Today I am lucky enough to have another awesome guest blogger taking over the blog for me while I spend some quality time with little man and Jon. I very pleased to say she is also a fellow Welsh Blogger! I’d like to introduce you all to Llio Angharad who is going to tell you all about her Top 5 Welsh Businesses and why she is championing them!
Hello! My name is Llio Angharad and today I’ve written a guest post for Chantele and Two Hearts One Roof. When looking for beauty products and clothes shopping, we have the most awful habit of going straight to the high street and indulging in fast fashion and cheaper beauty items.
However, Wales has many hidden treasures, so here are my top 5 small Welsh businesses.
Spirit of the Isle – (Now closed sorry!)
This company is from Anglesey, and it’s really worth taking a look at their products! Selling soap bars and bubble bars, all their products are handmade.
I’ve tried one of their soaps, and I’ve spent ages in the shops that stock them (Oriel Mon stocks them!) smelling all the different variety, and they’re all so lush! Not only do they smell luscious, but they look super pretty too!
They also offer shampoo bars and scrubs. Go check them out!
Finding the perfect lip balm that actually works is as hard as finding the perfect pair of jeans that actually fits. But, fear not. I have found the lip balm supreme!
Gwdihŵ, or Goodyhoo, is another small company from Anglesey. Their lip balm product ‘Smoochy Lips’ or ‘Gwefus Melys’ is lush and, I’m not over exaggerating, it’s like heaven on your lips. It works instantly, soothing any chapped lips and I use it almost every day during the winter. It fiercely protects your lips from the harsh weather.
I’ve never been in a Lan Llofft shop. They have shops in Cardiff and Lampeter, so a bit too far for me to reach at the moment. But I follow them on pretty much every social media website and every time I see a post I feel the urge to drive hours to visit them! Actually, I’m writing this on the train down to Cardiff (to appear on Tag on S4C! Available on iPlayer *wink*)… So you know where I’ll be! Lan Llofft!
Anyway, their product include shoes, jewellery and the latest fashion styles and everything looks so colourful! The only way I can really describe the Lan Llofft style is clothes that you can wear in the workplace, but then you can also go straight to a party and rock your clothes there too!
Cwt Tatws offers décor for the house, jewellery from independent arsists, greeting cards… that sort of thing.
The stall is always so eye catching and aesthetically pleasing with very contemporary décor. This year at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in Flint, my absolute favourite piece was a life size decorative flamingo (I actually don’t know how big a real flamingo is, so I’m only guessing that this was life size because it was pretty big!). Why was it my favourite? Because decorative flamingo.
The first time I came across Buddug was at a National Eisteddfod. I fell hard in love with the jewellery with unique designs and a technique of making jewellery pieces that was totally new to me.
Using an enamel technique, her style is truly different. According to her website, the technique she uses is a ‘method of metling glass on copper, silver and steel’. Buddug creates stunning floral designs as jewellery and plates with pretty wording, such as ‘Cariad’ (Love), ‘Teulu’ (Family) and “Do All Things With Love”.
A few years ago I bought a necklace from Buddug as a present for my mum on Mother’s Day (pictured). It was the perfect present! Although she hasn’t wore it much (Thanks, Mum…) I still love the design, and I often steal it to wear it!
I want to say a big thank you to Llio for this post, I am a little in love with the items on Cwt Tatws already, so very pleased that she introduced me to that and the other stores. Do you have a favourite local business, I would love to hear about it!
