Hammam Havlu Towel vs One Year Old.
Remember when we organised #BloggerPitP in August? Of course you do, how could you forget! We were gifted a lotttt of fabulous items which you can read all about in my brands post but I wanted to give my favourite a little bit of the limelight on it's own.
Being an organiser of the event, one of the perks of the job was taking home one of the gorgeous blankets we were given by Hammam Havlu) and though I've mentioned it a couple of times on the blog, I thought it needed a proper review because spoiler I love it so much.
Verging on the towel/blanket/what exactly is it line, the Hammam Havlu Towels are the UK's first dedicated ethical hammam towel brand from Hertfordshire with strong Turkish roots.* The brand designs all their towels in the UK and then they are sourced and made in Denizli in Turkey by a small family business with 100% Turkish cotton.
*Source: hammamhavlu.com
We were kindly gifted 10 towels of different designs for the picnic and I made off with my favourite; the Jade Taze (RRP £25.00). I don't have to tell you that woven by a family company and made from 100% cotton, these blankets are of seriously good quality and whilst thin, are extremely durable. My poor towel has already been through the mill and through the wash several times and hasn't lost it's shape, quality, colour or softness and if that ain't a selling point I don't know what is.
The picnic itself was a mucky affair with the wind toppling a few items and the normal spillages you'd expect and mine and Effi's towels (whose I took home to post to her) got a few strawberry stains. Effi's towel was the Pink Yildiz) (RRP £30.00) so a strawberry stain or two probably wouldn't have shown up that bad but being sods law, mine had got grubby on the white part of my towel. I put both of the towels in a normal wash and whilst mine took two goes to get the stain out, they both came up sparkling.
The blankets are really lightweight which was a bonus when it came to packing mine and Effi's up to take home after the event and made it easier for posting but they by no means feel thin and poor quality. They're perfect for popping in your picnic bag to nip down the local park or for shoving in your carry on to take on hols to the beach but they also make the most gorgeous throws.
We got a variety of designs to fit in with our picnic colour scheme but just scouring the shop there are plenty more I'd love to have got my hands on! They're the perfect little blanket for creating a minimalist look to go with the decorations and interiors in your home and I chose mine knowing how cute it'd look on the end of the bed as an extra blanket for my toes or on the back of the sofa as a throw. I also think they'd make fabulous gifts, particularly for couples or for someone who's just moved into a new place because whilst they start at a budget that won't break the bank-they're fabulous quality and don't look like you've scrimped on a present!
I thought as the best possible test of how durable and versatile the Hammam Havlu blankets can be- I'd pit it up against a one year old. Or more specifically - my niece, not just a random baby.
One year olds are mucky, they're grubby, they get food EVERYWHERE and a picnic is just an excuse to run away when they should be eating or pull up all the grass in the field and deposit it back on the picnic blanket. Yesterday we took my niece to a local farm park for a visit, a nosey at the animals and a picnic of lots of bread and fruit so I took my Hammam Havlu with me to see how it fared up against our usual thick heavy wool blanket...and the baby.
So as you can see from the photos, apart from a few bits of twigs and leaves I seem to have come home with unintentionally, my blanket stayed pristine this time! The strawberry spillages were quickly scooped up with a trusty wet wipe and the cheese and bread crumbs were shaken out before we packed up. My niece was obsessed with the tassels on the bottom of the blanket and liked nothing better than swishing them all about. Babies are easily pleased. My mum also commented on what a good little blanket it would be to take to the beach with us when we take my niece as it'd make a great towel to put on the sand and then an even better one to wrap her up in when she gets all soggy!
I'm super impressed/in love with my towel, for the durability, the quality, the ease of cleaning it and most importantly the design. It shows really that you don't need to scrimp on design and look to create beautiful items and I'd be the first to recommend Hammam Havlu to anyone looking for something similar.
I'd also just like to say a MASSIVE thank you again and again to the brand for providing us with the towels for the picnic, it's really generous to have given us so many and to provide them for the raffle and we couldn't have done it without them filling in at the last minute!
Go, go buy your blankets now! Oh and give them a follow on Instagram because their feed is actual goals.
*I was given my Hammam Havlu towel for free as part of the #BloggerPitP event, however I was NOT paid to write this review and all love is genuine and opinions are my own.