8 Perfect Hostess Gifts

I adore party season.
And I adore being a great guest. 
One of the keys to being a great guest is thinking out a really fabulous hostess gift. 
You should never show up empty handed, and a bottle of wine or flowers sometimes just say you grabbed something last minute, or didn't bother to think ahead.
So I like to stock up on hostess gifts throughout the year, and always be ready.

Here is a list of 8 Perfect Hostess Gifts

The Diptique Baies Candle.
I've loved this candle for more years than I care to count. It smells like a bouquet of roses wrapped in blackcurrent leaves, and frankly, is totally luxurious.

Tatcha Kokoro Golden Lip Gift Set
Everything from Tatcha is divine. Their packaging alone makes everything feel like the most unique and special gift, even when you are just buying your own skincare products.
I absolutely love Camellia Oil in lip products, and the combination of the Camellia lip balm and the gold mirror makes for the loveliest hostess gift (or bridesmaids gift).
Order at Tatcha.com

Tory Burch Soap Set
I love Tory Burch. 
And I love these soaps. It's a set of 4 blush colored soaps wrapped in signature Tory prints.
The soaps are beautifully fragranced and are lovely to receive.

Carine Roitfeld Irreverent
I'm just fascinated with former Vogue Paris Editor Carine Roitfeld.
Karl Lagerfeld once said "if you close your eyes and imagine the perfect Parisian woman, it would be Carine Roitfeld"
She is the epitome of style, and this glorious coffee table book is a visual history of her ever exciting career.
Coffee table books make wonderful gifts.

Mini Macarons By LeilaLove Macarons
I love Macarons. They always make me think of fun times in Paris. Macarons are always a wonderful gift, and this gift set is not only lovely, but also very affordable.

The sleek, modern lines of the Savino Wine Saver Carafe make it a very chic hostess gift, as well as a very useful one. The carafe is designed to presere left over wine, keeping it fresh for up to a week. It's incredibly clever - the float seals the wine, keeping oxygen out and all the flavor in.

Indieflix: Film Festival In A Box is about as cool and unique as it gets. Each box holds 4 short, indie films. The idea is that you get a bunch of friends over, hold your own mini film fest (the films each run 10-20 minutes) and then everyone votes on their fave. You go on the website and report in the results. How fun is that?
Read more about Indieflix Film Festival In a Box here

Cocoa and Hearts Lipstick Dots Notecards by Jen Ramos for 
Made By Girl
I love Jen's Made By Girl prints, and actually have several in my home office and around my house. The prints themselves make great gifts, especially for stylish, fashion forward girls, and Jen also has a fabulous selection of notecards and journals. Find them here at MadeByGirl.com

New Travel Bags from Stephanie Johnson

If you are starting to work out and diet to get ready for summer, and planning summer vacations, spring break getaways, long weekend mini-breaks, or a honeymoon its a good time to start thinking about how you will be traveling your makeup, skin care and haircare products. 

Chic air travel

I travel all the time both for work and for pleasure, and being that I am a makeup artist and a devotee of makeup, skin care and hair products its really important to me that I have an organized system to move everything around the country and around the world, and have it all arrive in one piece. Anyone who has ever traveled anywhere knows what a nuisance it is to arrive somewhere and find your makeup has broken, lotions and potions have leaked, or even worse the debris from this has migrated into your suitcase.

I have found that the key is to have incredibly well made, structured, strong cosmetic bags that are designed to hold up to the rigors of travel. Years ago I started to realize that all the celebrities I was working with traveled with beautiful, stylish travel cosmetic bags by Stephanie Johnson. Allowing for the fact that my actors and musicians traveled even more than I did, I knew they had to be onto something!

Gelato in Turin

Consequently I too became a devotee of Stephanie Johnson travel makeup bags. I have used them for years, and if you have been a follower of this blog you will know that I have blogged about them frequently.

 

I'm busy organizing spending the summer in Italy again this year, so was super excited to see the new Stephanie Johnson Torino collection.

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection

Isn't it lovely?

It's an update of the Turin collection. The gelato hued zigzag weave is offset by a luscious raspberry patent leather trim and raspberry tassle zipper pulls. Inside the lining is fresh lemon.

Each bag is available individually, or if you're like me you can choose an assortment, or the full collection.

I sometimes use the smaller bags as chic little clutch purses when I go out at night, and love to use the smaller bags as cosmetic purses inside my handbag year round.

Here are the bags individually

I use the Jenny Train Case to death when I travel. Its super sturdy and is easy to organize all my items and see them clearly. 

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection Jenny Train Case

Hanging bags are ideal for travel. You can clearly see all your things and don't lose valuable counter space.

Stephanie Johnson Hillary Hanging Bag, Torino Collection

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection Hillary Hanging Bag

 The Large Fiona Trapezoid sits upright on your bathroom counter, and is surprisingly spacious.

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection, Laura Trapezoid Bag

The Fiona Dome Cosmetic case slips into your handbag and is nice and slim. The extended zipper opening enables you to not only fit a lot inside, but to access it easily, as it opens wider than most bags.

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection Fiona Cosmetic Bag

The Mary Brush Case hold both makeup and brushes

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection, Mary Brush Case

And a girl has to have a color co-ordinated iPad case when she travels!

Stephanie Johnson Torino Collection iPad case

For those of you getting married this spring/summer, Stephanie Johnson Travel Cosmetic bags are ideal to take on your honeymoon, and also make deliciously stylish and chic bridesmaids gifts.

Everyone knows that kisses taste better in Italy!! ~ Kissing in Turin...

If you are a travel enthusiast (like me!) or if you just enjoy looking at other people's travel, Stephanie Johnson has a fantastic blog that gives you a window into her chic and exciting life of travel, called 

Stephanie Johnson Style Compass. In her blog she introduces you to fabulous places to go, where to stay and what to wear. Last year my entire wardrobe for Capri was based on the advice in Stephanie's blog!

If you are an Italophile (like me!) and want to look at life in Turin,another blog I adore is 

All Roads Lead To Pecetto. This is the lifestyle blog of an expat American girl now living in Turin with her handsome Italian man. It doesn't get much better than that!