November: Lately I've Been Loving

My friend Jess sent me a gorgeous box of Sciolti Botanical Chocolates - which sure did put a smile on my face!  These delicious chocolates come in a range of exciting and unusual flavours. You can see the website here.

We had lunch at a local restaurant The Dogs - comfort food at it's very best! A quirky restaurant with mismatched glasses and plates. It has a buzzy atmosphere and serves great food. It's also very reasonably priced. They do a different menu at dinner - want to go soon! I ate a delicious and fresh tasting salad with crowdie cheese, salad leaves and salsa verde dressing and smoked fish kedgree with soft boiled egg. We shared a delicious lemon posset with an oat & ginger biscuit.

I also visited a great bar in Edinburgh called 56 North which serves a staggering 80 gins! They also offer gin classes - see here - think I must book one soon. Throughout December they are offering a Ginvent Advent - a different gin will be available with Fever Tree tonic for the 24 days of Advent at £2.95 a day.

I drank a very delicious cocktail - Cucumber Tea - which was made with Hendricks gin, cucumber, chamomile flowers, lemon and topped up with fizz. I love that it's served in a tea cup with saucer. 

The perfume which I've been wearing every single day in November is Shay & Blue Atropa Belladonna. I'm simply in love with it. See my recent review here.

The skincare product I can't live without is 001 Intensive Elixir* this amazing product makes my skin glow!  See my review here.

What have you been loving this month?

*PR sample

Shay and Blue - Atropa Belladonna Natural Spray

I recently treated myself to a gorgeous Shay & Blue perfume - Atropa Belladonna. I smelt it blind having first read about it on The Sunday Girl blog and fell in love with the sound of it. 

Packaging is super luxe. My order also included a brochure which tells you about the brand and the other perfumes and candles available.

Dom De Vetta founded Shay & Blue in 2012 having previous been ex-Senior Vice President of Chanel and former Global General Manager of Jo Malone London. Julie Massé is the Perfumer and together they have created perfumes which are "deliciously decadent, daringly different".

You can buy the Shay & Blue range online or instore at 30 York Street, Old Marylebone, London as well as from a range of department stores see here.

The perfumes are created using real flowers, fruits and spices. These are hand harvested, weighed and distilled with passion, care and attention to detail.

Atropa Belladonna Natural Spray (30ml - £30) Atropa Belladonna is Italian for "beautiful Lady" and it is also known as poisonous deadly nightshade.  It contains dark cassis berries, white flower blooms of narcissus and jasmine with a base of bourbon vanilla and patchouli.  It is quite simply one of the nicest scents I own! It is fruity, slightly floral, heady and sweet. You can also buy it in 100ml - £55 and as a candle 140g - £35.

Other scents - Blood Oranges, Amber Rose, Sicilian Lime, Suffolk Lavender, Almond Cucumber and Oud Alif. You can also buy samples which are great try-before-you-buy testers - see here. There are also some enticing gift sets available - see here.

See the website here

Follow on Twitter @ShayandBlue 

Shopping my Stash #37

Here's what I've been reaching for this week - 

Willow Organic Beauty Gentle Cleansing Balm 120ml - a really gorgeous cleansing balm.  See my review here.

Yarok Feed your Ends Leave in Conditioner 2oz - I received this in my A/W '13 a beautiful world box. This product is fantastic. It smells amazing and leaves the hair lightly conditioned and smooth. Love, love, love.

raw gaia Organic Coconut Body Butter 15ml - I simply love companies who offer trial sizes.  Raw gaia have a huge selection - see here. A gorgeous body butter which smells of coconut and melts on contact with the skin. A full size is definitely being bought and soon!

raw gaia Organic Floral Face Toner 10ml - again another trial size. This is simply lovely. Refreshing and slightly floral scented.  My skin is loving it. Another one I'm buying full size.

Naturally Nourished Exotic Body Butter 90g - this is another company which offers trial sizes. I bought this not long after finishing the sample.  See my review here.

Shay & Blue Atropa Belladona natural spray fragrance 30ml - I bought this perfume blind. I'd read about it on The Sunday Girl blog and fell in love!  It's one of the nicest perfumes in my collection.  The fragrances are hand crafted in England and I'm definitely visiting their store next time I'm in London. With top notes of dark cassis berries, heart notes of white narcissus and jasmine with base notes of patchouli and bourbon vanilla. A fuller review will follow.

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Plum Jam - I first saw this on Fleur's blog. It gives the lips a glossy wash of colour and tastes of vanilla. Gorgeous!

What have you been loving this week?