We left our hotel super early in the morning to make the drive (which took multiple hours) alongside other hotel guests, and other guests from different hotels that we had to pick up along the way. On our coach was our guide, Nahebi, who was there to educate us about Chichen Itza and more broadly answer questions from is.

Arriving at Chichen Itza was an experience in itself. What looked like hundreds and hundreds of identical coaches are constantly streaming in, and the entrance plaza was full of tourists trying to move.

NB. This was the point that I realised that my idyllic visions of capturing stunning photographs of the monuments, standing alone in their majesty, were just a pipe dream. It was a monumental effort to be able to take pictures without other humans in them.

Before we had even seen a proper glimpse of Chichen Itza itself, Nahebi took us around some of the things to see by the entrance, including stalls that local artisans sold souvenir-type things at, and also at some recreations of how people lived at the time that Chichen Itza was thriving, including replicas of their huts.

After wandering around there, I got my first glimpse of Chichen Itza itself. Up until this point, I hadn’t properly appreciated its scale – but the thing looked HUGE to me, peeking out from between the trees.

As we made our way through the trees, we arrived at an extremely large open clearing. In the center, the main monument that you picture in your mind when you hear ‘Chichen Itza’. The thing is indeed a monster, and makes you marvel at how it was constructed. It is also in pretty great shape for an incredibly old monument.

We spent a few hours at the site – and there lots to see and marvel at aside from just the “main” monument. There are lots of ruins, and if like us, you go with a dedicated guide, they are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about explaining the history and significance behind each thing. In fact, I would highly recommend to go on a guided tour versus just on your own, as you will miss a ton of context.

One thing that will always stick in my mind is that our guide explained how the acoustics of Chichen Itza are very special, and have been built in a way that making certain sounds echo in certain ways, or mimic animal sounds. Super cool stuff that we would have never have understood or known without him. (Aside, this is why if you go to Chichen Itza, there will 100% be people clapping in strange ways at certain spots!)

Another thing that our guide was great at explaining was the meaning of all the different kinds of engravings on the stones. Pretty much everything is intricately carved in some way to depict a story, so its really worth going with someone who can explain what they mean.

Aside from the actual monuments themselves, there is also a bunch of wildlife at Chichen Itza! I saw so many iguanas – spotting them became a fun little pastime after we had toured all the different monuments

All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Chichen Itza and really recommend you making time to go if you are in Mexico. Two final tips for you:

• Go as early as possible, because apparently the crowds get even worse later in the day. It is also cooler earlier in the day.
• Speaking of, I recommend taking lots of water and an umbrella, because it is hot and pretty open to the elements.

Anyway, this year I received a lookfantastic advent calendar, and first up, I want to spotlight the beautiful box design. The thing is a work of art and I was so happy with it, it had pride of place in my living room

So, through the month of December, I studiously opened my advent calendar every evening to see what was inside The advertising for this product says that the contents are worth around £420 and after opening everything, I can believe it! There were some genuinely expensive, luxe products inside and I’m really happy with the overall quality of the products inside.

But this post is not about price! It’s about my personal ranking of how much I like the products inside. So, I won’t be referencing price again, but I will talk about the efficacy of the product, its size, and whether I personally vibe with it.

Let’s go.

From ‘least good’ to best

#25 – Emma Hardie, Moisture Boost Cream

Well this is awkward. I have to start with Emma Hardie’s moisture boost cream because… I didn’t actually receive it in my advent calendar It was meant to be Day 17, but instead on Day 17, I got a duplicate of another day’s product, due to a packing error I guess.

So let’s start this ranking from 24…

#24 – Bubble T limited edition Bath Bomb

These mini bath bombs are salted caramel flavour and even with a sealed packet, I can smell that caramel flavour. So, if luxuriating in baths smelling of candy is your vibe, you’re absolutely gonna love these.

Unfortunately, I like my baths smelling a little less… food-like, which is why these are at the back of the pack. I also would have loved to have seen something a bit more premium than this plastic packaging from this box that overall had a very luxe vibe.

#23 – Eyeko Lash Alert Mascara

This travel-sized mascara will do the trick but is nothing particularly revolutionary. It has gone straight into my box of travel-size cosmetics that I fish out when I’m going on short trips, and is definitely a welcome addition to round out my holiday cosmetics collection.

#22 – First Aid Beauty, Facial Radiance pads

These pads are going straight into my aeroplane backpack, the bag that I always take with me on flights, and that is filled with all those important flying essentials. At 28 pads, this counts as travel-sized for me, and I can imagine using these to brighten up my face at the end of a flight.

#21 – Illamasqua, Nude Collection lip liner

Confession time, I never really use lip liners because I’m not entirely sure how they work This one has gone into my make-up drawer with the vague ambition that I really need to watch some youtube videos and figure out lip liners lol.

#20 – Molton Brown, Fiery Pink Pepper Bath and Shower Gel

I like Molton Brown a lot, and this bath + shower gel with notes of fiery pink pepper, tangerine and ginger is only this low down for me because the fragrance doesn’t quite do it for me. But next time, I have a guest to stay (or when I finally get a place big enough for that guest bathroom), you best believe I’ll be getting this out to look fancy

#19 – Lord & Berry Eye Liner

This eye-liner promises to be ultra-long wearing and easy to smudge to create that smoky finish. Again, its pretty mini so I’m adding it to the holiday cosmetics bag again.

#18 – Omorovicza, Queen of Hungary Mist Limited Edition

Fun fact, this was actually inside the compartment for the last day of the advent calendar. I was expecting something INCREDIBLE which may have contributed to the feeling of slight disappointment in this product. I’ve personally never heard of this brand and whilst I’m excited to try out something new, a complexion rejuvenating mist is not something I imagine I’m gonna use. I’m more a ‘splash some cold water on my face’ kinda girl.

On the converse, a product like this is exactly why I love the idea of beauty advent calendars. Its not something I would traditionally buy myself, but I might actually love it when I start using it! Also, it makes me feel like maybe I could be a women who spritzes herself on the daily with a fine orange blossom mist

#17 – Morphe Eyeshadow palette

Another fun fact! This was actually day 1 of the advent calendar, and when I opened it and saw it, it made me even more excited for the advent calendar. This is a full-size product, and you can really never have too many eyeshadow palettes

#16 – Neal’s Yard Remedies, Wild Rose Hand Cream

I looove hand cream and have a hand cream on my desk at work at all times. This exact fragrance isn’t one that I necessarily would have picked out for myself, but I can tell you it feels divine. Neal’s Yard always has a high bar of quality to the products and this hand cream really doesn’t disappoint on that front. Your hands will feel instantly moisturised

#15 – Oskia, Renaissance Cleansing Gel

This promises to purify the skin with a non-foaming cleanser, restoring radiance and leaving skin feeling soft. It’s also suitable for all skin types which is handy when you’ve not picked it out yourself. I used it the day after a particularly hectic New Years celebration and I was impressed at how it made my hungover skin glow

#14 – Sleek Makeup, Highlighting palette

This was one of those serendipitous moments when my advent calendar delivered what I was looking for. It contains two baked powders, one silky shimmer powder and one cream highlighter, and I found they blended well. Another full-sized make-up offering was also definitely appreciated!

#13 – Living Proof, Perfect hair day 5-in-1 styling treatment

I haven’t used this yet, but I’m excited to try it, as I’m always on the hunt for products that will make my hair pop. I always struggle finding the exact right hair products for my hair (curly girls, you know what I’m saying) so my expectations are pretty low, especially because this isn’t a product that is explicitly targeting curly hair. But hey, imagine if this turns out to be the one! That excitement is why this has ranked highly.

#12 – Luxie makeup brushes

These brushes got used straight away, applying me some eyeshadow. I really enjoyed the fact that I received two different brushes on one day as each brush does something different. These are some solid brushes to receive if you don’t necessarily have a brush collection yet as they are hella useful. However, if you already have a comprehensive brush collection, you’ll likely be doubling up (and this is why a holiday cosmetics bag is the thing!)

#11 – Caudalie, Vinopure Clear Skin Purifying Toner

This bottle was exciting to receive as it hits the brief of something that I would probably never buy myself but that I can’t wait to use! It’s a clarifying toner, and its for combination skin (when your skin has some oily patches and some dry patches). This is smart because a product in an advent calendar needs to cater to a wide variety of people.

This product works through its organic essential oils drawing out impurities from within your pores. And most importantly, it smells realllllly good!

#10 – Delilah Cosmetics, Eyebrow pencil

This has two ends. One brush to groom those brows to perfection, and the other is a fine pencil tip that creates natural hair-like strokes to fill sparse gaps and enhance depth. Definitely a cool, low maintenance product if your eyebrows need some love and attention.

#9 – Rituals, Ayurveda Dry Oil

This is a natural dry oil, infused with Indian Rose and Sweet Almond, which can be applied to hair and body to hydrate you. I haven’t used this one yet but I can tell you it smells delicious, which makes me excited to try it! This is the kinda product that for me is perfect for a pamper night, and I like that this calendar has a mix of those daily use products and those that are a bit more special.

#8 – Mellow Cosmetics, Liquid Lip Paint

This liquid lip paint is meant to be long-wearing – it promises to last all day while at the same time avoiding drying out your lips. This was an intriguing promise because I struggle with lip paints making my lips feel mad dry . This paint delivers a velvet matte finish and feels nice on your lips when you apply it. Not gonna lie, they still felt a bit dry a few hours later but at least they looked good doing it

#7 – Philip Kingsley, Deep Conditioning Treatment

I’ve not used this yet as I’m saving it to use before a big night out. This product provides a deep conditioning treatment that promises to add elasticity and bounce to your hair. Elasticity and bounce are two words that are very important to me so I can’t wait to try this!

#6 – Avant Skincare, Moisture Surge Overnight Treatment

Damn, I really love this product. It smells insane and it made my skin feel super smooth and hydrated. It’s meant to be used 2-3 times a week before bed for a brighter face, and promises to give you a more youthful look. However, it does such madness to my skin that I’m struggling not to use it more than 2-3 times a week, to be honest.

And another fun fact – this is the first product out of the calendar that I put on order.

#5 – Filorga, Meso-mask

Fun fact, I accidentally received two of these in my advent calendar. Not that I’m complaining. This product is a face mask that enhances your skin’s radiance, and can be applied to the face, neck and decolletaaaaaaaage. Even with two bottles, I just wish I had more.

#4 – Elemis, Pro-collagen Marine Cream

When I unboxed this, I couldn’t believe it! Not only do I know that this product is expensive, but I love anything that promises that its ‘clinically proven to reduce fine lines and wrinkles’. I’ve been using this religiously daily and I’m probably going to have to buy more

#3 – Prai, Throat & Decolletage Creme

Sensing a theme? This cream moisturises and firms your throat + decolletage, which I’m ALL about after noticing a number of older women whose faces seem smooth and wrinkle-free till your eyes slide down to their throat and cleavage and then you realise thats where all their wrinkles have emigrated to

On the downside, this cream comes in a tiny little pot and I wish they would’ve been more generous!

#2 – Bioeffect, EGF Serum

This tiny little bottle was described as ‘groundbreaking’ and is again another product to help reduce wrinkles and fine lines. I thought the bottle was really small until I read the instructions where I saw you’re only meant to be using 2-4 drops of it a day! I’m excited to see this one’s effect over time.

#1 – Rodial, Dragon’s Blood Lip Mask

I was so hype for this product, that when I opened it I didn’t even take a picture of it, I just ripped it open and used it right there and then I had just been recovering from a cold and my lips were hella dry, so a mask specifically for rehydrating lips was everything I could have dreamt of lol.

But anyway, here’s the packaging and a pic of me with my lip mask on

This product comes top of the list because it is the product, hands-down, that I will be buying again and again. My lips felt amazing afterwards, like they had their own spa day out and I’ve been recommending this mask to all my friends ever since.

So is a beauty advent calendar worth it?

Yes, yes and YES! Not only do you really get the bang for your buck with this calendar, but it was genuinely so much fun to unbox something everyday, knowing that it will last for days/weeks afterwards. as well as potentially introducing me to my new favourite obsession.

The only dilemma now is to figure out which calendars are the best ones. Sounds like in Christmas 2020 I may have to buy multiple ones so I can “test them out” Watch this space!

I didn’t wanna go down the typical Christmas colours route, and I knew I also want to keep the colour scheme feminine and soft. I started by pinning some colour inspirations to get me thinking:

The next step was to take a November trip to John Lewis, to visit their beautiful Christmas shop. This is the chance for me to get inspired about the details. The thing I love about John Lewis is that they curate specific themes for their Christmas shop, that tell a full, cohesive story.

The theme I was most drawn to was called Sanctuary, mostly thanks to the colour palette. Light pinks, striking golds, blush tones, and understated sparkly elegance all combined to create a calming but still festive vibe.

I took note of some of my favourite decorations and later on, I revisited them online. I pinned them all to my Christmas board and then the hard work began of figuring out how to reduce my selection down

I wanted to have around 5-6 statement baubles that I would buy sparingly, but that would really make the tree pop. These baubles all have to tell a cohesive story together, as well as bringing something different to the table so they each can stand on their own as wow moments. Without overshadowing each other though.

Once the statement baubles are sorted, I then knew I could augment the rest of the tree with ‘filler’ baubles. These are still beautiful objects and still in keeping with the colour theme, but are able to fade into the background more and let the statement baubles really shine:

The problem with picking 6 statement baubles was that I had pinned almost double that number, which would be far too many. This is where having the baubles pinned together on a Pinterest board was helpful, because I could easily see how they would work in different combinations, and I could start to peel off the ones that didn’t end up bringing much uniqueness to the tree, or the ones that clashed too much with the others.

I ended up with these statement baubles:

Which actually then turned into 7, because I couldn’t resist adding some extra sparkle

So I finally had my baubles selection! But any good tree, in my book, also needs a bit more extra bling, so I picked up some gold pine cone tree decorations as well as some warm LED lights.

/// Hold for waiting for all of this to be delivered ///

Getting a huge box of Christmas decorations was when I felt like the festive season had started I found a Christmas tunes Spotify playlist, put on my fluffy pjs, and got to work on putting up the tree!

My tree, which was also a John Lewis purchase if you wanna sense a theme, is as fake as they come, which is exactly how I like it because I feel like there is just less mess. It also means you can have cool trees that look like they are dusted with snow, which to me just feels way more festive.

Putting the baubles onto the tree is more of an art than a science. My rule of thumb is to just place things where my gut is telling me they’ll look good, and spend a lot of time appraising your progress from afar rather than up close, so you can really get a proper picture of how it will look.

Okay, enough words, here’s what the tree looks like now its finished!

And some up close shots of how the statement baubles look in situ:

My tree has been a source of happiness and joy for me over the past few weeks. I can’t tell you how good it is to come in from the cold and wet, into my home that is warm, inviting and lit up by this beast of a tree. And that makes all this effort worth it!

Merry holiday szn!

Don’t get me wrong, I love a white Christmas day as long as I don’t actually need to go anywhere. But then, snow must evaporate immediately and then 20+ degrees please!

I’m very much a warm-blooded animal, and so the prospect of spending time in December in a hot country was incredible appealing.

I was also really interested to see how Christmas would translate to a hot country. Would Santa wear shorts and t-shirt, frolicking with his Rudolph the Red Nose Turtle in the sand?

Turns out… spending Christmas and New Year in a resort in Mexico meant that all of the familiar Xmas motifs from home were still there. Although it was an experience to see Santa arrive on the beach on Christmas day on a jet ski!

Here are a few pictures from the holiday that hopefully evoke some of the spirit of our very hot festive holiday