This time of year your bathroom can start to look cold, grey and uninviting – spruce it up with some lovely accessories from Graham & Green!

A: Embossed White Metal Tumbler,* £13.95 GBP

B: Silver Crown Soap Dish,* £14.95 GBP

C: Silver Soap Dish,* £7.95 GBP

D: Small Cut Glass Storage Jar,* £12.50 GBP

E: Alabaster Stone Hand Soap Dish,* £28.00 GBP

F: Ceramic Dove Soap Dish,* £8.95 GBP

If you’re like us then you might be a bit sceptical about the benefits of so-called ‘deep conditioning’ hair treatments.  Do they really work?  Are they worth the cost?  What sort of ingredients are the conditioners made out of?  And is there anything that does the same thing for much cheaper?

We asked ourselves the same questions while we were testing a wide range of deep conditioning hair treatments – they included masks, pre-shampoo treatments and apply-and-rinse conditioners – and these are the results:

Burt’s Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Wash (shown above, A, £11.26 GBP for 123 grams available at Boots).

This gorgeous pre-shampoo treatment should be applied to wet hair prior to shampooing.  Use it once a week (or more regularly if you think you need it) and leave in your hair for 5-20 minutes depending on the dryness of your hair.  After rinsing and then washing your hair, you should find your locks are much shinier and smoother.  Why?  The avocado butter is a natural conditioner that helps to lock in moisture, while the nettle and rosemary extracts in the treatment help to give shine.  The best part is that Burt’s Bees aims to use as many natural ingredients as possible – this pre-wash is 99.33% natural, which we think is good enough for us! Read the rest of this entry »

While we love modern perfume brands and we can appreciate that minimalist design, cutting edge advertising and slick, fresh smelling fragrance is probably what marketing gurus tell the designer brands to make, sometimes it just ain’t enough.  Why can’t perfume return to its roots, to its mystical oriental scents and it’s glamorous packaging?  Sometimes a girl just wants to feel special, and your CKOnes and Tommy Girls can’t really do that.

Solution?  E. Coudray Paris’ Nohiba Eau de Toilette.  Made in France, it comes in an Art Deco style bottle that wouldn’t look out of place on the dressing tables of Queens, 1930s movie sirens and presidents’ wives.  The scent is flowery and rich and makes us think of Moroccan spice markets and old fashioned French perfumeries.  Best of all, it’s ultra exclusive with only a few retailers selling the brand UK-wide (Roullier White sells E. Coudray’s other fragrances but not Nohiba, whilst Scentsations of Troon does stock the 100mL bottles), soo if smelling like everyone else is a concern then you’re pretty safe with Nohiba.

Nohiba 100mL Eau de Toilette available online from Scentsations of Troon, £55.00 GBP

I have an unhealthy obsession with Lakeland – it combines several of my loves: kitchen equipment, food, home decor and affordable prices.  People seem to forget that Lakeland isn’t just a brand that stocks catering equipment, in fact it has some awesome products that would make great Christmas gifts:

A: Wooden Spoon Baby Pears in Vanilla Syrup, £5.50 GBP

B: Mini Mouse Manicure Set, £3.99 GBP

C: Porto Decanter Set, £17.99 GBP

D: Indian Odyssey Set of Mugs, £9.99 GBP for 2

E: Charbonnel et Walker Dusted Strawberry Truffles, £3.79 GBP

F: Norwegian Folk Shopper, £9.99 GBP

G: The BookChair, £12.99 GBP

We’d never heard of Stargazer cosmetics until a few days ago.  Having started up selling their wares in the seventies in Great Gear Market in London, Stargazer was at the forefront of the British punk movement, providing bold, bright colours to match the outrageous outfits of their customers.  Given their heritage, and their importance as a British cosmetics supplier, we jumped at the chance to have a play with their modern ranges.

We stuck with a colour theme of blue, red and white (given their punky British heritage we thought this was apt!), but their range extends to include the entire rainbow – and not only in punk worthy colours, but more staid, conservative shades too.  The Stargazer ranges and shades used for to create our soft Punk Britannia look above were:

A: Eye Dust, £3.00 GBP ea

B: False Eyelashes, £4.50 GBP

C: Lipstick, £3.00 GBP

D: Nail Polish, £2.00 GBP ea

E: Glitter Shakers, £3.00 GBP Read the rest of this entry »

We LOVE Mitchell & Peach.  They’re proudly British, growing their lavender on English soil, but using other lovely exotic scents like violet extract from Egypt, rose from Morocco, and ylang-ylang from the Commoros Islands.  Their packaging is without parallel – it’s simple, elegant and looks very expensive.  Best of all, their products remind us of the mystical, magical creams we used to see on our mums’ dressing tables: the silky, creamy texture of the body cream is so similar to the old-fashioned cold creams ladies of luxury used to use, we feel truly spoiled when we use it.

We’ve tried the Mitchell & Peach Body Cream ourself, so we can verify that it’s smooth and silky and soaks right in.  It smells delicious (like a fragrant tea or a warm summer’s evening) and would look gorgeous sitting on top of your make-up cabinet.  Overall we feel pretty confident that anyone unwrapping this beauty on Christmas morning would feel spoiled:

A: Mitchell & Peach Body Cream, £36.00 GBP from Roullier White

We’ve selected some of our favourite designers, craftspeople, online retailers and independent brands to be scrutinised under the Desirable spotlight.  We ask them four simple questions – ‘Who are you?’, ‘What is your design or buying ethos?’, ‘What are your Christmas gift recommendations?’ and ‘What’s in your bag?’  (we’re very nosy).

So now, for your enjoyment, is one of our top jewellery shopping destinations online, Plush Jewellery!

Who is Plush Jewellery?

To answer that simply would be to say that Plush Jewellery is Allie (follow her on Twitter!) and Holly, but Plush Jewellery is equally the product of the jewellery designers we work with.

We have gorgeous jewellery from established names in contemporary jewellery design such as James Newman and Kimberley Selwood as well as limited edition pieces from small scale artisans such as Kate Gill and Dorothy Borland. Right now, we’re showing work from 2 dozen jewellery designers but we’re always looking for new design talent to join our ranks and we run schemes throughout the year to enable new designers to bring their work to a wider audience.

What is your buying ethos?

It’s got to be different. We don’t buy jewellery that you can find on every high street. We don’t show two designers whose work is similar, it’s not fair to the designers to do that. All of the jewellery we buy has to be finished to a very high standard, basically if we wouldn’t buy it and wear it, we won’t offer it for sale (and we are very fussy). Finally we buy from designers who are passionate about what they do; their enthusiasm shines through in their work.

What are Plush Jewellery’s Top 3 Gift Ideas for Christmas?

Just three? We love all of our jewellery (yes, we would say that) but if you’re making us just choose three then these are top of the list this year:

1. Kimberley Selwood Butterfly Effect Silver Cuff (shown above, £235 GBP). This is a stunning piece of jewellery, Kimberley cuts each of the butterflies and forms the cuff by hand. It is beautiful, feminine and completely wearable.
2. Chris Hawkins Corvid Crow Cufflinks with Dark Garnet Eyes (shown above, £240 GBP). Chris’ Corvid collection is new this winter, it is inspired by the obsession the Victorians had for collecting. These cufflinks are made from polished blackened silver and enchance any chaps cuffs.
3. Gemma Clarke Silver acorn cup on champagne pearls – (shown above, £70 GBP). Gemma’s pearls are popular with our customers. She joined us last Christmas under our New Designers scheme and has shown with us ever since. This necklace, featuring champagne pearls, sterling silver and 18ct gold plate is elegant and stylish.

And finally, Allie and Holly, what’s in your bag?

Allie: I’m going stand up and show my complete geekness here: I’ve only just got my hands on an iPhone 3Gs on o2 (shown above F, £745.89 GBP from Amazon) and it’s already changing the way I work with a wealth of apps that tie in with the things I do online.  I’ve used Moleskine Pocket Notebooks for a few years now (shown above B, Plain Cahier £3.96 GBP at Borders). They’re gorgeously tactile and the pocket size fits perfectly in a bag. I always go for the ruled version.  Finally the Montblanc Meisterstuck hommage a Frederic Chopin Platinum Line (shown above C, £235.00 GBP at Wheelers Luxury Gifts), which writes beautifully and feels gorgeous. It’s not available to buy online but can be found in most John Lewis stores or from Montblanc boutiques.

Holly:  I use Clinique lip gloss (in Air Kiss, shown above A, £13.00 GBP from Debenhams) because it has an spf factor and keeps your lips soft through out the day.  It also has a lovely understated colour with a beautiful shine.   I use the Montblanc Boheme roller ball pens (shown above D, £235.00 GBP at Wheelers Luxury Gifts) – they’re beautifully designed, and have a lovely shape and weight making it a pleasure to write with – even if it’s a cheque! It was given to me as a gift and has very happy memories attached to it hence I never leave home without it in my handbag.  I also carry Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream (shown above E, £18.00 GBP at Amazon). When my hands are feeling a little unloved this is the product I reach for. It’s the ideal handbag size for use on the go. The cream is quite rich so you don’t need a lot but doesn’t leave your hands feeling greasy. It also means that it lasts along time.

Thanks so much for letting us have a nose through your bag and your store Allie and Holly! To check out Plush Jewellery for yourselves, click here!