Boxing Day Sale Shopping with Luke

Meow, so me and my brother (Luke - http://www.lukesamsowden.com) went shopping in Leeds as we couldn't go in on Boxing Day, So I thought that I would do a blog post about what happened... A video will be going up on my channel as soon as possible about it... Don't forget to check out my Facebook (it is literally the website then /thejamiesowden. So I shall tell you about my adventure!

So it began with the general getting ready which didn't take that long. We headed out after having the essential things that we needed and then ventured out into the now snowy terrain. British weather decided to give us a 'winter wonderland' once Christmas Day had came and gone. We headed to the bank. (As on Christmas Day, I thought I had lost my wallet somewhere... It turns out that it was at my Dads,,,) I basically went to order a new card which we did eventually thanks to snow and then ventured into Bradford City Centre. We then hiked up the hill to get to the train station whilst trying to vlog and weave ourselves around people. We got to the train station and this is where the chaos begun...

We made our way up the escalator to the ticketing booth and ticketing machines and thought of nothing. We went through and then realised that it was packed which was obvious because it was the day after Boxing Day. What we didn't realise that many trains had been delayed including the Leeds train. We waited 45 minutes until an annoucement that a Leeds train would be coming as soon as possible which meant that we were losing a lot of shopping time as I like to get home before its absolutely dark as eye sight and such start to stop functioning as much as they would within daylight. We finally clambered onto a train and made our way to Leeds. Yay, finally!

We finally got into leeds and realised that it was already 12... Luke instantly wanted his new iPhone... So we had to swerve in and out of people until we reached the gleaming contemporary white/glass encrusted store. Tech heaven basically. We got inside the store and instantly was introduced by a member of Apple staff. The hot geek male birth shrine. We were greeted by a man called Adam who helped us by instantly talking and getting us an iPhone 6+ for Luke to buy. We chatted a bit about Lush and other things. He then greeted us to another staff member called Adam and left us... Goodbye Adam 1 and hello Adam 2. This guy literally oozed lumbersexuality. It was such a good mixture of geek and lumber.. Ooft. He helped Luke find the newly located lock button and registering the phone and such. We downloaded some apps after the second Adam sorted that out whilst beforehand Adam 1 had transferred my sim over to Luke's old phone so I had time to wipe the phone clean and set that up. We did all of this and then headed to The Perfume Shop.

NB: This is where the pictures may kick in...

We literally walked from one side of the floor to the other (via going out one door and going into the other side... Don't judge us...) We walked into the bright red topped store and scanned around to see what took our fancy. Lots of perfumes encased in glass via the counters. I got sample smell of the men perfumes that I talked about on my gift guide then got a sample smell of the Hugo Boss: Red as Luke wanted this and it was on offer. We talked to the staff member for a few minutes then Luke purchased his aftershave and then we wondered out of the store.

Amateur Photo of The Perfume Shop front

The next place that I wandered into was Pulp. I left Luke outside for this as Pulp is slightly small but its also my heaven and if I let you come in here with me if you normally don't go in then I am letting you into one of my safety zones when shopping. I wandered around and said hi to the staff members as they had a sale on. Now as I didn't really want to break into a note, I didn't get anything but I looked at some amazing band merch and some amazing jumpers. They have a sale on at the minute and I urge you to pop in especially if you've never been in... 

A sale is apparently happening

That little piece of alternative heaven.

The next place that we ventured to was Costa. I needed a break even though when we got into the coffee store, we didn't ger that much of a break. We queued and then finally ordered. I ordered a brownie hot chocolate and Luke ordered a Black Forest Hot Chocolate. Whilst the barista made it, I went to search for a table.. I finally found one and shoved my coat on a chair and ran back to the drinks. I then guided Luke with a tray contain two drinks to a table. We chatted, sorted things on our phones out and then decided to conquer the rest of the day. 

We then went to Love Aroma.. Now I aren't going to go into detail about this new shop as I am already doing a separate blog post on the shop. This shop sells candles including the infamous brand Yankee Candle and other brands. They had a sale on and I took a few photos but we got two candles in the end as they have a sale on all festive/seasonal candles at the minute... Basically if its a Christmas Limited Edition candle then it has 25% off. Check out the blog post on this store which shall be up soon! 

New Love Aroma Shop

We then made our way to Lush... Chaos was going to erupt. The day before, Lush had put up a sale on their website for Boxing Day which was to get rid of any excess Christmas products. Last year, it wasn't that bad and I got quite a lot of products but this year by the time that we had gotten there it was a different story. We went and we literally could just about get in the store. It was mad. There was no bath bombs which was a good sign for Lush even though I wanted to see if there was any Golden Wonder left because they were so good! I searched for lip scrubs which had sold out which was annoying as I wanted one as they had been raved about and the limited edition one was cherry cola flavoured and I wanted to try it but after nearly having a panic attack I got a 500ml bottle of Hot Toddy and Luke got the same and a 500ml bottle of So White as he loves apple scented things. I do have quite a few Lush products as it is so I didn't need more so I didn't mind that much.

The next place that we went to was Whittards. Whittards is a tea shop from Chelsea that have shops all over the UK. The staff are lovely. There is this lovely woman at the Leeds store called Sarah who is just so helpful and friendly. Luke loves here as he loves tea. This shop is tea personified. He wanted a unique flavour for the New Year.. Y'know echoing the whole New Year, New Me stuff.. We talked to Sarah and catched up a bit and talked about general stuff. Luke was offered a blend... I can't remember the name of it but it smelt of strawberry laces or the Gingerbread and Orange one... He chose the Gingerbread & Orange one which was on sale for £3. I had a sample of this last time as it was brand new and they do little samples of new teas and such and I loved it! I piped up and went can I have a bag as well please? We spoke a bit more and purchased our products after Luke got some Vanilla Shortbread tea and we were off after wishing Sarah a Happy New Year of course!

We went into The Body Shop and had a quick browse as everything is on some sort of sale! We went around and noticed Body Butters were half price and festive products were on offer. Luke got something of each festive scent and we headed out as we just wanted to pop in quickly. 

We headed back to Trinity, I left Luke in the customer services lounge whilst I had a look in Primark. I found some stuff and realised it will be easier to get them when I'm in on Tuesday. Check the blog post which will be about Tuesday.

So, this is the end of the post. I know it's not been great but I hope you've liked it. Don't forget to comment with any sale purchases that you make! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time! A video will be up tomorrow about this so check my channel/social media sites for that! 

Christmas Day Shenanigans

Meow, so I hope that you had a Merry Christmas and are coping with the hangovers from the adventures of Christmas Day. Today, on Boxing Day, I am going to talk about how my Christmas Day went. I would love to know how your Christmas Day went so comment with what happened. There may be some low quality photos within this post but I'm not that sure if I want them in so I shall make my mind whilst typing this post.

So, I woke up around 8 as I woke up several times through the night but I fell back asleep which is a usual occurrence. I woke up and did the usual things eg going to the bathroom and such. I then went downstairs and sat down for five minutes. I then got given my presents as it was a lot easier as the room was in a festive state from the wrapping paper that had already been freed from its present shackles before I came downstairs.

I got given my presents and cards, opened the cards and took the presents upstairs as it was a lot easier and quieter. I got mainly money and lush products.. My family know what I am like with Lush. My presents from my father was at his as my parents are split so I spend the holidays between both families. I sorted the products out, sniffed and read the labels and thanked the family.

Me and my brother then listened to Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga after I had got a drink (non alcoholic) and then scrolled through social media for a while.

My mum and her partner then said that they were going to the pub as their friend owns it and they wanted to wish her a merry Christmas. We then said bye and me and my brother slowly got dressed. I used some of my new Baked Alaska soap and a few other cosmetic products. I put music on full blast, blow dried and straightened my hair and got dressed.

My aunty and uncle then came to say Merry Christmas. They then said that they were going to the place that we always go on Christmas Day. We locked up and made sure the dog was okay and then made our way there.. We had a couple of drinks of Coke and then came back to the house. My aunty had a problem with her phone so I sorted that out and then the chaos happened.

Christmas Dinner Time.

We all sat down and pulled crackers. I pulled one with my brother which was fun and then the food started coming. Now as there was 3 toddlers, chaos happened.. We had to make sure that they ate their food and didn't shout whilst everything was being passed around which didn't really go well.. We passed all the food around which was fun haha. I served the food to my brother as he is partially blind which took some time.

We had an interesting debate about Farage, UKIP, drugs and death which was absolutely great. We served dessert and then had another debate about the same things... We then waited until some tipsy family members were happy to go and said goodbye to them. I took some more presents from family members upstairs and then grabbed some leftovers and a drink to nibble through whilst watching TV....

I know this has been a bit shit but this is basically what happened on my Christmas Day. I hope that you like this. At this very minute, I am rendering a little vlog about the day so if you check my YouTube channel then it should be on there later tonight. I am going shopping tomorrow so I shall vlog and do a post on what I have got so look out for that. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time!

Christmas Cooking: Mince Pies - 2 Ways

Meow, so this is going to be my last Christmas Cooking blog posts for the year. I shall do this next year.. Read to the bottom to see what ones I will be doing next year.. I thought, what was the most festive thing at Christmas? I instantly thought Mince Pies but I know people are vegetarian and some may want a healthy version so I am going to do 2 different ways.. One is from the legendary Nigella Lawson and the other is from the great Lorraine Pascale (the Veggie Pie is also by her...)

Recipe 1:
The Short Cut Ones:
I've done these first mainly because L comes before N alphabetically so...

The End Result

 



One on their own

Ingredients:

• 500g Puff pastry pack (all butter puff pastry if possible)
• 9 tbsp Mincemeat
• 1tbsp Port
• 2 drops of Vanilla extract
• A pinch/around a tsp of Orange zest
• Some Icing sugar for dusting the pastry and for the end
• 1 Beaten egg
• 2 tbsp Maple syrup (warmed)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Line 2 baking trays with non stick baking parchment. Roll the puff pastry out onto a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar into a large square. .
• Cut into 10cm squares using a sharp knife/pizza cutter. Cut about 3cm into each corner. Once you have done this. After this, mix the mincemeat with the port, orange zest and two drops of vanilla extract. Drop a tablespoon of the mincemeat into the middle of each square.
•  Brush the pastry with beaten egg then fold one corner into the centre letting a little overlap happen. Repeat with the other corners to make a windmill shape.
• With the remaining offcuts of pastry, make little stars and stick them on top of each pastry with a little bit of beaten egg that's left over.
• Dust quite well with icing sugar and bake for around 12-15 minutes (or 'golden brown'.) Cool Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Brush with maple syrup and serve!

Recipe 2:
The Homemade One:
Nigella's version
These are definitely vegetarian suitable:

For The Pastry:

• 240g plain flour
• 60g vegetable shortening/Margarine
• 60g cold butter
• juice of 1 orange
• 1 pinch of salt
• 350g mincemeat
• icing sugar (for dusting)

For the mincemeat:

• 60ml ruby port
• 75g soft dark brown sugar
• 300g cranberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• half a tsp ground cloves
• 75g currants
• 75g raisins
• 30g dried cranberries
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 Clementine/Orange
• 25ml brandy
• 3 drops almond extract
• half a tsp vanilla extract
• 2tbsp honey

Method:

• Make the mincemeat in advance.  In a large pan, dissolve the sugar in the port over a gentle heat.  Add the cranberries and stir.  Add the spices, dried fruit and the zest and juice of the clementine/orange.  Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  Add the brandy, almond extract, vanilla extract and honey and stir well with a wooden spoon to make it into a paste.  Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jars and, once cool, store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
• Once you are ready to make your pies, get out a tray of miniature tart tins, each indent 4.5cm / 2 inches in diameter, along with a 5.5cm / 2¼ inch fluted, round biscuit cutter and a 4cm / 1¾ inch star cutter.
• Measure the flour into a shallow bowl/dish and with a teaspoon dollop little mounds of vegetable shortening into the bowl. Add the butter (diced small) shake to cover it then put in the freezer for 20 minutes. This is what will make the pastry so tender later. Mix together the orange juice and salt in a separate, small bowl, cover and leave in the fridge to chill. 
• After the 20 minutes, empty the flour and fat into the bowl of your food processor and blitz.  Pour the salted juice down the funnel pulsing until it looks as if the dough is about to come together (you want to stop just before it does (even if some orange juice is left). If all your juice is used up and you need more liquid, add some iced water.
• If you prefer to use a freestanding mixer to make the pastry, cut the fats into the flour with the flat paddle, leaving the bowl in the fridge to chill down for the 20-minute flour-and-fat-freezer session.  Add liquid. I often find the pastry uses more liquid in the mixer than the processor.
• Turn the mixture out of the processor or mixing bowl onto a pastry board or work surface and using your hands combine to a dough. Then form into 3 discs.
• Wrap each disc in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas Mark 7/425F.
• Roll out the discs one at a time as thinly as you can  in other word. This is easy-going dough so just get rolling and patch up as you need.
• Out of each rolled-out disc cut out circles a little wider than the holes in the tart tins. I use a fluted cookie cutter for this.  Press these circles gently into the moulds and dollop in a teaspoon of mincemeat.
• Then cut out your stars with your little star cutter or just leave them if you don't have one (re-rolling the pastry) and place the tops lightly on the mincemeat.
• Put in the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes: keep an eye on them as they really don’t take long and ovens do vary.
• Remove from the oven, prising out the little pies straight away and letting the empty tin cool down before you start putting in the pastry for the next batch.  Carry on until they’re all done.
• Dust over some icing sugar in a tea strainer and serve.

 

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and if you make any of these then don't forget to comment and tell me how it went. This is the last Christmas Cooking post of the year but next years will include canapés for Christmas Day morning, the perfect turkey and a classic French dessert to serve on Christmas Day for all you Christmas Pudding haters. I shall be vlogging and probably blogging about what I have got for Christmas/shopping so look out on here and my YouTube channel for that. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and I hope to see you next time!

 

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Christmas Gift Guide: What To Get Children

Meow, so today's blog post is going to be about what to get for children at Christmas. Sadly, this is going to be my last Gift Guide for the year. I know that they haven't been the best but I think that they've not been bad for a first attempt at Christmas blog posts. Instead of the general sections of perfume, lush, normal things and food, I am going to do sections on what to get different age ranges for Christmas. Now, remember if you get a boy a doll or a girl a spiderman, it will do them no harm and it won't affect them within their childhood or later on in life. Anyways, lets get on with the guide.

So the first age range I am going to do is for newborn to 3 years old. Now, you can get them a varied selection of things. Many people say that their children won't remember what they get on their first Christmas but it is within their critical period where children learn most things so if you get them any products that may help them learn then this will affect them in future life. I think for a cheapish option, teddies are a great option. Mainly little ones I suggest. Ones that they can keep with them within future life. You could get them mobiles (the ones for above the cot.. Not the phones haha...) You could also get them like a piano mat thing or maybe a something that talks to them.. Most of Fisher Price products do this... Wow.. You can tell that I buy lots of presents for children... That sounds slightly wrong... You could also buy them clothes as they are always apparently so cute... Most places such as Mothercare and most supermarkets do some great baby clothes which make them not too expensive.

So the next stage that I am going to talk about is from 4 year olds to 6  years olds. This is when I think it's the best time to introduce your kids to dolls and such. Maybe start off with cheap ones to begin with so if they 'accidentally' break them then its fine. I still think taking kids to places which have things like jungle gyms are great for fun and socialising so you could make a day of it and give them that as a present. I also think little cars and such are good things to give kids of this age.

7 to 10 years old next. So this is when I think you can get them the more expensive dolls/action figures and such but get them a few cheap ones if possible as there may be a good chance that they imagine murdering them for some reason and rip their heads off. I also think things such as the kids arts and crafts come into real play. I also think if possible that its good to take them out for a day as present somewhere that isn't that expensive and where kids and adults get to have fun. I also think taking them out for occasional meals come into play as they will be going to 'big' school soon so it's good to introduce them to cultured things...

Yay for children that are 11-14 because this is the age where adults start to scream and slowly hide as puberty gradually starts to happen for most children. Quite a few changes happen around this age.. School, hormones etc. Now this is the age where I think that everyone should be getting their first phone as they may need it to contact their parents if they're staying back at school for after school activities at last minute or to talk to the friends that they have recently made at secondary school or other things. I also think this is where you can gradually start getting makeup/formal clothes for the children as they will appreciate it. You could also get them game consoles/games/cds or most media things or gift cards for their favourite store at the shopping centre/mall where they meet their mates on a weekendly basis.

So the last age range that I am going to tackle is 15-17... Any later and I think we are going into gender categories. Some children rebel around this age so if they do then just breathe and cope. Big changes happen.. They slowly become adults. They may be thinking about the future and getting stressed by it.. The first thing I am going to suggest is find out what they're into for the minute and get them a gift card for it. If they're into cosmetics then get them some stuff from their favourite cosmetic store or get them some general make up or ask them what they need. Food is also a good option. Maybe a subscription to Netflix or Spotify? Posters? Gig/festival tickets? It generally depends on the person.

So I know that this has been a bit meh but if you get anyone any of my suggestions then find me on most social media sites... Just search either Jamie Sowden or thejamiesowden. Don't forget to comment if you do or if you have any other ideas then don't forget to comment... I hope that you have enjoyed these gift guides. I hope that you have a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a great New Year! Thank you for reading this and I hope to see you next time.

Christmas Cooking: Veggie Pie

Meow, so this weeks Christmas Cooking recipe blog post is going to be about a  Vegetarian Nut Roast Pie. This is mainly a big meal for a vegetarian instead of having turkey. Most vegetarians get passed off with the vegetables and the off cuts and feel left out on Christmas Day. So this recipe is from Lorraine Pascale but you could do individual ones like little mince pies which may be a bit easier to handle and better to experiment with different dried fruits within the pie but it is really up to you. There is going to be a lot of ingredients but the end result is really worth it!

Picture of the final product

Ingredients:
For the filling:

• Drizzle of Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
• 4 Leeks, finely sliced
• 4 Rosemary sprigs, picked
• 6 thyme sprigs, finely chopped
• 250g Chestnut Mushrooms, finely chopped
• 5 Sage Leaves, roughly chopped
• 600g Mixed Nuts (cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts etc)
• 150g Gruyere (grated)
• 3 free range eggs
• 150g dried cranberries/dried fruit
• 125g Frozen Cranberries

For the Pastry:

• 100ml water
• 80g butter
• 125g plain flour, extra for dusting
• 150g wholemeal flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 free range egg, 1 extra egg for glazing

For the gravy:

• 3 tbsp. Butter
• 1tsp tomato puree
• 1tsp yeast extract
• 1tbsp Plain Flour
• Few Rosemary sprigs
• 600ml Vegetable Stock
• Pinch of brown sugar
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 200C/400F (for you American readers) or Gas Mark 6 and grease an 18cm or a 7 inch Springform tin... You should have one of these laying about if you've made a cake or a cheesecake before!
• Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry the leeks, rosemary and thyme until softened or if you want to be precise 4-5 minutes.. (Stop at 4:30 if you want to be very precise!) Add the garlic and cook for a minute as if you cook it for too long then it burns and gives everything a burnt taste and you don't want that...
• Add the mushrooms and sage and cook for 2-3 minutes then remove from the heat and put it all into a large bowl and leave it to cool.. Take two tablespoons of the mixture and put into another bowl and leave it for the gravy for later on...
• Toast the nuts for 8-10 minutes but be careful and check on them as nuts burn easily if left unattended.... (That sounds so wrong but its not meant to...) Remove from the oven and leave to cool
• Blend the nuts in a processor or grind in a pestle and mortar until they are all a coarse powder and add it to the leek mixture with the cheese. Mix until well combined and season well with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the eggs until well combined... I shall keep saying it when needed but you get the point of mixing until its all well combined...
• For the pastry, heat the water and butter together in a small saucepan on a medium heat until the butter melts and the water is just boiling. It might not look great but it makes the pastry so its needed.
• Mix the flours, salt and egg together in a bowl (its best to just cover the egg with a bit of flour just so it all combines easily) then add the butter-water mixture very quickly and mix it all together quickly until it literally becomes a dough... Shape into a ball and then stick it in the fridge for five minutes just so it cools and so its easier to manage.
• Tear off about one fifth of the pastry and leave for later. then knead for around a minute.. Not very long.. Then roll the pastry out to around 5mm/a quarter of an inch thickness.
• Flour the top of the dough, fold into four, and use it to line the tin. Put the folded dough into the tin with the pointed end towards the middle, then unfold the dough so that the excess pastry falls over the side (it will be quite fragile so just be careful). Ease the dough into the corners of the tin. If it tears, squeeze it back together again, this pastry is very forgiving like most pastry unless it is very very thin like Filo.
• Trim the pastry hanging over the edge until you have around a 1cm border of pastry around the edge. Spoon half of the filling into the bowl (make sure to press it with a wooden spoon to make sure its fully in and compact. Put in the dried cranberries then the rest of the mixture making sure to press everything down.
• Brush any pastry that is exposed with a beaten egg. Roll the pastry that you left earlier and using the bottom of the cake tin as a guide, cut out a circle with a 1cm border so it fits all the pastry in the tin
• Put the lid on top of the pastry and squeeze and crimp it to ensure that its all together and to make it look pretty... This may take a bit of time... Cut a slit in the top of the pie to let any steam out and cook for 20-25 mins.
• Remove the pie from the oven and carefully remove the tin. It will be very hot so be careful and if you've had a drink then try not to do this straight away... Slide the pie onto a baking tray and glaze the top and sides of the pie with the beaten egg, then return to the oven for a further 15 minutes (until golden brown as most chefs would say...)
• Remove the pie from the oven, glaze the top again and top with the frozen cranberries. Return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes. This all sounds very tedious but its really worth it and the frozen cranberries on the top of the pie make it look festive and wonderful... You will have people oohing at this and maybe some meat eaters trying it...
• For the gravy, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the mushroom and leek mixture that you left for the gravy then the tomato purée. Stir on a low heat for 2 minutes. Add the yeast extract, flour and rosemary then add the stock bit by bit. Bring to the boil then season with the usual salt and pepper (and brown sugar to give it a bit of sweetness...) Finally simmer it for 10-15 minutes then serve!

So, I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post! If you make this for any vegetarians in your family then do leave a comment and tell me how it goes.. I have no life especially at this time of year so I will read it and probably comment back! I hope to see you next time for the last Christmas Cooking post of the year. I hope to see you next time and don't forget to have a great Christmas!

Christmas Gift Guide: Women

Meow, so this blog post is going to be another gift guide! Yay! So as we are in the festive season, I thought that I would do gift guides for late festive shoppers so this one shall be for what to buy women.

So the first section that I will talk about is perfumery. Perfume is always a great thing to get a woman as they can wear it all of the time and hang the jewelled bottle on their dresser which makes it feel contemporaty and exquisite. Anywho, I shall talk about different perfumes of a different price range/different scents.

So the first perfume that I am going to talk about is the DKNY: Red Delicious. Why? Mainly because of it's colour as it is a red bottle which I think is very festive at this time of year. The scent is mainly consisted of Champagne, Lychee, Raspberry and Apple which gives a decadent sort of feel towards the whole perfume. The fruits in the perfume make it slightly festive but at the same time gives the whole perfume a sort of summery feeling. It is a great present for women alike especially

The next fragrance that I am going to talk about is Daisy by Marc Jacobs. This is mainly more of a fragrance for younger women therefore you could give this as a gift to your daughter but it could also be given as a gift to an older female figure as it is mainly a cute but flirty fragrance. The base note is mainly white woods therefore it gives a woody scent (obviously...) but also gives a light scent towards the whole product. The heart note is mainly violet therefore it gives a light floral scent to the whole fragrance. The top notes are mainly strawberries which gives a nostalgic feel to the whole thing but also gives a very sweet scent to this very flirty fragrance. Priced from £51.50 which is expensive but is worth it if you want to give someone a present that they won't stop going on about for a good while.

The last perfume that I am going to mention is going to be Emporio Armani: Diamonds. This is a very extravagant product just by the bottle. The bottle is shaped into a literal diamond made from glass which shows how indulgent this perfume is. The base notes are vetiver, amber and vanilla which gives a slightly indulgent and sweet scent as vanilla is quite a clean but rich scent. The heart notes of this product are rose, lily of the valley, patchouli and freesia. These all give a general floral scent which is good within female fragrances as it gives off a light feeling. The top notes include lychee and raspberry which give is a little floral, sweet Middle Eastern/exotic feel thanks to the Lychees. Ranging from £38.50 onwards, this is a great gift to give to a lucky woman with the wow factor!

So this section will be the thing that Jamie never shuts up about... Yup, you've guessed it.. It's the Lush section! So the first product that I am going to suggest Lush-wise is the Snow Faity shower gel. It is very popular with women and sells out very fast, It has a very bright candy look to it but it is mainly bubblegum pink. The scent is kinda a mixture of pear drops and candy floss... The best way to put it is literally 'if pink has a scent, this would be it!' It ranges from £3.75 onwards depending on the size that you buy. The other shower gel that you should get for the women in your life is Rose Jam which reminds me of Turkish delight as rosewater is a main ingredient in Turkish Delight but ah well... The colour is a deep red/ The price is around the same as the Snow Fairy. The next product I recommend for purchase is the Shades of Earl Grey massage bar as this is a very great smelling product but it's also nostalgic to some women as it may remind them of an Afternoon Tea. It contains a lot of nutritious butters which makes your lovely lady's skin super soft.The last two gifts that I am going to talk about are the Star Light Star Bright and Dragons Egg. Star Light Star Bright is a hybrid product of a bath ballistic (bath bomb) and a bath melt. On the inside it has a mixture of butters including Coconut and Shea Butter but on the outside has a shimmery silver lustre casing. When it goes into the water, it fizzes and then turns your bath an amazing mermaid-y turquoise colour whilst the butters melt into the water which go onto your skin. This product is priced at £3.50. Get this and the others fast though as these are Christmas limited season products. This last one will have your woman oohing in the bath.. That sounds exceedingly wrong but bare with. This bath bomb beauty gives your bath scales, turns your bath water red and pops in your bath via Vegan Popping Candy which makes it sound like a dragon roaring in your bath which is pretty exciting! This ballistic is priced at £3.35 which means that it won't cost you a lot to make the Lushie in your life happy.

Dragon's Egg

Shades of Earl Grey - Massage Bar

The next thing I am going to go on about is the general presents to get the amazing women in your family. For starters, you could get them maybe a clothing item or a gift card for their favourite shop which is the best thing for someone who is picky when it comes to this time of year or someone who doesn't want you knowing their dress size... Eitherwise, you could always get them a handbag therefore you can't go wrong sizewise and the women in your life can use it for their normal day to day lives or as Sarah Millican says, 'fill it up with maltesers'... You could also get her a watch if you know that they like the bling or maybe a gift card to their favourite spa or their nearest Lush Spa?

Foodwise, you could get her the cliché box of chocolates, a big/personalised version of their favourite chocolate bar/product, some wine, a big sushi platter to make them feel like a character in SATC, a bottle of champagne or maybe a hot chocolate set for when they feel very sad.

I know it's not been a lot of ideas but I hope that you find the women in your life a present for Christmas soon! If you buy any of the above/have any ideas then don't forget to comment! My links are all in my vides on https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJamesSowden.

I hope you're all well. I hope to see you next time. Have a Merry Christmas/Holidays depending on what you celebrate!
Thank you for reading this post and I hope to see you next time!