Yankee Candle Reindeer Carousel advent calendar - first impressions

After my musings on advent calendars the other day, I decided that the Yankee Candle Reindeer Carousel was the one for me this year. I love its drum like shape, and the giant red bow on top. It's the ultimate Christmas box.

I have to say... it's not the most post friendly box. Mine arrived quite battered, with some of the doors open already. And reviews on the Yankee Candle website imply I'm not the only one - lots of people haven't been overly impressed with the state their calendar arrived in. But I'm putting this down to its awkward shape. Saying that, the damage on mine is minimal and you can hardly notice it.

Day one presented a red candle, which was sugary sweet, and I believed to be Candy Cane Lane. I preferred 2nd and 3rd December which offered Bundle Up (a foresty scent) and Winter Glow (more difficult to describe).

One of the nicest surprises about the Reindeer Carousel has been the votive candle I found behind door number 6. With past Yankee Candle advent calendars I've had, there have only been tea lights behind each door, which although burn plenty long enough, don't burn nearly as long as a votive would.

In summary, I'm loving this advent calendar and would recommend to anyone. However if buying for someone else as a gift, I would recommend one of their traditional - more sensibly shaped - advent calendars which should (hopefully) arrive intact and in better condition!

Alternatives to chocolate advent calendars #2

Remember when the countdown to Christmas was an excuse to have a piece of chocolate for breakfast each day? Nowadays advent calendars aren't exclusively chocolate based. A couple of years ago I wrote this piece here about how advent calendars were starting to be filled with non chocolate alternatives like skincare products, nail polishes and even candles. Now everything imaginable can be found inside an advent calendar. This year I found a tea advent calendar - whatever will they think of next?! Here are - in my opinion - the best advent calendars out there right now:

Reindeer Carousel Advent Calendar - £31.99 //  Christmas Advent Calendar - £24.99 //  Advent House in the Snow - £27.99

Yankee Candle
The ever popular Yankee Candle advent calendar is back! But this year offers not one, not two, but three calendars to choose from. Their Christmas advent calendar (centre) is currently out of stock, but their House in the Snow calendar returns for another year. Although the three vary in price, the candle selection in each is fairly similar. Repeats from last year include Snowflake Cookie and Christmas Eve. This year sees some new ones I haven't tried before which include: Berry Trifle, Cosy by the Fire and Bundle Up

Jo Malone advent calendar - £260.00

Jo Malone
If you're willing to dig deep, this would be a lovely way to try all the different colognes. If money were no object, this is definitely one I'd love to own.

Diptyque advent calednar - £250.00

Diptyque

Opening a door to find a Diptyque candle every other day? Another advent calendar I dream of owning.

Charlotte Tilbury  - £150.00

Charlotte Tilbury
Presented beautifully as Charlotte Tilbury's Book of Make-up Magic. Not actually an advent calendar in the traditional sense on account of only having 12 doors... but when you think about the quality of product you are getting, suddenly just 12 doors is fine by me!

Body Shop advent calendar - price unknown, products reportedly worth £93.50

Body Shop
Aptly named 24 Happy Days, as Body Shop is one of my favourite brands, this would be a very happy 24 days indeed! Their calendar contains a mixture of minis and some generously sized products too, as the doors are all different shapes and sizes. Of these it contains a product from their Fiji Green Tea collection (which fyi I have been dying to try!) and products from their Oils of Life range. I believe this one is only available in-stores though.

Harrods Christmas tea advent calendar - £12.95

Harrods tea selection
Besides traditional chocolate advent calendars, this is one of the more affordable advent calendars I've seen on sale this year. Comes complete with 25 tea bags, offering a selection of organic black and green teas. A tea-rrific idea!

Biscuiteers advent calendar - £55

Biscuiteers
Who needs chocolate when you can have biscuits?! The beautiful home-made touches with this one means that no two advent calendars are the same. For those who question the durability of the biscuits, these reportedly have a decent shelf life so if you wanted to keep some of the biscuits for later in December / the New Year - no problem!

Botanical Ginvent calendar - £124.95 //  Vodka advent calendar - £99.95 //  Whisky advent calendar - £249.95

Advent calendars... with alcohol
24 days of gin, vodka or whisky - the choice is yours! Gin lovers will especially love the Ginvent calendar which includes one base gin and 23 botanicals to add to it. Reportedly some of the flavours include lavender, saffron and nutmeg. Whether it's gin, whisky or vodka that you choose, you'll certainly have a very merry Christmas either way!

Thanks to all of the above, Christmas is sorted. Winter skincare taken care of, biscuits to dip into your tea, candles for those cosy nights in, and alcohol to get you through the masses of Christmas shopping you've left to the last minute... (please tell I'm not the only one?!)

Which advent calendar is on your wish list this year?

The perfect night in // Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day. The marmite event of the year. Some people love it, some people hate it. The one thing I really dislike about Valentine's Day is the amount of pressure this day places on you. The pressure to spend, spend, spend or risk looking like a bad boyfriend / girlfriend if you don't. The pressure of having the best possible night (much like New Years Eve). And lastly the pressure of looking your absolute best. Notably for women. There are magazines, newspapers and advertising left, right and centre saying that you should be wearing a body con dress you can't breathe in, you should be risking your neck in skyscraper heels, and you should be wearing swanky underwear. I don't like being told what to do, what to wear and how to act. If you love someone you should show them the same level of love and respect all year long - not just on the 14th because the card companies told you so.

But it doesn't have to be like this. Why not stay at home and recreate a meal out or a night at a hotel? Lounge around in white fluffy bath robes, light some candles, wine and dine one another, and just be yourselves. Lots of the supermarkets have 2-for-1 inspired meal deals making it far better value for money than dining out. Also there are lots of lovely pieces of homeware out there that won't cost an arm and a leg and can be used time and time again for other special occasions. Consider it an investment. And it'll work out tons cheaper than that hotel, trust me.

Here are my Valentine's Day essentials for the perfect night in:

Yankee Candle //  The White Company unisex bath robe //  Hotel Chocolat sparkling pink rosé // framed print

 Swoon sensual massage gift set  // Glass bowls & oak board set // Goblets // Faux flowers in vase // heart jars  

 Embellished bedding // Heart cushion // Hotel Chocolat pink champagne truffles // Topshop lingerie

My ideal night in would include; dim lighting with candles everywhere possible, new / clean bedding, cooking our own three course meal just the two of us, a bottle of wine (in an ideal world, Malbec), nice lingerie, massages, sharing a bath together, bath robes, and afterwards lounge around watching movies in bed. With chocolate of course. 

I'm really into interiors at the moment - particularly glassware it seems. The heart jars would be ideal for homemade desserts like cheesecake or an ice cream sundae with brownie pieces and lots of cream on top. Very Pinterest. The same goes with the glass bowls on that beautiful oak board. And I'm pretty sure those wine glasses aren't called goblets on the Next website... but they looked regal enough to be called goblets. And that bedding though. SWOON.

What have you got planned for Valentine's Day?

Want to read more? Feel free to have a nose through some of my other Valentine's Day posts....

1. The funniest and most inappropriate Valentine's Day cards guaranteed to make you chuckle 
2. How you know if he's a keeper
3. Alternative Valentine's Day gifts which AREN'T red roses
4. Love in pictures

Yankee Candle advent calendar

It's that time of year again. Halloween has barely passed and already Christmas is already making itself known. The red cups in Starbucks are back, Oxford Street is adorned in lights, and I don't know of anyone whose heart hasn't melted over the new John Lewis Christmas advert.  Less than 50 days now people! Although it still seems a long way off yet, it's never too early to start thinking about advent calendars. Particularly those sought after beauty advent calendars that sell out in record time.You need to get in there quickly.

The Yankee Candle advent calendar I had last year was a novel twist on the usual sorts of advent calendars and was worth every penny. I had my fingers tightly crossed that it'd make a comeback this year and I wasn't disappointed. But it was better. It returned not once but two fold:

Yankee advent "house" - £24.99

How awesome is this design?! Why have a flat pack advent calendar when you can have a house?! The snow, the fairy lights and the foliage all scream Christmas. Candles in this one include; candy cane lane, Christmas garland, snowflake cookie, sugared apple, Christmas cookie, Christmas memories and spiced orange.

Yankee Candle advent calendar  - £21.99

A slightly cheaper option with the shape more in line with last year's wreath. However I can't help but prefer the colouring of last year's. Red is so warming and the ultimate Christmas colour. I'm not so sold on their choice of white this year. Although white makes me think of snow, here it just looks a bit plain. Candles in this include; icicles, angel's wings, snowflake cookie, cranberry ice, Christmas cookie and Christmas garland.

Although I don't have one in my possession yet, I can already see an improvement on last year's. Their 2013 advent calendar didn't contain as many candles - there were only a select few on rotation, meaning you had a lot of 'repeats'. Which was great in some cases, but not so great for the sickly sweet scents which I'm not the biggest fan of. There does seem to be more varied choice this year including some new additions which will be great to try.

Are you feeling Christmassy yet?