Review: Optrex Eye Revive Moisture Mist

I received the Optrex Eye Revive Moisture Mist from Bzz Agent. I had recently joined and this was the first campaign I was selected to take part in. 

This product is designed to care for tired eyes and make them feel good again, it is to be sprayed over a closed eye and can be used over makeup. Optrex say that the hydrating liposomes stabilise the lipid layer of the tear film restoring eyes natural moisture balance so they feel comfortable and soothed.
I have to admit that I was sceptical as to whether this product would work, whenever I think about reviving tired eyes I always thing of eye drops, something going directly onto the eyeball to stop the itching and irritation when I feel tired. 

I work shifts and have a toddler so my eyes are always tired. I suffer from dry and irritated eyes as I have some allergies such as hay fever, dust and animal fur. I can work with the dark circles by using make up but I have found nothing that makes them feel refreshed and is easy to apply when wearing makeup, that is until now. I adore this product. 

Small glass bottle with secure lid

To apply spray one or two sprays over each eye, I found that one spray was good enough as two make it feel a little too damp. It really makes my eyes feel refreshed and a lot less tired.I have noticed that once the mist had dried I am left with lovely smooth skin around the eye. 


I have used this with eye make-up and have notice no running or creasing which is amazing as using eye drops is a definite no-go when wearing mascara. I also find that my eyes look more blue after this is used.

After using the mist of my eyes.

The downside to this product is the smell, I can't really put my finger on what it smells like I just don't like it and would have preferred something odourless. The price is also a little steep and it is currently on sale at Boots for £15.99. However, I really love how this feels especially when working nights.

Toddler Meals: Herb Crusted Chicken with Creamy Gnocchi

Ingredients

Chicken breast
Garlic
Sage
Gnocchi
Tomato and basil Sauce (recipe can be found here)
Onions
Peppers
Mushrooms
1 Dairylea triangle


How to make the meal

1. Cover chicken breast in dried sage and crushed garlic
2. Wrap in tin foil and place in oven on 180c for 30 minutes. Make sure the the chicken is cooked all the way through.
3. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to packet instructions.
4. For the sauce fry onions, peppers and mushrooms until soft and add the sauce and Dairylea triangle.
5. Once the Dairylea is melted into the sauce mix in with gnocchi.

Toddler Meal Ideas: Cheats 3 cheese sauce with pasta and chicken

Ingredients

Chicken breast

Onions

Peppers 

Mushrooms

Garlic

Basil

Pasta

For the cheese sauce

4 Dairylea triangles

Tbsp Philadelphia

Tsp Parmesan

Splash of milk

Pinch of mustard powder

 

How to make the pasta dish

 

1.  Dice chicken breast and chop vegetables. Cook in a little olive oil and season with garlic and basil. 

2. Cook pasta according to packet instructions. 

3. Place the cheese, milk and mustard powder in a saucepan on a low heat and stir until melted. You may need to add a bit more milk to loosen the sauce up.

4. Mix all ingredients together and serve. 

This would be good with all kinds of vegetables. For a variation use this recipe with tuna or smoked haddock.

NOTD: Rimmel Salon Pro Purple Rain

I love this colour and picking this up for £1 makes it even better. It's a gorgeous springtime purple which is opaque in 2 coats and is a dream to apply. This stayed chip free for 5 days. I'm in love and think this will be on my nails a lot during spring and summer.

NOTD: Nails Inc Porchester Sqaure and George at Asda Pink Glitz

Today's nail features Nails Inc and George at Asda. Generally I am not a fan of Nails Inc and think they don't last as long as an £11 bottle of nail polish should. I got Porchester Square in my Boots advent calendar and loved the colour. I had previously worn it alone and it had chipped after just 24 hours wear. This time I teamed it with a Pink Glitz from George at Asda which I love. It looks great over most polishes and with it being shimmer it lasts a long time. This look was on my nails for 4 days before it began to wear off at the ends, no chipping though. 

Porchester Square is a lovely mushroom colour which is sensible enough to wear for work but really good to wear at weekends. Pink Glitz is a sheer polish with pink, silver and blue shimmer running through it, it is best used as a top coat.

My Mothers Day

This year marked my second year as a Mummy and it was nice to be treated on Mothers Day. Every day since becoming a Mummy has been special, however, it is lovely to be appreciated and treated a little extra special on Mothers Day.

Below is what I got from Charlotte.

I absolutely adore my gift and card. Here is Little Miss and me on Mothers Day, it's the best we could manage all day, an active toddler doesn't have time in her busy schedule to fit in a photo!

Hope you all had an amazing Mothers Day.

Review: Flavourly Box March 2014

I came across the Flavourly Box when browsing on Groupon it was on offer for £4 for the box plus £2 postage. Normal selling price is £13 with £2 postage.  Flavourly states that it is the 'easiest way to discover new and exciting fine foods, snacks and delicious craft beer at an affordable price'. 

From the dispatch email being sent to me the box was delivered within two days which is always good. The box is shoebox sized and comes neatly packaged with brown paper and just like the beauty boxes you get a few leaflets. The first is a meet the makers which tells you all about the products inside. A recipe card and offers for Hello Fresh and Simply Cook which will be getting used.

Below is what I received. 

As you can tell it's a pretty full box and everything in it I had never tried before, in fact, the only brand I had heard of was Beyond Dark.

Overall, I was impressed with this box so far I have enjoyed the Beyond Dark chocolate and Hectares Sweet potato crisps. My little girl enjoyed the air dried apple crisps.  I loved that all were brands from the UK and that there was a selection of sweet and savoury snacks as well as items to make a main meal.

As with any subscription box there are going to be items you either don't like or aren't keen on. I hate olives, no matter how hard I try to like them I just don't, however, these were gratefully received by my Mum. I would have also like prices of the items to be included in the meet the makers leaflet.

Family Day Out: Blue Planet Aqaurium

We visited Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port for a family day out, with the weather being rubbish and Charlotte's aversion to her pushchair something indoors was needed. Jonathan and me visited here around 6 years ago and really enjoyed it.

Entry is £16, however, if you book online you can save £2 per ticket. At the time we went the Voucher cloud app had a 20% voucher. An added cost that I didn't expect was parking, there is plenty of car parking on site and it costs £2.50, which when you are paying up to £16 per adult to get in is a little cheeky!

There are plenty of sea life to see at the aquarium which is split into the following areas; Coral Cave; Amazing Amphibians, Aquatheatre; Underwater Aquatunnel; Amazon; Lake Malawi; Mangrove Swamp; Rock Life; Freshwater Life; Reef Magic; Venom and Outdoor Otter enclosure.

As always Sharks are always impressive to watch swimming around and even more amazing when you can see them swim above you as you walk through the aquatunnel. Seeing a Clown Fish is always a highlight and looking into Coral Cave from above was also an amazing sight. We walked around twice and liked the fact that you are able to do this, it was also nice to see the Otters being fed. There is a playground which can further lengthen your visit if it's not raining and a well stocked gift shop.

Even with my moan about the cost Blue Planet Aquarium is a really good family day out. Charlotte is 17 months old and loved looking at all the fishes and if she could speak her only complaint would be being stopped putting her hand in the water and being made to be sat in the highchair when having dinner.  So, if you are in need of a place to go in the North West I highly recommend going to Blue Planet it is much better than the one at The Trafford Centre and with Cheshire Oaks next door you can round your day off with a bit of shopping.

Review: Denman baby D hairbrush

Charlotte received this brush from my Mum for her birthday back in October. Up until this point I had been using a brush that I purchased from Poundland.

I love the design and haven't seen another brush with a similar design. It has the brush head which is white with a pink rubber Denman logo with the word baby and a loop for the handle which is also pink rubber. The loop handle is really easy to hold and grip whilst brushing Charlotte's hair and is also great for her when she wants to help.

The bristles are so soft and have a lot of flexibility in, at first I was worried as Charlotte has really thick curly hair but the hairbrush glides perfectly through her hair. I would recommend this for any baby.

Denman baby D hairbrush is priced at £5.80 and is also available in baby blue.

Banana and Pumpkin Seed Flapjacks

This was a recipe I found in the Weight Watchers magazine which I changed up a bit. The first thing I did was use real butter instead of low fat margarine as I don't like the chemical taste of low fat margarine, secondly because I didn't have enough oats I used 90g less and thirdly I didn't add muscovado sugar as I forgot. However, these little beauties are amazingly good.

Ingredients

140g butter
140g golden syrup
260g oats
2 mashed bananas
2 tbsp of pumpkin seeds

How to make the flapjacks.

1. Preheat oven to 140c
2. In a saucepan melt butter and golden syrup together until it is a nice smooth sauce.
3. Add mashed banana, oats and 1 tbsp of pumpkin seeds.
4. Combine ingredients together and press into a greased tin and sprinkle the remaining pumpkin seeds on top.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top.

NOTD: OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to pick up 3 full size OPI nail polishes from TK Maxx for £2.99. Gouda Gouda Two Shoes was one of the shades which I tried for the first time last week. The colour is a little hard to describe as it is an orange but not too bright and wouldn't fall into the brown category. I also feel that it is almost like a dusky pink colour in some lights. It reminds me of the colour of terracotta plant pots. It has a lot of lovely gold shimmer running through it. 

It applied really nicely and needed two coats to be opaque. This lasted 3 days on me before the ends started to chip but I didn't use a top coat and maybe with that it would have lasted longer. It's an unusual colour and is lovely for the days you want to paint your nails but you want something a little bit conservative.

Family Day Out: Pennington Flash

Pennington Flash is one of my favourite places to visit. It is a country park located in the North West of England. It's a gorgeous place to walk, feed the ducks, bird watch, play on the park and to take stunning photographs

Before Charlotte arrived we used to go for walks, to feed the ducks and on a few occasions I took part in the Race for Life which is held there. When Charlotte was a baby I used to go for walks with the pram and sometimes we would be joined by my friend and her little boy.  Now Charlotte is walking it's lovely to take our time to walk with her without being hindered by the pram.

On this particular trip we took bread to feed the ducks, this was Charlotte's first time feeding the ducks and she loved it. She loved walking after the ducks pointing at them and throwing bread into the flash for them to eat.

If you are looking a for a nice, family day out for the cost of car parking (£1.50) definitely give Pennington Flash a visit.