Beauty Clinic: (Bathtime) gift suggestions for a mum's birthday

Q. I am 14 and have fallen in love with your book The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible. It’s my mum’s birthday and I want to make up a gift set from the book. What would you suggest? A. We are simply delighted you like our latest book so much. (This also answers several readers who ask if we have written an update of The Green Beauty Bible, originally published in 2003. The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible is our new ‘green’ book.)

It’s a lovely idea to gift your mother an award-winning product from the book. We have two suggestions. You say she is under quite a lot of pressure and we can’t think of anything nicer than relaxing in a warm bath scented with aromatherapy oils at the end of a long day.

You ask for award-winning products from The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible and one of our testers’ favourites – and very much our own – is Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil. A bit of an investment at £45 for 55ml but you only need a heavenly-smelling capful per bath to waft you away to a worry-free mind and restful sleep.

Deep Relax blends vetiver, chamomile, patchouli and sandalwood oils in such high quantities that it is, as Jo puts it, ‘like knockout drops’. One tester commented that ‘the only way to explain this is it made me feel very happy; I’ve decided to use it every Friday to kick-start the weekend’.

However, if this is a bit over your budget, why don't you make your mother some gifts from the simple recipes in the book and pop them in a pretty basket? There are Pampering Bath Bags and Rose Petal Bath Oil, as well as Sarah’s favourite Lavender and Salt Body Scrub. There are also recipes for DIY facial oils (which we’re addicted to) and lots of other lovely products to whiz up at home.