Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gifts and Chocolates This Christmas

The gift of chocolate is ideal for Christmas for the chocolate lover and I can't think of a better box selection than this one from Hotel Chocolat - The Everything Collection 

The Everything Collection box 

Contents 

Billionaire's Shortbread x 6  - My absolute favourite - featuring caramel, smooth hazelnut and crunchy cookies, sublime.

Little Cheesecakes x 4 - caramel, lemon and strawberry with mascarpone cheese - yum!

A bag of 40% Milk Puddles - lovely circles of creamy milk chocolate (my 7yr son loved these)

A bag of Salted Caramel Puddles - These are delicious and a teeny bit crunchy from the salt.

The Brownie x 6 - Rich chocolate brownies, I love rich chocolate and these went down a treat.

And 3 super cute slabs of Milk Cocoa Cookies, Salted Caramel and 70% Dark Fruit & Nut.

This box really does contain something for everyone... or in my case I enjoyed the lot :)

Hotel Chocolat The Everything Collection box costs £25 

Hotel Chocolat also do some fabulous seasonal chocolate and I was sent two of their Christmas stocking filler packs.

Mulled Wine Selector x 6 £3.75 - These are proper grown up chocolates with a boozy punch of spiced Port.

Nutmeg Almond Praline Selector x 6 £3.75 - Gorgeously smooth and creamy praline balanced with real warming spiced nutmeg in 50% milk. I love the snowflake pattern.

*PR Samples 

The Body Shop White Musk EDT 100 ML Gift Set

Beautifully packaged gift sets are one of the bonuses of Christmas and is something that The Body Shop does particularly well.

I love this one featuring the iconic and best selling White Musk fragrance.

A white tub shaped parcel complete with a purple satin bow, slide the door across to reveal three fabulous and generous sized products from the White Musk collection and inside this lovely wardrobe is a purple striped interior.

How pretty!

What you get -

White Musk EDT 100ml 
White Musk Shower Gel 125ml 
White Musk Body Lotion 125ml 

For those of you unfamiliar with the White Musk scent it is an absolutely gorgeous light and clean fresh scent featuring a mix of notes including cruelty free musk, lily, iris, rose and vanilla.

The Gift Set costs £45 

Water Aid - With each sale of this selected gift The Body Shop will provide a day's safe water for a family in Ethiopia.

*PR Sample

The Perfume Shop - Gucci Guilty Gift Set - Christmas Inspiration

Think Christmas gifts and one of the top things on my list would be perfume and aftershave. At Christmas the stores are full of great value gifts sets that usually include an extra something for the same price as a single bottle of the chosen scent.

I love this Gucci Guilty Gift Set as the Gucci print pocket mirror is just perfect for my handbag and a bit different from the usual body lotion or shower gel that usually comes with these types of sets.

The clever people at The Perfume Shop matched me up with Gucci Guilty after I gave them a list of the types of perfume that I have liked and worn in the past.... so if you or the gift recipient likes these perfumes the chances are you or they will love Gucci Guilty.

Stella Mccartney,
Roberto Cavalli (the original)
Narcisco Rodriguez EDP
SI Giorgio Armani. 

Gucci Guilty EDT is described in the following way...

Gucci takes as a catalyst its iconic entwined Gs and brings us a heroine who regards this emblem as an incitement to subvert. For this most contemporary of rebels, Gucci is the brand of sex and power. In Gucci Guilty, this woman discovers the very scent of defiance.

Top notes

Mandarin, Pink Pepper

Heart notes

Peach, Lilac, Geranium

Base notes

Ambery Notes, Patchouli, Lilac, Geranium

The perfume is an oriental floral scent that is warm, sensuous and oozing glamour and class. The gold bottle is a mix of metal and glass in a sleek and elegant design that encompasses the classic entwined Gs. It also has that all important bathroom shelf appeal which one expects of the Gucci brand. 

I cannot believe I have never tried this gorgeous fragrance before, The Perfume Shop have helped me discover a new firm favourite. 

Gucci Guilty EDT 50ml Gift Set costs £53 from The Perfume Shop (This is a The Perfume Shop exclusive)

Visit the Christmas Shop today 

*PR Sample

Christmas Carols Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester London

One of my favourite Afternoon Tea venues is The Dorchester. I have visited throughout the year but Christmas time is one of the nicest as the delightful Promenade where Afternoon Tea is served is beautifully dressed with traditional English festive decorations. 

The Christmas Carols Afternoon Tea features the resident pianist and children’s school choirs to get you well and truly into the spirit of Christmas.

Featuring a selection of finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones and delicious festive pastries such as a fruit cake Christmas present, a chocolate & chestnut winter land, a Dorchester snowman and mince pies.

Christmas Carols Afternoon tea is available at five sittings each day priced from £69 per adult including a glass of Champagne, and £35 per child (ages 5-11).

Available weekends from the 21st November to December 20th. 

To book your festive afternoon tea visit The Dorchester website for availability.

*Image courtesy of The Dorchester

Festive Afternoon Tea at The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London

The winter months are a fabulous time to indulge in Afternoon Tea - whilst it is cold outside inside you can enjoy a warming and filling tea full of festive treats.

The menu from the Mandarin Oriental (where incidentally I have experienced and can highly recommend afternoon tea) has caught my eye -

Taken in the hotel's delightfully cosy Rosebery Lounge you can enjoy the following

THE HARRODS TEDDY BEAR AFTERNOON TEA £53 (price per person)

A Selection of Sandwiches  

Slow roasted Norfolk bronze turkey with sage and cranberry 

Smoked salmon tartar with creme fraiche and dill 

Cotswold egg and mustard cress

St.Tola goat cheese with roasted pumpkin and red onion confit 

Portland crab and crayfish fondue on lemon and thyme bread

Wiltshire cured ham and heritage tomatoes 

Freshly baked cranberry-raisins & plain scones accompanied by Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam, rose petal jelly and homemade lemon curd. 

A Selection of Handmade Pastries 

Gingerbread, pear and caramel cake

Figgy pudding bauble

Chestnut, chocolate and vanilla Opera gateau

Cranberry, orange and yoghurt Yule log 

Mandarin and spiced prune tartlet

Pumpkin and pecan cake 

Traditional stollen 

The tea comes with a wide selection of teas to choose from.

Children are also welcome and well catered for with their very own and special menu

KIDS TEDDY BEAR AFTERNOON TEA MENU £28 (per person) 

A Selection of Sandwiches

Slow roasted Norfolk bronze turkey with sage and cranberry 

Smoked salmon tartar with creme fraiche and dill 

Cotswold egg and mustard cress

St.Tola goat cheese with roasted pumpkin and red onion confit 

Portland crab and crayfish fondue on lemon and thyme bread

Wiltshire cured ham and heritage tomatoes 

Freshly baked cranberry-raisins & plain scones accompanied by Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam, rose petal jelly and homemade lemon curd. 

A Selection of Handmade Pastries 

Winter land snowball 

Snowman tart

Chocolate teddy bear

Grubby paw layer cake 

Christmas cracker

Teddy bear cupcake 

Christmas tree cupcake 

Pumpkin and pecan cake 

Traditional stollen 

To book call +44 (0)20 7201 3828 or visit The Mandarin Oriental website

*Images courtesy of The Mandarin Oriental 

November Glossybox - What's Inside Mine - Lips & Lashes Edition

November's edition of Glossybox has the theme of Lipsticks to Lashes so as you would expect it contains items for both purposes...

What's inside ?

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick £7.99 

This month there is a full size lipstick from Revlon promising one of their best selling shades - As I already have the very popular red 'Fire & Ice' I was hoping for another shade to try, however I was sent the red. It is a gorgeous and full impact shade and I have worn it for Christmas Day in previous years as it is such a lovely festive red.

MUA Eyeshadow Palette £4 

This cute palette from MUA is called 'Undressed' and features 12 wearable shades of nudes and metallics. Perfect to adorn your eyes.

Eylure Natural Lashes £5 

These lashes do look luscious, voluminous and flutterworthy but personally I don't wear lashes so I shall be gifting these to my lucky sister.

Emite Diamond Heart Primer full size £25.90

I have got the 15ml travel size version of the primer. I love trying new primers so will be trying this shortly. It smells nice, has a peachy tone to it which promises to boost radiance and create a smooth finish. It also has a cream rather than silicone texture.

Royal Apothetic Body Lotion full size £14.50 

Once again this is a travel size version but it is a rather generous tube. I absolutely love the scent of this - Venetian Grove. Lactic acid will gently smooth skin and milk proteins will hydrate the skin. I am looking forward to applying this to my skin after bathing this winter... Gorgeous and light!

Final thoughts 

Although there are a couple of  items I won't be using, I think this month's box is really quite good. Makeup lovers will adore it and those who like to focus on skincare will appreciate it. I personally enjoy discovering new brands so this box gets a thumbs up from me.

What did you think?

Popchips Mature Cheddar & Onion Potato Chips - Review

I am already a huge fan of popchips as a snack of choice and this new flavour  - Mature Cheddar & Onion does not disappoint

With just 95 calories in the individual pack it is light but packed with flavour. The cheese is lovely and intense and the onion is the perfect match for it. Sometimes you taste cheese, others your mouth has a punch of onion. Oh and did I mention they are low fat?

The popchips are non messy - they do not leave a greasy residue on the fingers. Texture wise they are nice and crunchy but once in the mouth they almost melt.

Unfortunately they do contain milk so my dairy intolerant husband wasn't able to try them which happily meant more for me and the 7yr old who declared them 'absolutely yummy!'

Another winning flavour from the popchips gurus and a big thumbs up from this household.

*PR Samples