Advent Calendar
Day 23 - Eyebrow Mascara - This has a tiny brush and botanical fibers, and really fills in the brows well.
Day 24 - A beautiful lip product called "Grand Rouge Elixir" in a dusty rose shade. It is a lip treatment with camellia oil, and also a matte long wearing lip gloss.
The Yves Rocher Advent Calendar has been wonderful. It allowed me to try many new launches and things I would not have purchased otherwise. All of the formulas and scents have been beautiful. The lovely box is reusable, so I will save it for a future project.
I always long to celebrate Advent. My Advent time this year was a little bit hard. I have not been to Christmas services since I began the job I had now, four years ago, because I never have time off and am always so, so tired. But my soul always longs for Advent! This year my friend asked me to go with her to Christmas Eve candlelight service. I said I would because I felt guilty saying no, but I have been upset for a few days at the thought of having to leave my room and go out, and I wished she would change her mind. I just felt too tired and depressed for anything, as usual. But after having a potluck at work, leaving work early, and opening all kinds of wonderful gifts from my family, I felt well enough to take a shower with my First Snowflakes Shower Gel, put on my beautiful Grand Rouge Elixir lip color, and I happily went out! We had a great Chinese dinner out, and then proceeded to the Christmas Eve candlelight service. We arrived at the last moment before it started, and the church was packed, with barely a seat free. An amazing usher came and escorted us right to some seats that happened to be empty, right in front, directly in front of the Advent candles! The seats were on the extreme side of the altar, so I could not see the rest of the altar well, so I gazed mostly upon the candles while listening to the beautiful singing, cello and Bible verses. I thought, Jesus saved this seat just for me! He got me here! And then my own little candle was lit from the flame of those Advent lights, and I got to hold it and gaze intently upon it as the church sang "Silent Night." It was amazing!
Also my wishes came true, and I was blessed to get many beauty gifts from friends and family!
My cousin sent me an artisan soap called "Pixie" from a company called Finchberry Soapery. It is beautiful, and has a magical dusting of glitter on top. She also gave me a mini of Twilight Woods lotion from Bath & Body Works.
My brother is an amazing shopper. He always gets me the best gifts! This year he got me a Freeman face masque kit, with a glacier water and pink peony gel cream masque packet, cucumber and pink salt clay masque packet, charcoal and back sugar mud masque tube, and a masque brush! He also got me another set with a charcoal masque in a jar, along with a masque applicator tool, from Global Beauty Care, and Yardley activated charcoal bath soap. He got me so many charcoal products because we had gone to a holistic health seminar earlier in the year, and they had a big section on the uses of activated charcoal! He also got me the the Yardley Limited edition Apple Blossom Soap, and the Yardley Shea Buttermilk, Oatmeal and Almond, and English Lavender Soaps. My brother also gave me two mini shampoos, June Jacobs and Neutrogena, and a Revele 5 Piece Eyebrow Kit. He knows I love eyebrow tweezing kits!
My neighbor gave me Bath & Body Works Bright Winter Sky hand soap, gift wrapped from the store.
My father gave me a Baylis & Harding gift set with Midnight Fig & Pomegranate body spray, shower gel, and hand and body lotion, and a beautiful red cosmetics case with velvet and rhinestones! I love Baylis & Harding gifts! Last year my brother got me a Baylis & Harding set, and I still have some of the lotion left from it. I'm so glad to have another set from that brand. My father also got me a perfume set called Ferrera Stiletto that has shower gel, body lotion, and EDP in a shoe shaped bottle.
Dad's girlfriend got me a mini bodycology cherry blossom lotion.
My boss gave me Bath & Body Works Pearberry Fine Fragrance Mist.
My friend gave me a Viva Las Vegas Sweet perfume set with shower gel, lotion, fragrance mist, and big bottle of EDP.
Other gifts included a Coach wallet found at a thrift store, a lottery ticket for "$500 a week for life," which was not a winner, but which I will keep for luck, a trinket box from an antique store, some cash, slippers, book, DVD, CDs. Our house was blessed with many gifts of food this year, such as ham, chocolate, fruitcake etc., which I found very wonderful and comforting.
All around a very blessed and miraculous Christmas!