Organix Toddler Meals - Review

When Organix asked if Alfie wanted to test out some of the Organix toddler meals he was more than enthusiastic! I do always like to try and cook Alfie fresh food but sometimes if you need a quick and easy meal these are perfect.

We were sent a selection of the mighty meals and mighty soups to try and on initial impression from the packaging they look great! There was a lovely choice of flavours and the size of them were perfect for a hungry little toddler.

Alfie much preferred the meals over the soups, I'm not sure why but perhaps as they were alot easier for him to feed himself, the soups were quite runny so he struggled to scoop much into his mouth, however he did enjoying dipping his toast in!

More please Mummy!!!

What I like about Organix is that are packed full of organic ingredients, are nutritious and wholesome. The clever packaging design also means they are easy to store and don't take up much room. These are ideal if you're out and about and need a quick meal for a hungry toddler. 

Thank you to Organix for giving Alfie the opportunity to try some yummy toddler meals!


* Please note we were kindly sent the samples for review purposes but the thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Ozeri Moderna Artisan Drinking Glasses - Review

As I'm sure you've all gathered from my previous posts and tweets I love a mug of hot chocolate. I love it even more when the nights are drawing in and it's cold, dark and miserable. A mug of steaming hot choc topped with some squirty cream and marshmallows means I'm in heaven!! I also am partial to a nice liqueur coffee but haven't ever had any nice glass ware to put it in so imagine how pleased I was to be offered and opportunity to review these gorgeous glasses. 

The Moderna Artisan glasses are made from mouth blown, borosilicate glass which  makes them not only heat proof but free of condensation when you use them for chilled drinks.

I think they are absolutely great, I love the design with the little dimples so you can easily hold them, they are light weight, nice to look at and are dishwasher safe which makes them even better. I also love the way the liquid inside the glass almost looks like it's magically suspended in the middle!

These glasses are a welcome addition to our glass collection as we have nothing similar, we will definitely get loads of use out of them and will probably buy another box to make it a set of 8! 

You can purchase the Ozeri Moderna Artisan glasses direct from Amazon for £24.95 which for such a quality item I think is fantastic value for money. If you click on the link below it will take you directly to the Amazon page where you can purchase these great glasses. 

What do you think of the Ozeri glasses? Has anyone used these or any similar products?

* Please note that I was kindly sent the item for review purposes but the thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

NOTD OPI - Embarca-dare Ya!!

Well helloooo pretty OPI colour!! How perfect is this colour for dark and dull days and the Autumn season!!! This shade if from the San Francisco fall (or autumn if you're from the UK!) and winter 2013 collection. It's a gorgeous burgundy colour with a gorgeous iridescent sparkle. Such a beautiful colour!! I will be rocking this colour alot during the colder months! 

You can purchase this particular shade and others from Chemist Direct for £11.00, they have a great choice.  As with all dark shades remember to use a good base coat and a decent top coat for extra staying power!

* Please note I was kindly sent this product for review purposes but the thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Nifty thrifty!

Are you thrifty? Do you like to save money? Who doesn't realistically? 

When I was on maternity leave I spent hours and hours going through my wardrobe and garage and was amazed at how much stuff I had to sell. I literally had bin liners full of clothes, shoes, cd's, ornaments and all sorts of other nik naks that I either forgot I had or have never used! Shocking. I decided that I wanted to see how I could go about selling these items and discovered that there is many ways to do this online. 

I don't know if it was my nesting instinct or that I wanted to have less clutter but I was literally amazed by how much stuff I'd accumulated over the years. I also seemed to have a massive CD collection that was taking up boxes and boxes (I know what you're thinking so retro!), as it was quite a big collection I was unsure whether I wanted to sell them or not but after I while I realised that they were just gathering dust and taking up room in our garage! After a little bit research and noticing a few adverts on the TV for Music Magpie. I was intrigued and decided to research what it was all about. 

These sort of sites were set up for people to sell their unwanted items and make some extra cash quickly and easily. Originally set up just to sell cd's, dvd's and games Music Magpie then branched out to enable people to sell clothes, techie bit and all sorts of other things. 

I found it is so easy to use, you simply enter into the search box what it is you want to sell, click one of the boxes underneath to determine what category it falls under and BOOM you get cash for your unwanted goods!! For example I searched today using the barcode on a cd Katy Perry's teenage dream and I would get 18p for it.  I'm sure there are cd's out there that would fetch more than this but this is an example what you could get. Also to make things even easier, they also offer a free send or courier service so you're not at all out of pocket!

Once you have decided what it is you want to sell and you've sent it via the free send or courier service you can choose to be paid via bank transfer, cheque, e-vouchers or you can even donate the profit to charity which is such a lovely option to be able to choose. Depending on how much and what you have to sell you could potentially make a small fortune! 

So is it good thing to be thrifty?? Of course it is, why keep things that you haven't used for years and are taking up loads of room, you could be storing away a mini fortune that you wouldn't know about until you input these things into a selling site. Also with Christmas just around the corner every penny counts :-) 

To find out more click on the link to be taken direct to the website: Music Magpie, what are you waiting for?? Go and see how much your unwanted and unused cd's, dvd's and clothes could be worth. 

I'm off to raid the garage again hehe!

Giveaway Time!!!!

I am well overdue a giveaway so as a thanks to all my lovely readers and hopefully some new readers I'm hosting a competition to win 4 key items that I think are essential for the Winter months. 

So what can you win? 

You can win an Oceane makeup remover pen that I received in a Glossybox. You can use this to touch up smokey eyes and eyeliner mishaps :-) 

Next up you can win a beautiful Essie nail polish in the shade mojito madness. This is one of my favourite shades and it's a gorgeous minty green colour, perfect throughout the colder days.

You will also receive Model Co cheek & lip tint, this is a lovely and versatile product that provides a lovely pinky tint on either your lips or your cheeks....gorgeous!!

Last but not least you will receive a MeMeMe cherubs blush, I received this in my latest Glossybox but I already own one so it needs a good home. This is a great little item and perfect for Christmas parties and similar. 

You can enter via the Rafflecopter below and all I ask is you are UK based for ease of posting. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for entering, thank you as always for your continued support and above all good luck!!!!!!

Internet Safety....how concerned should we be??

So obviously Alfie is still a little bit young to be surfing the internet and all that jazz but is it too early to start thinking about internet safety and the sites that can be viewed as a child or teenager? Well I don't think it is too early to think about it and be prepared.  At 18 months Alfie is into everything and I imagine that as he get a little older he will be just as inquisitive when he is able to understand using a computer and starts the surfing the internet. 

Personally I'm always concerned browsing the internet and doing banking and confidential matters on the computer. Do we really know who is viewing our information and what information can be gained from what we look at or input into our PCs?? With a husband that is interested in I.T (information technology) and works in this industry I suppose I'm at a bit of advantage that we will know how to protect Alfie from inappropriate content on the internet but there is a great website called PC Advisor which has a really informative article on how to keep your children safe online and how to block any websites from prying eyes!

I find the statistics of children being able to access porn and inappropriate content online quite concerning, reading this Daily Mail article really makes it clear that even when you try and block certain websites it is still possible for children to be able to access unsuitable material. 

As you can see from the article above, PC Pro actually voted Norton’ Family protection filter the best out of the lot on the basis that it proved to be efficient at blocking the majority of indecent content and is generally recommended for families with young children. It did everything from blocking sites displaying indecent images, content with blood and gore, sites promoting gambling, while delivering value for money at the whopping cost of…oh wait, it’s free.

There is however a premium version of this web filter if specs are your thing, with added features such as video monitoring (e.g shows videos watched on YouTube), mobile app supervision (useful for older children as you can see what apps they are installing on mobiles etc), text message supervision (monitors texts that are being sent) and also weekly/monthly emails to keep you informed, again useful if you have older children. 

It does definitely does give me some peace of mind that when Alfie does start to become more interested in the internet that I will be able to monitor what he is able to view, I've used the Norton brand for many years and always found them very easy to use and install and effective in what they say they do.

Anyone else concerned about what children are able to access online? How do you tackle it?

* This was written in collaboration with Norton.

Curvy Kate Underwear - Review

It's ok, it's safe you can read on I can confirm you are not going to be seeing any pictures of me prancing around in these lovely undies that I was sent. I genuinely wouldn't want to scare you away!! Firstly let me tell you some more info about me. I'm curvy, I have a womanly figure and shock horror I have boobs....... and yes I now have that notorious 'mummy tummy' that just seems to hang around erghh. I've never loved my body, even as a teenager I was self conscious about my shape, size etc etc but now I'm a bit more relaxed and have become more accepting that I am never going to be a size 10! After having Alfie body confidence is pretty much zero, my boobs resemble spaniels ears (what they don't tell you a few weeks of breast feeding does!), my stomach is like a plate of jelly and don't even get me started about my thighs!! 

Now that I've scarred you with a mental image let me tell you about this wonderful company that specialise in gorgeous underwear for women like me. Founded in 2009 Curvy Kate was developed to make underwear in sizes D-K and are designed for us boobylcious ladies! Designed to fit well, be supportive and also complement curves Curvy Kate was definitely something I was eager to test out to boost my body confidence a bit!

So what did I choose? 

I chose the portia black/pink set (consists of a balcony bra & short or thong, I opted for the shorts).  When I received them and tried the set I was pleasantly surprised at just how structured the bra felt, it wasn't at all flimsy and it felt really secure and it gave me a great lift! The quality of the fabric feels lovely as well, I think in reality the pink is alot brighter than what it shows in the picture but being a fan of pink that suited me fine! The detailing is just so pretty too as you can see from the picture below. 

What did I think?

I really do love everything about the set, I also have to mention the great communication that I had with the staff who work for Curvy Kate, so friendly! I also loved the sweets, pen and little catalogue that I was sent, such a lovely touch. 

I love that companies like this exist and are starting to get a decent imprint in what is a tough market. I have spent far too many stressful and at times upsetting shopping trips not being able to buy nice, pretty and feminine underwear for bigger boobs and Curvy Kate solves this for me! Just because you are blessed in the chest department it does not mean you want to be wearing massive bras that are just plain ugly! I love that they also sell swimwear which is another one of those horrible shopping trips that I dread, but next year I shall definitely be investing in some of their lovely swimwear. 

For more information on what Curvy Kate you can click on the link, you can also click here for stockists. 

Has anyone tried any Curvy Kate lingerie in the past? What did you think?

* Please note I was kindly sent this set for review purposes and the thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

The Body Shop All-in-One BB Cream - Review

Over the last few days I have been testing out The Body Shop all-in-one BB cream. Already being a BB cream fan, naturally I had high hopes for this product.

Let me start by saying, why is this BB cream such a small size? This particular tube is a 25ml tube (or 0.84 us fl oz), I know a little goes a long way but a slightly bigger tube would be lovely, especially as the RRP for this particular one is £12.00! Secondly, the scent.......it absolutely stinks!! I can't begin to describe the smell it just smells nasty and not how an item that you put on your face should smell. Thirdly the consistency, it's too runny! You have to be extremely careful applying it as it's so easy for it to just run out of the tube. Right, now I've got the negatives out of the way let me tell you about some of the positives that this has to offer (it isn't all bad, promise!). 

I like the packaging and the tube that it's in, it looks sleek and smart (even though the silver makes it a nightmare to photograph!). Similar to the L'oreal BB cream the all-in-one cream is off white in colour with little capsules that burst when applied to the skin which release the colour. You blend it in and it seamlessly melts into your face leaving you with a flawless and smooth finish. 

I found that it did apply nicely, a little runny as I mentioned earlier so best applied with a foundation brush or a sponge, this will also allow you to get just the right amount of the product onto the face and be able to distribute easier than if you were using your fingers. I found you need to work it in the face to make sure it is properly blended and as always I seal with a touch of translucent powder to stop the oily look (yup I go oily not glowy!)

I have been using the shade 00 which is a light shade which turns a nice peachy shade on the face when applied. I've found that it feels very light to wear and does give a lovely coverage. You can see in the picture below the coverage that it gives (excuse my roots they are in need of being done!).

So do I like the Body Shop all-in-one BB cream? Well I do but I've tried better and the scent of  it needs to be rectified before I would even consider purchasing it! I like the coverage it gives and that it adapts to your skin tone. I'm also quite impressed with the staying power it has, I haven't needed to touch up my makeup in the day at all.

Sorry that this isn't such a positive review but I feel I can only be honest and provide you all with an accurate review, I'd be interested to know if anyone else has tried this particular BB cream and what thoughts are on it?

As always, thanks for reading!

* Please note that this is a PR sample that I was kindly sent to review, as always the thoughts and opinions are that if my own.

Fragata - The Spanish Way!

Being a complete foodie I jumped at the chance to test out some yummy Spanish snacks and I had the perfect simple starter to use them in. 

Fragata, a company specialising in Spanish food was founded  by Don Santiago Camacho Roman back in 1897. He was passionate about olives and wanted to share his enthusiasm about them with others so in 1925 Fragata as a brand was born. Even today the 'Mananilla' and 'Queen' olives are still picked by hand when perfectly ripe, I think that's such a lovely tradition!

I was sent a selection of 3 different Spanish snacks; anchovy stuffed olives, lemon stuffed olives and capers.  My simple starter consisted of the olives served as they are served in square bowls alongside sunflower and honey bread, balsamic glaze and truffle bread dipping oil. So delicious!

Firstly I like the packaging, I think it looks very professional and modern and being in tins mean that everything is kept fresh,  I had no problems opening the tins either using the tin pull (sometimes I find they can be awkward to open!). When you open the tin they look as you would expect olives to look and smell ...... olivey :-) !!

We tried both sets of olives and the general consensus was that the lemon stuffed olives were nice but the anchovy stuffed olives were too fishy, they did seem to taste really quite strong even for me and I love anchovies! We didn't serve the capers as they'll be used in a lovely pasta recipe or thrown into a salad and obviously they're perfect if you're making a tartar sauce. 

Overall they tasted nice but for me I think I prefer fresh olives, I think tinned olives are great for keeping in the cupboard though and great for being able to chuck them in a salad or chop them up and sprinkle onto homemade pizzas.

Who else is an olive fan and who is not?

* Please note I was kindly sent these items as a PR sample to review but the thoughts and opinions are that of my own. 

GlossyBox Review October 2013 - Dark Romance

So here we are in October and it's GlossyBox time again. The theme this month is Dark Romance, very fitting as we approach nearer Winter and Halloween is just around the corner.  I thought the theme sounded great when I read about it, I was picturing dark berry lips, smokey eyes, plum nails and comforting face masks. How wrong was I!!!!! 

My initial feelings towards this box were very disappointing as  we've yet again been sent a perfume vial (and you all know by now my dislike of a vial being included!) but the biggest let down were the 2 sachets (yes sachets!) of cream bronzer. Sachets are something I'd expect to receive for free not when I'm actually buying a beauty box!

So what did I get?: 

1. Katy Perry 'Killer Queen' (£29.50 for 50ml, received in GlossyBox 1.5ml Perfume Vial) A decadent mix of scents this new perfume by Katy Perry is a really nice floriental fragrance. It's a lovely scent and I would definitely wear it but it's a vial and it'll last me about 2 uses and that's it. It would've been so great to receive this as a miniature as opposed to a vial, such a shame!

2. Monu Illuminating Primer SPF15 (£24.95 for full size 50ml, received in GlossyBox 20ml) I've previously liked the Monu products that we've been sent so this is nice. This primer is paraben free and is formulated with light reflecting Mica particles and soft focus technology to instantly brighten and add a sheen to your complexion. I tested it out and it's lovely, I'll definitely make use of this. Personally this is my favourite item out of this months box. 

3. MeMeMe Cherub's Blush Cheek & Lip Tint (£5.50 for full size 12ml received in GlossyBox) This is actually not a bad item but I already own it but GlossyBox aren't to know that! You use it as a stain on your cheekbones and lips, for me this is perhaps the only product that matches the Dark Romance theme this month! 

4. Premae Multi-vit Smoothie Serum (£22.50 for full size 50ml, received in GlossyBox 20ml) This is another brand that was previously included in a GlossyBox which I liked so this is a nice item to be included. Premae as a brand is the first allergen free brand which means anything they produce is kind to the skin. This serum is developed to soothe redness, hydrate the skin and keep it matte and shine free. It smells divine and that's due to the lemongrass oil that it's made with. 

5. Vita Liberta Latte Illuminating Skin Finish (£29.96 for full size 30ml, received in GlossyBox 2 3ml Sachets These sachets contain liquid bronzer which creates an iridescent optical illusion when on the skin as it's subtle shimmer particles capture the light. I've tried it out and I was confused as to whether it was supposed to be worn like a foundation or just as a bronzer, I used it like a foundation and although it's got a gorgeous shimmer I think for my skin tone it's too bronze to be worn all over the face. When I use it again I'll add it on my cheekbones rather than all over. I'm just so annoyed that they opted to send this in sachets rather than in a little tube, I think it really lets the whole box down this month. 

Overall I would say I feel quite let down by this months box. The theme is pretty pointless really as none of the products other than the Cherubs Blush seem to fit in with it. The perfume vial and sachets just feel like they've been added as a quick fix and that there hasn't been much thought put into the box as a whole. On a positive I'm still so pleased they've kept the information card and the added Glossy magazine is really nice and packed full of interesting articles. 

Did anyone else feel let down by this months box or am I being a bit harsh?