#GetAwayAndPlay for 24 Hours in Blue Mountain

A couple of weekends ago, The Body Shop whisked myself and my dearest group of friends away up to Blue Mountain for a relaxing retreat to celebrate the launch of their holiday collection. Now I’ve been a long time fan of The Body Shop. Not in the sense that I discovered the brand in high school when I first started tinkering with makeup and skincare, but in the sense that I’ve literally grown up with their products, and was familiar with them even before the massive re-branding that took place within the past few years.

Having had the opportunity to work closely with the brand over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to have early access to all of their launches, but this year’s holiday collection totally beats out all of the others. If you’re still looking for the perfect gifts, stop. Head to The Body Shop now and finish up the rest of your shopping, because there is almost no physical way that you won’t find at least one thing for each person your list. But the better part about shopping from them is the phenomenal initiative that they have in place this year.

We were spoiled with a such a fun-filled night that took us back to our childhoods. Between the karaoke, board games, and a massive slumber party, it’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to just sit back, relax, and feel like a kid again. Sometimes being stuck in the cycle of adulthood (working, paying bills, fulfilling responsibilities) can be draining and we lose sight of what it feels like to have fun. And that’s only because we know what the feeling of fun is like. For many children around the world—especially Syrian children refugees—fun isn’t a concept that they have the luxury of experiencing.

Many of the children who are displaced from their homes face reality way earlier than they should ever have to and experience stressors that shouldn’t have any place in their lives for at least another 5-10 years. Essentially, they lose their entire childhood. No fun, no games, just pure stress. In the efforts of quickly adapting to their changing environments, many of the children never have the chance to really be children and are expected to quickly grow up.

This year The Body Shop has partnered with the Peace Play Project to support Syrian children in Lebanon and provide them with a year of play. Through play therapy, these children will be able to experience their rightfully due childhood and engage in activities like true children should. By purchasing something from the Play 4 Peace Christmas Collection, not only can you re-purpose the packaging into fun toys, but a donation from each purchase will go towards the Peace Play Project. Talk about good multi-purposing. If you’re not too sure which sets are the best, feel free to check through some of my favourites below!