It has been a tough old year, hasn’t it? With Christmas just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to put a smile on someone’s face with a surprise pick-me-up.
What better time to put someone else first and spread joy? Gifting someone else a present can really improve your overall mood as well as theirs. Although Christmas can get overwhelming as we navigate the busy high streets in pursuit of the perfect gift and check our endless to-do lists and make sure we’ve picked something up for secret santa, that doesn’t detract from the pure satisfaction we feel when we see someone special unwrapping a gift we put a lot of thought into.
Everything feels extra special this year for obvious reasons – we couldn’t celebrate in person with our loved ones last year. So this Christmas, I’m doing my best to make the festive season extra special! My family are coming to stay with us and it will be my first time hosting Christmas Day at our house.
Honestly, it has been years since I felt this excited for the big day! In previous years, I didn’t bother to decorate because we weren’t spending Christmas at home but this year I’ve gone all out, with our first Christmas tree sparkling away in the corner and a strict colour scheme that nobody is allowed to mess with.
Getting people together, exchanging gifts and tucking into plenty of indulgent food is what Christmas is all about for me.
I teamed up with Boots to create a bag of joy for a loved one using a selection of their wonderful Christmas gifts. With over 2,300 stores in the UK, Boots is a go-to for many of us when it comes to Christmas shopping. Their website is always my first port of call because of the great deals on skincare and other pamper essentials – stuff I know the most important person I’m buying gifts for loves.
After trawling the Boots website, I put together a Bag of Joy for my mum. I love to spoil her at Christmas because she did so much for my brother and I growing up and it’s great to be able to show our appreciation now we’re older!
My mum is a practical woman but she loves her little luxuries as much as I do, so I selected gifts from Boots’ Christmas Gifts For Her section with that in mind.
My first pick was an Oral-B Pro 3 – 3500 – Pink Electric Toothbrush. It’s something I know she wants, she’ll use it twice every day and hopefully think about her lovely, generous daughter as she does so.
I also included a Ole Henriksen C-ing Stars Vitamin C Skincare Set. Got to be honest, I got her this so I could try it while she’s staying with me over Christmas! Luxury skincare isn’t something my mum would ever buy for herself, but I know she loves it so I make sure to buy her some every year. I’ve seen beauty influencers sing this range’s praises so I’m looking forward to seeing what mum thinks.
Last but not least, a Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food in Banana. These huge tubs last ages and you can use the product as a conditioner, a leave-in treatment or a mask, so it’s really versatile.
Of course, my brother’s name will end up on the gift tags even though he didn’t contribute. Any other oldest siblings feel my pain?! Saying that, I really need to buy Christmas gifts for him…
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, this piece of content is sponsored by Boots but all opinions are my own.