Behind the door of my advent calendar today...

A few years ago you'd struggle to find much exciting out there for vegans - no advent calendars, easter eggs, etc. Now, however, I am so thankful that more and more options are becoming available.
I know it's a little late for getting an advent calendar this year, but I'd thought I'd share how I'm enjoying my advent and give some tips and heads ups for next year. The below suggestions could equally work well for stocking fillers and other seasonal goodies, such as for treating your Secret Santa or attaching to your Christmas cards.

I found this little gem in my local Montezuma's chocolate shop, their Montezuma's Organic Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar. It's completely vegan and is also free from soya, gluten, GM and preservatives. It's a little pricey at £9.99, but you get a healthy slab of delicious dark chocolate each day and I also love the design - very stylish.
www.montezumas.co.uk

Me and my boyfriend have also begun a tradition of filling a calendar for each other (which we started back in the days when vegan advent calendars were super hard to find). We bought each other a fabric calendar which can be refilled each year, such as this one from the RSPB shop which you can make yourself and add a name. (Plus at the RSPB {Royal Society for the Protection of Birds} shop you can save nature while you shop with 100% of profit going towards saving birds and wildlife).

My boyfriend then filled mine with some scrummy vegan chocs such as the below, again from Montezuma's.

Montezuma's Organic Dark Chunky Snowmen
£4.99 for 8

Montezuma's Sunrise Truffles
£4.79 for 120g
These gorgeous balls are organic orange and dark chocolate truffles sprinkled with sugar - sublime!

If I'm lucky, behind some of the doors I also find a little gift and today I got to unwrap a very exciting little beauty treat - The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter. I love the Body Shop lip butters, but have never tried the coconut flavour before. I instantly love it though. It is so buttery and creamy and is not an overpowering scent - it is nice and subtle and sits beautifully on the lips. It contains organic virgin coconut oil for instant hydration and is perfect for this time of year when my lips are often chapped and dry no matter what I do!
The only downside is that I keep having to top it up as I'm continually licking it off! Perhaps not something I should recommend you do...

The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter

 £4.00

It is clear that I like coconut and the Body Shop though (and that great minds think alike!) as my boyfriend got to unwrap The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel in his calendar from me this week. I have every intention of stealing this - it's a handy pocket-size hand cleanse gel which should be great for my boyfriend who is always on the move and travelling on public transport.
It instantly cleanses and requires no water for use. You simply squirt it onto your hands for instant cleansing on the go. It's also only 60ml so can be taken on board planes to rid yourself of all those germs between meals (if you dare to eat aeroplane food that is). The coconut scent is also gorgeous - an immeditate refreshing smack in the nose!! I have Pink Grapefruit gel on my desk at work and everybody in the office knows when I have used it (and wants to borrow some!). Plus at £2.50 it's an absolute bargain!

The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel
£2.50 for 60ml

Whether you're a vegan or not, I hope you like these ideas. I think it's lovely to fill an advent calendar with chocolates and gifts that you know the recipient will love. It's a nice personal touch too and it's fun to get it down from the attic every year and know that Christmas is just around the corner!