Monthly Archives: June 2011

Comvita Anti-Ageing Gentle Smoothing Cleanser from My Pure

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I recently tried this  Comvita Anti-ageing gentle smoothing cleanser from MyPure. I was very interested to try it as one of the main ingredients used in it is Manuka Honey. Manuka Honey is honey that is made by bees in New Zealand who visit the manuka bush.  Active manuka honey has been found to help people with skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. It is also proven to support your skin’s natural elasticity and help to delay signs of ageing. It also has antibacterial properties.

The other active ingredients are Brazilian bark extract which provides exceptional natural cleansing properties,   Macadamia oil  to nourish your skin and New Zealand Kowhai extract to calm and soothe.   Like everything from MyPure the cleanser is sulphate free, paraben free & phthalate free. I was very interested to find out how well this cleanser worked.

Inside the box the cleanser comes in a long white tube with a pump action dispenser. In order to take the lid off you have to break a small paper tag that says “Open For Beauty” which I think is a nice touch. To use the cleanser you have to gently massage it into your skin morning and night and rinse it off with water.

The cleanser is a white lotion with a slight translucent tinge. It has a nice smell which is not too strong. When rubbed onto my skin it felt very nice and did not make my skin feel tight in any way. It is very creamy  and after use my skin felt clean and smooth. It is definitely good for dry skin as it left my skin feeling soft and moisturised as well as clean. I have not noticed any miraculous anti-ageing effects yet, but I have not been using it very long and I expect this benefit would be seen gradually after using it for a while. This is a lovely and luxurious cleanser.

Comvita Anti-Ageing Gentle Smoothing Cleanser costs £20.00 for 15oml bottle.


Vote for Pathways 4 All today!

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Pathways 4 All  is a local charity. It is  run by parent volunteers and helps to address the lock of social activities for disabled children. They have been shortlisted in the final of the Jubilee parents millions, which means if they are successful they will be awarded a £60,ooo prize.

If they are successful in getting this award they plan to build a Sensory Garden and Adventure Playground specifically designed for the needs of children with disabilities and their families. It will be located in the grounds of the Rising Sun Country park and will include a multi-sensory garden with a range of musical instruments, tactile surfaces, bright and visually attractive sculptures, water features and much more. It will allow children with disabilities the freedom to play and have fun, which can be impossible in a normal playground.

to address the lack of social opportunities for disabled children and is shortlisted in the final of the Jubilee People’s Millions. If successful they could be awarded a £60,000 prize, to help create a garden which allows children with disabilities the freedom to play and have fun, which is virtually impossible for them to do in regular play areas.

You can only vote for Pathways 4 All in the People’s Millions TODAY June 29 between 9am and 12 midnight. The number to vote is 0871 626 8897.

The cost of each call is only 11p and you can call up to 10 times! Vote now and help them to win.

Who won the Ultrasun Protection competition?

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Thank you all for entering my ultrasun protection competition. I had 103 entries for this competition and have drawn the five lucky winners using random.org.  I really hope that we have a long hot summer so you can make best use of this product.

The winners are:

  • Lisa Pope
  • KidzOutdoors
  • Seeta
  • Ellen
  • Kat Walsh

Well done! I shall be sending you an email very shortly to get your details.

So who won the Vimto hamper?

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Thank you all for entering the Vimto hamper competition I ran recently. I had a record number of 171 entries.  Unfortunately there can only be one winner of this lovely hamper and its not me!!

In order to get the winner I wrote all the names down on a piece of paper with a number beside them. I then asked a colleague to think of a number between 1 and 171 (which made a change from using a random number generator).  The lucky number was 134 and the lucky winner is Arabella B who will be mixing up bananas and gooseberry to drink this summer! Well done! You should be getting an email from me shortly to confirm your details.

Rising Sun Country Park

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We are very lucky living in Newcastle Upon Tyne as one of the great things about the city is that it is surrounded by green areas. I live within a few minutes walk of the Rising Sun Country Park which is a park covering 160 hectares (400 acres) of green space. It contains woodland, ponds, wetland, grassland and organic farmland.

Interestingly the Country park is on the site of the Rising Sun Colliery and the Scaffold Hill Isolation Hospital.  Scaffold Hill Isolation Hospital was officially opened in 1914 and was built to house sufferers of tuberculosis, scarlet fever and measles. The main cause of admission in the first forty years of its life were diphtheria and tuberculosis. In those days scarlet fever and measles could be fatal and many families lost one or more children to these infections.  We are lucky today that we have inoculation to prevent these diseases.  The hospital finally closed its doors in 1986. There are two theories as to why the hill is called Scaffold Hill. The first is that there was a scaffold there for hanging people. The second is that a scaffold was mounted there to watch the steeplechase that used to run from Murton to Benton in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

The Rising Sun Colliery first produced coal in 1908 and was closed in 1969. There was also a brick works and a quarry on the site. In 1960 it produced 475,871 tons of coal so it was a very busy pit. After the colliery was closed the pit heap was landscaped into Rising Sun Hill.

Through the middle of the park runs the Waggonway. At the height of the pit working this transported coal from the local collieries to the river using horse-drawn wagons.  In 1813 it was the site of the first steam engine trials and the Rocket was trialled on this waggonway.

Looking at the park today it is really hard to believe that this used to be a really heavily industrial area. As it was a lovely day yesterday we went for a walk to see what we could find. This is the start of our walk, looking back at the houses.

We walked quite a long way and found woodland trails, and dipping ponds

At this time of the year the ponds are teaming with wildlife. We saw little fish, tadpoles, dragonflies and rather a lot of pond skaters. If you had a fishing net and a jam jar this would provide an interesting distraction for children. My son nearly fell in as he was leaning so far over the rails trying to see things. Fortunately he managed to stay on dry land.

In the middle of the park is the visitor centre, which contains toilets and a restaurant. There is also a rather good climbing frame and a rather interesting statue. We stopped here for a well deserved cold drink and a sandwich.

We only scratched the surface of the things you can do in the park. There are areas with bird hides so you can spot lots of different kinds of birds.  There is also a working farm you can visit. The park runs different activities though the year, from nature walks to den building so there is always something to do.

If you come to Newcastle you will find the Rising Sun Country Park signposted from the A191 Whitley Road. The turning is right next to Asda’s carpark.

Penn State Snacks New Range

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I am very excited to learn that the UK Pretzel Giant, Penn State Snacks is going to be expanding its range over the summer and launching a new range of popcorn and pretzel flavours. Penn State was the first company to produce pretzels in the UK, they started production of the original sea salted pretzel in 1996 and have been growing in popularity since then.

The popcorn uses an innovative new air popped technique, where the popcorn is popped in very hot air rather than in oil or fat. This has the bonus of reducing the calories, which are already low, to almost nothing. This popcorn will be hitting the shelves in the summer and will come in Sweet & Salt and Monterey Jack Cheese Flavours. It will come in 80g bags (RRP £1.29). I love popcorn and am really looking forward to trying these when they become available.

Penn State Snacks are also expanding their pretzel range.  In the summer a new seasonal Spicy Tomato and Chorizo Pretzel will be making an appearance. These will be available in 175g packs (RRP £1.29) Just in time for summer barbecues.

Hot on their heels for an autumn release will be Gammon and Mustard Pretzels in 175g packs (RRP £1.29)  Also you will find half coated Milk Chocolate Pretzels making an appearance in October in Morrisons. Personally I am looking forward to these. They will be available in 100g packs (RRP £2.49) .

Penn State snacks have also just re-launched their limited edition worcester sauce flavour pretzels due to demand.  Like all the Penn State pretzel range they are baked rather than fried so they are 110 calories per 25g serving. These are available in Asda stores in 30g (RRP 60p) and 100g (RRP £1.29) packs. I was sent some of this range to try  out and I have to say I was very impressed. I do not normally like worcester sauce flavour as it can be somewhat overpowering. These are lovely, they have a subtle hint of spiciness and you can taste the sauce but it is really delicate and tangy. The pretzels themselves have a nice satisfying crunch and are lovely and crispy. I came home to find that my  husband, who does not like pretzels normally,  had devoured about three packets of these. That indicates how nice they are.  The worcester sauce flavour are made using a secret recipe and it is famous around the world. Penn state pretzels are also available in Original Salted, Sour Cream and Chive and Sweet and Spicy Salsa flavours.

The Penn State brand is owned by Intersnack, who are the makers of Pom Bear, Chio savoury snacks, Mr.Mash and the Your Nuts range.  You can find more information on Intersnack and Pennstate at: http://www.intersnack.co.uk/
You can like Penn State snacks on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pennstatesnacks or find them on Twitter:


The Last Detail – for all your party needs

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Recently I was lucky enough to win £100 worth of products from the website The Last Detail. It was not a website I was familiar with but I found that it is a lovely website offering all sorts of things to help  you to plan your wedding or party and a selection of lovely gifts. I found I was really spoiled for choice when trying to decide get from this site.  If you want those last minute details to make your party special, it is definitely the place to look.

To give you a flavour of the site, I will show you a few of the things that I got from there. I can’t show you everything as some were gifts and it would give the surprise away! I started in the candle section as my son has got too old for his train candle holders that normally go on his cake. It had a certain number of carriages and now he is older than the number of carriages.

I found this lovely Happy Birthday candle that is going to look gorgeous on his cake this year and will make it look a little bit special.  I hope that we will be able to have a proper family birthday party for him this year. Last year we were prevented due to the snow meaning some family were unable to get over to see us which was a shame.  The site also has a selection of candles for different ages and some lovely black and white candles that would look lovely on a dinner table.

I also treated myself to these gorgeous crackers. These are really stunning looking and are going to look fabulous on my dinner table at Christmas. They promise to have really nice presents inside them as well which I am looking forward to. There is a nice selection on the site .

I also like is the fact  that there is a section dedicated  Table Games and Fun. I choose this Tiddly Winks set from here.

Often you find at a family meal when the meal is finished the adults want to have a cup of coffee but the kids are bored. This is a brilliant way to keep the kids happy and at the table while the parents finish their meals.  There is also a lovely range of Table Games which are guaranteed to keep the adults amused. There a loads of trivia games with topics to suit everyone.

The gifts section is also lovely with gifts and easy to search. You can get gifts by recipient or by occasion which makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

I chose this Alan Titchmarsh garden kneeler as  a present for myself, which is brilliant as now I no longer get muddy knees when gardening. I also got a few other presents for my family which they will love when they receive them. They do a lovely range of personalised gifts as well making the present a little bit more special.

The one thing I haven’t mentioned is the little details that give the site the name. If you want those last little details that will make your party or wedding special then look here. Decorations, napkin rings, balloons, place cards, confetti you will find it all here.  You can even shop by style, theme or colour so it makes it easy to get a co-ordinated look ensuring that everything you plan will look stunning.

If you do order from this site I have to say the service is really good. It was really easy to make my order and everything arrived very quickly within a few days. I am completely delighted with everything that I received.

Find the website: http://www.thelastdetail.co.uk/

The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld

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This book is part of the Richard and Judy Summer book club 2011, which is launched exclusively with W.H Smith to provide us with good reads for the summer holidays.  It is set in the 1920′s, an era when prohibition was in force in America, the First World War had finished and great discoveries were being made in science.

The book starts with the bombing of Wall Street on September 16th, 1920, an event that actually happened but was never solved. Witnesses to the blast are Stratham Younger, a war veteran, James Littlemore of the NYPD and Collette Rousseau, a protege of Marie Curie who are meeting for lunch. They help out following the explosion but Collette is kidnapped which begins a series of adventures involving corruption in banking, the use of radium in industry with psychoanalysis and mysterious red headed women thrown into the mixture.

There is an interesting mix of fictional characters with the real life characters of Freud and Marie Curie.  The historical background has obviously been well researched and the information about the early use of x-rays in treating soldiers and how radium became generally used in industry before the dangers of radiation were known is interesting. You certainly get a feel for living in those times and as the story moves around Europe you get more of a feel of this.

This is an enjoyable book, with some fast paced action scenes keeping you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens.  There a lots of twists and turns, some of which you see coming and some of which are a complete surprise.  The characters are believable and you find yourself getting involved in their story. Definitely a book for a summer holiday read if you enjoy thrillers.

Cuticura Hand Sanitisers

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If you are a regular reader of my blog you will remember that in May I mentioned this fabulous competition that Cuticura were running where you could win £100 snow and rock vouchers every day in May. Sadly I didn’t win but I do know a couple of people who did. I hope you were one of the lucky winners. As a follow on to that I was sent some of the Cuticura hand sanitiser products to review.  These are products that allow you to clean your hands on the go, perfect for outdoor activities or if you have children who are always sticky like mine! The good thing about these products is that they kill 99.99% of bacteria so you know that you are getting rid of germs when you are out and about.

Hand Hygiene wipes

Anyone with kids is familiar with hand wipes. Nasty sticky hands, face covered in chocolate, ice cream in hair, grab a wipe! They are always very handy to have in your handbag for emergencies.  These are a nice size with 15 in the pack  it is not too bulky to carry about. I like the packet design which has a resealable sticker but also a tag that you can close over the place you pull the wipes out. This stops them drying out after they have been opened. They are easy to reseal and have a nice scent. It has a hint of lemon but is not overpowering.

Hand Hygiene Foamer

This has to be the most exciting of the products, if you can call hand sanitisers exciting. It comes in a round bottle and has a pump action top. When you squirt it out it puts a dollop of foam onto your hand. This provides a brilliant incentive for children to clean their hands.

It has a wet feel when you rub it into your hands but soon dries leaving your hands feeling much cleaner and without leaving them sticky. Again the bottle is a nice size to fit into a handbag and the pump top makes it easy to dispense without using too much. It has a nice smell which is not too strong.

Hand Hygiene Lotion

The hand hygiene lotion cleans and moisturises your hands all in one go.  The bottle has a push top lid, so again you can easily use it without a lot coming out in one go. It has a slight blue tinge to it and a soapy feel.  The smell of this product is stronger than the others but it soon fades. It absorbs quickly into the hands and soon dries leaving your hands feeling noticeably softer.

Hand Hygiene Lotion


This is a clear viscous liquid which you apply on dry hands and then rub until its dry. It has a nice fresh scent and you can feel it cooling your hands when you use it. It absorbs quickly and your hands do not feel sticky. This product has a flip top lid on the bottle.

In summary these are very useful products and easy to carry around. I will now have a bottle or packet of wipes in my handbag for those little emergencies that happen when you have children, like chewing gum everywhere! They are also ideal if you are planning a day out with a picnic as you know you will be able to wash your hands before eating.

More information: http://www.cuticura.co.uk/hand-hygiene/

Traditional Bread from Bakestone

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Bakestone bread are a Northern baking company who make bread using the freshest ingredients available. The company was started by Howard Hunter who has been in the baking industry for over 30 years and still operates a family run company. There are two main bakeries in Manchester and Liverpool and the bread is widely available thoughout the North West and also locally in the North East.  You will find the products in local convenience stores and also Aldi supermarkets. They have a wide range of products from  white and brown to wholemeal and fruited varieties so there is bound to be something you like.

I was recently sent some of these product to try which was great as we use loads of bread in our house.

Sliced Bread

The first product I tried was the sliced bread, which comes in a long loaf.

This is the wholemeal variety (SRP £1.25) but it also comes in white. It comes in different sizes as well from medium, to thick to extra thick depending on your taste. One good thing is that it also has a shelf life of five days. I don’t usually buy wholemeal bread as the taste is too strong, but this was really tasty.  The medium slice was a little thin for me, I think I would buy the thicker sliced variety. I do like the fact that is is a long loaf which means you get more bread in the loaf that you normally would.

Potato Cakes

I was really pleased to find that potato bread (SRP £0.89) is part of the Bakestone range or potato cakes as they call them. Growing up in Northern Ireland I was used to seeing this on the shelves. When I moved to England it seems that it is very hard to find this item. I really recommend it as part of a fried breakfast, fry it in butter until its crispy on both sides and it is delicious. This was as nice as I remembered. The shape is really good as well, you can divide each cake into four slices and they are not too big when cooked like that. Definitely one to try if you have not already.

Oven Bottom Muffins

The oven bottom muffins (SRP £0.49) are a nice sized bread roll which are perfect for popping into a lunch box for a sandwich.  I had never tried these before but was pleasantly surprised. They are just the right size and taste really nice. They have a distinctive taste but they are not too heavy and as I said before make a really nice lunch time sandwich.

Lush Fruitfuls

A similar size are the Lush Fruitfuls (SRP £0.75) which is a fruit bread. You get three in a pack and they are also really nice toasted with butter with a cup of tea or for a snack at supper time. Again these are a nice size and cut in half they will go a long way. They are really fruity and nice plain as well. My son was very impressed by these and they disappeared very quickly.

Fruited Scones

The final product I tried were the Fruited Scones (£1.10). These are a nice sized scone with plenty of fruit. I sometimes find shop bought scones a little dry and cloying but these are really nice and almost taste like homemade scones. Gorgeous with butter and jam, all I needed was the clotted cream to finish them off to perfection.

For more information see their website: http://bakestone.co.uk/

You can also like them on Facebook Bakestone Bread where you will find lots of other things going on as well. They are also on twitter @Mrbakestone