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Instead of the more traditional 12 days of Christmas, I’ve decided to wrap up 12 DAYS OF BEAUTY fit for any lover of poolside partying and beach basking.

Each day – as I lie back in my temporary office/sun lounger – I will reveal a new beaut from my bag of loot….  Keep checking the post to see my hot list unfurl.

Day 1:  New Piz BUIN Wet Skin – Protection on wet or dry skin – £17.99 

What makes it great:  No need to wait until you’re dry to apply sun protection ever again.

Piz Buin Wet Skin

Day 2:  Juicing Detox Programme @thirtyeightdegressnorth in Ibiza 

What makes it great:  healthy by day and party by night with a pure, juice conscience!

view from the roof top bar at Aguas de Ibiza hotel

Day 3:  Yarok’s Feed Your Sunshine hair serum (from A Beautiful World)

What makes it great:  this organic aloe vera and black current seed oil fights the harsh pool chemicals and damaging effects of the powerful sun.

powerful oil from the people at A Beautiful World

Day 4:  China Glaze nail polish (neon if possible)

What makes it great:  neon-loving. non-chip. nail-strengthening. eye-gazing. 

China Glaze Orange Knockout neon FUN

Day 5:  Michel Mercier ‘Untangle Your Day’ hair brush £12.99

What makes it great:  glides easily through sandy, salty, chlorinated hair, massaging the scalp at the same time.

Untangle My Day brush by Michel Mercier (available from selected Sainsbury’s)

Day 6:  Docteur Renaud Peach Body Dry Oil £29.50

What makes it great:  a non-sickly peach-scented hydrating oil which soaks in VERY quickly, prolongs your tan and gives your skin a glam sheen.

Docteur Renaud body dry oil (available from Marks & Spencer)

Day 7:  Zap It! £5.95

What makes it great:  this tiny zap device takes the itch away from all those pesky mosquito bites. (it also works on jelly fish stings but we haven’t had any of those yet to try it on)

Zap-It!

Day 8:  Great Lengths Serum Hair Fluid £12 (available at local salons)

What makes it great:  no grease and lots of shine.  Oh and no need for hair extensions either.  Hurrah for tiger nut oil…

Great Lengths Serum Hair Fluid

Day 9:  Green People Sun & Sports shampoo and conditioner (£9.99 each)

What makes it great:  the organic avocado, artichoke, jojoba and plant protein provide natural UV repair hair while also naturally washing away the salt and chlorine.

Green People Sun & Sports shampoo/conditioner

Day 10:  BioEffect EGF Serum (£125)

What makes it great:  EGF is THE newest magic potion in skincare.  Just one drop of this twice a day can honestly turn back the clock.  It speeds up the rate that the cells renew themselves, reduces pigmentation and stimulates collagen. WOW!

BioEffect EGF Serum

Day 11:  Tili Bags (£6.50 for pack of 12)

What makes them great:  my constantly over-flowing wash bag is no longer as issue:  pretty zip lock bags mean that all my cosmetics are organised both home and away.

Tili bags from A Beautiful World

Day 12: Konjac puff sponge (£6.98 from Cult Beauty)

What makes it great:  made entirely from the root of the the Konjac Potato, this is a naturally moisture rich plant fibre sponge that balances the acidity of the skins impurities and oils (face and body)

Konjac puff sponge – gentle cleansing

There certainly doesn’t need to be a chill in the air for the female shoppers amongst us to start dreaming of our perfect winter boots.  So many of you will head for ASH to check out their autumn restock.  Others I know for a fact wear Hudson.  And last year I lived very happily in a pair of Fiorentini and Baker bikers.  (Although I should add that at least once a month I pull out my 8 year old Fryes.)

Kate Moss shows us boots are perennial

Before you think I’ve gone boot-mental, I’ll get straight to the point.  Because, we are pretty damn emotional about those leather accessories we slip our feet into – at least 10 months of the year.

So our annual boot purchase needs to be a considered one.

Seven Boot Lane: the newbie to the (emotional) boot market

A month or so ago I heard some whisperings on the boot-vine about a newbie to this highly competitive foot market.  Seven Boot Lane is the brand new boutique boot brand which has been founded and is run by a husband and wife team down in Bath.  They’ve opened a shop, a site (free next day delivery and returns so you can try on at home with your favourite jeans/dress etc) and  – any minute now – you’ll also start to see their boots appear in various independent boutiques across the country.

Sebastian Edwards with one of his designs

With the end of the summer vaguely on the horizon – as a matter of urgency – I needed to touch and try on and, of course, interview Sebastian – the husband of the team.   We met at Marylebone High Street’s Natural Kitchen  (I simply couldn’t get to Bath fast enough…) so that I could stitch together the Seven Boot Lane story and wiggle my toes in his simply stunning designs.

Having spent 15 years at Clarkes, Sebastian couldn’t wait to launch his own brand of womens’ boots.  He designs and styles them with unrecognisable passion but is also impressively switched on when it comes to understanding to his target consumer (basically us) and the complex relationship we have with our boots.  With a background in marketing, his wife focusses on making sure we’re heard about their new brand.

Alabama boot in chestnut leather £160

The boots are made (by hand) in a small factory in Spain.  But the shoemakers picked out to realise Sebastian’s precious designs are not in the least bit novices.  As a family-run business of Josés, they have been making boots for over 50 years.

MTV presenter & model Lilah Parsons in Adora boots from Seven Boot Lane

Seven Boot Lane’s A/W collection covers all the bases with a biker, Chelsea, Cuban ankle, riding boot and a couple of extras thrown in for good (foot) measure.  Oh and quantities are small so don’t hesitate.

Check out a Vine clip of my spanking new Annie boots from Seven Boot Lane: IMG_4099

There’s no getting away from it: the summer holidays are noisy.  Recently a working mum confessed to me that the long summer holidays were a MAJOR reason for her full time working.  Away from home.  In a nice, quiet, controlled office environment.  And I admire her for admitting that the endless weeks of noise can be more than a little daunting, even for the more patient parents amongst us (of which I am NOT!).

Meanwhile I have worked out that there are good and bad noises.

Here is my list of bad noises:

1. SCREAMING from upstairs followed by: Mummy, there’s lots of blood!
2. Gushing water through ceiling amidst giggles
3. Slamming doors interspersed with ‘this is MY bedroom’
4. I’m hungry I’m bored I’m hungry I’m bored (repeated x100)

I think you get the idea.  These are all bad, go-away, isn’t-it-the-Autumn-term-yet noises.

Then there are good noises.  And while they are of course still noise and absolutely wouldn’t exist on my perfect desert island, they can be accepted as Small-living-noises.

We had a Ukulele delivered last week.

We had a Ukulele delivered last week.  Musicroom was keen to see what my Smalls would make of it.  It comes with a book so that they can teach themselves the notes (without me getting too involved) and it’s been a big hit.  Together with the recorder (which Small has lost – not sure how we will explain this to his teacher next term when pretending we have practiced a lot over the summer) and the piano, there is talk of a band.  Initial band practice hasn’t been the best noise I have ever heard but at least – so far – it hasn’t led to a trip to A&E…

COMPETITION: Musicroom – the UK’s largest music retailer – has given me 3 of these very attractive ukuleles (£19.99 each) to give away to anyone looking to create some noise.  All you have to do is to enter this competition is sign up to my blog (top right of homepage) and  follow me on Twitter. The 3 lucky winners will be selected randomly on Wednesday 28th August 2013.

one band member

… and the other