Fairy Christmas!

Christmas time is a great time of year to pick up wonderful gift sets and limited edition collections and when it comes to Lush it is Snow Fairy time. If you read my Lush bath times post, you'll know that a gianormous Snow Fairy Shower Gel (£10.95) has made its way into my bathroom, and it was almost with fanfare and fireworks that I after weeks of longing finally premiere used it this year on Dec 1. It must have been at least more than 5 years ago, that I first tried a tiny bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel and it wasn't love at first sniff - it was complete ADDICTION. This year you can get your annual fairy fix not only from the classic shower gel, but also in a Snow Fairy sparkle bar and a limited edition EdT - YEEAAYY, is all I say!!!

Snow Fairy is a completely unique scent, and if you were to use just one single word to describe it I would say - pink, not only because of the packaging but also because of other associations with it. It's a fruity, fresh and crisp but sweet scent that makes you think of candy floss, bubblegum, and juicy colorful fruit drops. There is also a very light hint of musk, which adds warmth and femininity to it and keeps it from being sickly sweet or syrupy.

The shower gel has a lovely rich texture and feels very creamy to use and it works up a generous pearlescent lather. It has a gorgeous pink strawberry smoothie color and can also be used to wash your hair. Even though I am the biggest Snow Fairy lover in the world I have to say that I find the shower gel a little bit harsh on the skin and so although my skin smells beautiful of Snow Fairy it feels quite tight after I've used it which is why I wouldn't use this on my hair. However, that isn't going to stop me from using the shower gel anyway, but when I use Lush shower gels a lot like I will do now in December I definitely need the thickest, richest body butter I can find to keep my skin soft and hydrated.

Since my skin is a bit thirsty after using the shower gel, it's a great time to also use the Snow Fairy Sparkle Bar (£4.95). It's a cute, neon pink little snow angel which is essentially a massage bar containing nourishing butters like shea, murumuru and cupuacu from the Amazon rainforest. You heat it up between your hands, rub it all over your skin and you'll be left with a pink looking oily texture that you massage into the skin, making your skin feel so moisturised and smooth. In addition to the gorgeous scent of Snow Fairy it has an added light saltiness to it that reminds me a bit of liquorice and it's a wonderful balance to the candy sweetness. When you've used the bar enough to get just beneath the pink coating, you'll reach the glitter centre which will leave a beautiful trail of glitter on your skin when you rub it all over - perfect for use on your arms and legs before slipping into a lovely little party dress.

When I got the Lush newsletter that they now have some of their most loved scents in limited edition perfumes as well, I immediately went on line and bought Snow Fairy EdT (£25 for 30 ml) - in fact, I got two of them. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, but it smells exactly the same way as the shower gel, if not a little yummier even and I just wish it lasted a little bit longer (staying power is about 3-4 hrs), but since I've got two bottles of it I can be generous and keep spraying it on throughout the day. For me Snow Fairy is perfect for wear in the winter time since the cold weather really brings out the crisp and youthful sweetness in it. I've worn this every day since I got it and I can't get enough of it - this year I'm definitely having a very fairy Christmas!

Manic.Monday: Haute Chocolate

Not only is it a Monday, it's Manic as usual, but it's also in the run up to Christmas so the mania is worse than ever. I thought I was fairly well prepared but I still feel as if time is running away from me. Well if it is, then at least may nails can look fab while the mania is increasing. I've shown a couple of polishes from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Formula previously and today we have another true winter beauty. As I've mentioned before this formula combines five different nail care products in the one formula; base coat, strengthener, growth treatment, top coat and of course whatever beautiful color you've bought which in this case is the very wintery Haute Chocolate (£6.99) that makes me think of decadent hot chocolate with whipped cream and a sprinkle of chopped roasted hazelnuts.

The first times I tried this polish I still felt sceptical about how well all these claims worked and I used to use both a separate base and top coat, however having tested this a few times without the separate products I am now completely comfortable and trust this formula to be long lasting and high shiny without having to use anything extra. I was most worried that not protecting my nails with a base coat would cause discolourations, but it hasn't, not even when wearing very strong colors like e.g. Fiery Island. I've also mentioned before that the brush is one of the best ones you can use. It's very wide and you easily get great opaque coverage without having to use lots of strokes, which I find usually causes some streaking in the finish. Even though you do get a lovely opaque look using just one coat, to me sticking to just one coat depends entirely on which shade I'm using and when it's more metallic or shimmery I like to wear two coats. In the photo I've used two coats as a base to really bring out the metallic almost mirror like effect in the finished look.

From left to right (in natural light):

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate with Nails Inc Snowflake effect

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate with Ciaté Snow Globe

 From left to right (in artificial light):

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate with Nails Inc Snowflake effect

Sally Hansen - Haute Chocolate with Ciaté Snow Globe 

 

Today's shade Haute Chocolate is a wonderful warm and discrete slightly plum tainted metallic chocolate brown and it's not just the name that is perfect for the season. To me this shade is a muted and sophisticated option to the traditionally very bright Christmas shades that also works well with different effect top coats. In the photos I've applied one coat of my current absolute favourite - Nails Inc Snowflake for that powdery, newly fallen snow look and also Ciaté's opalescent light catching Snow Globe and I think they are both suitable for lovely and subtle party looks.

This formula is very long lasting and on me it'll definitely last without any need to retouch for about 5-6 days and it's also easy to remove, even with the different effect top coats. I can't mention enough what a great nail polish this is and I would highly recommend that you try one of their amazing shades. All of a sudden I'm in the mood for some hot chocolate... I wonder why?

700 followers giveaway

A few days ago I reached 700 followers on Bloglovin' which for me is absolutely amazing. The first post I ever wrote went up at the start of July this year, exactly 5 months ago, and since then it's been quite a journey. I've learned an awful lot during this time, but I still consider myself a newcomer to all of this and since the blog also continues to evolve your comments are so important to help steer me in the right direction. I'm so thankful for the wonderful comments you leave and the fantastic support you've given me and it just encourages me to keep on blogging. I want to celebrate this milestone with a winter themed giveaway of some lovely Bourjois products.

The theme for these items is Iconic Glam, and the box contains 4 full sized Bourjois product that you can create this Hollywood inspired beautiful winter look with: 

Smokey Eyes Trio Eye Shadow in Gris Dandy

 So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Enamel in Rouge Escaprin

Volume Glamour Max Holidays Mascara in Black

Effet 3D Lipgloss in Rouge Democratic

The giveaway will be open until Dec 18, and I'll announce the winner on the 19th, and by then I will also have notified the winner before. This giveaway is only open to the UK, but I will hold an international giveaway when I reach my next milestone. I can't express enough how much I appreciate everyone who reads, comments and tweets about Makeup By Candlelight, so I'll just say a simple THANK YOU, and good luck to those who enter the raffle!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Winter TAG

As it's definitely winter time, I'm doing a version of a TAG today that I wanted to wait and do until December and I had hoped that there would actually be some snow when I did but, never mind - wishful thinking! I was tagged by the lovely Emma from The Jolly Fashionista and Gail from Fabulousso 40s to do the Winter TAG and share with you some of my favourite things about this lovely season.

 What are your favourite things about Winter?

So much, I don't even know where to begin. All the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations (and dear neighbors - NO, a giant plastic Santa on the roof doesn't count), which make everything look nice and cozy. I love the freezing cold, clear frosty evenings - perfect for star gazing with a cup of hot chocolate, but I also like dressing up in the most sequin heavy little number I've got in my wardrobe to go out, or snuggling up with Him Indoors and the cat at the end of each day. 
What is your favourite Winter outfit? This is an easy one for me since it's more or less my Winter uniform. My beloved leather leggings that I have missed sooo much over summer, a fluffy or textured jumper, a chunky sparkly statement necklace, faux fur coat, shoe boots with killer heels and one of my cute handbags.
What is your favourite Winter food? Christmas food - yum, yum.
Favourite Winter drink? It's a close call between gingerbread latte (skinny and decaf of course, so you could ask yourself, what the point is really... ) or hot peppermint chocolate with lashings of whipped cream - oh how naughty...
What is your dream way to spend a Winter's day? A long walk in completely snow covered forests and fields with my loved ones, and then coming home, lighting all the candles and fireplace and and have some Glögg  (Swedish red wine based hot drink with orange, cinnamon, cloves, brandy, almonds and raisins) in front of the TV!
How do you like to do your make-up in the Winter?   Well, if you read my post on What's in my autumn makeup bag, you'll know that previous years I haven't really changed my makeup that much with the seasons, but this year I've really tried to introduce some new colors. So I'm embracing my pale skin (yep all the tan from Summer is gone - boo...) and have added some dark red, raspberry and purple shades to emphasize my blue eyes and I've also opted for some darker plum lip chubbys.
What are you hoping Santa brings you?
I could say a Chanel bag, because it is The Bag to have - but to be completely honest it doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it's been picked with a lot of thought behind it and love.
What are the first three things that remind you of Winter? 1. The first frost on a seriously cold evening that glistens like diamonds on the ground 2. The early dark evenings 3. Supermarkets displaying Christmas things already before Halloween - seriously, what's that all about?! Let's celebrate one thing at a time!
What is your favourite Winter song? As strange as it may sound since I'm a die hard Christmas fan, but I really REALLY don't like most of what's played on the radio during Christmas or Winter, but saying that I do like a crooner like Michael Bublé or Bing Crosby doing a classic piece or for that matter Jeminy Cricket singing When you wish upon a star. That's when Christmas starts for me.
What is your favourite Winter memory? My obvious choice would be all the Christmases I've spent with loved ones, but I also have very vivid memories of making snow lanterns in the garden, putting little tea lights in them, and how beautiful it looked after dark. 
What is your favourite Winter scent? I love warm spicy but fresh scents as a contrast to the cold outside so it would need to be Apple & Cinnamon or Ginger, raisins & nuts.

Finish this sentence... If I could have one wish this Christmas it would be... 

I know this is very much on a serious note, but I wish we all take a moment to think about people and animals less fortunate than we are and give something back, either via a charity, non profit organisation or through volunteering time for others.    

Anyone who feels inspired is of course welcome to do this TAG, but I also specifically TAG the following beauties:

Gemma from Duggy Dimples

Jodie from Life of Jodie

Amber from Amber Types

Jacquelyn from The Little Scottish Corner

Styla Petite

Have a wonderful winter day everyone! Xx

Ciaté advent calendar - Dec 1 to 5

There have been a lot of amazing beauty advent calendars this year, and as tempting as some of them have been I already knew that I was going to get the Ciaté calendar. As an incorrigible polish-aholic this was the obvious choice for me and since I got so many beautiful shades and beads for my caviar collection in last year's calendar, it was a very easy decision for me. Instead of doing daily posts about the mini polishes I thought I would do a summary every week of what Father Ciaté has given me this year. Today we'll look at what was behind the doors from Dec 1 to Dec 5.

Dec 1 - Snow Globe: A clear polish with holographic speckles for a beautiful opalescent, shimmery look. Perfect for a festive top coat.

Dec 2 - Boudoir: A true festive vibrant red with a lovely luxurious satin finish.

Dec 3 - Hopscotch: A bright, fun and lively slightly burned mandarin orange with lovely opaque depth

Dec 4 - Miss Mistletoe: Loose shimmering sequins in gold and pink that create a textured party look. Easy to apply on a base shade, but difficult to get the excess that you brush off back in the bottle...

Dec 5 - Encore: A muted, deep carrot orange that's very autumnal

Snow Glow, Boudoir, Hopscotch, Miss Mistletoe, Encore

 From left to right in natural light:

Snow Globe

Boudoir

Boudoir with Snow Globe as a top coat
Hopscotch
Miss Mistletoe
Encore

 

From left to right in artificial light:

Snow Globe

Boudoir

Boudoir with Snow Globe as a top coat
Hopscotch
Miss Mistletoe
Encore

An OK selection of polishes so far although there's been an emphasis on reds and oranges, and personally I would have wanted to see more variety in the colors. Saying that though - and I even surprise myself by saying this, my favourite so far is actually Encore. I really like the idea of using this as an alternative to muted browns and dark reds and I think it would look lovely as a contrasting nail to e.g. a vivid purple or a bright azure blue outfit. Which of the shades so far do you like the most?

Baby, it's cold outside...

I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone when I say that I'm not just a beauty junkie I have other cravings too. It almost goes without saying that I'm completely addicted to fashion, clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and jewellery as well - I guess you could say that I'm an equal opportunist when it comes to beauty and fashion. For a while now I have been thinking about introducing more fashion related posts every now and then, and when I asked you guys about it on Twitter I got some very nice and encouraging messages back from many of you. So this is a first for me, an outfit post and I hope you'll enjoy it!

 

 Jacket: Sainsbury's // Sequin jumper & Shorts & Shoe boots: H&M // Fleece leggings: Primark // Baker Boy hat & Owl necklace: Accessorize // Gem fingerless gloves: Dorothy Perkins // Bag: Jimmy Choo

"Baby it's cold outside...." yes, but it's still not that cold so if you wear a warm enough jumper, then even at the beginning of December you only need a thin parka or barbour type jacket like this khaki colored belted one from Sainsburys - a right bargain, and perfect for those not so sure days since it can easily be folded up into nothing and put away in a bag. Under the jacket I'm wearing a long sleeved white knitted harlequin patterned jumper with scattered white sequins. It's a great everyday top with a little extra something, and I think it works really well to pair it down with these checked shorts in cinnamon brown, black and taupe and I've added my cute owl necklace for a bit of personality. To keep warm I've got the best black cozy leggings ever since they are fleeced on the inside - a must have if you want to show off your pins in winter time. The shoe boots are so comfy because of the chunky high heel, and they work both for casual and more dressy styles. I'm keeping warm with my beloved knitted Baker Boy hat, cute cream colored fingerless gloves with little sparkles on them - perfect for days when you're out taking photographs. Since I usually have my camera with me everywhere, it fits perfectly with everything else I need in my black Jimmy Choo bag, an amazing gift from Him Indoors on our first wedding anniversary.  

As you know, your comments are really important to me, so please let know what you think of this first attempt at an outfit post, and if this is something you would like to see more of in 2014. Have a wonderful day everyone! Xx

The scent of Christmas

What does Christmas smell like? Well, I think the answer to that is different for everyone but for me it has several different scents. There's the warm soft, spicy, citrus scent of food, drinks and goodies, there's the aromatic, deep green and earthy scent of the Christmas tree and there's the dry, cold, clean smell of snow. When I stocked up on candles for the month to come, this is exactly the mix of scents that I tried to capture, so let's have a look at what I ended up with.

There are several great candle makers that come up with wonderful tempting scents but my favourite brand is Lily-Flame Candles. Ever since I stumbled on my first candle in Waitrose - Fairy Dust, which I must have used about 10 of this year..., I've been a great fan and have tried quite a few candles from their range. Lily-Flame do scented tins in different sizes, candles in a glass and reed diffusers, but I especially like the scented tins. They have a super range of scents with something for everyone, and the candle in each tin looks so pretty with marshmallow type decorations in different colors - good enough to eat actually. The scented tins are very reasonably priced at £8.50 and for that you'll get about 35 hrs of burn time and they burn exceptionally well, not leaving a crater in the middle with lots of waste on the sides.

Jack Frost is a gorgeous cool, sparkling crisp and ever so slightly sweet scent of lemon grass and musk, and for me it makes me think about sunny, cold and snowy Boxing day when you've been out for a long walk and you come into the warmth to eat some more yummy food - oh.... I can't wait... 

From cool and crisp to something completely different with Winter Wood. It's a very distinct, warm aromatic and strong but fresh scent of Christmas tree and pine cones. I hadn't tried this candle before and I am a little bit apprehensive since in the tin it almost smells a little bit like a soapy bubble bath, but fingers crossed it'll warm up more forrest and less soap. 

Now we come to the more homely, foodie scents, starting with Christmas Spice - a warm, and aromatic hearty mix of cinnamon and ground cloves which creates a very spicy, almost slightly oriental smokey scent. This to me is the night before Christmas - you're all snuggled up in your best Christmas leggings and jumper in front of the fireplace with a Christmas tree, having mulled wine and mince pies.

The last candle is also of a foodie kind, smelling just like a scrumptious Christmas dessert. Festive Cheer has rich chocolate, roasted nuts and almonds, and spicy but sweet gingerbread. It's a wonderful piquant and very slightly peppery smell.

These are all very different but they're also all of them comforting, and reassuring in their own way. It'll be lovely to have the different scents of Christmas filling the house. I wonder which candle I should start with...?

The weekend in pictures

When you've got a severe case of Monday blues, there nothing that will cheer you up as looking back at the weekend that was and all the wonderful things that happened. Somehow we managed to get a lot of things done but at the same time it was nice and chilled. We spent a lovely bumbly Saturday in Brighton with our friends visiting the beautiful opulent pavilion as well as the pier, and we indulged in the best Italian food I've had for years (yes, really I'm not exaggerating), coffees, then some more coffees and oops a cheeky little cake too - how on earth did that happen. Brighton is really lovely with some great shopping and it's so much fun strolling along the lanes, having a look around and of course I ended up with a shopping bag from Jigsaw, but I prefer to look at it as a souvenir from Brighton and something that just had to be done.

 

Brighton Pavilion // Brighton // Brighton Pavilion

 Brighton Pavilion // Brighton Pier // Brighton Pier

 Brighton Pier // Souvenirs from Brighton // New makeup storage 

 Brighton Pavilion // 1 Dec // Prickly Pals hedgehog rescue

 Prickly Pals hedgehog rescue // Southampton Common //First of advent

On the Sunday I spent some time organising all my make up using the new acrylic boxes I got on eBay for my dressing table. I'm not OCD in any way but I do like things to be organised and tidied away properly and there's something very satisfying about having everything in exactly the right place. Hmm, I might need to take back that not being OCD bit... We also did what I like to do the most - NO, not shopping - it's spending time with animals and we visited the Prickly Pals hedgehog rescue center. You probably know that hedgehogs hybernate, but when they are too young and not fat enough they are vulnerable, but luckily there are some very kind people who take hedgehogs into their homes and look after them over winter to make sure that they survive and one of the ladies we met had 35 of them! Wow, no wonder they need food donations and our cat graciously agreed to share some of her food with the hedgehogs - good girl! Since it was first of advent, we celebrated with lighting the first of the candles and having some glögg and gingerbread in true Scandinavian style, overall what a nice start to December. 

I hope you also had a great weekend and even though the week ahead might seem long, the eternal optimist in me prefers to think that it's only 3 days left to the next.

Manic.Monday: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It's December and it's officially not just countdown to Christmas, but it's also winter time. Throughout this month you'll notice a theme to the Manic.Monday posts - they are all related to winter in one way or another and we start off with a real cracker (see what I did there...) from Nails Inc, it's the Kensington Church Street Snowflake Effect nail polish (£10.80). This is a limited edition polish, inspired by cold and beautiful snowy winter days. It's a clear polish with dense glitter and sequins in different shapes and sizes, that make your nails look as if they have a light dusting of newly fallen snow on them.

Since the polish is so rich in glitter and sequins, you could probably wear it on its own, if you build it up with several coats, but for me this should be used as a top coat over a base shade of your choice to really enhance the beautiful effect. In it's consistency it's exactly like the usual Nails Inc formula and it has an average sized brush of good quality. For glitter polishes this could normally be an issue since if the brush isn't wide enough you might end up with the glitter not being distributed very evenly. In this case, you don't have to worry about that since the polish is absolutely packed with the particles and you get an even coat without any effort - just like you would expect from a quality brand like Nails Inc.

The polish is very fast drying so if you wanted to use more than one coat for a thick, layered blizzard effect you can create that in less than 5 mins, however I find that just one coat is enough to create a lovely crisp frosty effect, and in the photos I've used only one coat of Snowflake on top of 2 coats of a base shade. Unlike a lot of effect polishes this will stand out even more if you use a high shine top coat, although I've chosen not to do that in the photos.

As you can see I've tested this using different base shades that I thought would be appropriate for winter, Christmas and parties using both plain opaque shades and metallics, and I really think it works equally well on all of them.

Kensington Church Street Snowflake effect - in artificial light

Kensington Church Street Snowflake effect - in natural light

Glitter polishes can be a complete nightmare to remove, and while this isn't super easy, it's not too bad either and personally I think that just using one coat of this makes removing it easier.

I can't think of anything more seasonal and it's so easy to create this stunning effect, and I'm planning on trying this next with silver and emerald green base shades. I know we're only 2 days into December, but I know already that this is going to be my favourite look for winter. You will find that it's sold out in the Nails Inc on line store, however you can find a Snowflake gift set at Look Fantastic and probably even in some Boots stores and Nails Inc nail bars. Don't give up the search though - this gorgeous polish is definitely worth it. 

Lush bath times

Back in the old days when views about cleanliness and hygiene weren't quite the same as today, a lot of people only had a wash perhaps once a week or in many cases even more rarely. However, when it was time for Christmas it was a tradition for the whole family to have a Christmas bath to make sure that everyone was nice and clean for the big Christmas meal. Well things have certainly changed since then and I'm sure I'm not the only one bath lover who looks forward to the Christmas collection from Lush every year to indulge in all things fun and seasonal, although a lot of the products are almost too cute to use up. I got a little bit carried away this year when I saw the new collection, but at least I will have lots of gorgeous products of all kinds, colors, shapes and scents in my bath basket to choose from.

If we start with the shower gels I had actually already bought Snow Fairy and Ponche when I happened to see Glögg (£13.50) on the website. Glögg is a traditional heated red wine based winter drink, similar to mulled wine which is spiced with cinnamon, orange, cognac and cloves and something I'm very familiar with as I'm Swedish, and the thought of a glögg smelling shower gel was just too much to resist. It doesn't smell exactly like the glögg from my family home, but it's close enough and it has beautiful warming essential oils for a feel good shower after you've been out in the cold.

Next is my annual shower gel highlight and all time favourite Lush scent - Snow Fairy (£10.95). This is a bit of a love it or hate it scent and I'm very firmly in the love it camp because of its pink and sweet, fruity bubblegum scent. It's fresh, fluffy and light like candy floss and I have had such a hard time to stop myself from using it before December, but today I will celebrate first of advent with an indulgent Snow Fairy shower.

The last shower gel is Ponche (£8.95) which is a citrusy, juicy tropical sweet scent with a very light hint of cinnamon and buckets of tequila. Apparently this is a traditional Mexican Christmas drink, and although I prefer warmer scents in the winter, I do like the zestiness of it and could see myself still using this in Spring time for a bright, sparkly and refreshing shower.

Now we come to all the bath bombs, melts and bubble bars. Golden Wonder (£3.50) is a bath bomb in the shape of a gorgeous glittery Christmas present and it even has a bow on it. The scent is sparkling, citrusy with sweet orange and lime but with a warm undertone to it, making it great for winter time. Apparently this is a bath bomb that you should take your time to enjoy and that releases wonderful colors and stars when you drop it in the bath. But be careful when you pick it up because it has soo much glitter on it, that it gets absolutely everywhere - and yes I did walk around with gold on my nose for a few hrs...I've seen photos of this in the bath and I'm very excited to try it and to let it wrap me in gold while I enjoy a glass of chilled champagne - now that's how you ease in Christmas!

Next bath bomb is Cinders (£2.45), less sparkly on the outside but just like Cinderella has a bit of a transformation in the bath. It also has a very fruity and spicy scent of orange combined with cinnamon and which smells very comforting and relaxing. The transformation of this one in the water is down to the popping candy which should crackle like a log fire. Sounds interesting and it'll be fun to see if it actually works.

Lush has really latched on to the Christmas drink concept and another bath product to resemble a traditional hot drink is the Hot Toddy bubble bar (£3.25). You crumble it under running water for lots of creamy bubbles to form and the bathroom will be filled with that luxurious and whipped spicy but soft scent of eggnog, citrus fruits and nutmeg. It's a warming and relaxing scent and since the bubble bars are so foaming, I'll probably split this in two to get more use out of it. 

Christmas is a very sparkly time of year and even more so if you use the Star Light, Star Bright bath melt (£3.30). It's such a pretty bath melt, covered in a heavy dusting of silver that unfortunately goes absolutely everywhere and again that sticks to your fingertips for hrs. It has a rich and moisturising center of shea butter and is supposed to make the water feel soft and creamy and turns it silvery turqoise. This is a more piquant and invigorating scent than the other bath products because of the ginger and lime and it's deliciously refreshing.

We're now on to the bath products that are almost too cute to melt, although this little guy looks as if he's already well on his way - it's the Melting Snowman bath melt (£2.25). The shape is different, but it has the same warming scent as the Hot Toddy bath melt and the same moisturising qualities that will leave the skin nice and soft. So if you don't have the heart to finish our snowman off, you can get the same scent and effect from the Hot Toddy melt, but with less of a guilty conscience.

The cuteness factor is at an all time high with the Christmas Penguin bubble bar (£2.95). It's a very fresh and almost Mediterranean scent of sweet orange flower and mandarin oil a and it's so refreshing that I'll probably save this for a morning bath, to set me up nicely for the day. I would like to try and split this bubble bar into two as well, but I suspect that it'll just fall into pieces if I do - as if it isn't bad enough that we have to dissolve him... Poor penguin...

Last up we have Father Christmas himself (£3.25) with his cheery, merry face in a cute pink and white bath bomb, but when you drop it in the water it'll completely unexpectedly turn green! It has a lovely fresh but warm orange scent and for me I think this will be the one to save for Christmas day, after all I need Father Christmas to drop off my pressies before he fizzes away!

As a bath lover I'm so glad that things have changed since the old days, and it probably wasn't easy getting hold of a decent bath bomb either... Luckily I'm all sorted with lots of goodies and I'm looking forward to some lush bath times before Christmas.