Tuesday 20 November 2012

Christmas Gift ideas with Delimann Hampers

I was lucky enough to win a lovely cream tea hamper from Delimann so I decided to review it.
Delimann are a very long running company who are celebrating 175 years in business this year (2012)!

I have never received a food parcel before so I was really looking forward to having such a lovely treat and I couldn't wait to sample it! They sent it by courier on a timed delivery due to containing a pot Devon clotted cream which needed to go straight in the fridge.





The prize was The Devon Cream Tea for afternoon tea & it contained everything you could need for a sumptuous & relaxing afternoon tea:

  • 2 large Devon Scones - baked freshly on the day of despatch
  • Devonshire Farm Clotted Cream 113g - made on local Devon farm, with milk from Guernsey cows
  • Delimann's own label Strawberry Jam 113g -produced in small batches for maximum flavour and winner of Gold Medal in Great Taste Awards..
  • Teonis Clotted Cream Shortbread 150g -  delicious Devon biscuits, made with real clotted cream.
  • Delimann organic fudge  100g - made with all natural ingredients 
  • Refreshing afternoon tea 15 bags - for a Westcountry flavour
  • Beautifully packaged in our signature rustic gift boxes - with your own message
  • Special "cream tea"  instruction card - how to enjoy a Cream Tea at its best!
I was most impressed when it arrived. It was very well wrapped up inside a strong cardboard box & the cream was in insulated polystyrene to keep it cold.

Much as I wanted to eat it right away. I stopped myself, put the cream in the fridge and waited for my husband to come in so we could share it.



It did not disappoint as it tasted every bit as good as it looked. The scones were large & soft, the cream was delicious and the jam was just right & we enjoyed the tea & fudge. I thought it was very well presented & thoughtfully put together. I would not have immediately thought about sending a food hamper as a present before, but having received one & enjoyed it so much, I am putting Delimann hampers on my list of gifts to send to some of my relatives over Christmas. Delimann have a whole range of beautiful hampers on their website, not just cream teas so why not go over and have a look for yourself. With Christmas coming up they have a fabulous range of gifts that might just solve your problem of what to get for people who are hard to choose things for! For inspiration click here!





Dove Hair Therapy Colour Radiance Review

I have been sent some Dove Hair Therapy Colour Radiance by Bzzz Agent to review. Having had one or two grey hairs since I was 26, I always dye my hair. I tried using a permanent dye in the past, but found that after doing it twice in a row, it totally ruined my hair & was an experiment that I never wanted to repeat. That left me with semi-permanent dye which is supposed to last for 6-8 weeks, but this is not always the case & it can be really disappointing to dye your hair & find that it starts to fade before the 6-8 weeks are up. That is why Dove have developed their new Colour Radiance product.

Dove Colour Radiance claims to keep coloured hair looking more vibrant for up to 10 weeks.
It is formulated with less sulphates to gently cleanse & condition your hair & it also contains a UV filter.


To do this review I freshly dyed my hair & then tried it out.
My first impression of the product is that the bottles looked attractive & the shampoo and conditioner smells very nice. It smells sweet with a hint of strawberries.
The conditioner is a mix of white & pink which took me a bit by surprise as I wasn't expecting it!
You just use it in place of your normal hair products so just use it as normal every time you need to wash your hair. It says for optimal results use daily but I would find this too much so I wash my hair 3 times a week. I have now been using this product for the last 4-5 weeks & my hair is soft, very silky and in great condition & the colour is holding very well. I am most impressed with the condition of my hair as it seems to be keeping my hair in great shape rather than it becoming dried out from the dyeing. I would definitely recommend it if you regularly dye your hair 

Excuse the photos as it was very hard to take a picture of myself to show my hair!





Monday 12 November 2012

Half term mayhem & visit to the Baby Show

Just had the half term holiday with the kids & what a whirlwind it was trying to keep the kids busy all the time! The school added extra inset days so they were off the Thursday & Friday & then had a weeks half term! We managed to keep busy with lots of crafts, outdoor fun (although its starting to get a little bit chilly for staying too long outside!) & we even went to the Baby Show & had some fun going round picking up the bargains & entering a few competitions.



I've been to the Baby Show most years since I had my eldest. The Baby Show is definitely a must if you are having a baby, whether you are a new parent or have kids already. I've always found it a lot of fun, a good day out & there are always a lot of new products & ideas to view or try usually many hefty discounts are offered by various companies on a wide range of products. Sometimes you even get offered free samples. The organisers have gone out of their way to make it as child friendly as possible so that parents can enjoy a hassle free day even with kids in tow. There are lots of changing areas & a dedicated feeding area where you can either heat up your own food or give your child a taste of the free baby food on offer & there are many fun play areas & activities to keep kids (small or large!) interested! My kids had a great time doing the competition trail which involved getting stamps from various stands on their cards & eating lots of free sweets & lollipops!



If you are a new parent or parent to be, you can easily be daunted by the wide range of products that are on offer so the Baby Show is the place to go to look at & see what is available & see whether it will suit you. Everything is available from clothes, shoes, toiletries, travel equipment, baby bags, safety items, furniture & of course a huge range of prams across the different manufacturers & retailers. One of the most useful things about the Baby Show is seeing all the prams in real life as there are so many available & its very hard to choose something without seeing them in real life & getting a feel for the size, weight, how they fold down, how they push etc. At the Baby Show there are many of the top manufacturers (Britax, Graco, Mama's & Papa's to name a few) & there are many retailers (like Mothercare, Babies R Us etc.) & these usually go out of their way to have people to give you a demo of the product & allow you to try it yourself.
You can kit your whole nursery out & buy everything you need - there is a collection service available so that you don't have to carry everything around with you & many of the big companies also offered free delivery to your home address - again great for those who have travelled a distance on public transport & would find it hard to get their purchases home.



THE BABY SHOW is held in 3 different venues across the year

London EXCEL - 22-24th Feb 2013

NEC Birmingham - 17-19th May 2013

London Earls Court - Date not confirmed on website but usually October

For more information please see http://www.thebabyshow.co.uk/