Crabtree and Evelyn Handy Tips Event inc. Goodie Bag contents!

On Friday evening, I was lucky enough to attend a little event at the Crabtree and Evelyn store in Nottingham, having been invited by Gemma from Beautiful Things. It was a bit of a mad dash from work, and I arrived a bit flustered and camera-less, but it was totally worth it. Crabtree and Evelyn had gone to great lengths to make our evening relaxing and lovely, and within moments of arriving I had a glass of pink cava in my hand, plus Crabtree's fabulous team were on hand to take polaroids, answer questions and give mini hand massages. 

Having only used a few items from the brand before, and never having been in the shop, I found out that there is a lot more to Crabtree and Evelyn than floral scented hand creams. They offer a wide selection of fragrances, and although the more traditional ones such as Rosewater, Lily and Lavender are nice, I found myself preferring the ones I hadn't heard of before, such as Caribbean Island Wildflowers, which is a little more modern. I also didn't realise they offered such a wide selection of food gifts, and their boxes of teas and biscuits looked so pretty. I'll definitely keep them in mind for presents in the future. The biggest surprise for me was the nail polish, something I had no idea Crabtree and Evelyn even produced. They had a great range of really affordable nail colours, and most of us there agreed the shades Sky Nail and Clementine were clear winners.

As they really are a brand with something to offer the whole family, Crabtree and Evelyn are encouraging customers to share the beauty tips the ladies in their family have passed down to them. By writing your tip in a leaf, and sticking it to the beautiful tree that takes pride of place in the shop, you earn yourself a £5 voucher too, so there's really no reason not to share your secrets! 

 As well as Gemma, I had a chance to chat with Sally, Becki, Emma and Hannah, who were all really friendly and lovely. I was of course very nervous when arriving alone, but there was no need to be, as everyone was so welcoming. I'd definitely recommend checking out their blogs! All of us were very kindly given a goodie bag at the end of the evening. I received their famous Hand Therapy cream in the scent Citron, which isn't my favourite fragrance admittedly, as it reminds me of Locket cough sweets! I love the cream though, the quality is excellent, so I'd be tempted to pick it up again in the Caribbean scent, or as part of one of the 60 Second Fix kits which also contain a hand scrub. We tried those out in the store, and they really do a great job of getting your hands feeling smooth and soft in no time at all. The other item I received was a nail polish, which I was of course very excited about, particularly when I realised that the shade was Sky Nail (£6), the light blue creme I had been eyeing up moments before. 

The formula is a great consistency and it applies really evenly - one coat is very nearly there and two coat is perfect - giving a glossy finish. I'm very impressed by this one! The colour is a perfect baby blue, which I wish I'd had in the Spring. I'll definitely be wearing this pretty shade lots in the next few weeks though, as I can never get enough of blue polish!