It's never too soon to write a Christmas List!

Having devoured the Boots Christmas Catalogue, been seduced by the Debenhams gift sets & had a giddy  moment with Karl Largerfeld for Shu Uemura, I thought it was time I let the big man in red know what I'd like for Christmas!

Dear Santa......

I've been a really good girl this year and would be very grateful if you would perhaps fill my stocking with some of these beautiful things. I promise to write a lovely blog post about them if you do! Many Thanks in anticipation Esme xx

Karl Largerfeld for Shu Uemura

Bordeaux

Smokey Velvet

Oh how I love a palette, especially if its full of rich, creamy deep colours that offer amazing colour pay off. The funky packaging reminds me of the Emily the Strange or Pukka bags I loved when I was a student. This palette is available in Bordeaux (rich golds and plummy wine colours) and Smokey Velvet (green and black with silver and pastel blue). They are pricey at £45 (http://www.selfridges.com/en/Beauty/Brand-rooms/Contemporary/SHU-UEMURA/Karl-Lagerfeld-for-shu-uemura) but of course they are limited edition and offer the high quality colour that Shu's eye shadows are known for. They are also very wearable colours not just for the party season but through the winter and beyond. 
 

Trish McEvoy Voyager Collection

 I've made no secret of my love for Trish products, especially her brushes. This mini set is right up my street, love the colour combinations, love the tiny pink quilted bag but I ADORE the mini double ended brushes. This is the perfect handbag friendly palette containing 2 concealers, 4 eye shadows, a lip colour and a gloss, a bronzer and blusher. The brushes include travel friendly versions of (my absolutely beloved) Tapered Blending, VaVa Voom & precise lining as well as an angled contour brush. This is available at Selfridges for £65 which I think represents good value when you consider the price of the full size products/brushes and the quality Trish offers.

Clinique Mix It Up Kisses Gift Set

I think this is really cute, I like how you could attach this to a bag (think it'd be a bit heavy for your keys) and have a selection of lip products easily to hand. I carry a massive handbag Monday to Friday and I'm always rummaging for a lip gloss in the bottom, so this would be great for me. It offers a great range of wearable shades and a variety of glosses and lipsticks. This is a lovely way to try host of Clinique colours before deciding whether you want to invest in a full size. For £25 you get 6 mini products (2 lipsticks, 2 superbalm glosses and 2 long last glosses) which I think offers good value for money. This would make a great gift for any woman.

Estee Lauder Art of Lips

It was the super gorgeous bag that first dragged this set into my attention. I love it, it reminds me of the styling used by Prada for their Candy fragrance. Housed within the colour block bag is a full sized Pure Colour  lipstick, double ended Pure Colour lip gloss and a Double Wear lip pencil. I love the Chic Pinks but there's also a nude version but the shades looked a bit too brown ish for my liking. They are available for £30 from Debenhams.

Benefit Gift Sets

How to Look the Best at Everything

Passport to Posh

Oh Benefit, how I do love you! This brand has been consistently in my top 5 for as long as I can remember so I couldn't wait to check out this years Christmas gift sets. I love giving these as much as I love to receive them! I have, after much deliberation narrowed down my 2 favourites. How To Look The Best at Everything Complexion Set (£24.50) This fabulously styled (love the book type packaging) kit contains 2 mini Boi-ing concealers, a mini Porefessional pore minimising primer, a mini Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation and a Hello Flawless cover up powder complete with brush. Its available in light, medium and dark it offers a great way of trying these products together. I love boi-ing and the wow foundation but sadly Porefessional breaks me out so I was glad of the opportunity to try it before shelling out upwards of £20 for a product I cannot use. Passport to Posh Eye Kit (£25, exclusive to Debenhams) This looks like a handy little kit, not only does it contain a couple of my Benefit favourites but it seems like it would be really usable for everyday. Along with 3 neutral suit all shades of shadow you get a mini Bad Gal mascara, a boi-ing concealer, an Eye Bright, brush and my personal favourite Creaseless Cream colour in RSVP. Creaseless Creams are similar to MAC paint pots,  versatile as colour, liner or base and last all day. I'd keep this in my handbag for post night shift make up or take it away for the weekend for lazy Sunday morning eyes. It would make a great gift as its  universally flattering.

Viktor & Rolf Flower Bomb Roll-On & Lip Gloss Duo

This is  really clever idea, a 5ml roll-on of fragrance coupled with a 5ml lip gloss in the same pen. I love to carry my fragrance with me but all too often it means taking a heavy glass bottle in my bag. This looks chic, the gloss is a neutrally pink shimmer that looks like it's be quite flattering and easy to wear everyday. The roll-on applicator would allow me to add a quick swipe of fragrance at times when you may not want to spray like in the car or staff room. I'm a fan of solid perfume but not so much the scented fingers I end up with, so to me this is a step forward from that! I now want to invent a roll on  atomiser so I can carry all my scents this way. At £19.50 it is a bit pricey for the amount of product you receive but I'd imagine you only need a tiny bit of perfume if rolling on but the lip gloss may not last too long. A great gift as its quite a natty idea and the type of thing you probably would buy for yourself but love once you owned it!

Chantecaille Elephant 

Now, you'd probably have to be extra good for Father Christmas to drop these little beauties down your chimney but I think they are so cute I just had to add them to the list. The SpackNK website says this palette (£74) combines trends from the catwalk and Kenyan Grasslands with simplicity. Each of the 4 shadows is embossed with a little elephant, the shadows look very rich (I've sadly not been able to swatch them) and although dark I think they are wearable colours that would suit most people. I love the look of Grassland (deep green) and Copper Ore (redish brown with a hint of gold). 
There's also an Elephant Cheek colour (£30), peachy pink powder that claims to make pores invisible and won't settle into lines. A very easy to wear everyday colour that would make you smile every time you looked  at it. But could you bring yourself to sweep away the beautiful baby elephant? Not sure I could!




This post could run and run, there are so many gorgeous gifts around this year, but I'm going to leave it there. I'd love to know what you guys are hoping Santa will leave by the fire for you so please leave a comment.

A Girl Can Dream

This week I read about Sisley Global Perfect Pore Minimiser, thinking to myself I could do with some of that I did a bit of searching on good old google and discovered its a princely £119 per 30ml. Slightly disappointed by my inability to ever spend that on a face cream I got to think about what I'd buy when my 6 magic numbers come tumbling out of Lancelot. This is my fantasy beauty shopping list........

Sisley Global Perfect Pore Minimiser (£119)

According to the Harrods website this is a powerful skin enhancing concentrate, an all round corrector and preventative treatment. It contains Java tea & Ratanhy Extract & soothes due to the addition of natural alpha-bisabolol.

Sisley Eau de Campange Bath Oil (£54)

Whilst I'm picking up my Global Pore Minimiser I may as well slip this into the basket! St Johns Wort, Calendula & Hawthorn oils would make the perfect addition to my bath after a long walk around the grounds of my French Chateau.

Laduree Cheek Colour (£??)

Sticking with the French theme, these little beauties caught my eye on Pinterest. They look far too beautiful to actually use. There's not much information online yet other than they are being released across Europe in the Autumn as part of Laduree's cosmetic range called Les Merveilleuses de Ladurée. They are available in Japan and there's some YouTube footage around. So excited to see these in the flesh, I want them all!

Estee Lauder Zodiac Powder Compact, Taurus (£65)

I've been looking a pretty vintage (& crazy blingy!) compacts for a while now but can't be trusted not to lose them so have held off making a purchase. Love this one as it reminds me of a pendant I had in my teenage years. It comes filled with Lucidity Translucent pressed powder.

Tom Ford Bronzer Brush (£80)

Being slightly brush obsessed I'm often mooching around the net, lusting after shapes or fibre. its the shape of this brush that does it for me. Its made with natural hair and shaped to pick up the optimum amount of product and distribute that product evenly onto face. 

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Voluptuous Body Cream (£79.50)

Now anything that is described as having a texture that 'invites hedonism' is going to score quite highly with me! Harrods say is 'drapes the skin in velvet', I say it smells so pretty! I have seen a bath caviar in John Lewis (check out the Viktor & Rolf section on their website, its lovely) which would make a nice addition to this. Is it shallow to mention how good the jar would look in my bedroom?!

Creme de la Mer, The Eye Balm Intense (£125)

This is a limited edition product that comes in a sleek looking metallic tray. It contains 3 trade mark registered compounds, one of which is called Miracle Broth (amazing!) that offers an advanced secret to younger looking eyes by penetrating the skin and renewing from deep within. The balm texture is apparently really comforting. I like slightly surgical look of the applicator too. 

Czech & Speake Rose Bath Oil (£45)

Its rosy, it comes with a clever shaker top that dispenses a measure amount, the bottle is very pretty, whats not to love? It sounds heavenly too, emulsifying in water to leave skin moisturised, smooth and lightly scented.

Kiel's Swarovski Edition Creme De Corps (£1600)

Let me start by saying for that crazy price you do get one litre of product. I've tried creme de corps before (from eBay) and it is super enriched, leaving the skin feeling amazing, a little goes a long way, especially with regular use so a litre would last a good, long while. I love the complete out and out bling of the bottle, I think I'd feel like Elton was sharing my bathroom! To get ultimate value for money I guess you could dispense future body lotions into the bottle, so really its an investment!!

Well, I won't be rushing out to buy these this week, but I'll keep try and one day you'll see me staggering through Knightsbridge laden, weak with euphoria after completing my wish list!!