Bo Piper is editor and co-founder of Cool Mum Hunting, a website that provides shortcuts for busy parents. We are always searching for best buys, bargains, must dos and gotta trys, discounts and sales but admittedly, sometime we get a bit carried away with the completely overpriced and totally frivolous too.
January’s a hard month. The excitement of Christmas is over, the novelty of it being the start of a new year has gone (that probably went by about the 2nd January) and our credit cards are maxed to the limit. Doom and gloom. Or is it?
I decided “out with the old and in with the new”. Luckily for my husband, I’d not included him in this. I’ve done a spring clean… in Jan. I painstakingly sorted through every room in my house and made four very large piles – charity, chuck, sell and keep. eBay became my friend and with my crisp new £££ I could start shopping again. Whilst trawling the web to find things to spend my eBay-earned money on, I came across some fabulous pick-me-ups – designed to cheer up any girl this winter…
These are my top finds (and some of them won’t cost you a penny!)
My first obsession was my pursuit for perfect locks:
If your quest is for frizz- free hair – check out to the Yuko Salon in London. For those who want frizz free dead-straight locks – try the Yuko permanent hair straightening treatment but if you want a less permanent treatment, or have highlighted hair (damn our quest for better coloured hair), you can instead opt for the Anti-Frizz alternative – which promises to leave your hair smoother, frizz-less and much healthier looking.
If having temporarily poker straight hair is also on your wish list – then invest in a pair of ceramic hair straighteners/flat irons. For years I have used my trusty GHD straighteners and I’m very happy with them. But for some inexplicable reason, I’ve since decided to deflect to another brand. I invested in a pair of Revolution Flat Irons by Sedu – with the ability to set your own temperature that works best for your hair type (the theory being the lower the temp, the lesser the damage) and made from genuine ceramic plates (as opposed to just ceramic plated), I think the results are great. I’m a total convert.
If like me, you’ve spent the holidays over-indulging on booze and chocolate whilst under-indulging on sleep and exercise, your face might need a (non-surgical) pick me up (mine could probably do with a surgical one too but that’s not the point):
Step up, Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Comfort Crème. Its anti-oxidants and anti-irritants added with anti-inflammatories, makes it the perfect face cream for those harsh winter winds.
Talking non-surgical face creams – I love Rodial – their range of lotions and potions promise to freeze wrinkles, minimise fine lines, plump and firm the skin – the list is endless. Check out their range at Rodial. My face has thanked me.
Moving along from beauty to beautiful, whilst looking at footwear, I came across some absolute gems you might want to squeeze your feet into, to perk yourself up this January:
I love these gorgeous Distressed Leather Boots from Prada – reduced from £669 to a more palatable £336.50.
In anticipation of sunnier times, I’ve also fell in love with these beautiful Honfleur Slingback Sandals from Christian Dior reduced £690 to £240 (available in beige and black). The beige is a fab colour that will work with most of your summer outfits and elongate your legs too – double winner and savvy investment!
But with January still not over, it’s not too late to keep up the New Year’s diet resolutions:
Have a taste of these really yummy low fat recipes from America’s much loved best-selling author and celebrity chef, Lisa Lillien aka Hungry Girl. I’ve tried the Apple pie-lets – they are so easy to make and taste delicious!
But if the diet doesn’t quite do the trick then you can exercise at home and for free with the help of Dulcinea Lee Helling the “Real Hollywood Trainer”. Check out her site to find your perfect workout – whether it’s your abs you want to focus on, or toning your tummy, there’s an exercise for everyone.
Talking of exercise, a perfect excuse to buy a new swimsuit is to get back into shape with this Melissa Odabash One-Piece Black Savannah Swimsuit (with underwired bra and removable straps). Supportive, stylish and one that will last summer to summer.
So whilst I have no excuse to not exercise (especially as I can do it for free) and little excuse for not sticking to a better diet (other than lack of willpower), I’ll need to sell an awful lot more on eBay before I can buy everything on my wish list. But they say “if you visualise it, you’ll get it” (I’m paraphrasing) and I’m working pretty hard at visualising a winning lottery ticket. But in the meantime, I’ll keep screen shopping (aka window shopping online) and finding more fabulous things to buy. Happy New Year! x
