Win A Year's Supply Of Batiste!

I've been wanting to do a festival post for a while now. I just haven't been sure how to go about it, what to write about, what to include, how to do it and all the rest! I didn't want to do a regular list of essential items to take to a festival, for example: a tent, a sleeping bag and wellies, as they are just common sense. However, I wanted to tell you about a few 'unique' items that I have come across that I think would be fab for a festival or camping. I also have a fab competition at the end where you can win a year's supply of good old Batiste! My fave dry shampoo ever! There are also 2nd and 3rd prizes to be won :-).

1) First thing I would recommend taking to a festival that might not always be an obvious choice is a roll of heavy duty bin bags. Those of you that are regular festival goers will probably think this is common sense, but if you have never been to a festival before then these are definitely going to be coming in handy as they can be used for soooo many things. Here are a few: you can sit on them, saving your bum from getting muddy/wet. They are lightweight enough to be shoved in a bag you are carrying around or a pocket and you can whip one out whenever you want to sit on the floor (if there are no seats around). They are also going to take up less room in a car/back-pack than a proper seat/chair. You can also make a rain coat out of one if needs be. Fair enough you might have your own rain coat, but if you forget one, don't think you need one because the weather has been lovely or is forecast to be lovely, or leave it in the tent whilst your wondering around, it will come in handy and again little enough to pop in a bag (which you will always have on you around the festival) or a pocket (jeans/shorts). You can also use bin bags to line your wellies if they split and to keep any muddy clothes in. There are a lot of uses and if you have any that I haven't mentioned, feel free to comment about them :-).

2) Secondly, I found an interesting item on www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk. It is a paper travel soap kit. They have one for men and one for women and the kit consists of 30 soap sheets, 30 shampoo sheets and 30 body wash sheets. All you need to do to use any of these is...add water! They are currently on sale at £5.99 and I think would be fab to take to a festival or even camping. The toilets at a festival aren't exactly inviting and this can sometimes put people off going to a festival full stop, but with these you can just fill up a bottle with tap water (from the wash area at a festival or sometimes they have taps around the festival that people can use to fill up water bottles etc) and use the sheets around the comfort of your own tent if you wish.

3) Thirdly is another item I found on www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk. A fashion emergency kit, which is £6.90 and consists of all the little essential items a girl might need at a festival. A nail file, 2 hair elastics, a sewing kit, 2 plasters, a face wipe, paper soap and glamour tape are included within this kit. You might think of other things that you need as essentials and you may be able to slip them into this kit, rather than taking a lot of bulky packets.

4) Next, I found a solar shower for £4.99 at www.filthyfox.co.uk, which I thought might come in handy and solve another issue of people not wanting to use the washing facilities at a festival. All you have to do is fill it with water, leave in the sun for a couple of hours to heat and then you've got your own shower with warm water! You can even use your paper soap, shampoo and body wash as above with it. It is also little enough to fit amongst all your other festival/camping essentials and won't take up much room. The shower even has a hose attached and a handy hanging loop which you will see in the picture using the link above. I'd definitely feel more comfortable using something like this near the comfort of my tent, even if just to wash my hair!

5) I know that the toilets are a major issue at a festival. They aren't the cleanest for starters and also there seems to always be massive queues. So I found a disposable urinal on www.filthyfox.co.uk. So, if you're busting for the toilet you can use this in the comfort of your own tent. It can be used by both sexes and contains a special agent that turns urine into an odourless gel that doesn't spill or smell. The container is bio degradable so can be thrown into a bin with no worries and there are three supplied in each pack, so you might want to keep them for if you need the toilet in the middle of the night and don't feel like trekking to the public toilets. It is only £6.99, so not too bad a price if you wanted to try it out :-).

6) Lastly, there is one product that I would 100% recommend to take to a festival/camping and that is a can of Batiste dry shampoo. I absolutely love this product, I have tried other dry shampoo's in the past, some even more expensive than Batiste and I always come back to this one because it just works the best for me and I can't fault it. I wouldn't leave for a festival/camping trip without a can of this in my bag because if you think about it, most festivals are usually over a weekend and if you wash your hair the night before you go or the morning that you go then Batiste will keep your hair looking clean and fresh for the remainder of the weekend. It will be an absolute god-send. Especially if you aren't keen on the washing facilities at a festival/camping trip, you will feel comfortable and better in yourself knowing you have this to use :-). The latest Batiste scent is lace, which has base notes of white musk, cedarwood and sandalwood. Top notes of citrus, nutmeg and pink pepper and a dose of floral notes including rose, orchid, jasmine and ylang-ylang.  You can get a 200ml can of Batiste lace (amongst other scents) for £2.99 at Boots or Superdrug :-). I always find it hard to describe Batiste scents so it becomes easier when I know the fragrance notes that are included. I really like this scent though, which brings me onto a competition that I am soooo excited to be holding on my blog and so thankful to Batiste for providing the prizes :-). Read on to find out how to enter...

Terms and Conditions:

- This competition is open to people with a UK mailing address only. Unfortunately, Batiste can't ship their products overseas but there will be plenty of other competitions in the future for worldwide viewers :-).

- If you are 16 or under please get the permission of your parents/guardians to enter this competition, as I will obviously have to pass your mailing details onto Batiste for them to send out your prizes. Please make sure your parents/guardians are happy with you doing this.

- This competition will be open for a month and will end on the 18th July 2012. On the 19th July 2012 I will be picking my winners randomly using www.random.org.

- There will be 3 prizes: 1st prize consists of 24 assorted cans of Batiste dry shampoo (a year's supply based on 2 a month). 2nd prize consists of 3x400ml cans of Batiste dry shampoo (Blush, Original, Tropical). 3rd prize consists of 3x50ml cans of Batiste dry shampoo (Blush, Original, Tropical). Each prize package will also have a mini keyring brush and a Batiste throwaway rain mac thrown in :-).

- Batiste will be sending the prizes out to the winners. After I have randomly chosen my winners, I will contact them for their mailing details using any contact info (usually email) they have provided by using the rafflecopter entry form below. I will then pass this information onto Batiste and they will send out your prizes :-). If any of the winners don't get back to me within a month, then I will have to choose other winners.

- Enter the competition using the rafflecopter entry form below. There are chances to have more than one entry, so have fun and good luck to you all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Much Love,
Gem XxOo ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Father's Day Gift Guide...

Another occasion is fast approaching..."Father's Day", which means more money to be spent! I'm hoping this gift guide will give you some inspiration when it comes to buying a gift for your dad. I will be doing this gift guide slightly differently and splitting ideas into price categories, so there should be something to suit every budget. I hope it helps!

£10 or under...

I always find that Tesco have a good range of Father's Day gift ideas and they are quite inexpensive. I feel most of their gifts would be great for those younger daughters and sons who are maybe buying their gifts out of their pocket money and don't have that much of a budget. The kind of gifts I am talking about are mugs, aprons, tool kits and gardening gifts. I received a press release recently where these kind of gifts were really inexpensive with the dad mugs ranging from £0.97p to £3.52. Aprons from £3.96, dad drink glasses from £2.43, tool kits from £5 and gardening kits from £7.97. I can't find these online, but if you have a Tesco store near you that sells more than food, I'd definitely recommend taking a look. Browsing the net, I also noticed that Tesco have other gifts that are just as pleasing when it comes to the price. Here are a few that took my fancy:

 Gillette Fusion Proglide Shaving Set £6.

                                                  Nivea Shave Gift Pack £3.50.

  Lynx Africa Body Spray and Shower Gel £2.50.

                                                Adidas Man Ice Dive Duo £2.50.

David Beckham Instinct EDT Spray £10.

All pictures are courtesy of Tesco.

See what I mean...how reasonable are those prices?! There are a range of gifts with similar prices, so I'd definitely recommend having a look in your local Tesco or here. I live near a Morrisons and I always notice they tend to have a similar range of gifts at decent prices. I think most supermarkets do to be honest, so if you aren't sure what to buy but want to have a browse at a few things, pop into your local supermarket, they are bound to have a "section" dedicated to a few ideal gifts for Father's Day.

I also found some cards that I thought were a little different. They are from Find Me A Gift, which is an amazing website, you can guarantee to find a gift on there for any occasion. The cards are called "custom cards" and the basic jist of them is that they are cards with lots of different words on them and you can blank out the words you don't want on the front of the cards to reveal a custom made message for any occasion. For those of you that like to buy things that are a little different, I think these are fab! They are currently £3.74 for a pack of three.

Picture courtesy of Find Me A Gift.

£20 or under...

I came across something that I think dads would get a lot of use out of, it is a shower shaving mirror with radio. This looks amazing and I'm sure if there are females in the household, they will also get some use out of this, he, he. Share and share alike! It has a fog-less mirror, an LED light, a universal razor holder, a clock and an FM radio...love it! It also has suckers attached so you can attach it to bathroom tiles for example, but it does have an extendable support for free standing use. It is £15.99, but if you find some items you like for Father's Day on Find Me A Gift, they are currently offering 20% off everything.

Picture courtesy of Find Me A Gift.

Buy A Gift also have some fab gift ideas. They do have some bespoke gifts, but their website is based on experiences for any occasion. You can find Father's Day gifts ranging from up to £25 to over £250! So whatever budget you have, there is sure to be something you think will be ideal for your dad. A few more inexpensive experiences that I feel would be ideal are:

                                 Winery and Brewery Tour for Two £13.50.

Afternoon Tea for Two £15.

Pictures are courtesy of Buy A Gift.

There are a lot of experiences to choose from, so whether you have an action dad, a foodie dad, a sporty dad or a cultural dad you are sure to find something perfect :-).

£20 +...

I love websites that have a lot to offer and Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous is another fave of mine. I love the hampers that they sell and if you're looking for something a little different for your dad, I'm sure one of the hampers will put a smile to his face. You can find sweet hampers, chocolate hampers, retro hampers, 80's hampers, comedy DVD hampers, pampering hampers and more amongst the range with a few being under £20 but most being just over or more.

Deluxe Men's Retro Hamper £44.99.

80's DVD and Snacks Hamper £28.99.

Pictures are courtesy of Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous.

The hampers come with a variety of items in them and some even let you choose certain items, for example those with a DVD included, allow you to choose from a list of DVDs so you can really match the hamper to your Father's personality. I think this kind of gift is unique and maybe something that your dad won't expect but it'll sure bring a smile to his face...especially if he is a child at heart with all the sweets! A free personalised gift card is included with each hamper so you can send it straight to your dad if you wish. Imagine his face when he receives a big box and opens it to reveal a load of goodies!

For those Father's who have a bit more of a grown-up taste then you might want to try something a bit more luxurious at Fine Food Store. They offer hampers and gifts and a couple of my favourites for a Father are:

 Ravenous Delights Vintage Box £39.95. Gents Vintage Gift Chest £89.99.

Pictures are courtesy of Fine Food Store.

I absolutely adore the boxes that come with these, definitely my cup of tea, I'd have to use my daughter charm on my dad to let me keep the box he, he. I love their vintage design! With a mixture of sweet, savoury and a nice wine I think these gifts are fab and definitely ones I feel dads would be really grateful to receive. The more expensive of the two (above) comes with some pampering goodies from Clarins (for men), which I think is a perfect little touch. They have a lot to choose from so take a peek, I'm sure you will find something to suit your dad :-).

Last but not least, I thought I'd add a bit of clothing into the mix. Luxurious, comfortable pyjamas and robes! At The Pyjama Store there are some gorgeous robes and pj's to suit most men. I know some men don't like to sleep in full on pyjama's, but for those that do these are made with cotton and the price reflects the quality. It's worth taking a look as obviously you will probably know what your dad likes, whether it be full on pj's (top and bottoms), just bottoms, just a top, robes, slippers etc. There is sure to be something on there if you have more of a bigger budget.

Bonsoir Men's Classic Retro Pyjama's £78.

Bonsoir Men's Navy Blue Robe £42.

Pictures are courtesy of The Pyjama Store.

So, there it is. Some Father's Day gift ideas that have caught my eye recently. I hope I have covered most budgets and don't forget the websites that I have mentioned have a lot more gift ideas than those I have shown, so take a look at what they have to offer :-).

To all Father's out there...have a happy Father's Day!

Much Love,

Gem XxOo

Disclaimer: The only item that has been sent to me for review consideration is the shower shaving mirror with radio, but I definitely thought it was a fab gift for Father's, so added it to my gift guide :-). Please see my disclaimer tab for more information.