AD - PR products included, with no obligation to post about them
Well hello! It's been a while since I've typed in this little space of the internet. With filming, working on new exciting projects and going back to school, this little outlet has taken a backseat, much to my dismay.
But now, with a number of things that have happened, I've found my balance once again! I've started actually having the time to plan content, and that brings me with so much joy.
Another thing that brings me a lot of joy (great segway Georgie) is the festive season! So what better way to start back with making content, than with some gift guides!
As always, I'm trying to focus on more sustainable gifting options, and one brand that I love who are doing great things for the planet is L'Occitane. I've worked a lot with them in the past, and they remain in my top 5 sustainable beauty brands.
In this gift round-up I've got some picks that they've sent over for me to try, as well as some bits that I bought myself for gifting this year that I think should make it into your shopping basket this month!
DECORATIONS AND CRACKERS
These first two options work perfectly for stocking fillers, Secret Santas or just as an extra gift for a loved one (or yourself of course).
First off, the tree decorations! Inside these pretty decorations you'll find a trio of mini's from some of L'Occitane's favourite collections. They are all nature-inspired, and great value for money too.
The Magic of Christmas bauble in particular is a great pick, as you get all of their mini hand creams which I find great for popping in my bag to use on the go.
The crackers that they do are also really good ideas for presents, especially presents for people at work. These have all sadly sold out at the moment, but keep an eye on the site in case they restock.
LUXURY GIFT SETS AND FRAGRANCES
If you're looking for a main present for someone, then take a look at their luxury gift sets and fragrances! The gift sets come beautifully wrapped, with some in limited edition festive boxes, meaning you can give them straight to your recipient without needing to do much decorating yourself.
The Best of L'Occitane box is again sadly out of stock, but keep an eye out in case it comes back! There are some very similar boxes still available, where you get either a collection of different products, ones with all the same products, or ones with a full range in.
I absolutely love L'Occitane fragrances (my particular fave is the Herbae scent) and they have a huge range too, especially with the men's fragrances. My favourite is Baux, which is a wonderful woody fragrance with notes of red peppercorn, cardamom, cypress and incense.
If the fragrances are slightly out of your budget, they also do accompanying products like this shower gel, as well as after-shave balm, soap and deodorant.
STOCKING FILLERS
Those smaller gifts can sometimes be the hardest gifts to buy! L'Occitane have a great range of gifts suitable for stocking fillers and Secret Santas like their shampoo bars! They are a great eco-friendly gift, and they come in lot's of different versions including this Purifying Freshness one.
This last gift would work perfectly either as a stocking filler, or to buy for yourself to use for gifts. Reusable wrapping has slowly been gaining in popularity over the years, and this year L'Occitane have released these gorgeous reusable gift bags made of 100% recycled cotton. They also make great little storage bags if you're looking at getting these for yourself…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you a fan of L'Occitane products?
Gx
When I was a kid, my mum encouraged me to sew. We would sit down with her sewing kit, and I remember fondly sewing my first few messy stitches. We started by making a shell needle holder, a hedgehog pin cushion and some little finger puppets, all of which I still have and use (apart from the finger puppets)! I even took up textiles at school before my GSCE's, where I learnt how to use a sewing machine for the first time, as well as getting into crocheting.
And then, for some reason, I stopped. I'm not 100% sure why, I don't know whether my heart was in it as much as I thought, or the fact that I had so many other interests in my teenage years that I would start a sewing project and never have the time to finish it. Either way, I stored my needle and threads into my sewing box and tucked it into a corner of my room to be forgotten about.
When I went travelling, a lot of my stuff went into storage as my room was being redecorated while I was away, and that little sewing box got buried under a lot of other boxes. Then, lockdown came around, and with all that extra time on our hands, we started to tackle all my things in storage and finally was reunited with my old sewing kit!
As I started to go through my old kit and update it, I found even though I was excited to start sewing again, I was also really nervous. After not having a needle in my hand for so long, I wondered how easy it would be to pick up again. I wanted to be able to mend my own clothes, as well as make them eventually too, but I had no idea where to start.
In the end, we started with something small - a sausage dog armrest for my laptop. And the end result wasn't too bad at all! I found it took me a while to get back into it, especially using the sewing machine, but as I gained confidence I gained speed, and found myself whizzing through it all!
I felt so proud that I had managed to make something besides a finger puppet, something that had a use! Since then, I've been looking up all sorts of patterns of things I want to try next, and I'll be using offcuts of material to minimise waste. Keep your eyes peeled as I'm sure I'll be sharing my creations when I finish them.
I'm honestly really chuffed that I took the leap to start sewing again - it's been something I've wanted to do for so long to get my creative juices flowing. So if you're not sure about taking the leap of getting into sewing, or renewing your skills, I say go for it! Start small, don't overwhelm yourself with big projects. Thinking about it is one thing, but actually getting down to make those first few stitches is so much more fulfilling.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT TO WATCH
It can be really overwhelming when you are looking at living more sustainably. That's partly why I follow imperfect sustainability, which is where you try your best to be as sustainable as possible, but don't beat yourself up or have a major guilt-trip if you stumble sometimes.
Regardless of whether you are just starting your journey, or are well on the way to living more sustainably but feel like you're missing some things, we can all easily implement really small things that can end up making a big difference. I'm certainly not perfect at doing all these things all the time, but they are certainly great places to start if you're feeling a little lost
AD - contains all pr products sent to me without obligation to post about, and affiliate links marked with ad-aff
After Christmas, Valentine's Day always sneaks up on me! Anyone else?
It normally leads me to panic buying, but this year I've been fairly organised, and after the success of last year's eco Valentine's gift guide, I wanted to bring it back for this year too!
So if you're on the lookout for something to buy your loved one, your bestie for Galentine's, or want to show yourself some self-love and treat yourself that isn't the classic red roses and chocolates and doesn't harm the environment, then read on…
Well, it's certainly a later start to the year than I expected!
Normally at the start of the new year, I do a little reflection of the previous year, but I've kind of been in two minds about it this year. Last year definitely wasn't what we expected it would be, and I know a lot of people would rather just forget it happened! But I think there was still a lot of good that came out of 2020, and that good should be celebrated!
Also, I try and get my reflections post up at the start of the year, but over the past few weeks I've actually been back on set! I feel so incredibly grateful to be able to be back filming, especially as there are so many in the industry who still aren't working. It's definitely been a bit strange going from not going out anywhere to travelling, staying in a hotel and being around people other than my family (socially distanced of course) but being busy like this makes me so happy.
At the start of the year, I would spend a long time thinking about what I achieved in the last year, but as I was looking back at the last year, I realised that one of the main achievements of 2020 was just getting through it!
So instead, I'm going to point out the small but important things that made 2020 great, and what I've got planned so far for this year...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons