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Review: Yankee Candle Advent Calendar

Hello there everyone! 

Today, I am going to be reviewing this lovely carousel of goodies from Yankee, in which my boyfriend ever so kindly gifted me at the start of December! 

 

So in this you obviously get 24 candles, and it's a mix between Votives which you get 4 of and they're a bit bigger and can last up to 15 hours which is amazing! I didn't know this until i opened them, they weren't what they say on the packet! I got the votives on days 6, 12, 18 and 24 and I got a Berry Trifle which smells AMAZING! A Cosy By The Fire, Bundle up and on Christmas Eve I got a Winter Glow which was really weird as I was hoping I would get the Christmas Eve candle and I was so disappointed when I didn't, but nevermind! 

The tealight candles are smalled and have a plastic casing round them so you don't need a candle holder as you can just light them on any surface, whereas the votives I suggest you get a medium sized holder because it needs something that the wax can melt into that you can just scrape off and dispose of when it has cooled. These for me lasted a few lightings over two days, or an entire evening! As it says on the box it's got roughly 4-6 hours of burn time, however I did have a few candles which went dud because the wick was probably a little shorter than others! 

Overall, my favourites are the sweet scents like Snowflake Cookie, Candy Cane Lane, but besides that my top are Spiced Orange and Icicles, which Spiced Orange is a very Christmassy Spice scent (as you would guess!) and Icicles is a very clean scent, like a linen but does have a sweet undertone of something that I just couldn't put my finger on! 

I would so reccommend these if you like Yankee Candles and can't afford a huge one, and also prefer having lots of different scents and don't like to stick to one! These scents are matchable and do fill a room, for example: I matched Bundle Up, Icicles and Winter Glow together to create a lovely fresh scent which lasted for hours! I ADORE Yankee Candles and all they have to offer, and they are still selling these on their website for a discounted price if you wanted to stock up or just open them all at once! 

The one downfall of this Carousel of goodness, was that the packaging wasn't too great. The doors would rip off, and the Votives were really difficult to get out as they were just held in plastics, and I actually had to result in using a knife to get them out, which resulted in denting the candle! I wouldn't suggest doing this if you are young or unattended, so always ask for an adult's help first if you can't do it yourself. However! They do a house version of the Advent calendars, which I know there are no problems like this, so maybe that would be the option for you! 

I would love to know what your favourite Yankee Candle scent is in the comments below, festive or un-festive! I love going round and sample sniffing all the scents my tiny shop in town has to offer, so let me know what you like so i can try it out next time, or maybe it's my favourite too and we can share interests! Also, did you get an advent calendar similar to mine, and what were your opinions on it?

Keep Smiling, 

Paige x

  

 

How to: Stay Positive through-out the Holidays

Hello, lovelies.

The holidays are in full swing right now, Christmas has just passed, New Years Eve & Day are fast approaching, and upon all the happiness and the kind acts of giving, family meetings and board games that you say you don't want to play; but you really want to beat your Mum in, some important things are pushed aside.

Your mental health.

Now, I know that not everyone suffers with a mental health problem, however about a quarter of the population in the UK alone will experience a mental health problem within the year, and the pressures of the holidays can make it worse for those who suffer (and also those around)

So today I wanted to give you some reminders on making sure that you look after yourself and don't get too caught up in the hustle-and-bustle of the holiday spirit.

  

Take your time: 

Don't keep rushing around from door-to-door visiting everone whom you may feel like will forget about you during this period, they'll understand if you send them a text and let them know you're not up for it today, and maybe you can take a raincheck and have lunch another time. Not everything has to be squeezed into a 10 day limit, and not all plans are stuck in concrete - things can change and that's okay.

It's okay not to want to participate:

If you don't want to play that board game, or you don't want to attend that party that your friends are going to, or go shopping with your parent and sibling - that is OK! Your friends and family will understand if you feel like you need to take a breather because you're not entierly feeling yourself that day, or you want a duvet and Netflix afternoon with your cat. You're not expected to be everywhere all the time, and nothing is wrong with that.

 

Gifts aren't everything:

Panicking about the fact you haven't bought your Dad the aftershave he wanted, or you forgot to pick your Sister up those chocolates she really likes isn't the end of the world! Christmas was never made about having to buy people gifts, and this only puts more pressures on yourself to try and have 'The Perfect Christmas', and maybe being around hundreds of people in a small shopping centre sparks up your anxiety and that hinders your gift buying rota, it doesn't matter, no-one is going to mind if you didn't buy them a Hoverboard this year! 

 

Remember, it's a time of rest:

If you're on a break from University, School, or Work... remember this is YOUR time off too, and you're allowed a mid-afternoon walk to yourself around your local park, and a cup of tea in the local coffee shop, and watching movies in bed until 3pm is GOOD for your own well-being. Everyone needs some time to rest from early mornings and course-work set by teachers, so take it how YOU want it, and this holiday period is about resting, and setting yourself up to be energised into the New Year.

 

The small things are sometimes the big things:

Tackling a mental health problem, whatever it may be, can be a challenge. Sometimes even getting out of bed and changing out of your PJs you've been wearing for the past two days is SUCH a task, but if you manage to do that, and get up and showered deserves to be congratulaed! So what if you didn't do loads of fun-packed things in the holidays, some days you might be so down that you don't even want to snuggle with your pet, but if you managed to brush your teeth and give yourself a nice breakfast, that's an achievement in my books - and so it should be in your's. 

So basically what i'm trying to say is that you look after your well-being this holidays, and enter 2016 how you feel is right and don't forget to treat yourself to a hot chocolate, a nice bath bomb and your favourite movie every now and again. Replemish yourself, feel good about yourself, and remember that everyone around you loves you. Christmas and New Year are meant for joy, and you have to focus on bringing yourself that joy.

Have a wonderful rest of the holidays.
Let me know in the comments what you did so far these holidays that made you proud of yourself, or what is your best Pick-Me-Up for when you're feeling a bit under the weather!

Keep Smiling, 
Paige x