L'Occitane En Provence Advent Calendar Review 2015

Last month, I counted down the days 'til Christmas with the L'Occitane En Provence Advent calendar and I loved every second of it.

I'd planned to share what was behind each window daily on Instagram, but that kinda went out the window because my phone stopped working, and I couldn't access the app. I thought I'd share what I found behind all twenty-four windows today instead, and do a little review of the calendar as well.

So, this was L'Occitane's first twenty-four day Advent calendar, and it was one of those things I just had to get my hands on because L'Occitane is one of my favourite beauty brands. The thought of waking up to a different L'Occitane treat every day for almost a month was too tempting to resist, especially when it turned out to be one of the most affordable beauty calendars of 2015 at just £39! (With contents worth £52)!

Behind every beautifully illustrated cardboard window was a different festive treat, including 17 mini L'Occitane beauty products, and 7 festive-themed gifts like gift tags, place cards, and a cookie cutter.

I'm sure some people will have been disappointed that there wasn't a beauty product behind every window, but I wasn't. I knew what the contents were before I bought it, and was happy to chance it since I'm a sucker for stationery, gift wrapping supplies, and all things Christmas. Thankfully, I loved almost all of the goodies inside, including most of the non-beauty gifts, so I wasn't at all disappointed.

Here's a list of everything that was in the advent calendar, in order by date.

1. Ultra rich face cream with shea butter for dry skin 10ml.

2. Essential oils shampoo 35ml.

3. Set of 5 gift tags.

4. Milk extra-gentle soap with shea butter 50g.

5. Delightful Rose Hand Cream 10ml.

6. Almond oil shower gel 35ml.

7. Red bow Christmas decoration.

8. Pivoine flora (peony) hand cream 10ml.

9. Essential oils conditioner 35ml.

10. Cherry blossom hand cream 30ml.

11. Mini emery board nail file.

12. Jasmin & Bergamote perfumed soap 50g.

13. Ultra rich body lotion with shea butter 30ml.

14. Shea foot cream for dry skin 10ml.

15. Verbena body lotion 30ml.

16. Set of 10 Christmas place cards.

17. Delicious hands almond milk hand cream 10ml.

18. Star-shaped cookie cutter.

19. Moisturising shea butter lip balm 3ml.

20. Verbena shower gel 30ml.

21. Strip of 10 festive stickers.

22. Shea Hand Cream for dry skin 10ml.

23. Sachet of gold star table confetti.

24. Pivoine Flora (peony) eau de toilette.

There were five hand creams in different scents- rose, peony, almond, shea, and cherry blossom (my personal fave), which I was really pleased to get as I adore L'Occitane hand creams and will actually use them. I get through hand creams like there's no tomorrow, and these babies always leave me with the softest skin. I also got a tube of shea butter foot cream- an old favourite that works wonders on transforming dry feet back to their former silky-soft, sandal-season glory, and an ultra rich shea butter face cream, which I can't wait to try. 

There were two body lotions (shea and verbena), two shower gels (almond and verbena), and a shampoo and conditioner (with essential oils). The only two products I've used before are the verbena body lotion and shower gel, both of which I was excited to find inside because they're two of my favourite beauty products. The fragrance is to die for, and the products are both amazing! I can't say much about the others because I haven't tried them yet, but I'm particularly loving the scent of the almond shower gel, and can't wait to try them all. 

The calendar also included two decent-sized soaps in milk and jasmin & bergamote, a lip balm, and a small bottle of the Pivoine Flora eau de toilette, as an extra-special gift on Christmas Eve. I don't usually like floral fragrances, but this one is quite sweet-scented and not at all over powering, It's lovely. I'm going to keep it in my bag to use on the go.

I haven't had a chance to sample the other goodies yet, but I'll review all of the other beauty products as and when I use them.

And these are the other festive gifts I found inside. There were ten place cards, ten stickers, five gift tags, and a mini emery board which were all beautifully illustrated with festive designs like candy canes, bows, sprigs of holly, and Santa Claus; designs which matched those on the inner windows of the calendar. Along with the sachet of tiny gold star table confetti, and a star-shaped cookie cutter, I thought all of these extras were lovely, tasteful, and great quality little gifts. The only one I really didn't like was the red felt bow decoration, which looked like it had been fished out of a bargain bin at a pound shop. It looked and felt cheap and nasty. It doesn't match L'Occitane's usual level of quality, and I still think it was a bad choice for an otherwise high-quality calendar. Still, one dud out of twenty-four ain't bad, right?

As a whole, I really loved these little gifts. I was itching to use them all straight away, but in true blogger form, I needed to photograph them all first, so I made myself put them aside to use for next Christmas instead. I will definitely be using them all later in the year when Christmas rolls around again.

I can honestly say I loved L'Occitane's first Advent calendar! I looked forward to opening the windows every day, and it gave me a little Christmas morning excitement every morning during Advent. It was so much fun having a different gift to enjoy every day, especially on the days when I found a beauty product waiting for me behind the cardboard windows. I thought there was a great selection of products and fragrances, with plenty of old favourites and new ones for me to try. The other gifts rarely left me feeling disappointed, and all in all, the calendar just made my Christmas all the more magical. For just £39, it was so reasonably priced, great value, and well worth the price tag.
I would definitely consider buying a L'Occitane Advent calendar again in the future, and I think it's highly likely that I will!

Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me! Well done, L'Occitane!

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L'Occitane beauty Advent calendar sneak peek 2015

Haul | What I Got For Christmas 2015

I'm a bit late to the party, but today I'm going to give you a peek at some of the lovely presents my family gave me for Christmas. 

I know these posts are controversial and some of you hate them, but I personally love reading them on other blogs as I'm just plain nosey! I'm not writing this post to show off, or anything like that. I just want to share a snippet from my life, like most bloggers do every day, and talk about some lovely gifts I think you guys might enjoy hearing about. If you'd prefer to skip this post, no hard feelings!

Before I get started, I just want to apologize for the state of the photos. I'm really struggling with my photo editing right now, and I can't get my photos to look the way I want them to. The grey English Winter daylight isn't making things any easier. I ended up having to reshoot photos for this post three times and by then I'd already thrown out most of the outer packaging and packed my Christmas bedding away, so apologies for how inconsistent today's photos are. I've had to admit defeat on these ones.

I was spoilt rotten by my family this Christmas. I got some really awesome gifts, too.

My parents got me a Kindle Fire, which I'd had my eye on for months. It's a fantastic little tablet with loads of features, and I can't believe it retails for just £49.99! Amazing! I think it will be perfect for blogging on the go, and, y'know, reading, watching videos, pinning the shit out of Pinterest, perving over pictures of Tom Hardy, and window-shopping for things I can't afford.

My little sister, Sarah, gave me an Amazon Fire TV stick and a Netflix gift card, so I can have more films and TV shows to watch when I'm stuck in bed. I have so many TV shows to binge-watch now I've finally popped my Netflix cherry!

I was given Mr Mercedes by Stephen King, an adult colouring book called The Menagerie which is full of intricate animal pictures, and the new Nicholas Sparks film The Longest Ride on DVD.

My Mum bought me a Christmas cross stitch kit from Riverdrift House. I'm looking forward to playing with all of those colourful threads later in the year.

My older sister, Marie, got me the gorgeous Urban Decay Vice 4 eyeshadow palette, my parents gave me some Glazed Apple products from The Body Shop, and some Coca Cola Lip Smackers, and one of my relatives gave me a Nivea gift set. I can't wait to try them all!

My Grandad gave me a little Christmas money, so I spent it at The Body Shop. I wanted to get as many products as I could for my money, so I went for shower gels and soaps in Glazed Apple, Frosted Cranberry, Frosted Plum, and Satsuma, and I also bought a hand cream in Frosted Cranberry. There was a 40% off promo at the time, so I only spent £16.50, and I got a free 200ml pot of the Shea Butter body butter for spending over £10! An amazing freebie considering they're usually £14.00!

My parents gave me a Christmas candle (which I've packed away to enjoy next Christmas), plus a set of five Yankee Candle votives. I've never tried any of the five fragrances- Amber Moon, Ginger Dusk, Wild Fig, Honey Glow, and Lake Sunset- so I'm really looking forward to using them all.

One of my Auntie's gave me a really ugly notecard set (it's the thought that counts, right?), two cute little notepads, and a slimline torch, which I assume is designed to fit in to wallets. I've decided to keep it in my bag, as it's sure to come in handy at some point.

My parents gave me a cute Scottie dog money box and door stop, which I think were from BHS.

I got stacks of chocolate and snacks from my parents, including a Cadbury selection box, Pringles, a Thorntons Santa, chocolate coins, a chocolate orange, and a box of Malteasers. Marie gave me the gingerbread letter (which I'll totally decorate before I eat it), and also a box of candy canes that I forgot to add in to this photo. My stash should keep me going until Easter!

One of my Auntie's gave me an over-sized grey fringed blanket wrap from New Look. I doubt I'll wear it out of the house, but it's perfect for throwing on to keep warm and cosy when I'm blogging or watching a movie.

And, finally, I bought this gorgeous green polka dot Lola swing dress from Dolly and Dotty with some Christmas money from my Nana. It was / is on sale for just £14.99, and it's an absolute beauty! The perfect green polka dot dress I've been searching for for years. The colour is much brighter and bolder than my camera has captured; it's more like a dark apple green, and if you wear it with red accessories, you will look like a Christmas elf! In a good way, obviously. It comes in UK sizes 6-24, but it's generously cut, so size down if you decide to buy one or it will swamp you. I will definitely be going back for other colours soon- I bloody love this dress!

And that is what I got for Christmas last month. I know I was spoiled rotten this Christmas, but I'm grateful for every present I was given, and spoiled my family back in return! If you can't spoil your loved ones at Christmas, when can you, eh?

What was the best thing you were given for Christmas?

My Christmas 2015

Happy New Year, you lovely lot!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and are having a very happy New Year so far. How did you all spend it?

I didn't do anything much to see in the New Year. I left my bed long enough to watch a movie and have a takeaway with my sister, and crawled back home to bed soon after the new year began. I'm so rock 'n' roll! I haven't straying far from my bed today, but I'm fine with that. I've been so exhausted this last week that I've felt like a living zombie. I've been drifting in and out of naps, and in between I've just felt so dazed. I'm actually relieved the Christmas madness is almost over for another year so I can relax and recharge, and life can get back to normal.

I wrapped a shed-load of presents this Christmas!

I'm so behind with my blog posts and comments, but I'm going to do my best to catch up over the next few days. I've got a couple of Christmas posts to blog before I start on the new year reflection and resolution posts, but I hope you guys won't mind too much. I'm starting with how I spent my Christmas today. Warning: it's very word and photo heavy!

So, I had a lovely, albeit very quiet Christmas at home with just my immediate family- my parents, and two sisters. My brother-in-law was back in Dubai for Christmas after his R&R earlier in the month, and my Dad was full of cold, so a quiet, chilled day at home suited most of us. Everybody else had been to the larger, louder family gatherings before Christmas, anyway.

I spent Christmas Eve afternoon with my sister, Marie, running a few last minute errands, and baking up a storm in her kitchen. Well, she baked; I mostly sat at the kitchen table getting cuddles from Mia (the dog), while taking charge of the Christmas tunes. Blasting out songs and putting cake cases in to tins totally counts as baking, right? Right. Bake Off, eat your heart out! We baked three batches of fairy cakes- chocolate, vanilla, and coffee and walnut, and headed home once the last cake was iced, around 6pm.

My Mum put a little Christmas Eve buffet tea together, but I was in so much pain from being out of bed all day I ended up taking a plate up to bed, got in my PJs, put on some festive TV, turned myself in to a human burrito, and barely moved for the rest of the night. Aside from the pain, it was almost blissful!

On Christmas Day, I woke feeling sick, so I ended up hitting snooze for an hour and a half before dragging myself out of bed at half nine. My parents were already up exchanging gifts, and Marie had come over at the crack of dawn so she wouldn't have to spend Christmas morning alone. We had to drag my younger sister, Sarah, out of bed, and then the present-giving and opening commenced.

This is the pile of presents my parents gave me. I was given a new Kindle, and lots of other little things I'll be revealing in a 'what I got for Christmas' post, hopefully tomorrow.

I love the cross-stitch style wrapping paper Marie wrapped my presents with. She gave me the Urban Decay Vice 4 palette, which I bloody love!

I wore my cosy new Elf Christmas PJs until midday, fat thighs an' all.

After the presents were all opened, I sat down and made my Christmas crackers while watching Elf, felt nauseated again and had to lie down on the sofa for a while. I ran out of time to make table favours, and didn't have time or strength to work my magic on the dinner table before Christmas dinner, like I always do. It didn't really matter at the end of the day, but there were so many things I couldn't do this Christmas that the old me did with ease that it really bothered me and I got really frustrated. Even after four and a half years, I still forget I have limitations now, and I hate them with a passion. And yes, I'm so boring, and need to get a life!

I changed in to my new green Lola swing dress from Dolly and Dotty before lunch (this one), and dressed it up with red accessories. I didn't manage to get a clear photo of myself in it because it was pissing down with rain all day, and so dark and dreary, but I looked like a Christmas elf! I'm going to recreate it really soon for an OOTD.

I tried out some false Christmas nails on Christmas Eve night, but they were a bit of a disaster. I lost one within half an hour, and three or four came off before eleven the next morning. I was gutted because they looked great before they all came off.

We sat down for dinner early afternoon, and had turkey with all the trimmings, played Christmas tunes, laughed using silly Christmas photo booth props, and sent chocolates flying across the room as we pulled crackers over the table. We had my blackberry and apple trifle for dessert, except this year my Mum had to make it, and then crashed in front of the TV for a few hours. I had a chat with my bestie on the phone, and afterwards I got ready to head over to Marie's for a few hours, as she had to get home to the dog. 

We left around 5 or 6pm, but went for a long drive to spot Christmas lights before heading back to hers. Everywhere was so quiet and calm. We were going to have a few drinks and break out the board games, but we ended up just vegging in front of the TV with some snacks, and the Mia dog. I think I stayed until about nine or ten, when I couldn't deal with the pain anymore, and needed my bed. I headed home to bed and turkey sandwiches, and chilled for the rest of the night.

To most people's standards, including ours, it wasn't the most exciting way to spend Christmas, but we still had a lovely couple of days together. Apart from my brother-in-law being away for Christmas, we got to spend some quality time as a family, ate delicious food, gave great gifts, laughed, and found some time to just chill. What more could anybody ask for?

I had a lovely Christmas, and now I'm ready to start the new year and see where it will take me.

Happy New Year, everyone!

How did you spend your Christmas?