Letters from Marion: Crabtree and Evelyn

(101 posts - woo!!)

I was delighted to be invited along to Crabtree and Evelyn's Garden Celebrations event!

As soon as you walk into the beautiful store in Princes Square in Glasgow an amazing bouquet of scents swarms you, delighting your little nose. And it was made even better when I was handed a glass of fizz and spied the table piled high with buttered scones and shortbread - this was going to be a good evening.

Crabtree and Evelyn is delightfully British and conjures up images of flowers blooming around an afternoon tea in the garden, complete with lacy parasol. It makes you think of gorgeous summery days in well curated gardens, buzzing with bees and bright flowers smiling at the sunshine.

It was founded over 40 years ago and along with the perfect products and packaging makes everyday essentials seem just that little bit more special. With fragrances, fine food and now nail varnishes, they keep popping little surprises at you as you explore. The ranges are made from fruit, flower and plant essence and are subtle luxurious that are a delight peruse and it's their strong relationship to the garden and nature that makes the brand as perfect as it is today.

But, anyway back to the Garden Celebration.

The Garden Celebration range is ideal for Spring as blossoms start to appear, snowdrops poke through the ground and everything in general starts to look a little rosier. Now, I may not have a garden, or even a balcony filled with potted plants (the dream) but the treatments are still perfect for soothing and restoring dry and battered hands, left over from the winter months.

The natural ingredients are inspired by English herb gardens, with notes of rosemary, lavender, sage, thyme and oak moss. A dreamy combination.

Soon I was whisked over for an amazing hand treatment. My hands were scrubbed, leaving them smooth and supple. Applying a hand scrub every now and again is something I usually forget to do, but honestly, it makes all the difference. It feels like new skin afterwards and tough winter hands are washed away. The scrub also means that the moisturiser can provide even more hydration.

I went for the Summer Hill hand therapy moisturiser. It's a nice light, fresh smell, like a summer's day and it's quite romantic almost, reminding me of a soft pink blush. After the treatment, my hands were left feeling brand new - thank you!

When we arrived there was a lovely spread laid out for us and the delightful array of fine foods that Crabtree and Evelyn do really took me by surprise.

The packaging is beautiful and quintessentially British. There was beautiful sounding teas, inciting shortbread and mouth-watering fudge. But, my absolute favourite was the Wild Blueberry and Lavender Preserve - and it was actually the most popular tasting of the night. It was deliciously different. Piled onto a buttery scone the floral lavender notes dance up to your nose and it's really unique and just quite wonderful.

Another little treat that I discovered was the fragrance selection. There were beautiful vintage-style bottles on display, that are made for adorning girly dressing tables. I love light, floral scents for daytime and Crabtree and Evelyn didn't disappoint. The scents were so pretty and the Parisian Millefleurs was definitely a favourite, followed very closely by the Old World Jasmine. Although it is without a doubt the stunning bottles that make them for me.