Tuesday 4 November 2014

Bleach London Wonderment

I stumbled upon Bleach London products by accident. I used to work for the Optical side of a very well known chemist and occasionally took advantage of the discount. So just as I was leaving I went and bought Christmas presents and took advantage of the 3 for 2 they had on. I was actually one item short so purchased the Bleach London Spin the Wheel Hair Dye Set Which contains six miniature bottles of their temporary hair dye; Sea Punk, Blullini, Washed Up Mermaid, Violet Skies, Rose and Awkward Peach.

I used to love playing with my hair colour when I was about twenty, but then I grew up and not alot of people dyed their hair weird colours. Until, that is, Bleach London came on the scene and with the addition of 'grunge' to fashion, having crazy colours became cool again. And everyone could do it! The past few months i've seen anyone from fourteen to sixty-odd year olds with anything from a streak of colour to a whole head of colour. Personally I think it's bloody brilliant! I've heard quite good things about Bleach London and they do quite a few products starting from a home bleaching kit to shampoos and condioners to enhance your blonde. The dyes are really condioning too and smell yummy!

So, back to what I was saying. I thought I'd give this Bleach London a go. After all it was temporary and is a fun way to get ready for the weekend or a night out!

So this is what my hair looked like pre-colour...


pre-make up too! :P

So as you can see my hair is pretty light. Not exactly blonde, but I thought i'd give it a try. The instructions say to wash your hair with shampoo ONLY (no conditioner - this is VERY important) then towel dry hair, apply colour and wait for fifteen minutes. After this you can rinse out. I tried the Sea Punk and it didn't show up at all on my hair. A bit miffed, I had this excellent idea to dip dye my hair. Yup, I reckoned it would be pretty straight forward. So i jumped in my car and zoomed off to said Chemist, discount card in hand and purchased the Bleach London DIY Dip Dye. 

I read the instructions carefully and then read them again. I hadn't bleached my hair in about 6 years so didn't want to mess up! Included in the pack is everything you need: gloves, bleach powder, pre-lightener, blending lotion, brush for application, a wee tub and a wee tube of their awesome Reincarnation Mask.

Reading the instructions, it seemed pretty straight forward; put on the blending lotion to where you want the dip dye to start then apply bleach. BOY WAS I WRONG! It was super footery and by the end of it I just wanted to chuck everything out the window and cry. Not really cry, but it was really messy and by the end of it, there was bleach and blending lotion everywhere (good job I put a ton of towels and plastic bags down - i'm super messy!).

It took a good while to develop and even then it felt like it wasn't as light as I was expecting...



Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make it lighter and I wanted to give my hair a rest from all the prodding about. So i added the rest of the Sea Punk. This time I added it to DRY hair (after reading reviews upon reviews) and got a more stronger, vibrant colour. It was still pretty light, but I put this down to my hair not being light enough!

So a few days later, I went out and bought another dip dye kit. This time I used L'Oreal Preference Wild Ombres No2 Dip Dye Hair Kit. Compared to the Bleach London stuff this was waaaaay easier. It had a wee plastic brush that you just brushed on the bleach and it just blended in with your hair. Luckily, I already had a guideline thanks to the other kit. This seemed to lift that little bit quicker and gave me the colour I was looking for. After washing and conditioning, I dried my hair then applied Washed Up Mermaid to my bleached bits. The Bleach London dyes contain a conditioner too so, as you're dying your hair, you're giving it a little bit more condition - perfect after a lot of bleaching! 


Et Voila!


There's obviously still some bits that didn't pick up the dye but I kind of like it as it merges well with my hair colour and doesn't look too blocky. I would definitely recommend applying the colour to dry hair first to get a better effect!

The pinks and purples tend to wash out easier than the blues and green (they tend to have staying power) but to get rid of them easier Bleach London have a Washing Out Shampoo for that (which is probably similar to Vosene or Head & Shoulders). Another thing I learned with getting rid of the green tinge is to apply the Rose dye over it and it tones out the green.




I also recently stumbled upon the Rose Shampoo and Rose Conditoner. This is great for keeping the pinky tones in your hair. Like the dye, it work a little on wet hair. I apply the shampoo to my dry ends before I get in the shower then wash out and you're left with a lovely pale pink colour. This is ideal if you haven't got time to apply the pink dye in your hair and you want a wee touch of colour. They also do a Silver Shampoo and Silver Conditoner for toning out the yellow in your hair.

I would definitely recommend the colours as I think they're great for adding a light touch of colour to hair without being overly bright. I'd advise to apply it to dry hair though, to get the best out of your colour. As for the dip dye it definitely worked, however just not enough. Either I should have left it a wee bit longer (which I was scared to do) or it's quite a weak bleach. It did give me that blended colour though which is what I was looking for.

Bleach London seems to have hit the nail on the head with it's array of hair care products. The packaging looks bright, attractive and catches your eye. It's also really easy to get a hold of them. Their hair care products are really good as well. Most of their products price around £6-7 and Boots tend to include them on their 3 for 2. So you can get a dye, shampoo and conditioner for a reasonable price.

Now excuse me while I go try out Awkard Peach...





Check out the Bleach Bible


Wednesday 7 May 2014

Optrex Eye Revive Moisture Mist Review





When I first got offered to try this product, my eyes lit up - literally!

I am terrible for dry eyes especially when i'm wearing my contact lenses. Mix that with an air conditioned or heavily heated workplace and you have the right concoction for feeling like your eyes are heavy and you just flat out want to peel your contacts out your eyes!

Before using this, i'd advise you to check with your optician about dry eyes. Things like blepharitis or underlying issues could be causing your eyes to be dry so you might need something "stronger".

My issue is mainly with my contact lenses so something to use before i put my lenses in and throughout the day as and when needed. This products main aim is to restore the eyes natural moisture barrier and hydrate the skin around the eyes - which in turn helps you feel and LOOK more awake.

I'm lucky enough to work in an opticians where talk of brands etc is a general day-to-day occurrence. So you get to learn what brands are quite good and what ones are just awful. Optrex is one of the ones that has a good reputation.

The first thing i noticed is the packaging; very pink and shiny! I imagine this and the fact there's a marketing note on how it won't smudge your make up makes it pretty clear it's aimed as us ladies! This is a first in the eye drop world so i imagine a lot more women would go for this.

It's easy to use as well. All you do is spray it on closed eyes and it puts a layer of moisture on the eyes without having eye drop overload you have with most drops where it looks like you've been crying!

I found it good to use during the day - at lunch and before I head out to roller derby training; points during the day where my eyes are tired feeling and a bit dry. This spray instantly revives them.

I would use this again,however the price of this is at the more higher end of the eye drop range. However, it is easy to use and you don't have to worry about your make-up afterwards. You just spray and go.

Taking simple steps to help your eyes keep hydrated can include:

- Get plenty of sleep, as this will revitalise your eyes and face.

- Drinking lots of water is good for your eyes too; because it helps them stay hydrated.

- Go for regular eye check-ups to make sure your vision and your eyes are at their best.

- If you wear contact lenses, always follow your optician's advised hygiene routine.

 - If you work at a computer, remember to take regular breaks so that your eyes don't get strained or tired. Reduce the screen brightness or use a screen shield, as glare can dry your eyes.

 - In winter, turn your central heating down a little - you'll save money and help stop your eyes drying out!

 - If you go swimming, wear goggles to stop chlorine irritating your eyes.

 - Always wear safety glasses when doing DIY or gardening to protect eyes from injury or dust particles

Sunday 20 April 2014

Summer, Summer, Summertime....Lemonade




Time to sit back and unwind! Apologies for the nod to Will Smith there but I couldn't help it!

So Summer has well and truly arrived in the Highlands and for most it would be "taps aff" but here it was a bit more reserved kettle of fish with picnics on the bistro set in our garden and the idea of making homemade lemonade thanks to a Tesco version we tried recently.

This version of lemonade is really refreshing and really light tasting (despite the sugar) and I am really happy with the way it turned out.

What you will need:

3 unwaxed lemons, cut randomly (skin on - the lot!)
140g sugar (to taste, you can add more)
1 litre water

Add the lemons, sugar and half the water to a blender or food processor and blend.


Place into a sieve over a bowl and stir until all the juice has come though. Discard the pulp (coz there will be seeds and rind there - YUCK!)



Add the juice to the rest of the water and chill. Add ice to serve.

Simple as that really! If you want to make it PINK lemonade, add raspberries or cranberries for a bit more tartness and a lovely pinky colour :)




Pardon for the lack of arty photos!

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Nair Argan Oil Shower Power Cream



When I first got offered this campaign I was quite dubious I have to admit! I've used these shower-off hair removal stuff before and it didn't work and it smelled very chemically. However I tried to keep a level opinion and try it anyway.
So after a long winter of wooly tights and jeans wearing, I got my legs out. I tell you, It wasn't a pretty sight! I have to admit, my legs were faaaar from smooth. The hair was pretty long! The pack comes with quite a big bottle of cream and a spatula that you use for applying and scraping the cream off.
The cream was really cold but went of easy. And it smells good! None of this horrible chemical smell! You've to apply an even layer of cream to cover the hair and leave for 1-2 minutes before getting in the shower. Now the difficult part; to stand in the shower for 5 minutes (I assume this is so the pores open up etc) but NOT to stand in direct aim of the shower head. So, after 5 minutes of standing about in an awkward way, i FINALLY got to take the stuff off. It's really easy to scrape off using the wee spatula as its shaped to glide against the curve of your legs (the other side in a concave shape so if you were to do your underarms or bikini line, it'd be a breeze) It's kind of difficult to see if all the hair comes off in the shower as your legs are a WAAAAY down there so I never seen the results until I was out the shower. 
Some hairs were left behind, which was a bit annoying. However there was ALOT of hairs and we can't expect miracles from what these legs once were. The remainder hairs were easily shaved off and my legs were left silky smooth! I also noticed my legs were left looking alot less dry than what they were.
I think next time i use this it'll work completely. I'm puting it down to the fact there was a lot of work to do on my legs that not all of the hair came off. Upkeep will definitely be easier with this stuff around as shaving is a total nightmare and you always manage to miss a spot. With this stuff, coz the cream is white you know exactly which part you've covered and its quite thick so its not going to run off easy.

In short, i'd totally recommend to try this out! I had my doubts before I tried this but this is waaaaay easier than shaving and you won't fall over in the shower trying to shave a leg!


And yes, I totally done that thing with clean jammies and clean bedsheets where your legs just feel all silky!

Sunday 6 April 2014

Butternut Squash,Cabbage and Green Lentil Curry



Say whaaaaaat? Curry that's healthy? AAAAND vegan? Yes! Yes, it is!

I am a super fan of curries. I am not, however, a super fan of the aftermath of curries. Yes, the bloats, the gurgles and the inability to move.

So I found a curry recipe online that included lentils and decided to put my own twist on it using the basic recipe I found. Of course I included my all time favourite veg - the Butternut Squash. Seriously, this guy ca do no wrong in my eyes! AND! You only need one pan! Plus a tray to roast the butternut squash and parsnips.

I thought i'd need to accompany this dish with rice, but I found the lentils helped fill out the meal and there really was no need for any side dish. Which is a step in the right healthy direction as a) no naan is involved and b) no stodgy rice.

You can obviously add and subtract veg depending on what your personal taste is and of course make it hotter and mix it up with different spices.


So here's my spin (Serves two - and some for lunch the next day)

For the roast veg;

1 Butternut Squash - peeled and cubed
2 Parsnips - peeled and cubed
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Madras Curry Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Pepper

For the Curry;

1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Onion - diced
3 Garlic Cloves - or less depending how much you love garlic!
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 cups Veg Stock/Broth
Half cup Green Lentils (or any other type you fancy!)
A few leaves of Cabbage - or a handful of Spinach

Preheat your oven to 220oC/Gas7/fan 200oC. Place the Butternut squash and Parsnips into a bowl and add the oil, spices and salt and pepper (about a pink of both) and toss until all is covered. Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes until soft and brown at the edges.

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion starts to look transparent.

Add the spices and give a good ol' stir until the place smells amazing! Add the lentils, cabbage and the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat then simmer for about 10/15 minutes or until the lentils have soaked up the stock and you're left with a thick curry.

Taste to see if you need to add anything - Salt? Pepper? More spice?

Serve into bowls and add a good old dollop of Creme Fraiche or Yoghurt. Prepare to eat it all as it's so goddamn YUM!

Okay, so that's me done with the recipes for today! Hope you find them as delicious as I did and as easy to make!



Vegan Butternut Squash and Quinoa Chili



Okay so I would have put up a finished article photo, except that I forgot and ate it all!

I've been dipping my toes in the vegan/gluten-free side of life and quite frankly I am loving it! I love trying out the vegan version of things where at the end of the meal, you don't feel like you need some Oompa Loompas to roll you out the room!

This was my most recent experiment and it turned out delicious! Really tasty and left us feeling full but not bloated or in need of a nap.

It was really simple to make and doesn't take forever, like most chilis I've made in the past!

Basic ingredients are; (you can add or take away - much like standard chili)

Half butternut squash - peeled and cubed
Half cup Quinoa
1 onion - diced
1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic - finely diced or minced
2 cups of veg stock/broth
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (mild or hot - or mixed!)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Add the oil to the pan and wait until it's hot. Add the garlic and onion and cook 'til soft and slightly brown.

Add in the spices, butternut squash, kidney beans, tomato puree, quinoa and stock.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes until thick and the squash is soft but still has a bit of crunch to it. You don't want it to melt into the sauce!

Serve with some salsa or some greek yoghurt.

DONE!

Simple Fish Pie Goujons




Healthy food seems to have taken over my life in the past two months. Not only does it taste good, it makes me feel good too! Some stuff can be a bit manky tasting, so I've been trying out a few recipes to see whats the yummiest way to get good stuff in me without feeling like i'm eating cardboard constantly.

These beauts are hands down the easiest and quickest dish I've ever made that's tastes DIVINE!

For two people, what you need to make them are;

1 Sweet Potato (or normal potato if you don't like them - however sweet potatoes are healthier!)
Cream Cheese
2 fillets of haddock, cod or any meaty white fish - cut in half vertically then halved horizontally (so they're like goujons! You should have eight pieces)
prawns (I've literally no idea how many i just fire them in - but maybe half a pack?)
Tsp of Paprika (mild or hot)
Salt and Pepper

Start by peeling and slicing the sweet potato into cubes. Boil for about 15/20 minutes until soft and crush-able.

Heat your oven to 220oC/fan 200oC/gas 7

While these are boiling, get a baking tray and line with grease proof paper. Sprinkle over salt and pepper.

Mix the prawns with some of the cream cheese and paprika until it's covered. I normally put a tablespoon in first and give it a good mix so as not to overwhelm the prawns with all this cheese going on!

Place the fillets onto the tray, top with the prawns (allowing maybe 3-4 per fish goujon - depending on the size of prawns!)

Next, drain and mash the sweet potato with some of the cream cheese. Spoon over the fish pies.

Now you can add Parmesan over the top to give it some crispiness, however we used these tremendous pitta bread crisps we found in Markies to ass extra flavour and crunch. it was amazing! I imagine you can add anything on top. You know, to some degree!

Put in the oven for 10 minutes, until piping hot.

ENJOY!

Wednesday 5 March 2014

John Freida Frizz Ease Loot



So about a year ago I joined this review website called BzzAgent. What you do is fill in some surveys about household habits, beauty habits and eating/dietary requirements and they send you stuff out according to what you tick and all you have to do is review it. FREE. OF. CHARGE! What's not to love? All you have to do is make sure you review it and fill in surveys to keep your score up; the higher the score, the more stuff you'll get *smiley face*

So I always seemed to have got household stuff like whitener and I have got a few chocolate bars which were yummy! However last week I was totally overjoyed when I was invited to join the John Freida Frizz Ease campaign. I got to choose whether I wanted the straight or curly products, and seeing as I mostly wear my hair curly or wavy I chose the latter.

I received a box of full sized products which included the shampoo, conditioner, calming creme and calming serum. I was absolutely giddy to try it!

My hair is somewhat of a complete nightmare to keep right. It takes me an hour to dry and style as it's so thick, frizzy and wavy.

This is the hair we're dealing with ladies and gents!



When using the shampoo and conditioner, I instantly felt my hair was smoother. I am very guilty of piling my hair on top of my head and it all gets very tangled which probably doesn't help! With this shampoo, it didn't feel as matted or tuggy. Same with the conditioner, with this stuff I couldnt comb my fingers through my hair without having a "Miss Congeniality makeover" moment. The stuff itself smells really nice, not too chemically or fruity at all, more like a salon smell, which I LOVE!

With the Calming Creme and the serum you have the option to use one or the other on damp and dry hair, so I opted for the serum on my hair pre-drying.

Now, I don't blow dry my hair otherwise i'd be there for ages! I normally just point the hairdryer at my hair and brush it at the same time, which is probably why my hair is so bloody big! However this time it was a lot less big and frizzy. Plus it disguised split ends and I noticed a lot less strands of hair on my floor! I decided to go for a straighter look with this however, the time before, i managed to get waves by just leaving it to air dry and oooooh my what a difference! I could possibly just go out like this without having to use straighteners or curling tongs!

After I dried it, I smoothed some Calming Creme through my hair just to get it less frizzy. Again, this stuff smells good and left my hair feeling smooth and manageable. I literally can't see any split ends in my hair and i feel it LOOKS healthy!



What a difference eh? God knows what my hair would look like if I styled it with a heated appliance or blow dried it!

The Frizz Ease products cost about £5/6 from most supermarkets or chemist. Boots normally have a 3 for 2 on so three products for about £11/12 is quite decent, especially as the bottles are huge and the amount you need to use each time is very little.


Wednesday 12 February 2014

Banana and Sultana Muffins with a Chocolate Centre *Drools*



So I found some lovely brown squishy bananas in my kitchen the other day, and hating waste, I sat and had a good think about what I could do with these manky looking things.

My conclusion - banana muffins! I jazzed it up a bit by putting some sultanas in and adding a piece of dark chocolate to the centre to make a melty middle bit. They're soooo yummy and good for you too (..well it does have bananas and sultanas in them...)

This recipe makes 12 muffins.

What you'll need to gather:

85g (3oz) butter or margarine (I used olive spread)
85g (3oz) light brown caster sugar (however normal caster sugar is grand!)
170g (6oz) self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2-3 VERY ripe bananas, mashed into a puree (yuck!)
about 115g sultanas or any other type of dried fruit
small bar of dark chocolate broken into pieces
muffin tray
muffin cases
mixing bowl

Okay, so first of all heat your oven to about 180oC/Gas Mark4.

Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy looking. In another bowl mix together the flour and baking powder.

To the butter and sugar, add the egg and a spoonful of the flour. Mix until well combined. Add in the bananas and the sultanas. Then add the rest of the flour mixture until it's all mixed up well.

Divide evenly among the 12 cases then take a piece of chocolate and press it down into the batter so it's sitting in the middle. Do this for all the cakes.

Sprinkle a little bit of sugar over the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you have some left (which won't happen) you can always freeze them and defrost for a few hours as and when needed.

Just try not to eat them all!!



I'm Late! I'm Late! I'm Really Really Late!

Oh good God! I just realised I haven't posted on this is AGES! Apologies my dears!

I realise I haven't posted in near enough a year which is MENTAL! I've been super busy moving 140 miles from my hometown to the lovely city of Inverness. It's cold but its awesome!

While i've been unpacking and making the house all nice and homely and cosy, I've been cooking and baking up a storm!

The first lovely recipe I have for you is YORKIES! Or Yorkshire puddings....not the chocolate bar! I always loved having these for Sunday dinner and it was always Aunt Bessie's as my Mum was the cook. However seeing as I have upped my culinary skills I decided to take on the dreaded task of making them myself one Sunday while making dinner.

And the result? OH MY LAWDDDDD AMAZING! I couldn't believe how good they were compared to the frozen ones I had been living with for 26 years! They're actually not difficult to make either, providing you have the time (you need to let the batter sit for half an hour) it's a straight forward operation.

So let's do this shall we??

Nom, right??

Ok so the stuff you'll need (note: these will all probably be in your cupboards! See- they cost nothing to make!)

to make around 12:

3 eggs115 g plain flour1 pinch sea salt285 ml milk12 tablespoons vegetable oil

muffin tray
whisk/fork
measuring jug
mixing bowl

I don't actually use measurements (sometimes I'll use less eggs to make less batter) so what I do is crack the eggs into a measuring jug and take a note of where the eggs measure to (the wee markings on the jug), empty the eggs into a bowl. Pour the flour into the same measuring jug to the SAME level as the eggs came to. Again, empty this into the same bowl with the eggs. Then, add the milk, again to the same level (nothing more or less) and add to the rest of the stuff in the bowl. 

Give it a good whisk and season to taste (nb: it WILL need seasoned) then pour all the batter back into the jug so it's easier to pour into the muffin holes. Set aside for about half an hour.

Heat your oven to the highest setting and pour the oil into the muffin holes and place in oven until oven has heated up or for about 5/10 mins. By this point the oil should be ROASTING, so pour the batter into the muffin holes and place back in the oven for 15 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME. REPEAT. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME.




Otherwise the puds will sink and it'll all be a travesty! It's rather fun sitting and watching through the oven door at them rising. I cannot even explain how happy I was when I first made these and seen them rising, there may have been a squeal involved!



They'll look all lumpy and weird at first!



Serve straight away or you can always eat one while serving them. Noone will know ;)