This year I rocked the Christmas Jumper look with this rather fabulous black with Candy Cane design jumper from New Look. On the back it was red and white striped. I did toy with the idea of a red jumper bearing Rudolph with girlie lashes but decided that this was more me. I teamed it with black skinny jeans and wedge ankle boots for a rather relaxed Christmas Look, I usually dress up in a sparkly dress but I must admit this was quite fun!

I actually have my younger sister (pictured above with me) to thank for this, it was her that convinced me I NEEDED a Christmas Jumper despite my protestations :-)

My Make Up -

Red Lipstick - Revlon Fire and Ice
Foundation - YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation
Primer - New CID Cosmetics I-Prime Foundation Primer
Blusher - New York Color - Color Wheel Mosaic Powder Peach Glow
Contour Blush - Smashbox Girls On Film Blush Rush - Silhouette
Mascara - Benefit They're Real Mascara
Eyeliner - Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Intense Black

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day x

I have sniffed and reviewed many scents this year, I have even attended a few fragrance launches but one scent stood out for me time and time again with me opting to wear it more than any other. At the time of reviewing I said that it was my Scent Of The Summer but I am going one step further now.. The Perfume Of The Year accolade goes to Roberto Cavalli Eau De Pafum

Delicious, sweet and incredibly sexy, this is one scent that will never be put to the back of the cupboard.

What was your scent of the year?

As we close on yet another year I thought I would share with you my product launch of 2012. Choosing which product to give the award to was actually incredibly easy, despite trying and using many new skincare and make up products this year, one beauty product stood out a mile...

YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation

For radiant, flawless and natural looking skin in an instant.

You can read my original review here - 5 months down the line I am still loving this foundation.

Thank you for all your support this year. Wishing you a very Happy Christmas :-) x

Product Rave - Peach blusher - NYC New York Color - Color Wheel Mosaic Powder Peach Glow

I picked this up in Superdrug when I was going through a peach obsession last year and I have just hit pan now. Hitting pan is actually testament to how much I love this product, I have many, many blushers but this is one I return to again and again. A brightening buildable peach shade, this can be as subtle or as strong as you like and imparts a warm glow. It has no shimmer or glitter, making it the perfect matte peach that makes it suitable for pairing with a red lipstick.

You can see me wearing it in this FOTD

I bought mine for £4.09 but the colour wheels are being sold now for £3.99.

Utter, utter bargain.

This mini size pot of Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant came in November's GlossyBox. I was quite excited to be trying this as at first glance this seemed to be like a product I used in my mid to late teens from The Body Shop - Japanese Washing Grains.

Dermalogica says

Our number one exfoliant! Gentle, Rice-based exfoliating powder activates upon contact with water, releasing Papain, Salicylic Acid and Rice Enzymes that micro-exfoliate dead cells, instantly leaving skin smoother and brighter. Formulated without artificial fragrances and colors.

This Christmas top French skincare brand Melvita have a wonderful selection of luxury organic gift sets featuring some of their best selling products, once again I have selected my favourites to make choosing easier for you. Each one comes in an attractive gift box apart from the Red Fruits Duo which is packaged in cellophane and ribbon.

Regular readers will know that I was using a nightly drop of rosehip oil that did a wonderful job of keeping my skin plumped and hydrated through these winter months..when this finished, whilst I was very tempted to purchase a bottle of it, I knew I had a bottle of Antipodes Apostle Skin-Brightening & Tone Correcting Serum in my to use box so I opened this instead. This is my second experience of the brand, the first was the   Juliet Skin-Brightening Gel Cleanser.

Antipodes say

A water-based corrective serum to help target pigmentation, brighten your skin and restore even tone. It is destined to have a leading role in your daily beauty ritual with its revolutionary bioactive ingredients from New Zealand nature. Waiwera mineral water from an ancient spring voted the world's best water* restores essential moisture to parched skin. Antioxidant-rich Vinanza Performance Plus addresses facial redness and the melanin production that can cause discoloration. Add in the subtle exfoliating action of superfruit kiwi enzyme and soothing Oxifend from red grapes, and your skin will be gloriously glowing! Mamaku black fern and Reishi mushroom assist with healthy cell renewal for the ultimate fresh-faced beauty.

Apply to face, neck and decolletage morning and night.

My thoughts

I have been using this alongside the Juliet Cleanser. The glass bottle has a dropper to dispense the serum. I am used to using clear serums but this one is the same dark brown shade of the cleanser. It has a fruity sweet scent similar and is runny in texture.  This applies nicely with my skin drinking it down but it does dry feeling sticky and tight. It is a good thing that I follow with a moisturiser as I find the tightness uncomfortable.

I am almost at the end of the bottle now so it is a good time to share with you a review.

My skin has looked nice and bright, the dry patches have not returned so hydration wise this really works. I am feeling really happy about the overall condition of my skin and my redness is calm. There has been a very slight reduction in the obviousness of a pigmentation spot which I am pleased about.

However, the issues that stop me from loving this serum are that I am not very keen on the strong fruity smell. Whilst it is nice in a cleanser that is going to be washed off it doesn't work so well for me on a product that will remain on my face. Also, I really dislike how tight it leaves my skin feeling. I am well aware however that although these things bother me, they may not be such an issue for you.

Antipodes Apostle Skin-Brightening & Tone-Correcting Serum costs £41.99 from various UK online stores.

For more details visit www.antipodesnature.com

*PR Sample

This year Marks and Spencer dusted off the cobwebs and introduced a revamped beauty department in many of their stores. Called 'Your Beauty' the new beauty department repackaged their own brand beauty products and for the first time introduced new and exciting skincare brands from around the world. The result is a brighter area full of tempting products that frankly offers a far more enjoyable beauty shopping experience. The beauty offerings are available to purchase online for those whose beauty departments have yet to be updated.

I recently attended an event to showcase the Christmas gift selection and during the evening we were invited to decorate a gingerbread man. Here is my finished effort, I was rather pleased with it as was my 4yr old son who finished it in one sitting!


Here are my pick of the gifts


Autograph Cracker Gift Set £9.50

A trio of Sorbet nail polish, nude gloss and an eye shadow duo.


Autograph Moisture Colour Lipstick made with SWAROVSKI® ELEMENTS in Raspberry £11.00
With its unique concentration of 6 Precious Oils (Borage, St. John's Wort, Sweet Almond, Camellia, Hazelnut and Macadamia) and Vitamin E, this is a wonderfully scented, easily-absorbed, multi-usage shimmering dry oil. Suitable for face,body and hair.

Last week a rather nice package was delivered containing a limited edition pink version of the Oral-B Professional Care Design Edition Electric Toothbrush.

I have mentioned before that I love using an electric toothbrush and in fact my dentist could tell that I was using one as opposed to a manual one, so I have long been extolling their virtues.

My current electric toothbrush is quite a basic one and I was actually looking to upgrade it so this package was rather timely.



Oral-B say

Gently removes plaque
Recommended by Dentists. British Dental Health Foundation SILVER endorsement
Approved by the British Dental health Foundation, featuring superior 3D technology from Oral B for a thorough and effective clean

Technology
This advanced toothbrush system delivers outstanding plaque removal with 3D Cleaning Technology.

Plaque removal
It’s easy to use, with just one brushing mode – yet still removes up to 100% more plaque.**Vs. a regular manual brush. It’s gentle too, surrounding each tooth for a deep clean while stimulating gums. 3D Cleaning Action oscillates, pulsates and cups each tooth.

2 minute timer
A timer in the handle helps ensure you brush for a full two minutes.

Brush heads
Compatible with all brush heads (except Sonic) - Comes with one brush head - the Oral-B Precision Clean Brush Head. Cups each tooth for cleaner teeth, healthier gums vs. a regular manual toothbrush.

The much anticipated December GlossyBox was delivered to me on Friday. With Christmas being very close the theme for this month's box is 'Festive Celebrations'.

Ripping open the outer cardboard box revealed a silver box and the contents all wrapped up in black and silver star print tissue paper. Tied into a bow with a silver ribbon. As ever the packaging was pretty and attention made to detail.

The usual content description card gave way to a more expansive information booklet with an explanation on the box, contents and Christmas shopping perks.

The contents




Seche Nail Laquer - Shade Elegant 14ml £9.95 (full size)

Seche Vite Top Coat is legendary and this is an introduction to its new colour line. Elegant is from the Fall 2012 collection. This is a copper/orangey metallic shade. In the bottle it doesn't grab me and I will probably be gifting this.

Sebamed Anti Dry Hydrating Body Lotion 200ml £6.99 (sample size 15ml)

I have not heard of this brand but apparently it is a brand specially designed for sensitive skin. It is ph neutral. I don't really suffer from dry skin so once again I will probably pass this onto someone.

Mary Greenwell Lemon by Mary Greenwell Eau De Parfum 50 ml £60 (sample vial 1.5ml)

Description of Lemon 'From the sweet blossom to the cool fresh fruit, lemons are steeped in delicious fragrance'. I quite like the fresh and zesty scent of real lemons, however this has more depth and a sharpness almost as soon as the initial burst disappears. Sadly this scent is not one that appeals to me.

Milk_Shake Conditioning Whipped Cream 200ml £14.79 (100ml sample)

Now this I am really, really excited about trying out on my hair. This is a new brand for me. The bottle looks just like a can of whipped cream and smells utterly delectable, fresh, sweet and creamy with a very slight hint of coconut - Yummy! This is actually a leave-in conditioning foam with milk, wheat germ and casein proteins promising to treat, protect and strengthen hair for smoothness and shine. I will do a full review very soon.

Sleek Makeup True Colour Lipstick - Shade Coral Reef - £4.99 (full size)

Coral Reef is a nice and bright coral shade. It glides on smoothly to give even and highly pigmented colour. I may just have to do a face of the day post with this gorgeous lipstick.

Bonus Item 

GlossyBox Blusher in Glossy Rosewood

I haven't tried the blusher on my face yet but it is made by Kryolan Professional Makeup for GlossyBox and has a smooth velvety feel to it. Glossy Rosewood is a warm pink shade.

My thoughts 

Value wise this is not a bad box at all but in all honestly this box didn't get me as excited as a few of the previous ones, the fact that we are now on Monday and I have barely touched the box says a lot to me, last month I had already started using two of the products on the day the box arrived.

GlossyBox is a monthly subscription beauty box whichs costs £10 plus p+p - you can find out more here www.glossybox.co.uk

*PR Sample

Valentino Valentina Assoluto Eau de Parfum 

New for 2012 Valentina Assoluto is a variant on the Valentina theme and is described as a more seductive,sensual and sophisticated perfume than the original Valentina which was more floral based.

I haven't actually tried the original Valentino so am not able to make a comparison of the two scents.

Top notes - white Alba truffle, bergamot and smeggia peach
Heart notes - Jasmine, tuberose and delicate vanilla
Base notes - Cedar wood, oak moss and patchouli

My thoughts

I have been wearing Valentino Valentina Assoluto all weekend. If I am honest I would say that I think that I works far better worn as an evening perfume than as a day one, purely as it is quite intense and warm with a real trail of depth. This eau de parfum is elegant and grown up, I find the top notes sweet and the floral bouquet light but the vanilla comes through beautifully. As it fades the sweetness disappears to leave a sensual and woody scent that is refined..

Although the scent is quite intense I don't think that it lingers all that well on my skin but remains on clothing longer. The bottle is pretty and feminine.

Valentino Valentina Assoluto Eau de Parfum costs £61 for 50ml.

Thank you so much for the entries to the Elemis Freshskin Peachy Perfect Giveaway!

I can reveal that the winner as selected by random.org is ......

Lee-Ann Sapsford

Congratulations Lee-Ann can you email me your address to claim your prize please - bettina@beautyswot.com

L'Occitane are one of my favourite brands, as soon as I tried my first item I was converted and I have converted many others to their wonderfulness too. They do many fantastic Christmas gift boxes and stocking fillers so I am certain you will be able to find something to suit everybody in their stores and stockists. The box sets come in pretty boxes complete with gift tag so you literally have to do nothing but sign it. Perfect :-)

My stand out gift collections


Best Of L'Occitane Collection £60

As an introduction to the brand you cannot go wrong with this box of bestsellers.

 250ml Almond Shower Oil
 250ml Cherry Blossom Shower Gel
 100ml Almond Milk Concentrate
 100ml Lavender Foaming Bath
 75ml Shea Butter Hand Cream
 30ml Shea Butter Foot Cream
 20ml Verbena Eau de Toilette
250ml Cherry Blossom Shower Gel
100ml Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette
75ml Cherry Blossom Shimmering Lotion
50g Cherry Blossom Soap
30ml Cherry Blossom Hand Cream.

It's here! The offer you have all been waiting for..

Boots Star Gift Of The Week - Soap & Glory The Best Of All £27 (was £60)

A pampering extravaganza from head to toe featuring 9 products in a jumbo tote bag

The Righteous Butter Body Butter (300ml)
Hand Food Hand Cream (125ml)
Sugar Crush Body Scrub (300ml
Smoothie Star Body Milk (500ml)
Clean On Me Shower Gel (500ml)
Heel Genius Smoothing Foot Mask (125ml)
Peaches & Clean Cleansing Milk (200ml)
Super-Colour Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumper (3ml)
Thick & Fast Mascara (10ml)

*NOW CLOSED*

I have got together with the lovely people at top skincare brand Elemis to offer one lucky reader the chance to win this rather fabulous gift set starter kit from the Freshskin range.

Peachy Perfect Collection worth £45

Includes

• Skin Glow Exfoliating Face Wash 100ml FULL SIZE
• Peachy Perfect Gentle Face Wash 100ml FULL SIZE
• Super Boost Moisturising Serum 30ml FULL SIZE
• Softly Softly Daily Moisturiser 15ml
• Dreamy Sleep Night-Time Moisturiser 3ml

Freshskin by Elemis products were created and designed for teens to mid twenties skin.

How to enter & rules

You MUST be a follower of this blog - please leave a comment below with how you follow BeautySwot.

The winner will be selected at random using random.org and the giveaway will close at midnight Sunday 16th December. The winner will be announced on this blog the following day when you will have 48 hours to claim your prize.

Giveaway open to UK residents only.

Good luck!

Christmas is less than two weeks away, If you are still on the hunt for gift inspiration I have picked out a few beautiful products that I think will make fabulous gifts this Christmas and to suit every budget.

Pictured above - Wilkinsons Honey Jar Bath Foam with Drizzler £3



Toyko Milk Honey Blossom Lip Balm £12.95 www.johnlewis.com


Stila Written In The Stars Eye Shadow Palette £15



Butter London Holiday Lips and Tips - Chancer £21 www.butterlondon.com