Review: Garnier - Body Tonic Smoothing Scrub

Why have I never heard about this product before? Garnier, up until recently, wasn't a brand that I would explore when looking for new skincare products to test out. It's actually kind of strange considering Garnier is a big name brand in the world of skincare, but I guess I've never felt that any of their products were particularly marketed towards someone like me.

I first came across this Garnier Body Tonic Smoothing Scrub after doing a search on the Superdrug website. Having read the description and whizzing through some reviews and product images, I was sold. It's also worth noting that I believe this is the new packaging. The old packaging says "sugar scrub" rather than "smoothing scrub". It's the same product though! 

This is a sugar & exfoliating bead scrub which is one of my favourite types of scrubs. Salt scrubs are also up there with the best for me but I find that they can sometimes sting, especially if you're doing a full body exfoliation. My hands always end up quite raw! I like sugar scrubs because the texture is very similar to salt scrubs minus the stinginess. This contains fruit extract to help with the "instant smoothing effect" and it also says it will give you "new skin" from the very first use. Big claims there. 

First of all, I love the smell of this. Other than the images of apples on the tube, it doesn't give any other indication as to what fruits are in this but it smells like citrus fruits. It's so fresh and it really invigorates me in the morning. 

The scrub itself is incredible! It smooths my skin like no other scrub and it does it in such a gentle way. A little goes a long way so you don't even need to use much of it to be able to exfoliate your entire body. The texture is gel-like but with a very generous amount of exfoliant in there. 

Prior to adding this to my skincare collection, I used to use The Body Shop scrubs but I can honestly say that this is so much better. It's gentle but so effective, smells incredible, and lasts for ages. I can also do a full body exfoliating session without irritating my hands. 

This is THE best body scrub I've ever used and it's now my go-to body scrub. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, another one of these will be making its way into my life once I run out.

The RRP is £7.15 for a 200ml bottle but Superdrug currently have it on sale for only £3.56!!! I can't praise this product enough so if you want to try it out, now is the time!

Do you use any Garnier products?

New Things #6

teapigs Super Power Green Tea Drink (link here) - I was greeted by the postman with a lovely surprise parcel from the lovely team at teapigs. These super power green tea drinks are a more portable alternative to the matcha powder. Each drink contains 1g of matcha powder but it's mixed in with some yummy flavours and it's great for taking out with you. They do three flavours at the moment and my favourite is apple. Make sure you give it a good shake first though!

Icing & Biscuit Set (link here) - This is like a toy kit for bakers. I haven't actually got round to using this yet because I'm hoping to find (or create my own) healthy biscuit recipe. I love baking so much but it doesn't always fit in well with the whole "being healthy" thing!

Island Fantasy (link here) - This was given to me as a gift earlier this year but I've only just got hold of it as I left it at their house. I adore this fragrance so much and that says a lot considering I very rarely find fragrances I like these days. I'm super picky. This is perfect for summer and it smells like a tropical island, the scent is so unique. This is also the largest bottle they have so it's going to last for ages!

Pepero Sticks - Similar to Pocky sticks, these ones are white chocolate cookie flavour and they are delicious! We need more yummy things like this in the aisles of Tesco, Morrison's etc.

About Time DVD (link here) - I'm not sure how many people will have seen this as I don't remember ever seeing the trailer for this when it came out in the cinema. Someone bought me this DVD and it's good! It's about a guy who can travel back in time to various events in order to change things. It's a brilliant movie and I can't believe that I was initially hesitant about watching this. If you're looking for a new film to watch, I highly recommend this one.

Review: Ipanema - Navy Sidewalk Wedge

As if we're nearing the end of June already! Where has this month gone? In fact, where has this year gone? Lots of you will probably be heading to the beach this summer so it's time to put those boots aside and get your sandals on. 

These Navy Sidewalk Wedges* were sent to me from Ipanema, a beach footwear brand selling a range of stylish flip flops. I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of flip flops but these ones caught my eye as they're a little different because of the wedge. I'm not that tall so I love shoes that give me that little bit of elevation and make my legs look leaner at the same time. 

The heel is 95mm with a platform of 20mm. I would say that these are probably a little too high for me if I'm planning on doing a lot of walking along the beach as they will drag me down a bit but if you're going for a more chilled-out day, these look super stylish. I do find that as these are heeled, it pushes the space between my toes downwards onto the toe grip which kind of hurts after walking for a little bit. Perhaps I'm just not used to flip flop type shoes though. 

I do love the style of these and I think the navy wedge looks great along with the metal logo on the strap. It adds a bit of style to what could just be an ordinary flip flop. I think that these would be so much better if there was some cushioning on the toe grip as I imagine that it won't be any fun to wear if you're planning on a long summery walk along the shore.

You can purchase the Navy Sidewalk Wedge for £50 from Ipanema.

Healthy Breakfast Idea - Warm Mashed Banana & Boiled Egg On Bread

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I always like to make the most of mine. Nothing better than waking up in the morning and starting the day with something nutritious and delicious to kickstart your metabolism and boost your energy. Today I thought I'd share my favourite healthy breakfast with you. 

After experimenting with warm bananas on bread a few years ago, I then found myself with this delicious healthy breakfast: warm mashed bananas & boiled egg on bread. It's super simple and here's how you make it...

All you need is a slice of brown bread, a ripe banana, and an egg. You can use white bread too if you prefer but brown bread is always the healthier option out of the two.

The trickiest part of this breakfast (which isn't really that tricky) is boiling the egg so always do that first as it takes a while. Boil enough water in the kettle to just about cover the egg in a cooking pot and then put it on maximum heat over a stove. I prefer my egg to still be a little runny inside so I tend to boil mine for about 5-7 minutes but this can vary depending on your cooker. You can also poach your egg which is easier and quicker but I find that boiling it helps to retain more of the flavour (and more of the egg too!).

Whilst your egg is boiling, cut up your banana into slices and then pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm it up. This will bring out the sweetness and make it less dry. Using the back of a fork, mash it up. Of course, you can leave it as slices if you prefer. You can also pop your bread in the toaster at this point if you like. I tend to just leave it as it is if it's fresh bread.

Once you are satisfied that your egg is ready, scoop it out with a draining spoon and run it under cold water for 30 seconds so you don't burn yourself! I skipped out that step this time round and ended up with some slightly red fingers as you can see in the photo. So make sure you do it! Afterwards, tap the entire egg gently onto the side of a bowl or worktop surface until the shell looks completely cracked.

Gently peel off the egg shell whilst running it under cold water to help the shell come off more smoothly. Be careful not to break the egg though! Light fingers!

Slice it up into thin pieces. As I mentioned previously, I like my egg to be a little gooey on the inside so this is perfect. You don't want it to be too runny otherwise it'll all just ooze it when you cut the egg up. Of course, you can always leave the egg in there longer if you don't mind a hard boiled egg. 

Top the bread with your mashed banana as evenly as possible, or place the slices evenly on your bread/toast if you haven't mashed it up.

Put the egg slices on top et voila! There you have a nutritious healthy breakfast to kickstart your day! Very simple to make too!

Then all that's left to do is to tuck in! I usually team this breakfast with a glass of juice or milk to set me off for the day. 

What do you think of this breakfast?

Let me know if you end up making it, I'd love to see some photos.

You can tweet me: @IAmLinderella
I've also just launched a Facebook page: http://facebook.com/IAmLinderella

Review: Boots - Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash

A couple of months ago when I was heading away for the weekend, I forgot to pack my cleanser. Well, actually, I can’t remember if I forgot to pack my cleanser or whether it just wouldn't fit into my tiny weekend bag so I figured I’d just get a new one.... Anyway, I ended up popping into Boots to find a suitable replacement. The cheapest and most decent looking product I could find was the Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash. I have quite sensitive skin and I figured that tea tree was a safe bet as it was only for 2 days anyway then I could go back to my usual cleanser.

This product claims to deeply cleanse and refresh to leave skin clear and healthy. Tea tree oil is known for being anti-bacterial whilst Witch Hazel keeps your skin clear and is a product used widely in spot treatment gels.

I have to admit that as a quick purchase for the weekend, I didn't have high hopes for this especially as I'd not even heard of this range prior to picking this up.

First of all, although this product is a tinted liquid inside the bottle, it actually foams up as you press the pump! I’ve never seen a product like this before. When I read that it was a “foaming” face wash, I assumed it would foam up as I rubbed it between my hands, I had no idea that it foams itself. Little things like that really amuse me! You only need to press the pump twice for one cleanse.

It was so gentle on my super sensitive skin and left it feeling clean and refreshed. The scent is quite light and doesn’t feel overpowering when it’s on my face. As it’s a foam wash, it also washes off very easily too and you don’t have to worry about residue on your face. I’m sure a lot of you have had incidents where the bathroom floor gets soaked from trying to splash your face wash or cleanser off. For that reason, I currently use this as my night-time face wash to leave my skin clean and calm before bed. It's also non-drying and doesn't leave my skin feeling tight and uncomfortable.

Once my day-time cleanser runs out, I might consider using this for both day and night as I love it so much. At £3.59 for a 150ml bottle, this is a very affordable purchase. I definitely need to check out the rest of the Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel range.

Have you tried any of the Tea Tree & Witch Hazel products from Boots?

ASOS Lust List #1

All images on collage from ASOS

Links: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A couple of years ago, I wouldn't even have bothered to look at the ASOS website but nowadays I find so much stuff that I love on there. I previously did a summer lust list but I've since found so much stuff I want from ASOS and no doubt that I'll find so much more in the future!

I'm someone who dislikes wearing jeans as it is because I don't like the feeling of denim on my skin. Anyone else feel like that? So when the slightest bit of warmth hits me, denim is completely not an option as it feels even worse! When I'm not in a skirt, I love wearing leggings as they're great when paired with tunics/long tops. I came across some pretty dresses too which I thought would also look great.

I'm also in the midst of creating my very own capsule wardrobe at the moment and it's lacking dresses hence why I definitely need to add 1 or 2 of these to my wardrobe.

What do you think of these tunics and dresses?

Thai Custard Sandwich Cake

Oh yes, baking baking baking! I really need to get back into the swing of things again as I've missed baking so much, I've hardly baked these past few months. 

I guess a lot of you may be wondering what exactly is sandwiched between this cake. A couple of months ago, I came across this yummy green stuff called thai custard. It's very similar in texture to normal custard as we know it, but it contains coconut milk rather than dairy milk. I love the taste of coconut and I think it adds a lovely fragrant taste to most foods. This particular thai custard is a pandan version and it tastes delicious. I knew straight away that it had to go into/onto/between some cake. I could have easily just eaten the custard straight from the bowl!

As it's so fragrant by itself, I made a simple Victoria sandwich sponge and filled the middle with the custard. I then dusted it off with some icing sugar. Clearly, I really need to work on that as I ended up pouring way too much on some parts of the cake rather than dusting it evenly. It was so delicious though and I'll definitely be making this again very soon.

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Cute Paper Goods

When I walk into a shop and see something cute, I immediately want it with little regard for what I'm actually going to do with it. The same goes for stationery, I will happily hoard loads of notebooks and pens just because there may be a day that comes when the world runs out.... Need to keep a back-up supply, right?

So when I was contacted by Cute Paper Goods to review their adorable stationery, I was more than happy to oblige. Cute Paper Goods are a UK-based business selling a wide range of stationery including pens, notebooks, and bookmarks. Best of all, it's all cute! I was really excited to hear that they were starting up because whilst there are other similar websites out there, they tend to be based outside of the UK. I'm generally not a fan of purchasing things from abroad unless I know a lot about the company, so it's perfect that we now have our very own cute stationery business in the UK!

I was sent a wonderful selection of products and it's probably one of the most exciting parcels I've opened for quite a while.

Animal Mini Sticky Notes* - £2.50

I was really pleased to see these in the package as they're so much better than standard plain sticky notes. I've been using these in my notebooks and also in my non-fiction books to keep tabs on some of the useful pages. The panda one is my favourite.

Handy Smiley Purse* - £3.00

Smile! What a cute coin purse! I'm not a fan of anything too bulky and I occasionally pop out of the house with a tiny little bag so this is ideal as it's so small. 

Fluffy Pets Mini Notebook* - £2.00

As I've already mentioned, I love notebooks so much. I like being able to jot things down quickly when something comes to mind. I know that you can use your phone to take notes too but I much prefer pen to paper. I used to take notes on the text messages section of my phone but I would always end up deleting them by accident. Should have used the notes section, right?

Character Clip Ballpoint Pen* - £1.50
Ice Cream Face Ballpoint Pen* - £1.50

Rilakkuma Style Gel Pen* - £1.50

You wouldn't believe the amount of pens I currently own but I'm more than happy to add these to my pen pot. The gel pen is my favourite as it's quite fine but writes with such fluidity. It's been my go-to pen for jotting down blog post ideas and writing down things to do.

Will you be checking out Cute Paper Goods?

Father's Day Gift Ideas 2014

When it comes to gifts, women are so much easier to buy for as there's always something cute or quirky that they'll like. With men, it gets a little bit more tricky... As Father's Day is approaching, I thought I'd gather together a few ideas and hopefully you'll find something here suitable for the 15th of June.

Personalised Drinking Flask* 

I received this from Treat Republic, a fantastic site to visit if you're looking for anything unique or personalised. You can even get your dad's name put onto the front but I opted to just have "DAD" on there. It's sturdy and great for use outdoors. If your dad loves gardening, get him one of these so he can keep his tea/coffee warm.

Veggie Sharpener & Peeler*

Some men love being creative in the kitchen so if your dad is one of those men then get him something that others don't have. This is also from Treat Republic and it's such a unique item. Looks like a pencil sharpener but much bigger! There is a peeler on the back (pretty much the same as a standard potato peeler) and then a sharpener at the front where you can create interesting slices of carrots to garnish over salads or simply sharpen your vegetables.

Image from gettingpersonal.co.uk

Sharpener Desk Tidy

Continuing with the giant sharpener theme, this would make a great gift if he works in an office. Who wants a boring pencil pot when they can have something a bit more impressive like this? It would certainly make his desk more interesting to work at and it makes a great talking point too.

Image from biscuiteers.com

Personalised Classic Car Show Biscuit Tin

Got a dad who loves cars? If you can't afford to get him a brand new car then this is the next best thing. It's delicious and looks amazing. Biscuiteers are known for making the most beautifully designed biscuits and these will be sure to impress on Father's Day. I often find myself scrolling through their website just to get some inspiration when icing my own biscuits. They look too good to eat sometimes!

Image from Red5.com

101 Things To Do Before You Die

A lot of people are compiling bucket lists these days so if your dad is someone who is itching to try something new and get out there then this is the perfect book to kickstart a few ideas. It's never too late to find that adventurous streak.

Image from Prezzybox.com

Chocolate Golf Balls

If in doubt then go for chocolate, that's unless he absolutely hates chocolate in which case don't go for chocolate... No shame in opting for a box of Quality Street but I always prefer something a bit different. These golf ball chocolates would be especially wonderful for any sporty dads.

What do you think of these gift ideas?

Are you all sorted for Father's Day?

Sleepover For One

Who says you can't have a fun night on your own? I decided that some "me-time" was long overdue so, the other night, I had a little DVD night all by myself just before bed!

I don't like staying still and I usually struggle to watch films unless I'm at the cinema, where it's not socially acceptable to just casually stroll around in the middle of a movie. At home though, there is no one to stop me. I remember I watched the first two Harry Potter movies at the cinema and that was fine, but I watched the third one on DVD..... and I left the room after 15 minutes and never went back in. That may seem strange to some of you but I just really can't sit still unless I'm consciously doing something such as eating, typing, or something that involves conscious movement. Yep, it's all a little bit odd....

Anyway, armed with an uplifting DVD, mixed nuts, and yoghurt coated fruit, I tucked myself into bed and watched Hairspray. I love this movie and I'd love to see it in the West End. I'm a massive fan of musicals and they're usually really good at cheering me up.  

It was strangely relaxing watching a movie in the comfort of my own bed alone. I also managed to get through the entire movie without leaving my bed! Hurrah!!! I reckon the snacks probably helped. Healthy eating flies straight out of the window when movies are involved. Totally worth it though.

Do you prefer watching movies at home or at the cinema?

Review: MyChelle Dermaceuticals Pure Harmony

I love discovering skincare brands that are good for sensitive skin. You'd be surprised at how difficult it can be to find products that don't irritate my skin. I've even had so-called "sensitive skin products" cause me grief. 

A couple of months ago, I was sent two products from MyChelle, a skincare brand originating all the way from Colorado. They aim to use the best natural products to create the most effective products out there. The MyChelle products are split into several ranges designed for different types of skin. The Pure Harmony range is specifically designed for sensitive skin so I had high hopes when the products arrived in the post. I believe that this is also one of their newer ranges.

The first product I tested out was the Pure Harmony Cleanser*, a gentle cleanser which hydrates the skin. One of the first things that I noticed was how small the bottle was, you get 61ml of product for £10.50 which is a little bit on the pricey side. 

This cleanser has a press top which ensures that no product spills out of it. The bottle is very sturdy, perhaps a little too sturdy...... I found it quite difficult to squeeze the product out, which isn't ideal when my hands are already really slippery in the shower. 

Luckily, it kind of redeemed itself because the formula is so gentle on my skin and it didn't cause any irritation. My skin was left feeling very clean and soft. I really love this product but unless the bottle is changed, I'm not sure whether I'd make a purchase or not. Getting stressed in the shower first thing in the morning because I can't get my cleanser out of the bottle isn't an ideal start to the day.... 

The second product I used was the Pure Harmony Serum*, an antioxidant-rich serum which claims to reduce the signs of aging. I was expecting a clear solution but it was actually an orange colour so I was a little worried that my face might look a bit orange from it but it dries completely clear. The texture is too sticky for my liking and it made my skin feel a bit sticky too. It didn't cause any irritation but I felt like it took away from the softness and plumpness that I usually have in my face. So at £33 for a 30ml bottle, I'll have to give this one a miss. 

Do you use any MyChelle products?

Hello, June!

Let's start off by throwing out the cliché of "the last month went by so fast!" because, honestly, it really does feel like it flew by. We're in the 6th month of 2014 already! I won't start going on about how fast the year is going....

I don't normally write these start-of-the-month posts but when I took this photo earlier, I decided to do an impromptu post! 

The weather is gorgeous where I am today and I'd be outside chilling in the garden right this minute if it wasn't for all the pollen that was flying around. I looked out of the window earlier and it was practically snowing pollen! It's everywhere. It's like they're coming after me because they know how bad my hayfever can get. 

I'm not the biggest fan of summer because of hayfever, humidity, hotness, and anything else beginning with the letter 'h'. I guess it's nice not to be plunged into darkness so early on in the evening though, and I love just staring up at the blue sky. Oh the simple things... June is also the month where it's nice and sunny but not overly hot compared to July/August.

This month I plan to be more productive, spend more time with family & friends, and really step to the exercising. Hot weather means less clothes so I need to look at least half-good in public. Not really into this whole getting a bikini body business but I'm really into health & fitness at the moment so the sunshine is always a good motivator. I'm also hoping to be more spontaneous and spend less time on technology. 

What are your plans for June and beyond?