to a tea. It’s rosey and flowery with a touch of creamy sweetness. It reminds me of a delicious lollipop from childhood and airs out in to the scent of a spring flowerbed.

Plus, it helps me with my sweet cravings. Yum. 

Salvatore Ferragamo Segnorina from £39.00

Give a Helping Hand

Who doesn’t want to use a gorgeous product and also give back a little? One of my favourite natural brands, Trilogy, is celebrating the 10-year-anniversary milestone. To celebrate, they have released a ‘Helping Hand Wash’, of which 100% profits will go to Child’s i Foundation to help end baby abandonment in Uganda. As a mother-to-be, it’s extra close to my heart. Unsurprisingly, it's already been flying off the shelves!

Give a helping hand...

Trilogy Helping Handwash, £13.50

Moisture Cacoon

Although I can be quite lazy with body moisturiser, now that I’m pregnant, of course it is more important than ever. My abdomen and belly are also ridiculously itchy and craving moisture to accommodate the expanding belly.

I am packing in a double whammy of moisture: Aromatherapy Associates Renew Rose Massage Oil as soon as I’ve stepped out of the shower followed by Thea Baby Naturals Tummy Butter. The mixture of AA’s rosey scent and Thea’s rich cocoa butter is a heady one.

I think the belly approves. 

AromatherapyAssociates Renew Rose Massage Oil, £36

Thea Baby Naturals Tummy Butter, £22.95

Be My BB-FF

Although the new BB cream phenomenon has been gathering pace over the last couple of years, I haven’t been compelled enough to try…until now.  

Clinique’s new BB cream sounded too compelling to pass up. With a SPF protection of 30 (fantastic) this ‘beauty balm’ does instantly perfect the skin.

The original ‘BB craze’ started in Asia and soon became a cult favourite. Asian women wanted a one-stop-shop-beauty-balm that would moisturise, cover imperfections, and also prime the skin to create a fantastic base for all makeup. And it does all of the above.

Why would you ever wear tinted moisturiser again now that BB is available on your doorstep? For a yummy mummy in the making this is a godsend as well as for anyone who doesn't have time to fuss on makeup. 

Clinique Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30, £25.00

A Little Help...

I have been a fan of Shiffa for a while. Theirs are products whose ingredients literally sound good enough to eat. One of my biggest enemies at the moment is the potential of stretch marks rearing their ugly head, but Shiffa's founder Dr Lamees Hamdan actually developed her own concoction of pregnancy oil during her own pregnancy. It features, amongst others, macadamia, apricot, avocado, evening primrose and Mandarin oils that come together in one sweet, delicious smelling fits-all pregnancy oil. It's reassuringly rich, heady and totally soothing. Finally, waking up to a red and blotchy face is about as far from the pregnancy glow I was expecting. Shiffa's Tamanu moisturising cream is very healing and calming for angry red skin. Calendula will help to protect too. 

Anything to help me get my glow on.

Shiffa Pregnancy Body Oil £52

Shiffa Tamanu Moisturising Cream £74

Obedient Hair

Although I have never been best friends with a conditioner before, the tides might be shifting. Lately, since my pregnancy, my hair has been so poufy and fluffy (they say it gets thicker if you’re having a boy!!) - a bit unruly you might say.

I have been trying Phyto’s Express Conditioner recently and not only does it smell of sweets and cocoa butter, but it also leaves hair silky, but not weighed down. I was super impressed. My hair is usually fine and if I used a heavy conditioner in the past, it ends up looking like I’d dipped my head in oil. Not sleek chic. More freak chic.

Then I also tried Phyto’s Daily Hydrating Botanical Cream Leave In conditioner – something that I would normally not touch with a bargepole. It is brimming with botanical extracts and is brilliant for giving hair a slick of gloss without full-on ‘conditioning’ and is especially great before you blow dry your hair. And my fine hair doesn't look gready either. Soo, flyaways be gone.

Obedient hair is the way forward.

http://www.phyto.com/en/

Ask Me Why I'm Glowing

So the New Year has arrived. The Chinese year of the dragon. And with it, it brings change to Beauty Mole. The announcement here is that I am pregnant! An exciting start to the year and a definite change in my beauty routine. The little baby is due on July 7^th (subject to change) and has brought a whole host of interesting side effects with it already.

The first is that I have to moisturise my body more than ever. I must admit that I can be quite lazy with body moisturisers, even though I love it when I do. Of course the skin feels so much softer and if you have the right one it also smells amazing. Now, however, I am using oil. Bio Oil is a cult favourite and I am using it to keep stretch marks at bay from my expanding belly. However, I discovered that it’s also amazing for any skin ailment, especially dehydrated skin. Slather on to your face the night before you want to wash your hair and you will wake up to calmer skin in the morning guaranteed.

Then I am using Trilogy’s Aromatic Body Oil for everywhere else – with rosehips, rose and vanilla, the skin simply drinks it up after a shower.

Finally, as my ‘glow’ has not quote arrived, I am cheating with Sisley’s Radiant Glow Express Mask. This helps to bring out the rosiness in any complexion and the red clay will draw out any impurities.

So, now you can ask me why I’m glowing….
Bio Oil from all pharmacies - cheap as chips!! 
Trilogy Aromatic Body Oil, £16.50
Sisley Radiant Glow Express mask, £64.50 

Apothecary Sea Pet

I have always loved seahorses. Ever since I met my boyfriend and we were naïve enough to think that we could actually keep a whole tank of them in our house – it’s romantic because they mate for life. We even found this little seahorse on holiday in Portugal, so the seahorse symbol has been rocking around my life over the past few years.

Needless to say I got more than a little excited when I saw the premise and packaging of the new Seascape Island Apothecary range. The brand is from Jersey (all hail a wonderful British beauty brand) and their logo is none other than my favourite sea creature. But not only does it looks beautiful in your bathroom, but the products themselves are supremely yummy  made without any parabens, silicones, artificial fragrances and other nasties. What they are made with is 100% essentials oils that ease the body and mind. In the shower, it’s pure indulgence.

PS: There is some exciting news in the pipeline for Beauty Mole, please watch this space!

The Shower Gels are priced at £16.00