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Mrs C | 14 May, 2012
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EDEN Natural Nail Polish Remover

EDEN Natural Nail Polish RemoverI never ever thought the day would come when I would say I actually liked the smell of a nail polish remover but FreshTherapies.com have come up with a natural formula that smells positively lovely!

EDEN Natural Nail Polish Remover hasn’t got any of those horribly, artificial acetones which stink to high heaven but has a really fresh, lime scent. Even better news,  instead of drying out your nails it actually moisturises the nail and surrounding cuticles. So by using it you can kill two birds with one stone.

One thing I did find though was that it takes a bit more rubbing than usual to get the nail polish off.  But by pressing a bit of cotton wool soaked in the EDEN Natural nail polish remover onto the nails for say 10 seconds longer than usual, it works fine.

A small price to pay really, all things considered.

Category: Health and Beauty | Tags: , , , , , ,
Mrs C | 14 May, 2012
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Sensiderma Moisture Soothe by Queen Cosmetics

Sensiderma Moisture SootheI’m forever trying new moisturisers since my annis horribilis a few years back when I seemed to develop an intolerance, almost overnight, to absolutely loads of skincare products.

Recently I’ve been using Sensiderma Moisture Soothe and I’ve got to say I’m really impressed with it. It’s been developed for sensitive mature skin – you know, the sort of skin which can feel all taut and uncomfortable after some moisturisers. Well the Sensiderma Moisture Soothe is really light and is perfect for daytime use. You don’t have to wait very long at all before putting your make-up on, unlike so many of the other rich but heavy creams usually aimed at mature skin.

It seems to have a kind of a cooling effect on my skin which I like but I’m not entirely sure that it reduces the appearance of my fine lines which are rapidly becoming huge crevices – nothing to do with the Moisture Soothe though & everything to do with yet another Big Birthday coming up soon! I’ve just had a look at some of the ‘blurb’ about the product and apparently it’s good for people who suffer from acne rosacea too. I don’t – but if you do and you’ve tried it, then perhaps you could comment below?

I like the fact that it contains NO perfume or unnecessary ingredients too, by the way!

Category: Health and Beauty | Tags: , , , ,
Mrs C | 9 May, 2012
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Birthday Biscuits

Hearts BiscuitsCupcakes & macaroons are soooo last year!  Birthday Biscuits – that’s the way forward. It’s Maddie’s 21st this weekend and I was flicking through some recipe books looking for the most chocolatey, chocolate cake recipe I could find, when it struck me that I could make a load of fancy Chocolate Chip Cookies instead – way easier, a lot quicker & much more transportable for taking back to Uni with her!

Anyway there I was sitting at my computer and I absent-mindedly typed ‘birthday biscuits’ into Google and lo and behold, a whole new world of biscuits Cupcake Biscuitsopened up to me. I loved the biscuits offered up on the BiscuitVillage site and they seem to do biscuits for every occasion in the book.

Birthday Biscuits For Her are fun & fab! I looked there first for obvious reasons but I was well impressed with the tins of Thank You Biscuits, Anniversary Biscuits, Wedding Biscuits, Valentine’s etc. etc. …. you name the occasion and it turns out they do biscuits for it.

So if you’re wondering how you can surprise someone with something different, then BiscuitVillage.co.uk is well worth a sneaky peak.

 

Category: Food and Drink, Gifts | Tags: , , ,
Mrs C | 6 May, 2012
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A Unique Piece of Jewellery & A Fab Birthday Gift

Boulder Opal PendantWhere to start when you’re looking for original birthday gifts? Google and a zillion sites pop up – the vast majority of which are anything but full of original, unique presents.

I had kind of come to the end of my tether when I happened upon Mi Jewellery. The site looks nothing special until you start clicking around and realise that it’s possible to buy an entirely original piece of hand-crafted jewellery for less than most of the high street chains charge for their bog-standard items.

It was my daughter’s Maddie’s 21st & I’d already bought a few bits & bobs like some champagne glasses and one of those ridiculously expensive Thomas Sabo Seahorse Necklacecharms to go on the bracelet she had for her 18th. When I saw this Sea Horse Pendant , I just thought how nice it would be for her to have something none of her friends would be likely to have. It’s a nice quirky design as you can see in the pic and I’m fairly sure she’ll have lots of people asking her where she got it.

Monica, who runs Mi Jewellery, designs and creates one-off unique pieces of jewellery and all her contemporary designs are handmade using sterling silver, precious and semi precious gemstones. It says on her website that she also does commissions so if you want something really special as well as affordable and completely original, then you can stop looking now!

Category: Gifts, Shopping and About Town | Tags: , , , , ,
Mrs C | 30 April, 2012
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Sausages and Green Lentils

Sausages and Green LentilsAm planning on having Sausages & Green Lentils for dinner tonight. Who knows if it’ll turn out as yummy-looking as the pic but hey ho I can only try!
Here’s the Recipe.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
8 sausages
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp plain flour
900ml chicken stock
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
200g green lentils
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Serve with some nice fresh crusty bread.

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, add chopped onion and cook till lightly browned & then add garlic and flour.
2. Stir in stock, sugar, tomato puree and vinegar, season and bring to the boil.
3. Put lentils and bay leaves in slow cooker, pour over hot stock mixture and add sausages.
4. Cover with lid and cook on Lowest oven setting for 5 hours or put in the slow cooker before you go to work.
5. Stir well then spoon into dishes, making sure to throw away the bay leaves.
6. Eat! (there should be enough food for 4!)

Some slow cooker recipes say you should brown the sausages first but it really makes little difference to the taste.

Category: Food and Drink | Tags: , ,
Mrs C | 27 April, 2012
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Tula Bags

Tula Originals Nappa Medium Across Body HandbagI’m not usually a Bag Lady (so to speak) but I saw a really cute bag in John Lewis today and I suddenly ‘got’ the whole women & their handbags thing.

My own collection of bags seems paltry compared to all the other women I know but that might well change.

To be honest I’d never heard of Tula Bags until today although I am familiar with their big sister Radley. Tula bags look to be of a similar high quality so will last for aeons but at the same time they are not so expensive that you need to work overtime for 3 months to cover the cost! In fact you can get a Tula from as little as £39 – pretty reasonable hey?

Pink Ostrich TulaI got back home after my morning in town and had a quick nosey at the various Tulas I could find online and there are absolutely loads of them – all different styles to suit most tastes and ages. There are plenty of on-trend, block, bright colours like the emerald green and the fuchsia berry ones here and as ever buying a bag in one of these shades will update your wardrobe in an instance!

tan-Tula-duffelBut if classic neutral’s more your bag, then there are lots of Tula bags in varying shades of cream/beige/taupe/tan etc. too. I really like this Duffle Bag on the right – not a bit like the one I had to go on school trips in primary school fortunately!

And do you know what in this Jubilee-Olympics year, it’s flipping good to see that classic British craftsmanship is still alive & kicking!

 

Category: Rants and Raves, Shopping and About Town | Tags: , , ,
Mrs C | 24 April, 2012
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Homeland

Damian Lewis in HomelandIf you haven’t been watching Homeland on a Sunday night, then you are missing out on a treat as this is American TV as it’s absolute best.

The series makes for brilliant TV and Clare Danes is a revelation, she really is. Damian Lewis, who plays the central character Sergeant Brody, is made for life after this series, as he is compelling to watch and mind-blowingly good.

Homeland comes from the same kind of mould as 24 and it’s definitely as addictive. I’m already imagining a Homeland 2 and the first series hasn’t even finished!

I don’t want to give anything away but you’ve got a war hero, counter-terrorist squad, love & sex & all that malarkey, family issues and one heck of a plot. Watch it!

Category: Movies and TV | Tags: , , ,
Mrs C | 21 April, 2012
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Marc Jacobs DAISY Eau So Fresh

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So FraicheTreated myself well & truly yesterday. I’ve been saving my Boots Advantage Points for absolutely forever and had managed to amass £80.71 worth!! Three daughters to buy for, clever use of Double Points and Christmas promotions have all helped me get that many Points. But also I kept convincing myself that it would be daft to just use the Points buying stuff I’d normally buy anyway and that I should buy something ‘special’.

As a Mum you kind of get used to always buying for others and not treating yourself I suppose, but yesterday I really bit the bullet and spent over £50 worth of Points all on little (well medium-sized) old me!

And what did I buy? Well I bought Marc Jacobs DAISY Eau So Fresh. I fell in love with the bottle at Duty Free in Heathrow last time I went on holidays. It’s gorgeous isn’t it? I love it and it smells really good too. (Oh and as a bonus I had a really cute DAISY umbrella too!!)

My other perfumes are Estee Lauder Sensuous and Chanel Chance although I’ve been an Anais Anais fan for years too.

Buy Marc Jacobs DAISY Eau So Fresh here!

Category: Health and Beauty | Tags: , , ,
Mrs C | 21 April, 2012
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Aldi Carino Provive Hairspray

Aldi Carino Provive HairsprayMost of you have heard me rave about Aldi chocolate in previous blogs and so it will come as no surprise to you, to hear me shout from the rooftops, how brilliant Aldi Carino Provive Hairspray is!

I’ve just bought my second lot of it and I still can’t quite believe how good it is. It’s the only hairspray I’ve ever bought which is as good as the Elnett one. Thing is though it’s only 79p for a whopping great 400ml so is way, way cheaper. In fact I’ve got to be honest, I thought they’d mis-priced it when I first saw it in Aldi!

I buy the green can which is a Natural Hold and it’s also ‘flexible’ so doesn’t make your hair all stiff & tacky. I used to buy the Elnett hairspray in the white can but at £5.99 a shot it’s significantly more than the Aldi Carino Provive Hairspray. I might carry on buying the mini Elnett for nights away etc., as it’s a useful size but otherwise Aldi will have me as a hairspray-buying convert forever.

Category: Health and Beauty, Rants and Raves | Tags: , , , ,
Mrs C | 19 April, 2012
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GOSH Smokey Eyes Palette Winners

GOSH Smokey Eyes PaletteWith the help of Random.org, I’ve just picked the winners of the GOSH Smokey Eyes Palette.

The 10 WINNERS are:

Laura McGetrick, laura, Kerry Webb, Katherine, Sammeh, Melissa Lee, Lynn Fancy, Raven, Sarah Louise J and Susan Peart.

If you can all message me with your contact details, I’ll get your prizes sent out asap. Ideally use the Contact Form at the bottom of this page.

Congratulations All and look our for my next competition soon!

Category: Health and Beauty | Tags: , , ,
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