So Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us and buying a gift can be tricky business. But don’t panic if you’re still yet to decide just what to buy your loved one – there’s still time to shop online. To help you out here are six gift ideas for under £60 for him and her …

For her: A classic silver bangle with a twist, £56 

Minimal and contemporary, this Antica Murrina Veneziana creation has two red Murano glass beads at each end of the sterling silver bangle. Made in Venice – famous world wide for centuries of glass making and, of course, romance.

For him: Sonia Spencer rugby cufflinks, £14.99

Presented in a stylish gift box, rugby fans will love sporting these Sonia Spencer cufflinks. An ideal gift, these rugby cufflinks are hand painted on bone china and feature a rugby try design suited to both casual and formal occasions.

For her: Juicy Couture Eau de Parfum Handbag Spray, £34

Regal, decadent and sweet, this fragrance from Juicy Couture is the scent Marie-Antoinette would have dipped herself in, had it been around in the 18th century! With top notes of watermelon, mandarin, pink passion fruit, marigold and green apple, this perfume is sensual, sophisticated and perfect for Valentine’s Day.

For him: Prada Infusion d’Homee Aftershave, From £27.50

Infusion d’Homme is a subtle, masculine scent for the contemporary man with top notes of sparkling Tunisian neroli. The bottle echoes the design of vintage perfume bottles, but its understated cut creates a sleek modern feel.

For her: Marks and Spencer Ceriso Floral Lace Bikini Knickers, £6

These pink and black low-rise knickers have a cute centre bow and come in a lace floral design.

Perfect for frolicking round the house in on Valentine’s Day!

For him: D&G Striped Boxer Shorts, Now just £19
These classic elasticated boxer shorts have the D&G logo on the waistband. Available in many styles including in blue cotton with thin dark red, white and navy stripes throughout.

For lots more ideas visit our gift section at SHOP.COM.

Ugg boots or ugly boots? You either love them or hate them, but one thing’s for sure, what started out as a fad has become a permanent fixture on the UK fashion scene. Before Christmas there were crazy queues to get into the UGG® Australia store in Westfield and many styles are constantly selling out! So what makes Uggs so popular?The “ugg boot” style originated in Australia or New Zealand where folk there have been making them for over a century. The word “ugg” is a generic term for sheepskin boots (and actually derives from the word ‘ugly’!)

Believe it or not such ugg boots were pioneered by Australian pilots in World War One who wore them for warmth and called them ‘fug boots’ – “flying ugg boots”. Since then these sheepskin boots have graced the soles of sheep shearers, farmers, surfers and swimmers, until they shot to fame a few years ago, when “UGG® Australia” branded boots became in trend in the USA and were papped on the feet of celebrities including Paris Hilton and Kate Moss.Despite the fact that they’re not exactly dainty, UGG boots are exceptionally warm and are great for winter weather due to the furry sheepskin interiors that mould to the shape of your foot. This enables your feet to be at body temperature come rain or shine. The warmth of the UGG boot means they can actually be worn with or without socks! But be warned, they’re not waterproof and a soggy Ugg boot is a sorry sight. And if you do decide to go sock-free they can get a bit smelly …

So if your UGGS have taken a bashing this winter why not invest in a new pair for the Spring? Now available in metallic, cardi-knit, buttoned and even baby styles, there are plenty to choose from.And make sure to keep your UGGs pristine with an UGG Sheepskin Care Kit, perfect to keep your boots looking their best, ugly or not!

Fill your boots with these great Ugg boot bargains at SHOP.COM. 

The IARC, International Agency for Research on Cancer have now concluded that there is no doubt sunbeds cause cancer. The IARC have assessed the carcinogenic risk to humans as serious and smoking or exposure to asbestos. With that in mind I have to confess that Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion has probably saved my life. Each summer the feel good factor of a tan and the dismal British summers sent me to the sunbed at my local gym in search of an all over glow. Even after a foreign holiday an occasional sunbed enabled me to top up my tan for a longer lasting darker look.That’s until I discovered Dove. It was first recommended to me by a Beauty PR who along with dry shampoo appeared to know all the tricks of the trade. But I ignored the suggestion thinking she was probably naturally tanned. Then putting together a list of recommended beauty buys for summer by Kate Creasy, editor at Cosmo, I noticed the Dove lotion was one of her favored products too. At under a fiver I thought I’d give it a go. By the end of the week I was amazed by my beautiful natural, even tan. Like body lotion it’s easy to apply everywhere. Your hands, face and body can be covered in a smooth layer of the lotion and unlike fake tans it builds colour gradually so you never have a streaky look. So this summer I used Dove Summer Glow and have not needed a single sunbed session. I feel great in summer dresses and short skirts and am proud of my natural looking glow.

So thank you Dove, you’ve probably saved my skin.

   Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion £4.89

 

This Father’s Day Firebox has been one of our most popular stores at SHOP.COM. Their quirky and cool gadgets and gifts are definitely great for dads. One of the top selling items this year is the Air Rock Guitar, recently demonstrated by Kate on the Apprentice. Wannebe rock star dads can thrash away at cords on the infra red strings whilst the built in speaker and audio sockets connect to an amp (or hopefully) headphones, then its over to dad…..Hello Cleveland!

 

For the Fathers that want an easier life, another of Firebox’s hottest items is the remote control drinks cooler. You simply add ice, fill with beer, then when its time to fetch your next drink, you simply guide it to wherever you’re lying using the 30ft remote control. This is the perfect present for Homer style dads.

 

So if you haven’t bought anything yet grab one of these items quickly.

 

 Air Guitar Rockstar £14.95

 

Remote Control Drinks Cooler £39.95

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to sunglasses celebrities put us all in the shade. No A to E lists celeb would ever leave the house without a stylish pair of sunnies to help diffuse paparazzi flash bulbs. For me selecting new seasons spec is something of a ritual. At over hundred pounds a pop I can only afford one treasured pair of specs from Gucci, Prada or this year - Mui Mui. After that any other stylish specs have to come straight from the high street. That can sometimes be a tough challenge but this year there’s some great credit crunching designs available. Next have an amazing selection all around £20 and under. Or try can ASOS for Aviators at £10 and Primark for some great funky fashion and cool coloured specs. With so many stylish sunnies at a snip of the designer price it is possible to maintain a celebrity lifestyle and always stay shielded too.

  Mui Mui Oversized Round Sunglasses were £110.00 now £88.00  Asos Rost Tinted Gold Aviators £10.00

 

 

So the new whiter than white, “tailored by England” football strip, recently unveiled, is now on sale for us all to rush out and buy. If you saw England play the Ukraine yesterday you will have seen the squad kitted out in the new all white top, all white shorts and all white socks. Umbro appointed Saville Row trained Charlie Allen as head of the design team to develop the new kit. Allen took inspiration from England glory days (despite there only being one day 43 years ago) to create the all white, classic, made to measure strip complete with tailored shoulder darts and carefully placed ventilation points. The strip is apparently designed to complement Fabio Coppello’s philosophy of “unity, formality and attention to detail”. Whilst the likes of Beckham, Rooney and Ferdinand were clearly in a dilemma yesterday as to whether to wear tops with or without T-shirts, collars up or down and how high to pull up the shorts, I bet there wasn’t one mum of a footballing mad son wondering “how the hell am I going to wash that?”

 Kids New England Top £39.99

 Kids New England Shorts £19.99

 Kids New England Socks £7.99

The Sunday Mirror newspaper yesterday announced the happy news that Man United and England ace, Wayne Rooney and his much loved wife, Coleen are expecting their first baby in September. This wonderful news will no doubt mean a fevour from the paparazzi to capture snaps of baby or bump shopping from Coleen to confirm the rumour is true.Used to having her shopping trips and resulting looks documented in the press, Coleen will no doubt want to make sure she’s awash with maternity must-haves during this first trimester and happy with her featured image. Here are our tips to help:

• The first things to remember when shopping for clothes to incorporate your expanding waistline is don’t just go for a bigger size.  Invest in carefully selected pieces that will give comfort and shape to an ever expanding you. Wrap and rouched dresses and tops are great for this. 
• Don’t change your personality when you’re pregnant, continue to wear your favourite styles and don’t adopt a twinset and pearl look just because you’re joining a new club!
• The High Street puts on a poor show for mums-to-be, although with both ASOS and Top Shop now stocking maternity capsules it is possible to track down trendier items if you look hard enough. Littlewoods Direct have similarly taken note of a desire for new mums to stay on trend and recently launched some glowing designs by TV presenter, Holly Willoughby.
• And if you can’t find, and it is tough, the clothes you would wish to wear to complement the new you, then stick with simple designs and invest in fabulous shoes, treat yourself to the perfect bag and splurge on designer sunglasses instead. You can then use your favourite accessories to showcase your style. I’m sure Coleen will have no problem doing that.

  Cap Wrap Dress from Isabella Oliver £80

   ASOS Jersey Wrap Bust Dress £27.50

 Holly Willoughby Maternity Shawl Cardigan £35

 

The Sunday Times Style magazine printed an article this weekend entitled Transgenerational dressing. The article confirmed that mums are just as likely to raid their daughter’s wardrobes as the other way round.In our house my daughter’s clothes have been fair game for me for a long while. I poach everything from socks to blouses, jumpers and jackets. Best areas to raid for me are all her casual clothes, t-shirts, sweat pants, hoodies, sweat tops. I begrudge spending money on casual clothes for myself preferring to spend my hard earned cash on some key tailored items. My daughter’s drawers however are rich pickings for Nike and Adidas. And whilst she steels my heels for an occasional night out I take her trainers and ballet pumps for my more dressed down days.  But do I leave her clothes at my friends’ houses, screw them up and leave them under my bed for weeks, deny ever having borrowed them or customise, cut, sew or alter bits…? No, not yet anyway. Perfect pickings - Nike Composure Trainers were £45, now £39 at SHOP.COM 

 

So the gorgeously stylish guys at Apple have just launched their latest version of the  iPod shuffle. Costing just £59 the shuffle is jaw droppingly small, has 4GB of memory and holds up to 1,000 tunes. It is also the first ever MP3 player with a voice over feature that tells you what song is playing, although that could be annoying.

This third generation shuffle is half the size of it’s predecessor at a staggeringly small 18 mm wide and 27 mm long. It is the smallest music player ever and lays claim to being about the size of a door key. Naturally the shuffle, in either silver or grey, is a super stylish must-have item but as I’m always losing my door keys I don’t know if I’d be able to keep it for very long.

 

Ipod Shuffle £59.00

 

Another week and another interest rate cut (yippee!- sorry but I’m a borrower not a saver) and yet another high street store has a 25% of everything sale. This week it’s Debenhams who are cutting prices in a attempt to join the government and get us spending again. The sale started Wednesday 4^th March and runs through until Saturday 7th. There’s some great tote handbags from Misha Barton , killer heels from Faith and super stylish skirts, Julien MacDonald’s are my favourites. And,if like me, the light that comes with the new season suggests a spring clean and fresh look for your home then you’ll find some great deals from Denby, Dyson, Dorma and even Ditton Hill.

 

But if Sunday comes and you realize you’ve missed the Debenhams sale you’ll have to get to the YOOX website for some discount designer gear instead. To celebrate World Women’s Day on March 8^th YOOX are also offering 15% discount this time on seriously chic items in their Wonder Woman section. Find new releases from favourites like Viktor & Rolf, Balenciaga, Vivienne Westwood and Prada. Simply select your purchase and enter WOMAN@YOOX as the promotional code at checkout to get you discount.

 

International Women’s Day, in case you didn’t know, started in the early 1900’s and is now promoted by the UN as an occasion to reflect female issues surrounding work, fairness and equality. So you owe it to the government’s efforts to revive the economy, to save high street stores and to celebrate women everywhere, to shop till you drop this weekend. And remember just think how much you’ll spend save.