I was wandering about in House of Fraser again yesterday – my primary mission was to buy a bathmat with a non-slip backing, but none of them were posh enough to grace the floor of the new ‘bathroom-with-own-mortgage’. The new bathmat must be woven from gold and platinum threads, spun by the angel Gabriel’s own bare hands. And House of Fraser don’t stock those this season. (I jest, of course – they do stock them, but there’s an unholy waiting list.)

I digress; wandering around, I passed through the Apothecary area with it’s little glass jars of goodies and shelves of hard-to-find products. I do like the Apothecary section – the best example of which is most definitely in the Glasgow branch of HoF – for its boutique-y, old-fashioned, pick ‘n mix feel. Anyway. I noticed, with a little flutter of excitement, that HoF now stock Rose & Co, purveyors of cute, girly, gorgeously scented bath things. You’ll have seen their Rose Salve (pictured below) in Boots, no doubt, but you might not be so familiar with some of their more luxurious products.

Everything is very English Country Garden, very ‘lady’s boudoir’, very Victorian tea-party. Which, as we all know, makes for perfect birthday (and mothers’ day!) presents. The Bath Fondants, pictured top, are beautifully packaged and really make me feel a little bit sick with hunger. They cost £15 for a box of six, but there are various (equally well-wrapped) bath melts and ‘fancies’ starting at £3.50.

If you have never tried the Rose Petal Salve (£5) then do – I have one floating about in my bag which inevitably opens during the day and coats everything with a film of moisturising rose-juice – it works on lips, cuticles and bits of dry skin, and it smells beautiful.