Steff in Scotland

A couple of weeks ago The Body Shop hosted an event for Aberdeen bloggers, to share with us their Christmas campaign, as well as their Black Friday 40% off discount (yes, it's a thing in the U.K. now, no I have no idea how! ;-0).

I have always been a fan of The Body Shop, ever since I was a flag waving vegetarian in my teen years, they were one of, if not the first beauty company to not test on animals, and their commitment to creating charitable campaigns all over the world has always been impressive.

This Christmas, The Body Shop are running a campaign called "Wildest Christmas Ever" committed to saving a square meter of rainforest, as well as endangered species, with a focus on their ongoing projects in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

For every purchase from their selected Christmas gift range, 4p will be donated with an aim of raising £200,000. Since beginning the campaign in the summer they have secured almost 8 million square feet of bio-bridges (a bio-bridge is a restored wildlife corridor, yes I had to look this up! ;-), so it really could make a big difference if everyone bought even one item this Christmas.

We were greeted with chocolates and prosecco, which is always a bonus! It was a tiny bit crowded with all of the bloggers jostling for photographs and having catch up chats, but definitely a fun way to shop!



I am learning (for me) it's best to exercise caution when shopping in large groups, the "green cheese" thing is a factor and I came dangerously close to buying one of their amazing looking (but not in my budget) advent calendars, which many of the other bloggers did grab as the 40% off was very tempting and many of them were actually great value for the goodies they contained (they did look so fun, I have yet to buy a beauty advent calendar but can completely see the appeal!).






It was good though as the things I didn't buy that I am still thinking about are maybe things I can pick up with any Christmas pennies I may get, or who knows, maybe Santa will decide I have been good this year! ;-)

One thing that definitely caught my eye were their new Superfood Face Masks. They have some lovely sounding ingredients, and the packaging is so nice (My pictures don't do them justice!).



Another new (to me) thing were all of the candles - they had candles to correspond with the limited edition festive scents:



as well as a sophisticated looking line of Spa type scents:



The makeup section was ever popular and we bloggers had fun gawping and swatching to our heart's delight - I admit I feel slightly self conscious doing this on my own, but in this environment it was very freeing, and it was great to chat to the other bloggers about what things we liked/had tried already. I was pretty keen to try the new Matte Lip Liquid, I have a feeling I will be back in before long, their colour selection is truly impressive:



Georgie of The Lipstick Daily sold me completely on The Body Shop's Fresh Nude Cushion Foundation, and I also treated myself to the Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder, as I am always reading it is the best bronzer for pale girls ever (I  haven't tried either yet as I wanted to keep them pristine for photo's - ah, the blogger's life!).



I may have gotten a head start on some stocking stuffers too (Look away Mom...I'm SERIOUS!) Ok I know you totally didn't so I'll get you something else...maybe ;-)



And finally, on top of the bargains, The Body Shop kindly gifted us all with our own personalized body butters - with our names on them and everything!! 



I loved this so much, I was a kid who grew up never getting my name spelled right on any "personalized" item, who had to deal with the "PHANIE" version and be thankful if anyone ever thought that was ok to buy me (it totally was not ok!). I received the Vanilla Chai scent, which is soft and subtle - sometimes I find vanilla scents a bit cloying but this one is really pretty and would make a great scent layer for pretty much anything I think!

The labelling of the body butters is a free gift service The Body Shop are providing to all customers this holiday season. I am definitely planning on popping back in for a few more gifts from the Wildest Christmas Ever range (also it's worth noting if you shop online they do run some amazing discounts online only - right now if you spend £50 you get half off AND free shipping).

I had a great time at this event, thanks very much to Sarah at Blogs Vlogs Etc. for organizing it and the invite! I was gifted the body butter but all opinions are my own :-)