Results matching “Christmas”

The Christmas window displays in London are one item that I look forward to seeing each year. I enjoy seeing how creative the displays are and if there are any themes used in the displays. This year, I visited the usual shops on and around Oxford Street and Regent Street (Selfridges, John Lewis, Debenhams, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason, and Hamleys) to see what they have in store for us this Christmas (no pun intended!).

First stop is Selfridges, and they used many Christmas party themes and large inflatible items (Santa and robin) in their shop windows to create more movement and interest. The first corner of the building (the one opposite to the food hall entrance) has now been transformed into the centrepiece, featuring a giant inflatible Santa, which spins. The previous centrepiece corner window (at the side of Marks and Spencer) is now downgraded this year. Some of the settings depict people with a giant cracker, a Christmas float, a dinner party, and other scenes. The colours used are red with gold and blue.

On the food hall side of the building, we have lower-key London landmarks constructed out of different blue and silver shades, and I loved these and thought that they really rivaled the main window displays. 

Hamleys always have fantastic displays with their stuffed toys, and their windows are always so crazy-packed with children and adults photographing them that I try my best to avoid that whole area of the street. It's just too busy. In the past, it's been so busy that I've had to walk in the road to get around everyone. (Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they want to move to Oxford Street once it is pedestrianised.) This year, I was around during the day and managed to avoid the nasty weekend crowds.

Fortnum and Mason went a bit abstract, exaggerated, and cartoonish with their series of mis-matched animals in over-the-top scenes this year. There was not a key feature window. 

Liberty was not worth photographing this year as they had simple window displays with the rooftops of old buildings (spires, Tudor-style timbers, etc). I was disappointed and did not feel that they deserved to be placed here this year because it was low-key. I also felt the same about John Lewis, Debenhams, and others.

Overall, I felt that this year was toned down on the Christmas window displays, and the only one worth really noting is Selfridges this year, even though it is not my favourite. The inflatible round Santa Claus and bopping robin were quite cute and grabbed my attention.

Previous write-ups about London's shop windows over Christmas can be read here:

• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011

For a limited time, beauty brand and beauty subscription box company Birchbox have launched a pop-up store on Carnaby Street in London's fashionable area. I was visiting the shops for Christmas when I stumbled upon their pop-up shop and decided to have a quick look inside and ended up taking away one of their boxes. In their pop-up store, you can pick out five items from three different categories (two make-up and two skincare and one hair product). I really wanted more of the hair and skincare products and struggled to find make-up ones that I had not tried.

I didn't really need to try anything in the make-up section but ended up with:

Spectrum Collections Unicorn Tears Wonder Sponge: This is a beauty blending tool, which I've already tried in the past. It allows you to apply liquid-based foundation and leave it looking blended.

Manna Kadar Cosmetics Radiance Split Pan Bronzer And Highlighter Duo: This is a highlighter and a bronzer in one, which can be applied to the skin to enhance tone and structure.

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse® Shimmer: This is a body and hair shimmer oil that is designed to add moisture and protect hair and skin from pollution. It adds a subtle glow to skin.

Seba Med clear face care gel: This gel promises to rid skin of pimples and imperfections. 

Umberto Giannini No More Messy Break Ups Split Ends Cream: This cream promises to repair and strengthen hair to prevent split ends. 

The Birchbox pop-up store on Carnaby Street will be refreshing its stock with new items this weekend, so be sure to keep checking.

Good afternoon, readers! I cannot believe that this year has gone so quickly, and it is already the time for advent calendars to be opened. This year, I purchased a Prosecco Advent Calendar to help me celebrate the countdown to Christmas. For those who have bought or been given one of these and do not want the daily surprise to be spoiled, do not read further. Actually, I have opened these up but have put them in the fridge with the intention of having them after the day, though there are a few duplicates to save for another day too.

First of all, I loved the packaging of this box and the nice designs for each 'window'.

And now, on to what is behind each window:

Day One: Gancia Prosecco Dry (11.5%, Italy). This is described as being a fresh, dry, and aromatic drink.

Day Two: Bottega Rose Gold (11.5%, Italy). The design of the bottle in its metallic pink colour looks impressive. The prosecco is described as being aromatic with a berry scent. The grapes are hand-picked and squashed gently. which makes the prosecco have a light pink shade.

Day Three: Freixenet Cordon Rosado Seco Cava (12%, Spain). Another pink drink, this cava is fruity and described as being a perfect summer or picnic drink.

Day 4: Bolla Prosecco Extra Dry (11%, Italy). This prosecco is described as being refreshing and dry with hints of pear and apple and an acidity finish.

Day Five: Jacob's Creek Sparkling Chardonnay/Pinor Noir (11.5%, Australia). This is a sparkling wine with citrus notes.

Day Six: Da Luca Prosecco (11%, Italy). This prosecco is described as having a soft and sweet taste.

Day Seven: Gancia Pinot Pinot Rose (11.5%, Italy). Another pink prosecco, this is described as a sparkling wine and has a floral and fruity raspberry/cherry taste.

Day Eight: Anna Codorniu Blanc De Blancs Brut Cava (11.5%, Spain). This is a sparkling white wine made with Chardonnay grapes and is described as having a citrus flavour.

Day Nine: See Day Two.

Day Ten: Jacob's Creek Sparkling Rose (11.5%, Australia). This sparkling rose wine is described as having a hint of delicate berry flavours.

Day Eleven: Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava (11.5%, Spain). This cava is a crisp, light and dry drink with fruity flavours (melon and peach).

Day Twelve: Galanti Prosecco Extra Dry (10.5%, Italy). This sparkling white wine is described as having fruity notes with a soft fizz.

Day 13: See Day 4.

Day 14: See Day 7.

Day 15. See Day 1

Day 16: See Day Two.

Day 17: See Day Eight.

Day 18: See Day Five.

Day 19: See Day Three.

Day Twenty: See Day 6

Day Twenty-one: See Day 10.

Day 22: See Day 11.

Day 23: See Day 12.

Day Twenty-four: Laurent Perrier Champagne (12%, France). This is the only champagne in the calendar and is a citrus/honeysuckle flavour. It's a common champagne and an easy-going one.

Near the beginning of this festive season (yesterday), I took my parents to festive afternoon tea at the Jean-Georges restaurant in the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. Besides a smaller venue earlier in the year, this was the first time this year that I have been able to enjoy afternoon tea. The Connaught's afternoon tea has been on my list for awhile, and their festive afternoon tea offering looked nice this year. This afternoon tea is a little more dear than some of the other venues.

First up, we had the champagne, Laurent Perrier Brut. My mother does not drink, so they made her a mocktail instead, and she said that this tasted like strawberry. We also ordered our teas, and I tried the Darjeeling, which was my favourite and a blend called 'Marco Polo', described as having a velvety taste, although I found it to be a little bitter.

Unfortunately, they had over-booked the area due to some late lunches taking place, so we got sat beside the main door. I was actually surprised that we did not have a piano playing for us (or any music, in fact). I think that this let the experience down.

We had the sandwiches first. This included a black truffle brioche (pictured above), which is a flaky crust filled with a truffle. This tasted amazing.

We had a selection of sandwiches, but these were not the same as the original menu, but the menu has since been changed. The sandwiches that we had were cheese, egg mayonaise, aubergine, turkey, and salmon.

Next, we were served the scones and pastries. The scones were a mixture of raisin and plain with clotted cream, strawberry jam, and lemon curd. These scones were delicious and amongst the best that I have had for afternoon tea in London.

Mulled Wine Pear has a white chocolate snowflake on top with smaller 'glittery' snowflakes. It contains pear mousse and biscuit with mulled wine jelly. 

The one with the holly is a chocolate-orange offering with orange jam, chocolate ganache, and cinnamon cream.

The one with the dark chocolate tree is a black forest with chocolate mousse and cherry jam and a biscuit base.

My favourite one was the Chestnut Tart, with the deer antler chocolate on top. It is made with chestnut puree, vanilla chantilly, and blueberry jam.

On the top tier, we had gingerbread men with a dipping chocolate sauce (chocolate fondu), which I thought tasted like chocolate orange.

The lobby of the Connaught has a beautiful tree.

I wish all my readers a great start to the festive and Christmas season.

This evening, Mount Street Lights took place in Mayfair, which was also the evening where The Connaught hotel illuminated their annual Christmas tree and businesses in the area had special opening hours and prizes/treats for shoppers. This year, the Christmas tree in front of the Connaught Hotel is designed by artist Tracey Emin. The tree is illuminated with soft pink neon glowing words, which create sentences. Her works usually exhibit her personal successes, failures, and other milestones in her life.

The Connaught Christmas tree is becoming a London art attraction as demonstrated in previous years when the tree was designed by Antony Gormley and Damien Hirst.

Previous Connaught Christmas trees that I covered on my blog are below:

• Damien Hirst
• Antony Gormley

Each year, Carnaby Street host fantastic Christmas lights that are different every year. In the past, we have seen Carnaby Christmas Revolution, Carnaby Christmas Party, robins, Santa, and Rolling Stones (rock and roll). This year's theme is "Carnaby Christmas Carnival" and transforms Carnaby Street into a tropical and colourful festival complete with giant parrots, palm trees, shimmery floats, and confetti. Early each Christmas season, Carnaby Street hosts a Christmas party with discounts on area businesses, and this coincides with the light switch-on.

A nice touch is the plug outlet sculpture on Ganton Street, which is always transformed into the Christmas light theme.

Kingly Court on Carnaby Street hosts a fantastic selection of restaurants, cafes, and drinking venues and is filled with a rainbow of lights this year.

To see previous Carnaby Street Christmas lights in my blog, see the below posts:

• Carnaby Christmas Revolution
• Carnaby Christmas Party
• Robins
• Santa
• Rolling Stones (rock and roll)

This autumn, I managed to use up some of my hoard of beauty and make-up products and sample products, which I will review and then note if I will purchase the product again. This helps me to keep track of which items are really useful and which are not, and I hope that my readers will also find the reviews useful.

Molton Brown shower gel sample sizes: Years ago, I bought a pack of small sample sizes of the Molton Brown shower gel scents. I'm a fan of this brand, and my ex also liked it, so I originally purchased these as a Christmas gift. After we split up (he was cheating), I just packed them and left them stored away. I decided to use them when I came across them in early summer. The scent collection included the following: inspiring wild-indigo, heavenly gingerlilly, invigorating suma ginseng, warming eucalyptus, relaxing yuan zhi, vitalising vitamin AB+C, sensual hanaleni, energising seamoss, recharge black pepper, and purifying grapeseed anti-oxidant. Would I buy it again? I have a lot of bath and shower products to use up, but I would buy the following scents: black pepper, eucalyptus, and purifying grapeseed. I did not think too much of the others.

Molton Brown cucumber shampoo: This shampoo smells of fresh cucumber and is one of my favourite smells. Would I buy it again? I would purchase it if I did not have so many other shampoos to use up, but I also feel that other products I use are cheaper and great for my hair, even though they may not smell as lovely.

spa therapy sea wrack body wash: This is a stimulating scent and smells a little of fresh cucumber. It is a pleasant and luxurious scent. Would I buy it again? I would purchase it if I did not have so many other products to use up.

Rogert & Gallet Fleur de Figuier hand lotion: This lotion is a silky consistency that melts into the skin with the wonderful floral fig blossom fragrance, which I love. Would I buy it again? This came with the perfume that I purchased, so I suppose that I would buy it if it came with the perfume, but I would not buy it on its own.

Moisturizing Foundation by So Susan in warm beige: This was a product of a beauty subscription box and was too dark for my complexion. It is a foundation and sun protection cream. Would I buy it again? No. I was not wowed by the product and use other brands.

Lip Parfait in 'Exotic Fruits' by Trifle Cosmetics The lipstick has cute illustrations of exotic fruits. It's a pale light beige shade with a creamy texture. Would I buy it again? No. I do not like the colour.

NAOBAY hair mask volume conditioner: This is a hair mask that promises to protect and moisturise hair. It did leave my hair feeling soft. Would I buy it again? No. I will continue to use similar products of other brands.

The Color Institute various lip glosses in various shades: I think some of these tiny travel-sized lip glosses came from Marks & Spencer as well as The Color Institute, and there's a couple of days' worth of gloss in each tube, but the gloss is difficult to use up as quite a bit gets stuck inside the tube. The products with the brand name were also very sticky. Would I buy it again? No.

Nivea visage young tinted moisturiser: This moisturiser also acts as a foundation to the skin. It is a very dark shade for my skin. Would I buy it again? No. The shade is too dark and makes my skin look patchy.

Balance Me cleanse and smooth face balm: This is a facial mask that purifies the skin by removing dead skin cells and moisturising. It has a pleasant floral scent. Would I buy it again? No. I already use similar products that I prefer.

DKNY Be Delicious body lotion: This is a highly-perfumed body lotion of the 'Be Delicious' red scent, which smells like grown-up apple. The product does sink into the skin instead of leaving it feeling heavy. Would I buy it again? I would not mind using it again as I love the scent, but I would not seek out to buy this product.

Lancome Juicy Tubes lip gloss in 'fraise' (strawberry): This bright red lip gloss smells like strawberry and leaves a glossy scent, but I did find the product to be a bit too much on the sticky side. Would I buy it again? No. The product is too sticky and would cause my hair to stick to my lips in any slight breeze.

London Butterflies body butter: This is a very light body butter, which is whipped up and is absorbed into the skin. The fragrance is lovely and contains British tundra berries, meadowsweet and jojoba oil. Would I buy it again? Yes. I love the scent and the fact that it just absorbs into the skin.

Lancome genifique: This product promises to make skin appear youthful again, but I really did not notice any results. Would I buy it again? No.

Decleor aroma cleanse: This is a cleansing lotion to help remove make-up and improve the skin. Would I buy it again? Yes, I am impressed so far and prefer this to the current brand that I am in the process of using up.

Ed Hardy perfumes (Hearts and Daggers and Original Perfume for Her): Both of these scents are similar with a slightly-floral rock scent, but the staying power on the scents was not long. Would I buy it again? I like the scent, but I would prefer to use other scents that also last longer.

Balance Me cleanse and smooth face balm: This is a facial mask that purifies the skin by removing dead skin cells and moisturising. It has a pleasant floral scent. Would I buy it again? No.

All Over Glow by Jelly Pong Pong. This is best described as a shimmery highlighter to add a glow. Would I buy it again? No. I found the glow to be too much, and the tube was also not made well as it split in the top after only a couple of uses.

Lancome Renergie multi-lift anti-aging cream. This is an anti-aging cream that is absorbed into the skin, and it has a pleasant fragrance. Would I buy it again? If I wanted this type of product, I would buy this again based on the fragrance and the fact that it was easily absorbed into the skin.

Lush have released their Christmas products for the year, so I went to check them out. This year, they appear to have gone all out on Christmas products with the creation of serveral new products as well as bringing back traditional favourites. I covered some of these in this post along with my favourites. This year, the winner for me is the pear-scented soap, Golden Pear. I'm not a big fan of eating pears, but they smell nice, and these little soaps are shaped like adorable glittery pears. My favourite Lush (and Lush Christmas) product is the 'Snowcake', and they brought this back again with a twist this year. Read below to see what is in store for this Christmas at Lush.

Golden Pear soap: This is a pear-scented soap in the shape of a pear with a Christmasy/winter warming scent and glittery coating.

Snow Angel bath melt: This product has been on the Christmas list for a few years and has a moisturising cocoa butter scent; it reminds me of marzipan.

Christmas Sweater bath bomb: This red bath bomb appears to have a knitted reindeer on it. It offers a warming scent perfect for winter.

Golden Wonder bath bomb: This bath bomb product has been around for the past few Christmases, and it is shaped like a gift and has a fresh smell. Inside is a gift that is seen when placed into the water.

Twilight shower gel: Lavender and tonka creates a relaxing scent for this shower gel, which can be bought in plastic bottles or as a formula shaped like a bottle, which can be rinsed like soap and applied in the shower to lather up.

My Two Front Teeth bubble bar: Named after the Christmas song and shaped like a pair of lips with teeth, this is a relaxing scent twith lavender and vanilla.

The Magic of Christmas bubble bar: This is a reuable bubble bar on a stick, and it features a cinnamon-start which can be swirled into the water and reused to create several bubble baths. It has a wintery almond scent.

Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb: This bath bomb has been around for the past few Christmases and smells sweet.

Plum Snow bubble bar: This purple bubble bar has a sweet and fruity smell.

Santa's Christmas shower gel: This is a spicy wintery-warming scent with black pepper and cinnamon, pumped to provide an early morning boost of energy.

Christmas Rocker soap: Shaped like adorable rocking horses, this orange rocker contains mandarin and tangerine oils.

Christmas Cracker bath bomb: Lemon-scented with popping candy, this cracker actually fizzles when placed into the bath.

Snowcloud soap: This cloud-shaped soap offers a relaxing scent made with orange blossom and warming sandalwood.

Snow Fairy shower gel and jelly bomb: Snow Fairy is one of the scents that has come around each Christmas for the past few years. It is a sickly-sweet scent and bright pink in colour and seem to be a favourite. I purchased the jelly bomb, which is a combination of a bath bomb with melting jelly inside. This is not a scent that I like very much, but I wanted to try the jelly bomb.

Candy Cane Roulade soap: This soap looks like a thick peppermint stick and smells like one too with a very refreshing peppermint smell.

Bubbly shower gel: This is a zesty citrus fruity scent made of lime and wild orange oils and grape juice to help cleanse.

Berry Berry Christmas shower gel: This beautiful green-blue gel has a fruity scent, similar to Plum Snow bubble bar but a little more subtle.

Saucy Snowcake soap: The 'Snowcake' scent, which is available nearly every Christmas at Lush, is transformed into a spicier and warmer version.

Snow Fairy pressed soap: This is the sickly-sweet scent of 'Snow Fairy' in soap form, which is one of Lush's regular Christmas scents.

Thundersnow bath bomb: This swirled blue and white bath bomb offers a chocolate-mint scent that is refreshing.

Citrus Christmas soap: This neon-green soap has a highly-citrus scent, which provides a refreshing energy boost.

The Snowman bubbleroon: This bubble bath bar has a summery lemon scent to help uplift in the dark evenings.

Baked Alaska soap: This product has been around for a couple of Christmases at Lush. It has a refreshing and cirtus scent.

Tree-D bath oil: Almond and cocoa butter-scented, this green tree helps moisturise the skin when using.

Snowman bath jelly: Carrots and citrus are some of the ingredients in this bath jelly, which is described as having an uplifting smell.

Santa's Belly bath jelly: This bath jelly has the scent of the popular Snowcake soap, which I am disappointed to see is not on offer for this Christmas for the first time in several years. This has become my favourite Lush scent. The scent has been made into a red jelly with a Santa suit buckle.

This year has gone so quickly. I cannot believe that autumn is nearly over already, and the days are colder and nights are longer. With mid-autumn brings the season changes and also changes for me. My parents will be visiting me soon, so I have some time to be with them, and I am looking forward to some time off as I've not had any this year and have been super busy with work and home renovations. Not only that, but I have had to change contracts again. That's the second time this year that I have had to change. I was hoping that the recent contract would have lasted much longer, though it was a rolling monthly contract and was initially for three to four months. They just struggled to get some more work in, and three projects came in after I'd already found a new gig lined up; two of these were on my last day. I really enjoyed it and enjoyed working with the people there, and we were just waiting for a larger project that never materialised. I guess life happens that way sometimes.

Autumn leaves in Ruislip commuting my last day of work

My new contract is based in Chiswick, an area of London that I love and wanted to move to but could not because it was too expensive. Although I will not be in edgey east London (or the City; my four-month contract was at Aldgate East, and the previous one was on Brick Lane), I will have a new part of London to explore. I wanted to explore a new part of London as I have tended to work in the City/east London for quite a while now. Of course, I can still visit east London at weekends to see what has changed.

Christ Church, Spitalfields

The good thing is that the commute is slightly shorter (depending on trains as my commute is a faff with two changes, and I have to use the District Line), and I can work from home two days a week. So, I hope to be well-rested and to use the time to be healthier, which is what I was hoping that I could do in my previous contract if I had had the stability (there was talks about me going permanent at one time). And I should have some stability for awhile.

SoftServe taro ice cream with salted caramel and marshmallow

I hope that everyone is having a good autumn and enjoys the Christmas season, which we are spiralling toward.

As the time spirals away toward Christmas, I have been finding a few cute Christmas gifts and decorations. Pickering's Hand-Picked Gin Baubles is one of the items that I saw advertised that I knew I had to buy because the packaging and the products themselves look stunning. Buying also gives me the opportunity to try some gin. Alcohol-inspired gifts and advent calendars seem to be the rage this year. Pickering's Gin is a gin brand based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The box design has a vintage feeling, showing off the gin baubles while a hand reaches to pick out one. The shadow cast by the hand and the glow of this red bauble looks like a reindeer, more notably a red-nosed reindeer (Rudolph). Once I opened the box, I was not disappointed by the beautiful cushioned compartments for the baubles. I will definitely be reusing these once the gin has been drunk.

The box came with six rainbow-coloured baubles (or bulbs / ornaments as we called them in the USA). Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple are the colours on offer. Each bauble has a ribbon to put it on the tree.

The baubles themselves are quite heavy, so I am not sure how they would fare on a real Christmas tree (I don't believe in fake/plastic Christmas trees) and new wooden flooring. Of course, I always put the heavier and fragile ornaments on the bottom, but I cannot be doing this now as I have cats.

Each bauble is filled with 5cl of gin. I have not tasted the gin yet, so I cannot comment on that, but I love the product and the packaging. I purchased these gin baubles from Pickering's Gin website at https://baubles.pickeringsgin.com.