Christmas at the Body Shop - PR Event

So....my first blogging event in 20 months! What better way to get back into the swing of things than by exploring the Christmas range of one of my absolute favourites - The Body Shop with The Southampton Bloggers

With new ranges such as Kindness & Pears, Love & Plums and Joy & Jasmine it was hard to pick a favourite... but overall, Kindness & Pears wins I think. Its a beautiful fresh scent that would work perfectly for spring as well. With the return of the fan favourite plum scent there's a scent for all tastes. There was also gifts for all pockets, ranging from stocking fillers up to the biggest advent calendar I have ever seen! Only 10 stores were selected to stock this calendar and Southampton was one. For £320 you get £495 of products.

By 2023 the entire Body Shop is aiming to make their entire range vegan. As part of the changes and responsible sourcing, the body butter range has changed consistency.  Some of the heavier oils have been removed and the butters now offer up to 96 hours of moisture. The yoghurts (my absolute favourite Body Shop product of all time) are still going strong with all three of the Christmas scents available (I may just have picked up a Kindness & Pears yoghurt...) 

We also learnt about the various recycling initiatives The Body Shop has in place. The Southampton store has been refitted with new fittings and tables which on closer inspection....were made of recycled bottles and plastic!

And I finally got hands on with the refill station.  Such a good idea to be able to buy a reusable aluminum bottle and fill it with the product of your choice. I chose Almond Milk and Honey (although soon to be just Almond Milk after the range goes vegan). I was impressed to learn that the Southampton store has sold the most refillable bottles in the UK with 1700 sold so far - go Southampton!! I even had a go at filling the bottle myself - not as easy as it looks! You need some muscle.

The Body Shop has been running the initiative Declarations of Self Love. The aim was to have 1 million declarations by the end of the year - currently there are 2.4 million. Reading some of the declarations in the Southampton store was both uplifting and sad. I would have loved to have been able to read these when I was younger.

Every year, The Body Shop supports a charity, the chosen one this year is Honeypot - which supports young carers, some as young as 5, by offering support and respite breaks. £150,000 is donated by Body Shop and the rest is from donations from customers. 

It was so lovely to have a taste of normality and to catch up with people. A big thank you to The Body Shop Southampton and Southampton Bloggers for the invite.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

My favourite Christmas film

I think most of us have that one film which makes you feel like the season is well and truly here. That one film that when you can watch over and over again and never get bored with. For me, it's The Holiday.

It's cheesy, packed full of plot holes and continuity errors. Not to mention as well the ridiculous stereotype of what living in the English countryside is like (seriously, when I worked in London, I never saw a quiet train like that, let alone a seat!). But despite of (or maybe because of it) I love it. It's gently inoffensive, no-one dies and everyone has a happy ending. And let's face it, that's all you want this time of year, isn't it?

This also seems a good time to confess that I've never seen The Grinch or Elf and that I truly believe Die Hard is a Christmas film.....

Cathy
xx

My favourite Christmas song

Everyone has a favourite Christmas song - and sometimes that song can bring back so many memories.

Some of my favourites are ones I remember from childhood such as Band Aid, Slade and Wizzard. But my absolute ultimate number one - is a real marmite choice for a lot of people.

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York. This was released for Christmas 1987 - the year the other half and I started going out. I blame him for introducing me to The Pogues and really, you could say this became our Christmas song.

The lyrics are - shall we say - interesting? I remember overhearing two teenage girls hearing the song for the very first time some years back and couldn't help but giggle at how shocked they were at the words.

What do you think? Is this a Christmas song for you?

Cathy

xx

A Garden Centre Christmas

So we're nearly halfway through the month, the New Year is looming and I'm struggling to keep up with myself. So it makes perfect sense to do a series of posts about my favourite things at Christmas on my blog - right?

Now, over the last 5 years of my blog, I've done various posts like this before. But not recently so I thought it would be fun to re-visit a few themes. First up - garden centres.

I'm sure this is a relatively recent thing. I certainly don't remember garden centres being such a must do highlight of the season when I was younger. But with better transport options and the rise of social media - a visit to your local garden centre is now very much a part of Christmas.

At the time of writing - I've visited two that are local to me. Haskins and Garsons. Both have really evolved into go-to destinations that you can also buy some bits for the garden in as well!

I think, between the two, Garson's has the slight edge for me. Every year they have reindeer - and who doesn't love a reindeer?

And of course, there's always that one person who doesn't quite get into the Christmas spirit...

Thanks for reading the first of my twelve days of Christmas!

Cathy
xx

Body Shop Christmas launch - press event

I know - we've barely finished Halloween and 'BAM!' Christmas is upon us.

To be honest - I can't get enough of all things Christmas so couldn't wait to see the latest range from The Body Shop for the festive season. The Southampton branch at West Quay Shopping Centre invited the Southampton Bloggers down for an early morning look at all the goodies (on a side note - how lovely is it to browse around a shop when you're the only customers there? Bliss....).

The three key fragrances this season are Rich Plum (a previous customer favourite which made me do a little whoop), Warm Vanilla and last but not least, Juicy Pear.

Now - I didn't think I'd be impressed by a pear scent - but I was wrong. It's so clean and fresh and perfect for cold crisp winter days.

The Body Shop have worked so hard to make their packaging recyclable wherever possible. With open packaging on soaps, create your own gift sets using jute bags, cardboard packaging and a traditional print as well, the displays gave me a real old-fashioned Christmas vibe. And the packaging saved is the equivalent to 1/5 of a space shuttle! That's pretty impressive.

And as normal, The Body Shop is giving back to the community. A percentage of their Christmas sales will be going to Plan International in Indonesia to help empower women and give them a voice.

They're also challenging stereotypes - have a look at their advent calendar and you see a female Santa and non-traditional roles for girls and boys. Scattered throughout the store are reminders that girls can do and be anything they want.

Some old favourites make an appearance as well. The carrot range is in recyclable packaging with a cute bunny ears headband. Only carrots that have been rejected by supermarkets are used in this product - it makes me happy that unloved carrots have a use!

A morning spent with fellow bloggers and the lovely people at our local Body Shop has really put me in the festive spirit - now where's that mince pie...?

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

An evening with Marks & Spencer and their Festive Food

Marks and Spencer food is always a little bit special, especially around Christmas time. Southampton Bloggers were invited by Marks & Spencer to learn more about the festive ranges this year in food, drink and clothing. Basically - the perfect evening with cheese!

We started the evening with an introductory talk from Charles, the manager of the West Quay branch here in Southampton who really loves his job and is passionate about food. He said he had the perfect job and after tasting all the goodies on offer, I was inclined to believe him.

The cheese board seemed to be the most popular of the evening with Chestnut Chutney and a Blackberry and Gin Jelly to accompany the cheese and crackers. Now I'm not a great fan of chutneys and the like, but both of these were very more'ish, esp the Blackberry and Gin. I would never have thought to try something like this so it was the perfect way to try something new.

There were Winter Berries and Sparkling Prosecco crisp complete with gold stars (seriously) plus the renowned Milk Chocolate Cinammon Sugar Tortilla Rolls. They were described as tasting of Christmas and I can't think of a better way to describe them.

No ordinary mince pies here, plus Salmon and Cream Cheese Blinis (I wanted ALL the mince pies...).

The sweets and desserts were pretty special too. Santa Hat Profiteroles, Macarons and a scrumptious luxury Yule Log were just some of the treats on offer. There were also Hand Finished Chocolates that looked more like miniature works of art.

And if that wasn't enough, we had hot food such as Mini Vegan Burgers, Christmas Sausage Rolls, Mini Mac and Cheese and Pigs in Blankets (which were definitely #MyMarksFave).

I rarely drink, but there was plenty of choices for non-drinkers. That made a really nice change as all too often the only non-alcoholic option is water or an orange juice. I worked my way through a selection of a Sparkling Summer Berry and non-alcoholic Bucks Fizz and a G&T.

For those who were drinking there were White Christmas, Jaffa Cake and Mince Pie Martini cocktails, plus plenty of Prosecco. The cocktails would make such a beautiful Christmas gift - I can think of a few people who love the Jaffa Cake one!

Remember what I said about wanting ALL of the mince pies....?

Many thanks to Marks & Spencer, Grayling South and Southampton Bloggers for a fantastic evening and the perfect start to Christmas. I can't wait to try the Sparkling Peach and Prosecco Conserve that we were given.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
cc

Snow Queen at The Point, Eastleigh

Christmas is a time for traditions and one which I love to do every year is a trip to the theatre. Whether it's the panto or ballet, the feeling of excitement as you're sat in your seat waiting for the show to begin never gets old.

This year I was invited by The Point Theatre in Eastleigh to come along on the opening day of their Christmas show Snow Queen by the theatre company Tutti Frutti. An adaption of the Hans Christian Andersen tale written by playwright Mike Kenny with music from composer Ivan Stott.

Advertised as a 'wintry whirl of magic and mischief packed with physical storytelling and catchy songs suitable for all ages' I was expecting a lively show and it didn't disappoint. A really nice touch was the personal interaction from the cast who came into the audience before the show and were in the foyer afterwards. The Point is a small local theatre which helps make shows like this so much more accessible and hands-on for younger audiences.

On arrival we saw an igloo in the foyer and it wasn't long before it was being put to good use by a lot of the children attending the show (complete with flying snowballs as well!).

The story revolves around friends Gerda and Kai. Without giving too much away, it explores the themes of friendship, grief, loyalty and growing up. After Kai is pulled under the spell of the Snow Queen and his heart turns to ice, Gerda bravely sets off on a quest to save him. Along the way she encounters a number of characters including robbers and a talking reindeer.

I wasn't sure how attentive such a young audience would be, but the sheer energy of the cast of three kept us all mesmorised, young and old! Some of the songs were still in my head the next day.

Thank you to The Point for this gifted experience and the production photos used in this post. If you want to see The Snow Queen for yourself, it's on until 30th December at 11am and 2pm.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx