- NATURAL ALOE VERA GEL contains over 200 natural compounds including 20 minerals, 18 amino acids and 12 vitamins, and has a soothing and anti-inflammatory effect
- ARGAN OIL is rich in vitamin E, which is a natural antioxidant, and essential fatty acids to help repair and protect skin
- HYALURONIC ACID is naturally found in the skin and is exceptionally good at helping to keep skin hydrated and can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water
- HIBISCUS SEED PROTEINS act as a natural exfoliant and help to soften the outer layer of the skin
- WHEAT GERM OIL is rich in vitamins A, D and E to reduce skin drying
VitaBella Anti Ageing Face Mask
- NATURAL ALOE VERA GEL contains over 200 natural compounds including 20 minerals, 18 amino acids and 12 vitamins, and has a soothing and anti-inflammatory effect
- ARGAN OIL is rich in vitamin E, which is a natural antioxidant, and essential fatty acids to help repair and protect skin
- HYALURONIC ACID is naturally found in the skin and is exceptionally good at helping to keep skin hydrated and can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water
- HIBISCUS SEED PROTEINS act as a natural exfoliant and help to soften the outer layer of the skin
- WHEAT GERM OIL is rich in vitamins A, D and E to reduce skin drying
Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm
Disclosure: I received the W7 nail polish for free to review, however all thoughts and opinion remain my own.
NOTD – Color Club Mod in Manhattan & W7 Pink Debris
Disclosure: I received the W7 nail polish for free to review, however all thoughts and opinion remain my own.
Sorry for the rubbish photo, if I had realised so many people would have been interested in this bread I would have taken better pictures! I tweeted a photo of this Banana & Cardamom Bread that I randomly baked the other night – I had a couple of overripe bananas and was going to make a banana cake but had no loaf tin, so went to make muffins but had no buttermilk. I found this bread recipe and thought it sounded weird but I’d give it a go – I’m so glad I did because it is SO delicious, especially toasted with lots of butter!
You will need:
- 400g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp. dried yeast, added to 150ml warm water, with a pinch of sugar, left for 10 minutes
- the seeds of 10 cardamom pods, bashed up
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed up
- sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
To make your bread:
- Sieve the flour into a bowl, add your salt and make a well.00
- Add the yeast mixture, bananas and cardamon seeds to the well.
- Mix with a wooden spoon until it’s all combined, then knead with your hands. Add more flour if it’s too sticky – mine was as the bananas were big!
- Cover and leave to prove for 2 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and sprinkle a little flour.
- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
- Knead your dough again then put it on the lined baking sheet and attempt to plait it.
- If your dough-plaiting isn’t great, don’t worry, mine wasn’t either but it will taste fine.
- Cover and leave it to prove again, I left mine for about half an hour.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, bake for 10 minutes, reduce to 200 degrees C and bake for about 15 minutes more.
Enjoy your delicious bread!
Recipe adapted from Best-Ever Bread Cookbook.
Food Friday – Banana & Cardamom Bread Recipe
Sorry for the rubbish photo, if I had realised so many people would have been interested in this bread I would have taken better pictures! I tweeted a photo of this Banana & Cardamom Bread that I randomly baked the other night – I had a couple of overripe bananas and was going to make a banana cake but had no loaf tin, so went to make muffins but had no buttermilk. I found this bread recipe and thought it sounded weird but I’d give it a go – I’m so glad I did because it is SO delicious, especially toasted with lots of butter!
You will need:
- 400g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp. dried yeast, added to 150ml warm water, with a pinch of sugar, left for 10 minutes
- the seeds of 10 cardamom pods, bashed up
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed up
- sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
To make your bread:
- Sieve the flour into a bowl, add your salt and make a well.00
- Add the yeast mixture, bananas and cardamon seeds to the well.
- Mix with a wooden spoon until it’s all combined, then knead with your hands. Add more flour if it’s too sticky – mine was as the bananas were big!
- Cover and leave to prove for 2 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and sprinkle a little flour.
- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
- Knead your dough again then put it on the lined baking sheet and attempt to plait it.
- If your dough-plaiting isn’t great, don’t worry, mine wasn’t either but it will taste fine.
- Cover and leave it to prove again, I left mine for about half an hour.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, bake for 10 minutes, reduce to 200 degrees C and bake for about 15 minutes more.
Enjoy your delicious bread!
Recipe adapted from Best-Ever Bread Cookbook.
Disclosure: I received this product for free to review, however all thoughts and opinion remain my own.
NOTD: W7 Nail Polish Pink Debris
Disclosure: I received this product for free to review, however all thoughts and opinion remain my own.
My July beauty box from Birchbox arrived this afternoon and on first glance I’m pretty happy with what I received!
Jet Set is the theme of the July beauty box from Birchbox; here’s what I got in mine:
VitaBella Anti-Aging Face Mask – This looks so interesting; you pour the oil over the “tablet” which unfolds into a mask that you then place on your face. I can’t wait to try it! It’s a 13ml bottle and one “tablet”.
Blanc Cachemire Creme de Jour Protectrice - I think that translates as something like protective day cream. I love getting moisturisers in beauty boxes as I’m a total product tart and rarely stick to the same thing. I got a 15ml tube.
theBalm cosmetics InStain Long Wearing Powder Staining Blush – I love the cute little packaging and I’m intrigued by the description “powder staining blush”. What does that mean! I got a peach shade called Swiss Dot. It’s 0.5g.
Reverence de Bastien VolupTHE Hand Cream – I do get through a lot of hand creams since having Baby N but getting them in beauty boxes doesn’t really excite me. It smells nice! It’s a 25ml tube.
Dead Sea Spa Magik Silky Smooth Body Lotion – I have tried this body lotion before as I got a tube of it in a previous beauty box. It’s a 25ml tube.
The Chia Co Chia Shots – This was a ‘lifestyle extra’. I’m interested to try these as they’re apparently full of omega 3 and protein. I don’t think I’ll go to the effort of making a smoothie, I’ll probably just sprinkle it over my porridge or a salad! This is a 8g sachet.
Apart from the hand cream, which I’m just indifferent about, I’m happy with my box this month. I can’t wait to try the face mask and the blusher and I’m really intrigued by the chia seeds.
If you like the look of the Birchbox beauty box and want to sign up, please feel free to use my referral link: http://birchbox.co.uk/?raf=674. The box costs £10 per month plus p+p.
Birchbox – July Beauty Box
My July beauty box from Birchbox arrived this afternoon and on first glance I’m pretty happy with what I received!
Jet Set is the theme of the July beauty box from Birchbox; here’s what I got in mine:
VitaBella Anti-Aging Face Mask – This looks so interesting; you pour the oil over the “tablet” which unfolds into a mask that you then place on your face. I can’t wait to try it! It’s a 13ml bottle and one “tablet”.
Blanc Cachemire Creme de Jour Protectrice - I think that translates as something like protective day cream. I love getting moisturisers in beauty boxes as I’m a total product tart and rarely stick to the same thing. I got a 15ml tube.
theBalm cosmetics InStain Long Wearing Powder Staining Blush – I love the cute little packaging and I’m intrigued by the description “powder staining blush”. What does that mean! I got a peach shade called Swiss Dot. It’s 0.5g.
Reverence de Bastien VolupTHE Hand Cream – I do get through a lot of hand creams since having Baby N but getting them in beauty boxes doesn’t really excite me. It smells nice! It’s a 25ml tube.
Dead Sea Spa Magik Silky Smooth Body Lotion – I have tried this body lotion before as I got a tube of it in a previous beauty box. It’s a 25ml tube.
The Chia Co Chia Shots – This was a ‘lifestyle extra’. I’m interested to try these as they’re apparently full of omega 3 and protein. I don’t think I’ll go to the effort of making a smoothie, I’ll probably just sprinkle it over my porridge or a salad! This is a 8g sachet.
Apart from the hand cream, which I’m just indifferent about, I’m happy with my box this month. I can’t wait to try the face mask and the blusher and I’m really intrigued by the chia seeds.
If you like the look of the Birchbox beauty box and want to sign up, please feel free to use my referral link: http://birchbox.co.uk/?raf=674. The box costs £10 per month plus p+p.
Don’t worry, I wasn’t queuing at 5am outside the store on Saturday. Oh no, I was still snuggled up in bed. The Next store in my town is quite small so I think that the serious bargain hunters head to the bigger store in the neighbouring town. They must do, because when I popped in at midday the sales racks were still pretty full!
I don’t shop in Next for myself but I love their clothes for Baby N; his wardrobe must be about 90% Next! So I got lots of gorgeous bits for him; 5 minutes and £56 later we came out with 6 t-shirts, 2 jumpers, 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of trousers and a dungaree set. Take a look:
I really love the stripy monster t-shirt and the stripy jumper – stripes are my favourite! Baby N has only just turned 8 months but he’s been wearing 9-12 months clothes for a while, so I bought quite a few of these items in size 12-18 months ready for when he outgrows his current wardrobe. The thing is, the really cute baby stuff seems to stop at 12 months then everything bigger is quite grown up looking and it makes me feel a teeny bit sad about how quickly my baby is growing up!
Have you been hitting the sales?
Baby N’s Next Summer Sale Spending Spree
Don’t worry, I wasn’t queuing at 5am outside the store on Saturday. Oh no, I was still snuggled up in bed. The Next store in my town is quite small so I think that the serious bargain hunters head to the bigger store in the neighbouring town. They must do, because when I popped in at midday the sales racks were still pretty full!
I don’t shop in Next for myself but I love their clothes for Baby N; his wardrobe must be about 90% Next! So I got lots of gorgeous bits for him; 5 minutes and £56 later we came out with 6 t-shirts, 2 jumpers, 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of trousers and a dungaree set. Take a look:
I really love the stripy monster t-shirt and the stripy jumper – stripes are my favourite! Baby N has only just turned 8 months but he’s been wearing 9-12 months clothes for a while, so I bought quite a few of these items in size 12-18 months ready for when he outgrows his current wardrobe. The thing is, the really cute baby stuff seems to stop at 12 months then everything bigger is quite grown up looking and it makes me feel a teeny bit sad about how quickly my baby is growing up!
Have you been hitting the sales?
I realised that there were some of the Hello Fresh meals that I have cooked but hadn’t shared with you yet, so here is the Seductively Perfect Pan-Fried Salmon with a Warm Courgette and Butterbean Salad. This is one of my favourites!
I get the 3 meal for 2 people box which costs £39.00. It arrives with all the ingredients in the required quantities and full instructions on how to cook each meal. You can get £20 off your first box by entering my referral code C4MJSY. Check out Hello Fresh here: http://www.hellofresh.co.uk
Food Friday – Hello Fresh
I realised that there were some of the Hello Fresh meals that I have cooked but hadn’t shared with you yet, so here is the Seductively Perfect Pan-Fried Salmon with a Warm Courgette and Butterbean Salad. This is one of my favourites!
I get the 3 meal for 2 people box which costs £39.00. It arrives with all the ingredients in the required quantities and full instructions on how to cook each meal. You can get £20 off your first box by entering my referral code C4MJSY. Check out Hello Fresh here: http://www.hellofresh.co.uk
A couple of weeks ago I thought I’d better get prepared for the arrival of Baby N’s teeth and, more importantly, the pain they can cause. I ordered an adjustable toddler anklet made from raw Baltic amber from Dino-Daisy for him to wear. While I was browsing I also ordered a polished Baltic amber stretchy bracelet for me! My bracelet cost £10.50 and the anklet £8.50, plus P&P.
Baltic amber is high in succinic acid which helps to heal wounds and reduce inflammation, which is why you’ll see so many little ones wearing amber jewellery as it helps ease the pain of teething. I used to hold a chunk of amber when I was in the later stages of pregnancy as it helps combat fatigue!
Raw amber is said to contain more succinic acid than polished amber so I got raw for Baby N’s anklet. He’s been wearing it for about 2 weeks and yesterday I noticed that he is cutting his first tooth! He has seemingly had no bother at all; no crying, no red cheeks, none of the classic signs of teething. I’m sure it’s down to wearing his anklet. It’s advised that they’re not suitable for children under 36 months as the beads could be a choking hazard so obviously I’m very careful when Baby N is wearing it.
As well as amber jewellery Dino-Daisy has other gemstone jewellery and gorgeous sterling silver jewellery; I definitely think you should take a look!
Dino-Daisy Amber
A couple of weeks ago I thought I’d better get prepared for the arrival of Baby N’s teeth and, more importantly, the pain they can cause. I ordered an adjustable toddler anklet made from raw Baltic amber from Dino-Daisy for him to wear. While I was browsing I also ordered a polished Baltic amber stretchy bracelet for me! My bracelet cost £10.50 and the anklet £8.50, plus P&P.
Baltic amber is high in succinic acid which helps to heal wounds and reduce inflammation, which is why you’ll see so many little ones wearing amber jewellery as it helps ease the pain of teething. I used to hold a chunk of amber when I was in the later stages of pregnancy as it helps combat fatigue!
Raw amber is said to contain more succinic acid than polished amber so I got raw for Baby N’s anklet. He’s been wearing it for about 2 weeks and yesterday I noticed that he is cutting his first tooth! He has seemingly had no bother at all; no crying, no red cheeks, none of the classic signs of teething. I’m sure it’s down to wearing his anklet. It’s advised that they’re not suitable for children under 36 months as the beads could be a choking hazard so obviously I’m very careful when Baby N is wearing it.
As well as amber jewellery Dino-Daisy has other gemstone jewellery and gorgeous sterling silver jewellery; I definitely think you should take a look!
Conscious Skincare Soothing Hand Cream
