ren Archives - Megan Taylor

STOCKING FILLER GIFT IDEAS

Hands up if you still get a stocking? Meeeee ;p . In fact, I get two, one from Father Christmas and one from my hubby. I actually love my stocking more than my presents under the tree. Yes, I freaking love those presents too and feel incredibly grateful for them but I love the surprises you get in a stocking. So many goodies and so much excitement. I have compiled an amazing list of stocking fillers which would also be wonderful for those Secret Santa gifting moments. I have items for kids, men and women. Let me know in the comments which is your favourite and what you will be putting on your Christmas list.

BEAUTY GOODIES

These soaps from The Bluebeards Revenge are so chunky and are going to last a long time even if the men in your life play rugby in the mud every day. I love the manly lumps of soap and wouldn’t even mind them being in my bathroom to use myself. I love the adorable bottles that Time Bomb have put in a little gift set. Their SOS range of bottles have the perfect selection of products for a complete facial reboot this Christmas. I am back with more products from Percy & Reed because I adore their products, they are so cute. I actually had a model casting with them back about 5 years ago and I think it was Percy who said to me that all the pretty illustrations of women and their flowing hair are based on his friends, I love that. My mum has actually already stolen this set from me, just minutes after I had photographed it! Feel Unique actually have this To Go gift set for 20% off at the moment and is an absolute bargain. Oh how I love Mavala. The adorable little bottles, the fact they last for ages and the lovely shaped brush. Here are a couple of Mavala Christmas gift sets which I am loving…also love the snowflake charm.
This Temple Spa bubble bath is already half used on the side of my bath. The bubbles it creates are fabulous and it is such a large bottle that it should last you a long time if you don’t over use it like me ;P. The scent is beautiful, very relaxing and spa-like.

STOCKING FILLER GIFT IDEAS | MEGAN TAYLOR

BITS & BOBS

My mum taught me to have bits and bobs stored up just in case you forgot to buy for someone, or if you didn’t buy enough or someone extra comes for dinner on Christmas day. So to be prepared I always like to have a little box with a few rather unisex gifts. Then if they don’t get used they become mine :).
I love these Free* SOUL Wake and Sleep Teas. They are beautifully packaged and are perfect for any herbal tea drinker. Teas for the morning and the evening. These Unicorn Tears have definitely made the press in the last year of so. I finally got my hands on some this year and I love them. They are essentially raspberry gin liqueur with sparkles inside. The perfect gift for any alcohol drinker. Socks, although often laughed at, are the perfect gift. I’m not sure that anyone ever doesn’t wear socks at some point. Why not gift them one of these two adorable ones from Mistral and Fat Face. I mentioned Buckley in my crackers gift guide last week and I am back with this gorgeous Christmas card they sell. The lovely card comes with a beautiful sparkly star necklace…my mum has already worn this to a party and had lots of compliments.

FOR THE TREE

I love a tree ornament and there are now many beauty options to put on the tree as well. If you are a bit spenny you could buy your whole office a beauty tree gift and hang it on your office tree. If that idea is a bit too lavish then you could buy one of these adorable gifts for your bestie, for a stocking gift or just as a token of Christmas lovliness. This Espa Christmas bauble is simply divine. Look at its beautiful navy and bronze design. I am in love with it and I’m not sure I can face gifting it to anyone ;). This years REN Christmas gifts have been decorated by Kikki K and are looking totally adorable. This pink gem is their Moroccan Rose Otto luxurious hand balm. Lanolin have a tree gift which is an absolute steal at under £6 here, this lip product even has SPF30 which must all try and use. For the beauty obsessed and more grown up Caudalie have their fabulous Beauty Elixir in a tree gift packaging.

FOR THE KIDS

These goodies are amazing for the youthful bunch in your family. My teenage years were spent spritzing Impulse all over my body. I can’t remember the name of the one I used but it was a pale green skinny bottle and smelt incredible and super fresh. Impulse is now so different from when I was younger, the bottles and clear and bigger and the scents are far bolder and promoted in collaboration with mega-influencers. Check them out here. These products from ON! Juniper are all hand made by a, local to me, Surrey woman. I love the fact that I can share her products with you all. Make sure you head on over to check her out. Here is the cola lip balm and the beautifully packaged bath bomb. Every year I ask for a pretty calendar and diary. With the launch of the new Mary Poppins film I know this diary will be a hit.

Do you still have a stocking?

CHRISTMAS GIFT SETS

Buying gifts can be tricky. There are those people who have everything, those people you have only just started dating and those people that refuse to give you a wish list. Whoever you are buying for this year I have you covered over many post. Check out last weeks three posts on candles, crackers and make up. Today I have some more special one offs, Wednesday we have some incredible gift sets which are only available at Christmas and on Friday we have a whole ton of Christmas stocking and Secret Santa ideas. Then next week until Christmas I sharing with you festive baking and drinking, festive viewing and festive crafts. Read on ahead for some easy buys for everyone in your life.

RELAXING GIFT SETS

Christmas can be a stressful time. Why not treat someone to one of these gift sets which are all geared around relaxation and pampering yourself. Espa have a luxurious gift set of goodies. Their Ultimate Sleep Collection is incredible. It comes with a blue silk eye mask to top it off. I am incredibly partial to an eye mask. Black out blinds just don’t quite work well enough for me so for a true sense of darkness I like to use an eye mask, this one is fabulous as it is dark, thick and soft on your eyes.
Moroccanoil have had such a buzz around their products for a few years now and until I got this gift set to try I had never actually tried it. I have now tried it and I get the hype! Your hair smells fab and is left feeling in amazing condition. I love the tin box that the Everlasting Style gift set it comes in as well, no naff and unnecessary plastic wrapping.
Elemental Herbology create such wonderful scented products filled with essential oils making you feel as if you are being treated to a posh spa experience. I adore this Earth Balance Bathing Ritual gift set they have created… I am also rather chuffed with the images I took for it 😉 . The whole kit for a perfect bathing experience is there, the candle, the wooden scoop for your bag of salts and a body oil to smother yourself in before bed. If you are a regular reader here you will know I am a big fan of Ren. You will also know that I love their Rose products. It makes sense that I picked out this giftset filled with rose and called LOVE. Click on the word LOVE back there as it links to their site where they are currently selling it in the Black Friday sale for just £30 and you even get a free gift with it as well, so you can buy a gift for someone else and get a gift for yourself in the process…perfection.

BEAUTY GIFT SETS

This Percy & Reed Bountifully Bouncy gift set is an insane bargain. My mum and I both adore their products, I use their hair spray all the time and mum loves their hair perfume. This is a wonderful gift set for someone who travels a lot or who has never tried Percy & Reed products before and simply needs to be introduced to them. Korres have created an epic sized gift set box called Total Indulgence which has products within that are all over 80% natural. They smell fab too. Image Skincare have created a gift set called Festive Favourites which has a lovely handy pouch to place all your travel sized products in. The products will help your skin during and after the festive period along with a cleanser, serum and moisturiser.

UNISEX GIFT SETS

I find buying for boys incredibly tricky. When I buy for girls, I mostly just buy something I like and hope they will like it too. A a girl, I get girls but for boys hmmm…trickier, right? These three gift sets I have here are great for boys, the hair styler is definitely unisex and the other two are more specifically for the boys. No Gunk have created this beautiful gift set filled with hair products and a face mask…yes, boys can face mask too!
American Crew have fantastic products. Liam uses their hair products a lot and says they are great and thinks their wax and forming cream works really well (sorry, I can’t give a personal opinion on the product for obvious reasons ;P). I also love that this gift set comes in a tin made like a money box, no plastic throwaway gift set here.
This is potentially one of my favourtie gift sets I have ever seen! Alfa Italia have produced a travel hair gift set ‘Viaggio’ which is what dreams are made of. This gorgeous black bag comes with a small and super lightweight hair straightener and hair dryer, with a defuser attachment and two hair clips. I think this is the bargain of the century. I have linked to a place you can buy it for just £38.30!!! BARGAIN.

Which is your favourite? Do you also struggle to buy for boys?

MY TOP 5 BODY WASHES

Are you a bar of soap of vat of body wash kinda person? I have always preferred using a body wash. In fact growing up I was vaguely obsessed with the foaming Imperial Leather body wash, I literally couldn’t live without it. My absolute favourite fall back is always the mint body wash from Original Source, until recently when I tried out my current top 5 body washes, would refuse to use anything but and wouldn’t feel clean without it. Yet, you will notice that with my latest body wash faves I am going down a bit of an aromatherapy lusting. None of the products are 100% organic but are all pretty natural and definitely smell natural, unlike my old trusty faves as a teen.

REN

You may remember I mentioned this particular Ren body wash product in my ‘5 Steps To A Perfect Bath’ post back in August? Well, here it is again, another bottle down after a lovely month of smelling fabulous! Logistically this bottle works really well for me. Not too much product dispenses out of the pumps with each push which is great as you don’t get through it too quickly, allowing you to savour each drop. I really love the scent, which to me, is most strong in geranium, which I adore! My top tip would be to keep your bathroom door open (if appropriate…) whilst having a hot shower, making the scent of your body wash disperse around your house.

SOAPER DUPER

If you are after a product from a brand that gives back then Soaper Duper is for you. Also, this body wash is a great price and huge! The products are all naturally derived and give back to charities Water Aid and Clean The World. As I write this and look for the link for you to be able to shop the product I realise there is also a hand soap with all the same scents as the body washes. I love this. If you love a scent all over your body then why wouldn’t you love to be able to wash your hands in the same scent many more times during the day.

AROMATHERAPY ASSOCIATES

I talked about my love for all thing aromatherapy in a recent blog on Aromatherapy Associates relaxing products, ‘Relax With Aromatherapy Associates’ but now I am here to talk about their body wash from their Revive range. Liam and I have both been loving this body wash. It’s not at all drying to the skin and is delicately scented with bergamot, grapefruit and neroli. The only negative is the lid is quite tricky to take on and off so we tend to just leave the lid off, which obviously wouldn’t be great for travelling. This is such a silly negative though and doesn’t detract from the great product itself. I would definitely get another once this one runs out.

RITUALS

This Rituals is a throwback to my obsession with Imperial Leather. I love how it foams up so hugely. Yet, when a product foams up it is an alarm bell to being full of nasties. No natural product can foam up. Yet, this foaming body wash is amazing for shaving your legs. The cherry blossom scent is girly and enticing. This product lasts a very long time because you need so little with each wash. Ooo and it’s on sale here right now if you want it.

URBAN VEDA

Urban Veda is new to me but I found this product in a goodie bag from an event and I have been using it ever since. This is their soothing body wash which is filled with medley of lovely essential oils scents. The only problem I find with this product is that the formulation is very runny meaning that if you aren’t careful it comes trickling out at an alarming rate and you don’t need much for each wash. Even though this is the case, we actually store ours upside down resting in our shower caddy and pour it out delicately with each use. I do find the product to be very soothing and leaves my skin feeling soft.

Have you tried any of these brands? Which shower wash are you currently using?

MY TOP 5 SLEEPING AIDS

Has anyone had trouble sleeping recently? I’m not sure if it was the full moon, the summer of sticky weather or the fact I am constantly thinking about all of the exciting things that seem to be happening everyday but I have had a bit of trouble sleeping lately. Whatever it has been, I knew I needed to work on getting my essential beauty sleep because I was getting a bit tetchy and started feeling a bit run down. I have worked really hard on getting better sleep and actually falling asleep in the first place and I think these 5 sleeping aids will help everyone.

LAVENDER ESSENTIAL OILS

Growing up with a mummy that Vogue have been quoted as naming her an “aromatherapy guru” means I have have spent my whole life smelling somewhat like a flower. Spots = tea tree , blocked nose = eucalyptus , cuts = lavender. Lavender is also wonderful for helping to sooth us and aid us to slumber. I literally don’t think a home is a home without a bottle of lavender essential oil. If you don’t have a bottle, get yourself one stat! Sprinkle up to 10 drops of lavender into your nighttime bath and sprinkle a few drops on your hot radiators around your house to help the scent travel around.

REN PILLOW SPRAY

I hate myself for putting a product on here that isn’t actually available yet, but it will be next month. I have been loving this pillow spray by Ren. I have sprayed it on my pillow and in the general area of my bed each night since I went to the launch last month and I have been loving it. Whenever you visit Charlotte Street Hotel or Soho Hotel you are given a pillow spray and I love it. The whole feeling of using a pillow spray is so luxurious. I love the way that it makes your sleepy environment become calm and relaxing and gets rid of any smells from the day or from your cooked dinner having whiffed its way upstairs earlier that evening. (** UPDATE: Now available here xx).

VALERIAN TABLETS

Valerian is a herbal medicine but really works very strongly. I have dabbled in taking valerian on and off because I personally find it a little bit too strong for me, I wish there was a half dose option. If you are feeling any anxiety these tablets will work wonders for you and they are the perfect safe and natural option of a sleeping tablet. I always find that these tablets send me into a deep sleep very quickly but when I say a deep sleep, I really mean a deeeeep sleep. I’m not someone that dreams every night but when I take valerian I always dream and they’re more often than not bad dreams.
I am fully aware that in the last paragraph I sound pretty delicate but I just want to warn you of my experience. …oh and the tablets themselves smell like damp cloth!! Yet, after my rather negative experience I still use them when I am having droughts of not sleeping. Also, Liam takes them and has nothing but positivity to say about his experience with them. These are the exact ones Liam and I take.

HEADSPACE

My mum introduced me to Headspace many years ago and she is an avid user of it. Headspace is an app full of guided meditations starting from 2 minute sessions. I love how it is so simple to use that anyone can do it. It has guided meditations for sleeping, happiness, focus, refresh and many more. The tips for sleeping are quite similar to some exercises I have done in yoga, such as slowly releasing each section of your body working from your feet up to your head. There are some free options you can try out to see if you like it or not. Download Headspace here.

EYE MASK

To some people a sleeping eye mask seems ridiculous, to others it is absolute perfection. What I say to those who thinks it is ridiculous is to try sleeping with a street lamp outside their bedroom window…ugh, nightmare. As someone who doesn’t drop off to sleep very easily an eye mask is a simple priceless present to myself. The bright pink one below has lavender within it which is amazing but has unfortunately lost most of its elastic in the headband. I love that the pretty ballet pink eye mask has an adjustable strap much like a bra strap. The baby pink eye mask is sold on Amazon but the bright pink one was a present from my mum many years ago so I’m not sure where that is from unfortunately.

I hope some of my top tips can help you. What do you do to help yourself get a good nights sleep?

Ren’s Atlantic Kelp And Magnesium Collection

Last week I was invited to a lovely breakfast at Space NK’s Regent Street store. We were led into the basement to eat coconut yoghurt, muesli, fruit and drink coconut water. David Delport from Ren taught us everything we needed to know about the latest range of products. The latest collection is Atlantic kelp and magnesium. It is formulated to energise the skin, control stress hormones (errr…I need this!!) and relieve fatigue. The great thing about these Ren products is that they are clean, ethical and use renewable sources. The scent isn’t overwhelming but is still there. The scent is strongest in the bath oil but faint and less heady in the other products. The new collection is launching in Space NK and REN online on the 30th May and is set to be a hit.

BODY WASH & HAND WASH

The body wash is the product I will and already am using the most. I prefer to use a body wash than a soap when showering because I find it much less drying. This body wash feels very moisturising and suds up the perfect amount in your sponge. The seaweed extracts help to tone and the magnesium is cell-energising. The hand wash has the same delicate scent as the other products and is just as delicate on your hands.

BODY CREAM

Apart from when I am on my summer holidays I never put cream on my body. I have every intention of doing so but I can not stand that feeling of clammy sweaty skin from cream. This cream is very quick drying and absorbing so you don’t get that horrible clammy feeling once you put it on. These cream claims to tone and firm fatigued skin…get it on me now!!

BODY SCRUB

This product is probably the most exciting to me, especially for the bronzed summer skin. You can use this scrub on dry skin and just rub away the salt extras or you can rinse it away in the shower. The scrub can also be used as soak in your bath to melt away your tensions.

HAND LOTION

This hand lotion comes in a very generous 300ml bottle. The hand lotion keeps your skin hydrated, nourished and protected. For that perfect hotel like vibe place it next to your hand wash on your sink to wow your guests.

BATH OIL

The bath oil is my most favourite product from the new collection. I tend to have baths over showers more so in the winter but I love to have a relaxing bath after a busy and stressful day. The bath oil is formulated with seaweed oil extract to moisturise the skin. The seaweed oil will fight fatigue and relax your body and mind.

Have you used Ren products before? What’s your favourite products in their collection?