Bright Paper Packages – January 2017.

A new year heralds so many exciting prospects. Most of us embrace the notion of a change, whether it’s to exercise more, relax more or maintain a perfectly organised routine. It’s great in principle and a laudable endeavour, but some of us need all of the help that we can get to better ourselves. Grandiose notions of personal improvement are intimidating and we might falter at the first hurdle. Take Dry January – every year, my pledge to abstain from alcohol lasts about five days.

Giving up booze has become an impossible task for me personally, but I do make efforts to get out running and to take better care of myself through healthy eating and the occasional moisturiser splurge. So when January’s Bright Paper Packages arrived at my doorstep, the month’s theme was immediately apparent: the subscriber card was decorated with ‘2017’ against an abstract background of colours. I could already envision the tools packed away in the cocoon of tissue inside, each one promising to act as a ratchet to help me to transform into an enhanced version of myself. Or at least try to.

Tearing into the box, the only item that wasn’t wrapped was a small biscotti chocolate bar, which made my heart flutter instantly. Some of the best chocolate I’ve ever sampled has come from previous Bright Paper Packages deliveries, after all.

Bright Paper Packages: January 2017

• A 2017 calendar
• Marble notebooks from 1973
• Body scrub from Bloomtown Botanicals
• Espresso biscotti from Vivani
• Subscriber card

I received a desk calendar from my first Bright Paper Packages box last year, which I proudly perched on my desk in 2016 and was reluctant to put away after the Christmas break. So imagine my glee when I discovered this desk calendar in my box, a colourful number that’s been designed exclusively for the box. Each month depicts a cheerful and abstract image that mirrors the colours splashed across the subscriber card. This is a mini calendar that looks great rested on the mini easel that I still have from last year’s edition. It makes for the perfect eye-catching embellishment for my drab office working space.

I am familiar with 1973 from a previous Bright Paper Packages box, where I received a drop-dead gorgeous notebook adorned with a neon pink print of vintage women’s head shots. I still use this to this day because it’s such an attractive item to tote around and not a plain paper pad deserving of the depths of your handbag, never to see the light of day. These notebooks come in a pack of three in varied marble patterns and colours, still boasting the high quality of hand-assembled stationery with think, luxurious paper with a generous GSM number.

Self-pampering is something that I’m too impatient for generally, but I’m trying to take better care of my skin and daily make-up routine in a vain attempt to mitigate any signs of aging. The body scrub from Bloomtown Botanicals caught my interest, as I’m a bit of a scrub sceptic. I find them messy and ineffective, but this intrigued me because it’s made from the natural extracts of grapefruit and blood orange – and it smells absolutely heavenly – and comes from a Cornish company that makes their products in small batches, donating 10% of their profits to environmental and animal rescue charities. I’m willing to revisit a scrub with this.

Finally, that little bar that brought me such a wave of initial glee: an organic espresso biscotti chocolate bar from Vivani. It’s the perfect size for an indulgent treat that doesn’t feel like you’re completely veering from that ‘eat healthily’ resolution. January is the time of year for cupping a mug of hot chocolate between your hands for delicious warmth, and this little hunk of biscotti will marry perfectly with steaming cocoa. If nothing else, this indulgent blend of bitter expresso and sweet chocolate will help kick those January blues to the curb.

There are two Bright Paper Packages subscription options: the standard monthly box and the Bright New Year option, delivering twelve monthly surprise items directly to a recipient of your choice. The regular Bright Paper Packages subscription is available at £20 with shipping included for a one-off purchase (and other subscription options are also available at £57 for three months, £111 for six and £216 for one year, all including UK shipping). The Bright New Year is available for a one-off payment of £100 (with shipping included in the UK).

With this month’s little trove of self-improvement tools, I’m fully equipped to take on 2017 in fighting form. The Bright Paper Packages team know me too well – I feel like this box has been curated especially for me, but I suppose my appreciation for bespoke, handmade surprises is fairly universal. That doesn’t mean that my gusto is ever abated when I receive my box. And I can now say for certainty that this titillation will continue throughout 2017.