REVIEW: Incognito® Hair & Body Wash (YE)

I was sent a 2-in-1 hair & body wash from Incognito® to review.

<sup>Before I even opened the product, I was so impressed! Firstly, the bottle is made from environmentally friendly sugarcane plastic which is 100% recyclable. Secondly, the product is vegan-friendly and is not tested on animals. A company's ethical compass is so important to me and Incognito® have won several awards for being ethical and sustainable. Lastly, the product is free from nasties such as irritants, parabens and SLS which is great as I have sensitive, dry skin. 

This hair & body wash from Incognito's 'second skin' range is designed for exotic urban safaris and wilder journeys. The organic bergamot and tea tree oil have anti-septic and anti-fungal properties which help to keep dandruff and head lice at bay. In addition, the organic Java citronella oil masks kairomones and repels insects to protect from insect bites/stings.

Although I'm not in an exotic destination at the moment - unfortunately - I tried the hair & body wash in the shower at home. It has a fresh, citrus aroma from the bergamot and tea tree oil which leaves a lovely smell on the skin for hours. The product lathered up really well and both my hair and skin felt really clean and refreshed after use. 

I'm a huge fan of this product and I will definitely be taking this with me on my next holiday abroad for protection. I love that it is 2-in-1 as it's quick, convenient and saves precious suitcase space! In the meantime, I’ll continue to use as it’s great all year round as a general hair & body wash.

This hair & body wash is £8.99 for 200ml and can be purchased here.

Make sure to check out Incognito® on social media: @incognitoUK, Instagram and Facebook.

Thanks for reading.</sup> 

REVIEW: Cienna Rose - Enriched Nail Lacquer (YE)

I was sent two gorgeous nail lacquers from Cienna Rose to review. Cienna Rose are a innovative, luxury, UK-based company who are cruelty-free and vegan friendly. All products are 12 Free (free from harmful and toxic chemicals commonly used in other nail lacquers) which I absolutely love about this brand. 

I received two colours: 

                                                                               'Miss, Behave'

                                                     
                                                                               'Pumpkin Pie'

As you can see, the bottles are so pretty - such a lovely, unique shape and design.

Now on to the swatches...

'Miss, Behave' (with flash)                                                            'Miss, Behave' (natural light)

'Miss Behave' is a rich, gorgeous blue colour. Pictured are two coats which applied so easily and dried within minutes.


'Pumpkin Pie' (with flash)                                                              'Pumpkin Pie' (natural light)

'Pumpkin Pie' is a vibrant, bright orange colour with specks of gold glitter. Pictured are two coats which, again, was so easy to apply and dried within minutes. 

The nail lacquers leave a smooth, gel like finish (both in appearance and touch) and are long-lasting and chip-resistant - which is great for me as my nails can chip quite easily. 

What I love the most about these nail lacquers is that they are enriched with Pro Vitamin B5 (which strengthens nails) and Vitamin E (which promotes nail growth and antioxidant protection). When I removed the nail lacquer, my nails were healthy and felt nourished, rather than dry/stripped which has happened with some other products. The nail lacquer is also infused with Lemongrass Oil which has a refreshing, light aroma which helps the lacquer to not smell as harsh as other nail products.

I am really impressed with this product and I'm so excited to try the other colours soon. 

Prices start at just £9 for 13ml and you can check out the full product range on Cienna Rose's website.

Thanks for reading.

REVIEW: Dairy Diary 2019 & Dairy Cookbook (YB)

I was sent a Dairy Diary 2019 and a Dairy Cookbook called Cook it Slowly! to review...

Being a big foodie, I really could not resist the opportunity, not least of all because I'm always looking for a new recipe idea to try out!

Let's begin with the Dairy Diary 2019...

This is the perfect diary for any foodie fan! There's a pocket at the front for notes which includes some stickers for important dates to add to your diary such as dentist appointments, insurance due dates, birthdays, doctors appointments, holidays and more. Very handy and they stand out more than a little handwritten scribble.

There's the obvious owners details page in case you lose it or in case of an emergency, a year planner, spaces for important phone numbers and personal details, space to put family & friends contact details, even space for home budgeting planning!

There are a list of calendar dates that you will find useful such as UK holidays, religious dates and even phases of the moon and British Summer Time start and end dates.

There's a place to record birthday and anniversary gifts. Do people actually keep track of this stuff?! I never knew that, but I guess they must!

There are various tips and tricks - exercise, decluttering, gardening and of course the best feature (in my opinion at least) - lots of lovely recipes! There is a new recipe on every set of weekly pages.

At the back, there are free pages for notes and a 2020 Planner too. Overall, I really like this diary - it's very well thought out and covers everything you would expect from a diary and then some!

I think this A5 diary provides excellent value for money at £8.50 - you can purchase one at the Dairy Diary website.

And now the Cook it Slowly! Dairy Cookbook...

There are loads of recipes in it! There's something for you regardless of whether, like myself, you're a meat eater, or if you are pescatarian/vegetarian/vegan, not to mention lots of lovely puddings, bakes & cakes recipes too!

At the start you will find some great slow cooker hints & tips. I use the slow cooker quite frequently and even I discovered some helpful tips!

Naturally, it wouldn't be much of a review if I didn't try out a recipe from it to show you all on here...

I made the Toulouse Sausage & Butter Bean Stew for me, David and Marley and a meat free (swapping the sausages for veggie sausages and the beef stock for veg stock) version for Paul (hubby) who is vegetarian. Not visually well presented like in the recipe book, but hey...

The recipe was easy to follow. We couldn't find any Toulose-style sausages though, so we had to settle for good old plain pork sausages. Paul got meat-free hotdog sausages which I used for his. I cooked it on the stove, rather than slow cook it as I didn't have the time, it took longer than the recipe stated however, so I think I'd cook this in the slow cooker in the future.

The recipe is very flavoursome, it is not the usual sort of thing I would opt to cook, but I liked the look of it and I was not disappointed - it was really, really nice and we will definitely be having it again soon.

It was quite a cheap meal to make and it's something you can throw in the slow cooker in the morning and have ready for tea. Not to mention you could freeze your leftovers for another day.

I'm looking forward to having a go at some of the other recipes sometime soon (be on the look out for future posts!).

Overall, the recipe book has a great range of recipes, and best of all, they are quick and easy and can go in the slow cooker so you can basically forget about them until meal time! Quite a lot of them are freezable so you can save on food waste too.

The Cook It Slow! recipe book is just £8.75 and you can find out more about this and the other cookbooks in the range at the Recipe Diary website.

You can also order the Dairy Diary from your local milkman too!

FOOTBALL: Liverpool vs PSG (YB)

I was really looking forward to this message and it certainly did not disappoint!

I was very shocked to see Sturridge in the starting eleven - he is the nowhere man despite having been in the team for so long, but he scored the opener, a well taken goal.

And so far this season, Salah has been disappointing, he just seems to have lost his touch.

A silly challenge in the 36th minute led to us getting a penalty and Milner put it away nicely, even though the keeper went the right way, he couldn't keep it out!

Then Meunier scored for PSG, a well taken goal.

Liverpool played brilliantly, both attacking and in defense. For the total value of the PSG team, they weren't exactly brilliant in my opinion. Their best players for me would be Cavani, Mbappe and Thiago Silva. Neymar is nothing but disappointing and one seriously overrated player! He was just as rubbish for Brazil during the World Cup in the summer!

In the second half, Mbappe scored a brilliant goal to level the playing field and with not long left in the match, it looked like we'd have to settle for the draw.

But in stoppage time, in swooped Firmino with a brilliant late goal to win us the game! And I think we really deserved that win as we were the better team for the majority of the game. And Firmino's celebration was just brilliant!

REVIEW: Dalston's Drinks (YB)

I was sent some samples of the Dalston's drinks to review...

I was sent four cans to try out - Cherryade, Fizzy Elderflower, Ginger Beer and Lemonade.

What makes Dalton's drinks special? Well, they are all-natural, that's what! They are less than 110 calories per can, have up to a third less sugar than other carbonated drinks and do not use artificial sweeteners, so a carbonated drink you can feel good about drinking. They are blended with British spring water and a carefully balanced amount of beet sugar to suit an adult palate. But how does the taste compare?

I tried out the Cherryade and shared some with Marley. The Cherryade is made with sweet and sour Morello cherries. I enjoyed this very much and so did Marley. It tasted far more natural and had a much more intense flavour than your average cherryade drink, not as sweet tasting, so it does take a moment to really appreciate the flavour, as it has quite a tang to it to begin with if you're used to more sugary drinks, but it is definitely worth it and you realise you don't need the sugar for the drink to taste great.

Paul loves Ginger Beer so he tried out that one. He really loved this. He actually emphatically said how it's by far the best ginger beer he's ever tasted! Now, I'm not at all a fan of ginger, which is why I left this one to Paul, but he really is and he always looks for an opportunity to try out a new one. He said most ginger beer he tastes, the flavour is really weak, like the companies are too afraid to make it too strongly flavoured, but he said the thing he loved about this was that it was really strongly flavoured and the lime was very noticeable too and that the flavour was perfect, in fact, amazing!

David really liked the look of the Fizzy Elderflower, so I let him test that one out. He said he really enjoyed it, that it was really flavoursome and he'd never tried this flavour drink before, but was pleasantly surprised.

I also tried out the Lemonade. I really, really, really enjoyed this one. I've tried several varieties of lemonade over the years and this was by far the best. Very natural tasting and intensely lemony. I could definitely make this a regular drink. In fact, it's probably one of my favourite soft drinks ever! I really hope this is available as a 500ml or 2L in the near future.

The overall verdict - these are absolutely delicious drinks and without unnecessary additives/sweeteners/preservatives - what more could you ask for?!

These were first created by ex-Orient Express chef Duncan O'Brien in a nightclub in 2012, and they used to be hand delivered to small cafes and cars across East London by bicycle! Now the Dalston's drink, including cola, lemonade and orangeade, are widely available in cafes, pubs restuarants and supermarkets throughout the UK!

Dalston's drinks are available in 330ml at an RRP of £1.09 or £3.99 for a four pack and are available at Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Wholefoods, Ocado and As Nature Intended.