August Degustabox

Welcome to the August Degustabox - my first ever one!  As you can imagine I was very excited to give this a try as I've seen so many great reviews about it, the only trouble with food boxes like this, they often contain meat, and being a vegetarian that makes things difficult.  Well, this time around it's more awkward as due to the pregnancy I have gestational diabetes, so other than the tonic water in this box, none of the rest of it I can actually have.  However, my dear husband can have all of it - and it's literally some of his favourite food (croissants, brioche, tortillas etc).  So, he's VERY excited to delve in!  

Above each picture will be a description of the product & how much it costs etc.

Lindt tin of heart chocolates - £3.49

Who doesn't love Lindt?  Personally I'm a big fan of their chocolate, and the hubby even more so.  It's fair enough to say, these were demolished as soon as the pics were taken by said hubby.  He assured me they were up to their usual nommy standard :)

Schwartz flavour shots - 2 for £1.39

These work as a base and shot of flavour for your meat, or if you're me, your Quorn.  At the moment, I'm struggling with Quorn (thanks to my pregnancy tastes) but as soon as the baby is born I'll be back all over it :)  My plan is (and let me know if you'd like to see a recipe post about this) so use the paprika chicken one with Quorn fillets or chunks, and serve it with white basmati rice - the other one (mexican fajitas) will be used with Quorn chunks and served in a tortilla with sour creme, grated cheese and lettuce, nom!

Dr Oetker edible wafter cupcake cases - £2.50

These you can pick up at Tesco or Asda and mean that when you make cupcakes, you don't need to take the paper off, you can eat the whole thing!  Funnily enough, since GBBO has been on, the hubby has had the urge to bake, not something he's done before - so I've set him a challenge to make some cupcakes with these :)

Fever tree tonic water & ginger beer - £1.69 each

Specialising in tonic waters and other mixers, they only use the highest quality natural ingredients which gives them a clean, subtle and balanced taste.  I'm really looking forward to trying the ginger beer once the baby is born, I think it'll be lovely and refreshing, mmmm :)

Cawston press Apple & Pear juice - £1.89 for 3

These are formulated for kids and mixed with 40% water to make it a little lighter.  There's no added sugar (so hopefully your little ones won't get hyper) and nothing artificial added :)  This is another thing the hubby demolished after I'd photographed it - he said it was very yummy :)

Berry White peach & goji berry - £1.59 each

This is one product I'm considering packing into my hospital bag - I'll need something to give me some natural bursts of energy when I'm in labour, so this'll be one to take with me.  It's an organic drink made with fruits and healthy extracts with no added sugar or fruit sugar.  You can pick these up in a range of stores as well as Ocado and Waitrose.

Brioche Pasquier - £1.69

Now, these are not going to last long in my home, both the hubby and I love brioche, except it's only him that's able to eat it at the moment, so it'll be his to enjoy :)  The Pasquier family started baking brioche in 1936 in the west of France.  They're freshly baked, I can vouch for how soft and squidgy the feel.  It's going to be hard resisting these!

Croissants by Pasquier - £1.79

These butter croissants feel so soft, you just know they're going to taste amazing (hubby gets the pleasure of tasting these).  They make a delightful addition to breakfast, or just as a snack.  You can either eat them as they are, or cut them open and add a filling, like nutella, jam, honey, butter, or something savoury like ham and cheese.  This range is free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

Caribbean twist (Strawberry daiquiri) - £2.50

This will either be a treat for me post-baby and breast feeding, or it'll be one for the hubby, either way I don't mind :)  It's a ready to drink Caribbean style cocktail made with 7.5% real fruit juice.  Best kept chilled they suggest pouring it over ice for perfection.  It's available in a range of UK supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Iceland and stores like Bargain Booze and Savers.  Early Sept it'll also be available in Morrisons.

Mexican Dave's tortillas - £1.00

Now, this is definitely one for the hubby, he LOVES tortillas (I'm not such a fan), so when we pop to the supermarket later, no doubt he'll pick up some salsa and sour cream and have himself a bit plate of nachos with cheese, salsa and sour cream tonight :)  Mexican Dave's don't compromise on ingredients, flabour or quality.  Nothing artificial inside, they're cooked with sunflower oil and contain no MSG :)  They're available in Tesco stores from the 25th August.

Also included in the box was a voucher for 'Degustabox Fridge' - this is a coupon that they've launched this month for something chilled, mine is for Moma breakfast pots (yoghurt with muslei).  I popped to my local Sainsburys but it seems they're not being stocked at any Sainsburys in Wales just yet, so instead of holding up this post until I can get hold of them, I thought I'd just give them a mention :)

Given that this is my first Degustabox I have nothing to compare it to, however I have been really impressed with what's inside.  It costs £12.99 a month and you're getting close to £20 worth of goods, what's more, the lovely people at Degustabox have given me a discount code for you for your first box, so if you want to give it a try you can have... 

£3 off with the code XSWQ1

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The Autumn TAG 2014

Feel free to use the image, just remember to reference me as the source of the image for copyright reasons :)

As you know, I like starting my seasonal tags and with Autumn being my favourite season of the year, I thought I'd write a new one for 2014.  If you're reading this, you're tagged!  If you tag me in the tweet when you share it, I'll RT it too :D

1.  Ok we're talking coffee's - what's your favourite seasonal drink from Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero etc?

For me that has to be an all-year-round drink - a vanilla chai latte - mmmmmmmmmm, and after extensively sampling them from all 3 coffee houses, I can confirm that the Cafe Nero one is the best - it's not overpowering in flavour and the mix in the chai powder really well so you don't get a cinnamon challenge at the end up of the cup (I totally had this with my Costa chai latte)

2.  Accessories - what do you opt for, scarf, boots, gloves?

I'm a big fan of wearing my Joe Browns' denim jacket (with a fish-tail back) teamed up with a big scarf - sometimes just a scarf for a bit of added warmth (depends how cold it is)

3.  Music - what's your favourite music to listen to during Autumn?

Typically here I'd say Led Zepplin, but I'm also in a very singer-songwriter mood, like Bic Runga (beautiful voice)

4.  Perfume - what's your favourite scent for this time of year?

I have to say, I don't change it up - my go-to perfume is Lacoste Touch of Pink - but I can also be known to wear more spicy scents, one of my favourites being Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld

5.  Candles - what scents will you be burning this season?

I'm more of a wax tart fan - I still have some 'sparkling apple' yankee tarts left over from Christmas, I'll be burning them, and spiced apple scents and cinnamon, mmmmmm :)

6.  What do you love most about Autumn?

For me it's everything, the earth winding down and preparing for winter, the beautiful colours the trees and leaves go, wrapping up warm and cozy, the scents and smells, the hot food (homemade soups with crusty bread) and especially this year, the impending birth of our first baby, our son :)

7.  Favourite makeup look?

As much as I don't wear it enough - I do love berry lips, strong brows, liquid eyeliner and mascara, however, what I tend to wear most is strong eyes and extra blusher for that 'been outside in the cold' look

8.  What are you looking forward to most in Autumn?

Apart from chai lattes, scarves and generally being cozy?  My hubby and I started a new life together with our baby :)  Sorry, it's cheesy but it's true :)

Don't forget to tweet me your posts and mention me as the creator of the tag :)

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Claudia Louch face wash & toner

It's been a while since I featured any skincare on the blog, so I thought it was about time I rectified that!  I wanted to feature a couple of products I've been using recently, in conjunction with my Origins Gin-zing moisturiser and face scrub.

If you've not heard of Claudia Louch before then you're in for a treat.  The Claudia Louch brand was started up by... you guessed it, Claudia Louch.  She's an internationally-renowned natural holistic skin specialist, nutritionist, pharmacologist and health scientist and has a clinic based in Harley St, London.  They focus on Phytomedicine (plant-based medicine) and botanical skin care, it's this approach which means you won't find any parabens in their products.

So, that's a bit about them - lets see how I got on with their products.

Chamomile face wash

It's a light foaming gel face wash with chamomile - apparently chamomile is a natural anti-inflammatory and anti-allergen that is ideal for nourishing the skin, who knew? :)  Well, I might not be able to comment in that level of detail, but I will say this:  it smells absolutely gorgeous, it's a soft gentle slightly sweet scent.  You only need a small amount of it (about pea-sized), lather it up in your hands with some water and massage it into the skin.  It leaves my skin feeling soft and nourished.  I tend to use it on days when I'm not using my Gin-zing face scrub to give my skin a rest and re-hydrate.

It'll set you back £37.40* which might seem a tad expensive, but you do get a lot of product for your money (240ml) making it my biggest face wash by far, much bigger than my Clarins one which cost just over £20 (125ml) making this one on par price-wise.

Botanical firming toner

This little beauty "is an alcohol-free toner containing natural active ingredients of aloe vera, chamomile and Japanese green tea to refresh, rejuvenate and firm the skin after cleansing".  It has a similar scent to the chamomile face wash but more delicate.  I use this after the face wash or my face scrub, and before my moisturiser.  It helps to take off any residues and prep my skin for the moisturiser.  It also contains cucumber extract which help to tighten pores (something I desperately need!).  I apply it by pumping out some product onto a cotton pad and swiping over my skin.  You can also apply it with your finger tips, but personally I much prefer using a cotton pad.

Much like the face wash, this also costs £37.40* and for that you get 40ml of product (in very nice packaging) :)  I think with these products, the money is really going towards decent ingredients to make a high quality product.  I'm not saying there aren't other more purse-friendly products out there which might well suit your skin better, but for me these have certainly worked their way into my daily/weekly routine.

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*This post contains PR samples