When word came about that The Body Shop store in Leeds was looking for bloggers to come along to their event on 4th November, I couldn't say yes quick enough! I'm a big fan of The Body Shop and their products, in particular their Camomile Cleansing Butter and various scented shower gels. I don't think anyone knew what to expect from the event, as no information was really given about it, but if the impressive turnout was anything to go by I'm not the only one who loves what they do. In all honesty, the event was a bit of a strange one - it was basically a private shopping event and there was little talk from any of the staff about their Christmas range. Instead, as we looked around we could ask the staff members for any advice or information that we wanted about the products on display. It was quite informal, and a good opportunity to create a healthy dent in my bank balance, but I would have liked a bit more structure from the team involved. So, seeing as there isn't much to write about it terms of what went on, I decided to show you some of the items from the Christmas range. If you make it to the end of this post, there's a cheeky discount code in it for you too - how's that for a bribe?!







If there is one thing that The Body Shop always do well every year, it's gift sets. They come in every size, shape and scent available and there is a set suitable for every budget - so whether you're shopping for a Secret Santa or splashing the cash, there is something for everyone. I've never known anyone to be disappointed with a gift set from The Body Shop, as the products that are in them are always well thought-out and the packaging is always adorable too. The best example of this is The Nutty Polar Bear, £7 which caught my eye straight away. How cute is he? In this set you get a 50ml Shea Body Butter, and a full size Shea Lip Butter. I think this would be perfect to give to a young girl, who is just getting into beauty. I know when I was younger I carried a lip balm with me everywhere I went (If I remember rightly my favourite was the Mango Lip Butter because it smelt so good!), and the body butter is a good size that they would actually realistically use. I also loved the Treats box sets, £6 each and available in a few different scents. These contain a 60ml Body Whip, 60ml Shower Gel and a Mini Bath Lily - a perfect gift for someone who's planning on doing some travelling next year, perhaps.







Now, I couldn't talk about The Body Shop at Christmas and not mention their festive range of scents. Every year, The Body Shop come out with three limited edition scents that are usually festive in some way. For the previous two years these have been Cranberry Joy, Ginger Sparkle and Vanilla Spice - all of which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the Ginger Sparkle. So, imagine my disappointment when I saw that they had done away with Ginger Sparkle and replaced it with a new scent. In fact, the scents this year are all brand new - this time around we have Glazed Apple, Vanilla Brulee and Frosted Cranberry. The scent that has had everyone talking the most is Glazed Apple, and now that I've smelt it for myself I know why. It's very unusual for this time of year - very sweet indeed, to the point where it smells like apple-flavoured laces! It's also quite strong, more so than I was expecting if I'm honest. At the event I bought the Glazed Apple Shower Gel, and it is so strongly scented that I can still smell it in the bathroom over an hour later! I do like the scent, but it's not a patch on my beloved Ginger Sparkle and I do miss it at this time of year. The Vanilla Brulee scent is a marked improvement on the Vanilla Spice of previous years; it smells good enough to eat and is truly delectable in every way. It's a very warming, comforting scent that completely invades your senses, and I think at the event it surprised a lot of people (including me) with how lovely it smelt. Think of vanilla custard and you're not far wrong! I would be happy if they brought this back next year. As for the Frosted Cranberry - my least favourite of the three - it smelt pretty much the same as the Cranberry Joy, which is to be expected. Slightly tarter perhaps, and not as sweet, but still in essence the same. This was quite disappointing, and whilst I like the scent as a whole, it wasn't one that I was rushing to purchase - as it was, I didn't purchase anything from this range.




A new product that made an appearance in the festive range this year was the Bath Jelly, which everyone was poking to see how much it wobbled! A firm favourite amongst the bloggers in attendance was the Vanilla Brulee one, which Grace pointed out is a very close dupe for the Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Honey Bath - you can check out her post here. I'm always annoyed when I find an amazing bath product like this, because I don't have a bath at home to use it in! I think that The Body Shop would do well to bring these out in other scents too, such as Moringa and Strawberry. On the night, there was an offer of £20 off a £40 spend, which I think everyone took advantage of in the end. By the time I had left the shop, I had spent £26 and left with the Glazed Apple and Vanilla Brulee Shower Gels, Eau de Toilettes and Home Fragrance Oils, as well as a new Camomile Cleansing Butter to replace the one I was running out of. Not a bad deal at all, eh? Martin just rolled his eyes when I was excitedly showing him my purchases - and for the record he hated the Glazed Apple scent, which didn't surprise me at all!

The discount code that The Body Shop have until 16/12/14 is 40% off plus a free Vitamin E Moisture Cream when you spend £10 - the code is 14665. There is also free standard delivery when you spend over £5 too, which is brilliant which if like me you hate trailing around the shops close to Christmas time!