LivingwithKids

I can’t wait for the release of SATC2 (May 28). Not really because of the plot (I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end), but because of the clothes! Of course their designer gear is out of price reach for most of us – but you can still steal their style.

The good news is Debenhams, the movie’s official retail partner, has launched a gorgeous SATC-inspired collection. The halterneck dress is Principles by Ben de Lisi (£65), the Grecian dress (£55) and strapless dress (£50) are Star by Julien Macdonald, and the printed dress is Butterfly by Matthew Williamson (£80). And the Matthew Williamson tie-dye bikini is £18 for the top and £8 for the bottoms, the J by Jasper Conran green maxi dress is £40, the swimsuit is also £40, and the Red Herring maxi dress is £35.

You could also smell like a Big Apple fashionista with DKNY’s fabulous Love from New York fragrance (£29.99, available from FragranceDirect)...

or Be Delicious (from £38, available from John Lewis and Boots).

And if you want to know what Carrie and co get up to in the new movie, here's a taster. If you had to be one SATC character, which one would you be? I’d love to know.

I'm a big fan of Simple so when they asked me if I'd tell you about a competition they're running to celebrate their 50th anniversary I was only too happy to help. Basically they're looking for a 'Simple Star' - you'll be an online spokesperson for the brand, and the role is perfect for a mum. No previous marketing experience is necessary and the incredible prize package includes a luxury trip to the Caribbean, plus lots of runners-up prizes. More details here - if you decide to enter, let me know how you get on!

 

I absolutely love fashion and beauty but I’m not ashamed to admit I haven’t always got it right. The new SATC movie has a segment where they go back to the Eighties, and that got me thinking about my own style faux pas. Now no photos exist of me wearing these (or if they do they may be under lock and key, in a vault somewhere) but hopefully you’ll get the idea:

1. The Princess Diana flick. Actually, this wasn’t intentional, but at the time it seemed to be the only haircut any hairdresser near me could do. When I also went blonde I realised I had to stop having that particular cut.

2. Dynasty-style shoulder pads.  I had just started working on newspapers and several of the columnists wore jackets and dresses with these. What I should have remembered, of course, is that they were a good 10 years older than me. Fortunately I didn’t wear them for long but long enough.

3. The curly perm (usually left wet). You have to remember I went to school in London. That’s all I’m saying.

4. Dungarees. What can I tell you, I was a big fan of Dexy's Midnight Runners. They were baggy dungarees, not the Rainbow style, but even now I cringe at the thought. Fine for children ONLY.

So there you have them, the skeletons in my closet. I’m going to make this a meme and I’m tagging Baby Baby , If I Could Escape, New Mummy, 3 Bedroom Bungalow  and Mummy's Shoes. Photos of yourselves actually wearing the offending looks are optional.

*What were your fashion and beauty faux pas? I’d love to know.

School starts again next week for us, and I don’t know about you but I’m definitely due some little Mum treats.

Here’s what’s on my list:

John Richmond’s new fragrance – it smells yummy, really fresh with notes of red grapefruit, pear, magnolia and sandalwood. And it also comes with a darling little bracelet (you can hang the lock on it). Gorgeous! (£34 for 30ml, available from Next)

I’m a HUGE fan of Elemis and I adore their Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt (£29, available from timetospa) – really nourishes the skin and the scent is incredible.

The Natio range of natural mineral bronzing products, available exclusively from Debenhams – the illuminating powder (£19) is perfect for giving your complexion a healthy looking glow.

And I’m going to treat my poor neglected nails to some TLC and polish – I love the Essential colours from M&S, particularly the Baby Blue and Neon Yellow (£2.50 each). Maybe not the first colour you’d think of but it works.

I haven't got £1,000 to spare at the moment *sigh* but inspired by Josie at Sleep is for the Weak I've decided to share my fantasy shopping spree. And because it's my fantasy shopping spree I'm afraid I'm not going to be remotely worthy - it's all going to be for me, me me.

First of I'd like a new handbag. A gorgeous, desirable, buttery-smooth leather handbag. This would not be a handbag for screwed up receipts, old lozenges and lidless lipsticks. This would be a brand new bag, full of promise, to hold my life together. A bag like this DKNY Distressed Leather tote from House of Fraser, for £240.

Then I need a dress. Not a school run dress but an utterly beautiful dress, like this one from Coast, £85.

Of course I would have a brand new coat. Not a coat of many colours, rather a mac that will see me through this awful endless rain and into spring. A mac like this stone cotton trench  from Jigsaw (£185).

I would need shoes, too. These Dune Kross Platform Peeptoe Satin Ivory Shoes , in fact, from John Lewis (£95). And earrings - these Amethyst ones (£115), plus a Marc Jacobs wrap bracelet (£60) from Liberty.

And because all that dreamy shopping would make me tired, I'd like a bath in my favourite lavender foaming bath (£17.75) from L'Occitane while sipping on a glass of Laurent-Perrier from Majestic Wine (£45) and nibbling on caviar from Fortnum and Mason (£130). And I might even have a box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. Well, I did say it was my fantasy.

*What would you spend your fantasy £1000 on?

Yesterday I was in a hair salon when I found myself sitting next to a Footballer's Wife. (I happened to glance over at the exact moment I spotted her picture in a glossy magazine - embarrassing). Anyway, what struck me instantly was her face. She had the beginnings of a trout pout, and it was clear something had also been done to her cheeks. The effect was not so plastic fantastic, more fish out of water.

Over the years I've joked with my mum friends about having a mummy tummy tuck but the reality is I think I'd be too scared to go under the knife and I don't really like the idea of having anything injected into my face - especially if it leaves me looking like that. Would you ever have anything done?

I don't know about you but my complexion has really been struggling against the elements this Winter. But personally the last thing I want to do is spend ages on a complicated skincare routine - I just want a quick beauty fix that does what it says on the bottle (or jar).

Which is why I was so excited to hear that one of my absolutely favourite brands, Clinique, have issued an introductory set for their brilliant 3-step skin care system,  which should see you through the cold snap.

If you haven’t used it before, the system only takes three minutes, twice a day, and it comes in four different skin types (no 4 is perfect for dry skin). Basically you wash your face with the soap (I promise you it doesn’t dry your complexion), then you exfoliate with the Clarifying Lotion to get rid of any dulling flakes (I know, sounds a bit gross, but essential!) and finally you moisturise with the Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion.

The set is £20, available from House of Fraser and Boots.

Now of course I treasure every homemade calendar, wood and pottery present I've ever been given by my offspring for Christmas. And if Tinkerbell and her friends are reading, I'd really like some fairies to come in and clean my house from top to bottom (yes, even the skirting boards) sometime before the 25th. But if someone is planning to buy me something, bearing in mind budgets are tight this year, I'd like it to be something I really, really want. So here's my pick of some of the best Mum Gifts around this season:

Michael Kors' Very Hollywood Eau de Parfum. Everything about this fragrance screams glamour - from the pink box to the beautiful bottle, which will look stunning in your bathroom or on your dressing table. And of course it smells heavenly - with delicious notes of mandarin, iced bergamot, jasmine, ylang ylang, raspberry and gardenia. Simply fabulous. From £33.28, available at House of Fraser .

A pair of Cath Kidston pyjamas. OK, so maybe they're not the sexiest things in the world (although they are very pretty) but they look incredibly snuggly and sometimes that's A Good Thing (£40, available from John Lewis). Also available at John Lewis is this adorable Jan Constantine 'Love' make-up bag, (£29).

A spa voucher from SpaFinder . One of my favourite presents ever has to be the spa visit the Man of the House gave me one year - a whole day of pampering and nothing to think about except myself and which room my next treatment was in, amazing. I don't know any woman who wouldn't be thrilled to be given one/some of these for Christmas.

A CD to do some mummy dancing to. I don't really want to find Susan Boyle under my tree this Christmas, good though Wild Horses is. I want to find Cheryl Cole's fab album 3 Words (£8.95, available from Play.)

M&S's lovely Signature candle. It's only £7, but it's stylish and elegant and smells of delicious grapefruit and ginger - perfect for lighting while you take a relaxing pampering bath with....

Goodworks amazing Good To Unwind gift set (£20, available from Boots). Simply everything you need for some serious Mum TLC, in one brilliant package and at a bargain price.

And finally, a good read. I've chosen two with a slightly spooky theme. Marian Keyes just keeps getting better and better, and her latest, The Brightest Star in the Sky, is an absolute genius of a book. And newcomer Cally Taylor's novel, Heaven Can Wait, is beautifully written, a real page turner - can't wait for more from her. Both available from Waterstones.

P.S: don't foget to tell your nearest and dearest that if they shop through KidStart for any of the above, they'll get money back for your kids. What's on your Christmas wish list?

How selfish are you? I bet, like me, you always put everyone else first. But if you're in need of some serious pampering right now, here's the chance to win a lovely collection of goodies from Radox to celebrate their 'Be-Selfish' campaign!

Recent research conducted by Radox found that the average British women spends 21 years of her life looking after other people, and only three on herself. This has resulted in 63% of women admitting to ‘boiling over’ on a regular basis, a condition labelled Vesuvius Syndrome. 

Radox hopes their ‘Be-Selfish’ campaign will galvanise women to take time, and have a Selfish hour. To help them do this, they asked best-selling author Kathy Lette (LOVE her) to write a book for them. Not only is 'All Steamed Up' a fab read, but it has a waterproof cover and it's available totally free at www.be-selfish.co.uk.

'I hope the book will give women the green light to take some selfish time,' Kathy says. 'It’s ‘superwoman’ tough to manage working, babies, running a house, bringing up children, making fairy costumes and whipping up gourmet spectaculars while also remaining svelte, sensuous and hot to trot. The only way to avoid boiling over is to take a selfish break every day.'

To celebrate the campaign, we've teamed up with Radox to offer you the chance to win one of three prizes in our exclusive competition. The first prize contains lots of Radox goodies, a copy of the book, candles, towel and bath products. Two other winners will win a Radox hessian bag with a copy of the book, 3 Radox products, candle and towel.

All you have to do to enter is send an email from your KidStart registered email address to competitions@kidstart.co.uk by the closing date Wednesday 14 October. If you're not a KidStart member, simply click here to join. (Please note that entries from non KidStart members will be disqualified).

Good luck!

All us devoted mums (and dads) need a treat now and again. I don't mean airy-fairy stuff like a lie-in or breakfast in bed (although if any kids are reading this, it would be nice). But I mean something lovely and that we may choose to buy for ourselves (or drop heavy hints for our halves to buy for us). It doesn't have to cost the earth, just something that looks/sounds/smells/tastes gorgeous.

I have what I call Mum's Wish/Want List. Most of the time it's in my head, except when it gets close to birthdays and Christmas... and then I start dropping heavy hints (pages ripped from magazines, emailed instructions, that kind of thing).

So I just thought I'd share with you a couple of things I bought recently from my own wishlist - I'd love to hear yours.

1. DKNY Be Delicious fragrance (£29.39, available from Debenhams). It's not just the crisp appley scent - although it is delicious and perfect for summer.  But this Limited Edition Pop Art-inspired bottle is so stunning, I couldn't wait for it to transform my dressing table into something super stylish.

2. Clinique Vitamin C Lip Smoothie (£13.50), Debenhams). This is sleek and stylish and I love the way it not only gives me great colour, but it does my lips good, as well.

Go on, treat yourself. You know you're worth it.