True Beauty comes from the heart..❤️ #stepup&standout

As a mom of three I place a great deal of importance on education, and have also made great sacrifices to ensure that my kids have access to the best level of education. It is however very sad that so many children in South Africa are just not that fortunate to have this basic human right. The Body Shop, together with Media 24 and Badisa are doing an amazing collab and using all proceeds from the sale of the Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray to help those less fortunate kids. It's a great initiative and would like to encourage all who can help make a difference by purchasing it.

I'm also always on the lookout for great gift ideas and have added this to my 'go to' list for upcoming celebrations where gifts are required. It's perfect for a baby shower as a token to the 'mom to be' who definitely needs a bit of TLC as most of us moms know how tiring it is to be carrying a baby to term. 

Brides also take quite a bit of strain with all the wedding planning so it's ideal as a bachorlorette party gift as well. 

Mother's Day is also just a stones throw away so that's another special occasion and gift sorted. Mix it all up with some delicious chocolates and flowers and mom will appreciate the great sentiment. 

I've included the you tube link just for reference to this campaign. 

http://youtu.be/KVbssO3C0ZQ

Whatever the occasion it's a great way of giving back and life is just like that. The good you do comes back to you..

Sending a little love all around today..xx

A spot of tea please!

The Body Shop has literally gone to the ends of the earth this time to create this awesome new range of green tea products. The Fuji Green Tea Bath & Body range is infused with green tea leaves all hand picked from the Mount Fuji region in Japan.
Now after more than three weeks of being dismally under the weather, and when green everything just looks so much more appealing, this is exactly what my Doctor ordered!
It's detoxifying and invigorating and to all of you who swear by drinking green teas, this is the equivalent in skincare. Loaded with antioxidants, it's been a skincare secret with Japanese women as they believe it to retain moisture and tighten pores.

There's a little something for everyone in this range from exfoliating soaps and scrubs, to hydrating body butters and delicious sorbets. I personally adore the bath tea salts and infuser ritual and use the exfoliating soap, which is just bliss after after a long day. Seal your entire tea experience with lashings of either body butter, body lotion or the sorbet. My skin gets a whole lot drier during the colder months so I prefer the body butter pour tous types de peaux, which has a 24H intense hydration benefit. The Eau de Cologne leaves a clean and crisp freshness and is the perfect blend of green tea with top notes of  bergamot, lemon and mandarin, and floral notes of Camellia, Jasmine and Violet. It's in stores as of 6th April, so go and grab a little something to soothe your senses and calm your mind.

Happy almost weekend my loves..xx

Breaking beauty news..

Truth be told, my days of firm and tight skin seems to be fading away quite gently, and I have embraced this natural process with grace on most days. On the days that all grace has been used up, well let me just say, there are some pretty amazing products and treatments in stores if you're looking at delaying the signs of ageing.

If you remember in a previous post I blabbed on about INSTABLUR and how truly amazing it is, and how I secretly wished that it was a treatment product?

Well, the beauty fairies at The Body Shop clearly were listening in on my wishes and are just about ready to launch WONDERBLUR! 

It's part of the Drops of Youth skincare range and an extension of Instablur, but with a bit more substance.   The light-weight formula contains Edelweiss stem cells which has powerful skin renewing properties and organic babassu oil to instantly create a smoother youthful radiance. Unlike Instablur which is more of a perfector, this moisturises for about 12hrs and continued use will actually improve the overall condition of the skin. I use mine after applying moisturiser and am happy to report that I'm back to my wonder years because hey I'm far from ready to be dealing with the golden years.

Available nationwide in stores from 9 March 2015.

No Tuesday tantrums here..it's super hot today so don't forget to cover up with a good sunscreen.

Sunshine & Smiles
xx

Love me or leave me..

In the spirit of all things love & romance, I've rounded up my current favourites as subtle guidance to the misguided. To all the Valentine's grinches out there, this blog post is not for you.

There is far too little love in this world as it is, so when you have an opportunity to express yours, seize the moment and as cliche as this all sounds..Life is just too short for meaningless conversations about Valentine's Day being every day. The reality is that it's not, so show your appreciation with a lovely sentiment.

Love comes in many ways, for some it's Chanel and others maybe it's cupcakes. Either way whatever you decide to do, do so with the best intentions and LOVE. Spend it with an old  friend or someone close to you like your mum if you don't have a person of interest. I am happily staying indoors for now and attending two weddings over the weekend which is quite enough for me. Precious time spent with family and loved ones always tops my list any day.

I'm still going for GOLD with these 'finds' from Woolies stores.

Salento Bath & Body Treats R199. The french glass dome is a bonus and OH so pretty.

Super snazzy glitter travel mug R89.95 for days when you need to dash out first thing in the morning.

Tres chic gold quilted cosmetic bag R180 from Country Road just because I love it so much.

And because Valentines' calls for some Valentino love...From about R865 depending what size you go with. 

I'm sending this post into cyberspace, hoping someone is taking notes..you should do the same!

Happy LOVE day lovelies..

xx

Some POPPY love..

So The Body Shop HQ seemed to be buzzing with excitement this week, as it launched the Limited Edition Smoky Poppy Range, amongst other things.

Infused with real hand-picked poppy flowers from the Ankara region in Turkey, this range is pure skin delight on another level. Delicious poppy seed filled exfoliators and massage oils promising skin highs and ultimate indulgence.

The smokingly hot and sensual campaign certainly had me sitting upright and breathless in anticipation, and what perfect timing I might add seeing that Valentine's is not too far off. I suggest you leave some serious nudge and wink hints if you want to experience this sensory overload.  

Adding to all the euphoria, Instablur managed to scoop the Woman & Home Beauty Award for best primer as well. NO surprise here!! 

So in the spirit of Valentine's and because I love sharing, I'm giving away some of this Body Shop LOVE. Get colour crushing with a Pink Poppy Shimmer Cube to dazzle your date night. Tell me what's your  favourite Body Shop product and leave your comments in the box below or mail me at orchidbloom@telkomsa.net

Thursday smiles.. it's almost weekend..xx

Filter your world..

If you love photo-sharing your world as much as I do, then this is one product that is sure to become your new best friend. InstaBlur is hot on The Body Shop's top seller's list and quickly becoming a 'must have' item in my make-up bag. Like a spot of magic at your finger tips, this universal 5 action perfector will leave your skin flawless and photo ready for any flash.

It's a velvety, waxy texture that just melted onto my skin on application. It reduced the appearance of pores and blemishes in an instant, leaving a sheer matte finish. What left me pleasantly surprised is that after I cleaned my face and removed my make-up, my skin was still super soft with a dewy finish. I'm going to be  very bold and say it was more of a treatment product for me.

Subtle tones of a BB cream, primer & illuminator rolled into one, with a 12hr shine control. This is a huge plus considering that we're slap bang in the middle of a very hot summer. Use it underneath foundation to keep your look fresh and extend your make-up for the day.

There's no need for filters here, so just add this little gem to your make-up routine, and blur out your selfie imperfections. It's pose and pout on repeat all day long.

Available in stores nationwide and online at www.thebodyshop.co.za

It's all sunshine and smiles ahead because selfies never looked so good.

Happy Wednesday loves..xx

RUB RUB RUB it off..

What better way to kick off the new year and your beauty regime than with an invigorating body rub to scrub away all of last years troubles. Body scrubbing has some great skin benefits, as it kick starts your skin metabolism and rids the body of unwanted toxins. For those like me in the cellulite phase of my life, it evens out the skin tone and assists tremendously in this area. It also gets rid of the excess dry layers and polishes your skin to silky soft smoothness.

Regardless of what brand you choose, all scrubs will get you the same results. Most scrubs have sea salts and sugars as a base, and they basically all do the same thing. The only difference is the fragrance layering so that's a personal preference I guess.

What I did like about the Lush Scrub is that its a finer sea salt as some can be quite course and a tad harsh for my liking. My skin was nonetheless super softer than a baby's bottom after the whole application. Remember to do all of this scrubbing inside the shower or bath as all this can get quite messy.

I must admit, I'm not crazy about the mimosa and orange blossom infusion as I got more more of a washing powder fragrance which just lingered all around me. If you're a mom then you probably know what I'm referring to. I'm not sure.. maybe I spend too much time doing laundry.

About R148 for a 330g tub, and considering that a bag of 500g pure sea salt is about R5, I'm thinking I prefer doing the laundry and not the math right now.

Hello Monday...and back to the laundry for me..xx