#MealPlanningMonday - 29th February 2016

So I've just posted this about my battle with a low fibre diet and how I've gained weight, and now I'm contemplating scrapping it and just eating what I want and suffering with the consequences of my IBS. Big decision, eat what I fancy, crap myself but stay slimmer or eat what I'm told, not crap myself but get fat!

Well this week the diet/menu planning is sort of out of my hands. Those great guys at Bzz Agent are running a campaign with OXO, so I have a great cook book and OXO stock pots to work with this week.

My favourite choices out of the book are:
Mushroom stroganoff
Pork cider & apple stew*
Rigatoni with quick cook ragu

and then I'll do some of the simpler things like
fish fingers
pizza
spaghetti & meatballs



I'm only planning 6 meals as it's Mothers Day on Sunday, and I'm hoping Squiggle is going to take me out for a lovely meal and shower me with love, bear in mind he's nearly 6 years old so it will probably be a trip to the golden arches, but so long as I'm with him I don't care where we dine!

As usual this post is linked up with Mrs M and all the other Meal Planners.

Have a great week everyone!

*OK, call me weird, I can eat bacon, sausages, gammon and ham but pork makes me poorly, so I'll be swapping the pork for gammon!

Review: Sure Compressed Challenge

As you may already be aware I am a BzzAgent, and before Christmas they kindly asked me to take part in the Sure Compressed Challenge.

If you're aren't already aware there is a range of new smaller cans of deodorant in the shops, and the challenge was to see if they lasted just as long as the full size cans.

Sure compressed deodorants squeeze the same amount of protection into smaller cans - using 50% less gas and 25% less packaging. They claim they will last just as long and work just as well as the full size cans.

I was sent a Sure Cotton Dry 250ml can and Sure Compressed Cotton Dry 125ml can. The challenge was to use them both at the same time, one under each armpit and to see if they both provided the same level of protection and if they both lasted the same length of time.

My first impressions were that the fragrance was nice and both cans kept me dry all day. There was a difference between the spray head on both the cans and I felt that the larger can was easier to use as it didn't require much pressure on the spray. The smaller can needs more pressure to get the spray to work and having arthritis in my hands and fingers I did find the smaller can harder to use.

Although both cans provided me with the same level of protection, I felt the deodorant from the large can went on better as the smaller can left me with a lot of white powder residue which then rubbed off onto my clothes and left me with streaky white marks.

Up until this point I was convinced that Sure Compressed just wasn't as good as the standard size cans and my feelings weren't changed by the time I reached the end of the challenge, which incidentally was a whole week after the Sure Compressed deodorant had run out. Yes, the standard size can had lasted longer.

I won't be switching to buying the Sure Compressed on a regular basis but due to the size it does make a handy addition to my handbag when on a girls night out.

Disclosure: As a BzzAgent I was given a 250ml full size can and 125ml compressed can of deodorant to carry out the challenge.

Review: Nair™ Argan Oil Shower Power Cream

Having suffered from psoriasis for many years, I find shaving a painful experience with cuts and nicks all the time on my legs, when I heard Nair^™ Argan Oil Shower Power Cream was going to be the latest BzzAgent Campaign I jumped on board, eager to try it out.

Photo courtesy of Bzz Agent

I have tried hair removal creams in the past but they made my skin sore and irritated, but Nair^™ Argan Oil Shower Power Cream was different. It was a lot kinder to my skin.

I did think it was quite smelly and messy to apply. The instructions said to spread a thick layer over the skin using the spatula, but all it did was to move the cream around my legs, so I ditched the spatula in favour of rubber gloves and found it far easier to apply by hand.

The spatula left uncovered patches!

The product says it can be used in the shower but prolonged exposure to water should be avoided as it will wash the cream off. Hmm how to shower without getting wet, well I struggled, I tried to shower standing at an angle but the cream still started to wash off so I decided to jump out and wait a bit longer. The cream can be left on for up to 10 minutes before it needs to be removed.

The spatula did do its job at removing the cream after the allocated time, but although the cream comes off the skin easy I did find that it wasn't easy to then wash it off the spatula and the cream just landed in blobs in my bath. It also didn't wash down the plughole easily, so I had to make sure I thoroughly cleaned the bath before the next person used it!,

But on the plus side, thanks to the Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil and Cocoa Butter, my skin felt like it had undergone an intensive moisturising treatment, they were smooth and soft, something that my legs have never been in my life! I enjoyed about 3-4 days fuzz free days before I noticed the hair was regrowing.

Photo courtesy of  Bzz Agent

I would probably use it again when I need nice cut free legs, ie for a wedding or holiday but wouldn't use on a regular basis as it's too time consuming and such a faff to use.

Disclaimer - I was sent a full size sample of  Nair^™ Argan Oil Shower Power Cream to try out in return for a review. All words and opinions are my own, professional photos are courtesy of BzzAgent and have been credited where appropriate.

Review: Always & UNESCO

I was sent a new Bzz Kit this month to review.

Always have teamed up with UNESCO to help support girls get an education. Their aim is to help empower women all around the world, so for every pack of Always sold, Always will donate a school lesson to a girl. For the past two years Always have supported girls in Senegal.

In the UK Always are planning to donate more than 7 million lessons to support girls education. Why? should I get involved I hear you ask - well, educated women and girls can earn up to 15-25% more wages than uneducated women and girls, and it is shown that when women and girls earn income in these poorer countries, they reinvest 90% of it into the health, education and well being of their families, much more than their respected male counterparts. For us going to school is a way of life, as is our monthly period ( well for us girls anyway ), so why not switch brands and help give the gift of education to someone less fortunate.

The campaign is going to run util March 2014 and thereafter until UNESCO marked packs have sold out.

Ok, so onto the product.
The first thing that hit me when I opened the box was the sweet fragrance of  flowers. As I took out my items I saw that one of the boxes was Always dailies discreet 30 incredibly thin scented panty liners.

I was also sent sent 2 packs of Always Ultra with odour neutralising Actipearls.

The Always Ultra are bigger than regular sized towels and I found they were better at preventing leaks, the dailies discreet were quite small and flimsy and to be honest I wondered what the point of them was, but they held their shape and stayed in place all day.

Both packs smell really fresh, I don't know if they mask odours because I've never suffered with that problem, they do the job they are designed for and I'm happy with that. Plus I've noticed that by keeping the Always Dailies Discreet in my underwear drawer, the fragrance has been passed onto my underwear so they smell lovely and fresh when I get dressed in a morning!



Disclaimer, although I was sent the products to create a buzz about, all words and photos are my own.

Review: E45 Lotion

Right, let's see how this goes, my first proper online blog review of a product. Firstly I will disclose that I'm a BzzAgent and I have been sent some of the new E45 lotions to try, review and spread the word about - whether it be good or bad!

A little bit about BzzAgent first, it's free to sign up and once your profile has been completed you will be eligible to join trials of products. They send you free stuff, you try it and then share the deals and samples with your friends, in return they just ask you to create a buzz about the product and then return to their site to fill in details about what you thought of the product, who you've spoken to about it and what they thought and then you just simply wait for the next campaign to come along and do it all again.

I was sent a bottle of E45 Moisturising Lotion and a bottle of E45 Nourish & Restore Body Lotion.

The Moisturising Lotion is good for every day use, it does what it says on the label which is soothes, softens and relieves dry and sensitive skin. It's fragrance free and is very easy to apply. It quickly soaked into my skin and wasn't greasy or sticky. I applied it once in the morning and it kept my skin soft and smooth till bedtime.

The Nourish & Restore Body Lotion is also great for everyday use. It claims to restore skin suppleness within 3 weeks. I was very impressed after the first use. My skin wasn't as red looking and felt soft and smooth for 24 hours. I have even tried it on my face and it's got rid of the dry skin I had on my nose and forehead after 3 days of use. It's lightly fragranced and reminded me of baby powder. Again it was easy to apply and soaked nicely into my skin without feeling sticky or greasy.

I'm normally very fussy about body and moisturising lotions because I suffer from psoriasis and so I have very dry, red scaly, itchy skin. But even after only 3 days use of the Nourish & Restore Body Lotion, I think I have found something worth sticking with.

If you would like to try a free sample of E45 for yourself then click here

E45 can be found in all good retailers and comes in a variety of sizes.

Have any of my readers tried this or do you use something else?
Leave me a comment and let me know what you use to look after your skin.


Disclaimer, although I was sent the products to test, all words and photos are my own.