Mint and Eucalyptus Whipped Body Butter

Hello Lovelies,

I'm a complete sucker for anything that makes my skin silky smooth, so when I was told about this body butter I knew I just had to whip some up for myself.  It so easy peasy to do and is great fun, it made me feel a bit like a (mad) scientist!  The hardest part of this DIY is the waiting for it to harden, patience isn't my strong suit.  So without further ado I shall let you know what you need for this DIY:

1/2 cup coconut oil

6 tablespoons shea butter

6 tablespoons cocoa butter

1 tablespoon carrier oil

1 1/2 teaspoons castor oil

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil

4 drops peppermint essential oil

In a bain marie over a low heat warm the coconut oil, shea butter and cocoa butter until softened/melted.  

Next add in your carrier oil, castor oil, eucalyptus and peppermint  essential oil.  Stir them together then place the bowl in the fridge until the oils are soft and thick.  It can take several hours depending on your fridge.

Once your oils are taken out get your electric hand whisk and get cracking.  You want to whisk it until you have a thick whipped cream consistency then start popping it into jars.  I managed to fill two small blue jars and one small mason jar (so a lot of product).  The body butter itself is a soft whipped slightly oily butter that has fabulous moisturising qualities, that has seriously sorted out my dry skin.  The recipe also produces a considerable amount of product, so you can keep a pot for yourself and give some away as prezzies.  

Do you like to try out DIY beauty products? 

Apple Flapjacks Without the Naughtiness

Hello Lovelies,

When I was at uni my flatmates and I were massive flapjack eaters, Sunday was baking day and we would always knock up a treat for the week, whether it was banana cake, brownies, cookies or flapjacks  there was always something to fill up the cake tin and sustain us during our hours of reading.  However I have changed my sugary ways, but still wanted something I could munch on If I was feeling that little naughty, so these apple flapjacks were born and have now replaced the syrupy buttery ones. 

Ingredients:

3 cooking apples

400 ml fresh apple juice

1 tbsp ground cinnamon 

280g organic whole rolled oats

160g raisins or currents 

Ready in 1 hour 10 mins

  

The first thing you want to do is chop up your apples but keep the skin on as it is a good source of pectin (a natural gelling agent).  You then want to place them in your pan with the apple juice and bring it to the boil.  Reduce the heat then simmer, keep it uncover and stir occasionally for 25-30 mins until the majority of the liquid is absorbed.

Next you want to measure out your dry ingredients, once you have them all measured, grab your apple and puree, you can either use a food processor or a hand-held mixer your choice, I used the easiest to clean.

Once you have your puree, pop in your cinnamon and gradually add your oats and fruit until they are nicely mixed. 

You then want to grease a 22cm cake tin but if you have a Pyrex or Ceramic casserole dish then you can be a cheat like me, it is perfect as the flapjacks don't stick (less cleaning!) 

Once you have spooned your mixture in, pat it down then pop it in the oven at 180 C for 20-30 mins, until golden brown and firm (not slightly burnt like mine!)

Once out of the oven cool slightly, cut into squares then leave to cool completely in the tin before removing and chowing them down with a cup of tea.

What is your favourite treat?

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream // Review

Hello Lovelies,

I have heard various people speak highly of Sudocrem, but have always dismissed it as it just reminded me of the pot that sat on my little stepbrothers changing table when he was a baby.

However this winter my skin took a nosedive, I tried masses of different moisturisers but none seemed to do the trick so one night I grabbed the Sudocrem from my bathroom cabinet, to give it a whirl.  The new tubes (with no mention of baby's bottoms) claims to calm sore and irritated skin and form a barrier which protects against irritants allowing skin to return to its natural healthy and supple condition (very true). 

After slathering it on my face and having a good night's kip I woke up to find a healthy face looking back at me in the mirror.  I was seriously impressed with the result, it had sorted out the nasty dry patch on my forehead and had reduced the angry spots on my jawline (yucky thought I know!!!)  

The consistency is very think, its not the kind of thing you put on in the morning, more of a just before bed cream, otherwise you look a bit ghost-like which is never good.  It obviously isn't produced to sink into your skin quickly like fancy face creams but by gosh does it do the job, I honestly don't know what I would do without this little tube of magic.

What is your favourite skin saver?

Kick Starting Your Day With A Green Breakfast Smoothie

Hello Lovelies,

As you know I'm a massive fan of juicing (especially green juices), but the big downside is by using fruits in a juice, you lose their main health benefit which is the fiber they contain, so this morning, I decided to ditch the juice and wiz up a quick smoothie. 

Ingredients:

1 banana 

2 kiwis 

3 large handfuls of Kale

2 handfuls of spinach (if you love your greens!)

2 handfuls of ice

This is hardly rocket science, you basically need to chop it all up, shove it in the blender and blitz away, until you have an ice cold smooth green smoothie full of goodness.

This is a fab green smoothie for those just venturing into the world of all things green, as you can pack it full of goodness but it still has the sweet and tangy taste from the fruit.  This and a bowl of porridge for me is the perfect breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day so should be yummy as well as filling and healthy.

 Are you a green girl/boy?

Deep Sleep Pillow Spray - thisworks

Hello Lovelies,

I have never found it hard to sleep, I could sleep anywhere (something which Is very useful), but I am seriously fidgety, I toss and turn all night and always manage to kick off my duvet, as a baby I used to kick it clear out of my cot (pretty darn impressive!)  As well as being a restless sleeper I am "Little Miss Stress" if there is something vaguely stressful happening in the near future then it is more than likely that I am already stressing about it, and lack of sleep just exasperates the whole thing.

In surveys of this product 83% of the participants felt they fell asleep faster, 78% felt they had a deeper sleep, 85% felt they were less anxious about going to sleep, 75% felt less anxious the next day, 80% felt less tired the morning after using the spray and 75% felt less tired during the day after using the spray. I would say those are pretty darn good results.

The spray is lovely and natural which is what I love about "thisworks" products, it includes ingredients such as True Lavender from Provence, Patchouli, Vertivert, and Chamomile, it is basically relaxation in a bottle.

I have used it for the last two weeks and can honestly say I haven't slept so well in ages, it's not the drifting off to sleep but the staying there, so I have been spraying two sprays onto my pillow thirty minutes before I go to sleep and have recently been finding myself waking up in the same position that I fell asleep in which until know has been unheard of.

So in two very apt words this works!

Does anyone else have problems with sleeping?

Jammies Time with Cyberjammies

Hello Lovelies,

I was sent some Cyberjammies from a really good chum of mine when I was at Uni, I was whining to him about how chilly I was (as I lived in an old house with no heating) and to my complete surprise a care parcel was delivered to my door a couple of days later, alongside some vegetable crisps and a bar of Green & Blacks 70% Chocolate there was a lovely snuggly pair of pink Cyberjammies, which I literally lived in when I was hibernating in my room alongside my books.

So when my pink pj's bit the dust I knew I needed a new pair, so I hopped on over to the Cyberjammies website and actually managed to grab some in the sale.  

I wasn't expecting them to arrive in a lovely box with a ribbon, a massive plus if your sending them as a prezzie! 

My jammies were the Blackberry Blush check, I am not normally a purple person but I fell for these (hard and fast!)

They are a gorgeous soft cotton with satin trims and a printed hem and cuff, a perfect snuggly pair of jammies to wear to bed or when your having a lazy day at home.

Where are your favourite jammies from?

New Years Resolution 2014 - Woman's Nike Flex Run 2013

Hello Lovelies,

Like the majority of people New Year arrived and I made some resolutions, the first was to be a "Yes Woman" but the second is to up my exercise, due to a knee injury and general illness my fitness levels have seriously dropped, so this year I want to combine my healthy eating with some good exercise.  

So last weekend I splashed out a little and bought myself some new trainers as a bit of motivation.  I have a fab pair of Saucony trainers to run in but wanted something to use indoors and for classes.  So after a hunt around I decided on the Nike Flex Run 2013.  I have really high arches which would be fab if I was a ballet dancer (that ended years ago) but as I am not it just means I tend to roll me feet and need extra support in my trainers so I don't wreck my knees.

The Nike Flex Run 2013 are a flexible, lightweight running shoe that are fab for those of us with high arches.  They have great ventilation to keep your feet nice and cool while your getting your sweat on (yucky thought I know) but best of all they come in lovely colours.  I was originally looking at the neon pink but after trying them on they were a tad bright so I went for the purple and coral instead, they are pretty funky and are fab motivation to get moving.  

Is anyone else upping their exercise this year?

Cheesy Eggy Brunch

Hello Lovelies,

Brunch has to be one of the best meals, when I was at school we used to have brunch on a Sunday, after a week of school food three times a day, brunch was heaven.  There was everything from pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, danish pastries to bowls of porridge/cereal, french toast and full cooked breakfast.  It was the one day you could sleep in, then stumble down to eat in your jammies, there was no school or Saturday prep it was pretty fab. 

After leaving school my love for brunch didn't end, at Uni my friend C and I would tootle up to a place called Blue Creek on a Sunday and sit surrounded by books and eat delicious mozzarella, pesto and chicken panini's with a mug of Chai latte.  But now I am home and there are no brunch trips so I needed to find the perfect recipe, and here it is. 

Ingredients:

1 onion

4 mushrooms 

4 handfuls of baby spinach 

Gruyere

2 pieces of toast

2 eggs

a little bit of milk  

Pre-heat oven to 160C

The first thing you need to do is put your diced onion and sliced mushrooms into a pan to cook, once it is cooked pop your spinach into a pan, once it has wilted take it off the heat spoon it onto your two pieces of toast that you have put in the bottom of a skillet or baking tray.

Next dice or grate your cheese then sprinkle over your toast.  You then want to sprinkle a little milk over both pieces  before you crack an egg on top of each piece.

Then take your skillet and pop in the oven until the whites of your eggs are cooked, min took about 15 mins, but it is something you want to keep an eye on.

Once you have taken it out of the oven you can serve it up or be really naughty and eat the tasty goodness out of the pan.

Are you a brunch fan?