JOIK Advent Calendar: Top Picks

I really enjoyed the JOIK Advent Calendar* which I chose in November as my #LLABP pick (partly paid by me).

I've got 17 top picks which out of 24 is pretty good going! (and right now it's still on sale if you fancy it (£85.60). The products I wasn't so keen on were - Raspberry Bon Bon Shower Oil 50ml, Luxurious Citrus Bath Milk (because it had opened in transit and covered most things in a light powder), Micellar Water 50ml, Juicy Apple Shower Foam 50ml, Deep Moisturising All Over Balm 15ml, Oriental Night Soap 40gr and the Vanille scented sachet 30gr I thought was only ok as I didn't find the scent very long-lasting.

Onto the products I loved:

Rejuvenating Eye Contour Cream 8ml which I've been enjoying using. It helps to reduce wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles. The cream is stuffed full of ingredients which help smooth out wrinkles, add moisture, help with collagen and elastin production, nourish and plump. I'd buy full size.

I also love Exfoliating Facial Scrub 15ml which has a rich creamy texture and citrus scent. Bamboo stem and olive granules gently exfoliate along with AHA fruit acids of bilberry, cane sugar, maple sugar, orange and lemon. Coconut oil, shea butter and sunflower oil moisturise and nourish.

Cleansing Facial Foam 50ml is really lovely to use and refreshing in my morning shower. I love the light as air foam which I find gives a really good clean and refreshes the skin. It also has fruity scent which is uplifting.

I love using the Moisturizing Day Cream 30ml in conjunction with both the Regenerating Night Cream 30ml and the Silky Facial Serum 10ml. I've found the trio work very well together. I'll do a full review shortly on the trio.

I thought the Spiced Cranberry Soy Wax Candle 145g was a great addition to the calendar. I love it's gentle spicy Christmas aroma with notes of cranberry, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and clove.

Citrus & Bergamot Body Butter 50ml absorbs instantly and leaves the skin with a beautiful citrus aroma and deeply nourished. While Raspberry Bon Bon Body Butter 50ml smells good enough to eat! It has a sweet and slightly fruity raspberry scent.

Sweet Orange & Mint Body Oil 50ml also absorbs instantly and leaves the skin smelling fresh, fruity with the skin hydrated and nourished. A special blend of nurturing oils are used and I like the spray bottle top too! I like to use the body oil in conjunction with the matching Sweet Orange & Mint Body Scrub 75ml which has the same delicious scent with for me personally, the perfect amount of scrubbiness.

Rose & Red Clay Soap 40g smells just glorious. I'm a huge fan of bars of soap (hopefully full sizes will land at Love Lula soon!) Apple & Elderflower Foaming Handwash 50ml is again a favourite. I love the foamy texture and the uplifting fruity scent.

I absolutely adore JOIK's White Chocolate Bath Truffles see my review HERE.

Illuminating Passionfruit & Mango Body Milk 50ml and Green Tea & Cucumber Body Lotion 50ml which I think would be perfect for packing for your summer holidays.

The final item I loved from the Advent Calendar was the fantastic Velvety Red Silky Lip Balm which adds a pop of nourishing colour to the lips.

Do we share any favourites? What are your overall thoughts on the JOIK Advent Calendar?

*partly funded by myself and partly by the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program 

**my post contains affiliate links

JOIK Advent Calendar: Days 22-24

It's the final three days!

Day 22:

Apple & Elderflower Foaming Handwash 50ml which I'm looking forward to trying. I loved the shower foam so I have high hopes for this!

Day 23:

Raspberry Bon Bon Body Butter 50ml which smells glorious! Looking forward to trying it. 

Day 24:

Spiced Cranberry Soy Wax Candle which smells delicious. Looking forward to lighting this little beauty! It also has notes of cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and clove. Pick yours up HERE.

I've really enjoyed the JOIK Advent Calendar. Fuller reviews will follow for some of the items. See what I thought days 1-7 (HERE), days 8-14 (HERE) and days 15-21 (HERE).

Wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2018 - I'll be back on the 27th for my #bestof2017 (beauty)

*the calendar was part funded with Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program points and the remained paid by me (£57).
*my post contains affiliate links

JOIK Advent Calendar: Days 15 to 21

Here's my thoughts on days 15 to 21 (these are just initial musings full reviews will follow for most products).

Day 15:

Today we received Illuminating Passionfruit & Mango Body Milk 50ml which seems nice. It has a lovely fruity scent and leaves the skin looking glowy. 

Day 16:

We received another mini soap this time in Oriental Night which I can't currently find on JOIK's website.

Day 17:

Today we received an Eye Contour Cream sample size which can be bought full size at £20. See HERE. I'm looking forward to testing this one out!

Day 18:

Sweet Orange & Mint Body Oil 50ml which I'm looking forward to trying out. It retails at £10 for 100ml over at Love Lula.

Day 19:

I'm a huge fan of the lovely White Chocolate Bath Truffles see my review HERE.

Day 20:

I'm super pleased with this Velvety Red Lip Lip Balm which retails at £6. Find it HERE. It gives the lips a lovely pop of festive colour. I'm going to enjoy using this!

Day 21:

Today we got a Deep Moisturizing All-Over Balm 15ml which I'll enjoy testing out.

What do you think of this week's contents? (only 3 days to go!)

*The Love Lula Accredited Blogger Programme points in November paid for part of the calendar. I added £57.

** My post contains a few affiliate links

JOIK Advent Calendar: Days 8-14

Here's what I received in my JOIK Advent Calendar* days 8-14:

Day 8:

A scented sachet in Vanilla Noisette which has a rich vanilla scent with carmel notes (almost smells good enough to eat). Put it in your car, cupboards or drawer. I like the idea of getting slightly different things in a calendar (I'm looking forward to the upcoming candle!)

Day 9:

I absolutely adore Silky Facial Serum with Cranberry Seed Oil (we've got a 10ml rollerball in the calendar). My skin's really enjoying it - expect a full review soon.

Day 10:

This Luxurious Citrus Bath Milk 30gr unfortunately opened in transit and cast a fine powder over most items in the calendar (which is a shame). It would have been better if the little pot had a seal on it. Apart from that, it smells glorious and I'm looking forward to testing it out.

Day 11:

We got a 50ml Micellar Water on day 11 which I'm slightly on the fence about - I've tried it once so far and found it stung around my eye area. Will give it another try before passing it on.

Day 12:

This Citrus & Bergamot Body Butter 50ml isn't available at Love Lula. It smells gorgeous and I'm looking forward to using it. 

Day 13:

Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub 15ml is also a new try for me. Some of the other girls who also got the calendar have been raving about it - so I'm looking forward to trying. Again, a review will follow.

Day 14:

Today's pick was Juicy Apple Shower Foam 50ml which again I'm looking forward to using.

Full reviews will be forthcoming once I have the chance to test everything out. Did you pick up a JOIK Advent Calendar? (I noticed last night they've been reduced to £85.60 so if you fancy one I'd say...be quick!)

*Love Lula Accredited Blogger points paid for part of the calendar. I added £57

**my post contains a few affiliate links

JOIK Advent Calendar: The first 7 days

I was never going to do a daily post on the contents of the fabulous JOIK Advent Calendar* and had always planned a weekly one. Above is what came out of the first seven days! WOW! These are just my initial thoughts - I'll review them in fuller detail once I've had the chance to test them out properly.

Day 1:

Cleansing Facial Foam with Cucumber & Watercress Extracts & Aloe Juice 50ml - this is a gentle foaming cleanser with a refreshing scent (which I like to use in my morning shower). It is suitable for use all over the face and neck including the eye area.  This one's a hit with me!

Day 2:

Moisturizing DayCream with Rosehip, Wheatgerm & Carrot Oil 30ml - which lightly hydrates the skin. It's suitable for all skin types and is perfect to use under make up. A full review will follow when I get the chance to try it.

Day 3:

Raspberry Bon Bon Shower Oil 50ml - which smells divine! I'm not a huge fan of shower oils so will probably pass this one on.

Day 4:

Sweet Orange & Mint Body Scrub 75ml - this smells uplifting and refreshing at the same time! It also has the right amount of "scrubbiness" which I like. Looking forward to trying it.

Day 5:

Regenerating NightCream with Sea Buckthorn, Jojoba Oil & Calendula Extract 30ml - I've tried this once so far and my skin loved it. Expect a full review soon.

Day 6:

Green Tea & Cucumber Body Lotion 50ml - this light and easily absorbed lotion which smells really refreshing (I think this would be the one to pop in your summer holiday bag).

Day 7:

Rose & Red Clay Handmade Soap mini - which is one of my favourite items. I adore bars of soap and this one's gorgeous.

What are your thoughts on the contents of the JOIK Advent Calendar* so far?  Which ones would you specifically like me to review?

*I paid for £57 of the Advent Calendar and my November points from the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program paid for the remainder.

**my post contains 2 affiliate links

JOIK Advent Calendar - Day 1

Today's the day I opened that very first door of my JOIK Advent Calendar. You can see my initial thoughts when I received it way back at the beginning of last month HERE.

Behind that first door is..

A 50ml Cleansing Facial Foam with cucumber & watercress extracts and aloe juice. I tried it as soon as I opened my calendar and the gentle foam smells fruity and refreshing and it leaves the skin feeling comfortable and clean.

This is a product which isn't available to buy full size at Love Lula at the moment but keep your eyes peeled for it coming back in stock. I'm not going to do a daily post on the contents but I will do a weekly roundup of my thoughts (mainly because I've too many other posts to fit in in December!) But I will share photos on Twitter and Instagram daily.

What do you think of Day 1?

*I paid £57 towards the cost of the Advent Calendar and my points with the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program for November paid for the rest.

My posts contains a few affiliate links

November: Lately I've been Loving

I'm a huge fan of Suki Tea and was delighted to find my favourite Peppermint at Earthy Portobello. I think this is the best peppermint tea ever made so I'm delighted to find it available locally!

I took part in the 7 days black n' white photos no explanation over on Facebook. This little knitted unicorn got a lot of comments I think people were worried I was swilling G&T's and Bourbon & Cokes before work..

I absolutely adore Bliss Botanicals and in particular their gorgeous Vanilla Rose Soy Wax Melts. They just feel like coming home for me. Cosy, heartwarming and they make me happy. See the shop HERE and my earlier review HERE.

New for Christmas from Beatitude is their gorgeous Limited Edition Christmas Comfort Candle* (£30 - 200g) which contains the essential oils in Comfort blend - geranium, clementine, lavender and eucalptus along with clove, cardamon and cinnamon for a festive treat. The blend is really beautiful and the candle has a good throw. Expect a fuller review shortly.

Every Tropic Skincare product I try I love. This Whipped Body Velvet (£28 - 200ml)** is just a delight. My dry winter skin is loving it. It melts instantly on contact with warm skin and is formulated with Madagascan rarabe butter and baobab oil and scented with mouthwatering Tahitian and Bourbon Vanilla extracts. It's one of my favourite bodycare products this year.

Being back at Heart of Midlothian FC after a spell away when the new Main Stand was getting built was a definite highlight of November. Our seats are way up at the top with a great view of the pitch.

And of course I was delighted to receive my JOIK Advent Calendar* from Love Lula not long now until the 1st!

What have you been loving this month?

*I put £57 toward the JOIK Advent Calendar from Love Lula the rest was paid for via my points from the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program in November. My post contains an affilate links.
**complimentary

Love Lula: JOIK Advent Calendar 2017

Love Lula are stocking the fabulous JOIK Advent Calendar this Christmas. (although if you want one I'd say order it quickly!) Costing £107 it contains a mix of full and travel sizes (some of which are new to us in the UK) including products for the skin, body, bath and a couple of scented goodies for the home - there are 24 in all - "24 days of joy - 24 days of JOIK".

I'm really looking forward to mine arriving! (update - it has!) You can see the full list of contents HERE. The calendar was designed by Estonian ceramic artist Liisu Arro this year - isn't it so pretty!

I'll be sharing daily photos on Twitter and Instagram and doing a weekly roundup of what's behind each door.

Do you think you'll pick one up? Are you tempted?

*I chose the JOIK Advent Calendar as my November pick with the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Program - I did add £57 to enable me to purchase it. My post contains 2 affiliate links (and I'm super excited for 1st December!)