Beth Sugarblur: July 2016

Get sent stuff from Boots!

It is pretty much every ammeter blogger's dream to collaborate with the big high street brands; Topshop, H&M, New Look and also Boots. I've found a great way to kind of make that happen as I have received free products from Boots in exchange for an honest review.

So this is not technically a blogger assignment, Boots do not seek out bloggers and you're not expected to blog or feature the received items. What I'm actually talking about here is being part of Boots' reviewing panel. You simply sign up and wait to be selected. At the moment, Boots are not looking to take on anymore reviewers, but don't be put off. You can register your interest here, which is what I did and I was very quickly contacted after this. There are thousands of products, so Boots need thousands of reviewers, it is definitely worth submitting the form.

Ok, so say you're in. What happens next?

Boots sends out a survey every so often (I tend to get one every few weeks) and it usually lands in my junk because, to be quite honest it looks very spammy slash verging on the point of scammy. But it's not! Its the real deal. Click the link and you're taken to a quick survey that assesses if you are right for the product they want to send you. If it is skin care, you'll be asked what skin type you have, what problems you have with your skin etc and it will even ask you what product you'd most like to try. Make sure you are honest, there are no right and wrong answers. They probably have a bunch of products for all skin types and problems, so they want to send them to the right people.

If you get a survey, you're not guaranteed to receive the item but after about three surveys I got selected - yay!

Receiving your free product!

You won't get a confirmation or anything, if you've been successful, the item will just appear on your door mat one day. Now, the important thing to point out here is that you receive a completely unbranded bottle with the product inside. You're not to know the brand because it could introduce bias and that's not what Boots wants. So, as you can see it is not brilliant for taking loving blogging pictures and raving about the brand cause you literally don't know yet. You will find out though!

Depending on what you receive, you'll also receive a set of different instructions. Some require you to use the product every day for two weeks, for example. I received a blemish solution which I had to use every day and complete a survey after one and two weeks to describe the effects.

Seems a bit of a hass. What are the benefits of doing this?

I'm super busy, with university looming, my bikini business, blogging and other jobs but the surveys don't come every week and they are super quick to fill out, literally a minute or two, there aren't many questions.

If you specifically have a skin issue but just don't know what to try and don't want to spend money trying 100 different products then this is so great. I have blemishes from spots that will not bugger off, so after trying several brands that are not working, I turned to this in hope Boots could give me something new to try. Even if you're just after some new makeup to try, a bronzer maybe. Boots reviewing team may introduce you to something new. You're also helping things in the long run by leaving honest reviews! For me, it has helped me get better at blogging and realise the importance of writing good reviews too. Once you start receiving products you are more likely to be picked again if you do a timely review. Of course, you can always decline surveys if you're too busy sometimes!

So if you fancy grabbing some free products to test from Boots, don't hesitate to join by clicking the link below:

Become a Boots Reviewing Panel member

(This post is not sponsored by Boots)

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, by Beth

In holiday essentials, routine

Holiday Time Sheet Masks - Timeless Truth

For some highly inconvenient reason, my skin has been returning to its school days of spots and pesky imperfections and just a general rough, pain in the arse, especially when applying make up. So it was time for a treat! As I was heading on holiday, I was really worried about my makeup looking terrible the moment I stepped out into the sweltering heat of Vegas in June. Thankfully, Timeless Truth kindly allowed me to take a travel pack away with me to try out against the elements!

I think this little pack is so nifty and great for taking away. I reckon most skin care brands are seriously missing a trick with this three in one packet. I was literally able to fold it up and slot it in my wash bag. You certainly don't want to be taking full sized products on holiday, but sometimes even the travel sizes are too big. For something like treatment products, whether is is hair care or skin care, you only want to use them once or twice while on hols, so I think this sachet alone is winning me over already.

So whats in the pack? You get two oil based make up remover sheets. Even though I have oily skin, I find oil based removers are the best for getting off stubborn mascaras and brow gels such as They're Real by Benefit and the Dip Brow by ABH, so this was really effective. You also get two sheets of the water based cleanser, which freshened my skin and removed the traces of make up remover. It also smells pretty nice. The cleanser sheets also has a light exfoliating effect which is very similar to my usual Nip+Fab night time cleanser pads. The final piece in the kit is the sheet mask. I've never used a sheet mask before, so I was apprehensive about how well it would work and if it would stay on, but I have read several reviews stating it is the best sheet mask they've ever used. Surprisingly, it did! And helped my pretty battered skin become glowy and soft once again - something I've not experienced in a long old time. The second stage helped clear blocked pores and the mask simply injected a whole load of moisture and goodness into the skin. I feel, if used occasionally, it will help keep the pores away.

I actually used this mask on my second stop of my holiday. I began in San Francisco which wasn't super hot, it was about 20C, then moved onto Yosemite National Park where the temperatures skipped up to 30-34C. I thought this was the best place to give this product ago before my skin takes a further battering from the 45-50C heat of Last Vegas! I had a long car drive the next day, and I think the treatment mask helped to keep my makeup and skin settled in the dry air conditioned car.

I also got sent a cellulose eye mask. I've used this kind of mask for my lips and I loved the feeling afterwards. I found there to be similar effects for the eye area. I don't suffer from puffy eyes too much, but when I returned from my trip to America they were the size of shopping bags. After using I felt my under eyes were tighter and hence helping to minimise the look of that awful puffiness. I think I would definitely always like to have one of these in my drawer, just in case I have a special event and need to get rid of any occasional puffy eyes the morning or night before. The product also claims to help with fine lines. I don't have any of those, so I can't really comment but due to the tighter feeling I felt around that area, I can see this product may be effective at minimising fine lines too.

I don't tend to use oil based products on my face as I have very oily skin as it is. Despite this product containing Olea Europaea Husk Oil, it didn't feel overly oily which was surprising. I wouldn't use this product all the time, like I said I don't tend to get puffy eyes often, so it will be perfect for occasional use.

If you've not used sheet masks before, I really recommend trying these out from Timeless Truth. They do many different things for many different skin concerns so be sure to check out their website, I have linked the products I used below. The products are also really inexpensive, so a perfect way to test something like this or offer as a gift.

c/o Timeless Truth // Travel Pack // currently £13 normally £17.80

c/o Timeless Truth // Eye Rejuvenating Bio Cellulose Eye Mask // £3 for 1 // £18 for 5

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, by Beth

In face cream, review

Food for Faces by Weleda

0Comments

, by Beth

In #panasonicslowjuicer, diet

I eat fruit now, thanks to my juicer - A Review ft. Panasonic

I have to admit, although my main meals are fairly healthy and balanced, I am a constant grazer who is guilty of picking the chocolates and cakes over the fruit when snacking. In a bid to try to choose healthier options, I’ve tried buying fruit smoothies but they are fairly pricey when added up and I feel you never know exactly what is in them. I mean, what is a B468 or a such and such acid?? So I was thinking about buying my own smoothie blender or juicer. Almost instantaneously I was invited to form a collaboration with Panasonic and Come Round UK and I jumped at the chance! If you’re looking for a healthier you but don’t know what juicer to get, read on to see my review of the Panasonic Slow Juicer, hints and tips and some delicious, healthy recipes.

The Panasonic Slow Juicer.

I’ll start by mentioning I’ve never used a juicer or any kind of stand up blender before. When the box arrived at my door, I was faced with several bits and pieces to put together. This intimidated me at first but after reading the straight forward instructions, I realised it couldn’t be easier. It was plain to see what pieces fitted together and the little arrows made it easy to know when you had the pieces in the right place. I put the whole thing together in less than a minute. It is pretty easy to switch between the juicing and frozen attachments too, they simply twist off. If you juice, then decide to make a sorbet, the pieces are going to be covered in some juice/pulp and can be a little slippery so I was just careful to change the attachments slowly. So the next task was turning it on. I can’t believe how easy the controls are! It is literally a case of flicking the switch on and off and another switch to use in case any pulp gets jammed (to note, I haven’t had to use this yet which tells me the machine is quite robust). Once you’ve cut up all your ingredients, I just dropped them slowly into the feeding tube at the top and let the juicer do the rest. I didn’t even have to use the food pusher tool because the juicer took the fruit so efficiently.

The Panasonic juicer is called a Slow Juicer, not because it takes longer to make juices but it is designed to stop ingredients from separating after standing. I like that the motors don’t suddenly burst into a fury when you turn it on, mincing everything in its way and giving you a mini heart attack in the process. It is really gentle and fairly quiet. The fact it is a Slow Juicer probably means it is more efficient because it is not whizzing so fast, liable to blockages which are more time consuming.

Sorbet-ing.

I really love this feature! Ice-creams are great for cooling down in summer but, let’s face it, they’re hardly the healthiest option and sorbets you buy in the shop are probably 90% added sugar too. With the frozen attachment, that comes with the juicer, you can make your own sorbets and know exactly what goes into them. I like to make mine with fruit alone as it is super quick and super healthy. I guess you could mix it with some sort of yogurt or creme fresh for a slightly different texture. I even experimented with adding some alcohol shots for a frozen, slushie cocktail – SO amazing, you’ve gotta try this! A little bit naughty, yes but great for parties!

I ate a banana!

In addition, this product actually got me eating banana! I love the smell of bananas, I love everything banana flavour, I even love dried banana chips but I cannot stand fresh bananas. It is the sticky, sliminess of them that make me shudder. So, I popped them in the juicer with the frozen attachment, along with some blueberries and made myself a healthy sorbet. And it was divine! Sliminess gone! So if there is any fruit/veg you or your household are not keen on, try making it into a sorbet or disguising it with some other flavoursome ingredients in your juice. If you’re a bit shy at first of trying all these scary fruits, dollop a little sweet sauce on top or top with chocolate buttons or nuts. I’m wondering if you could get Nutella in there somehow… I especially imagine the sorbet feature to be great for fussy kids to get some goodness into them. I bet I could trick the little people in my life into enjoying a “fruity flavour ice-cream”!

Things that maybe weren’t so great…

The juicer discards almost all of the fibrous pulp in the fruit and veg which is the part that is super good for you. However, I really hate bits in my orange juice etc. so I was not bothered by this anyway! Besides, a juice tends to be smooth, if you’re after something with a bit more substance, you’re probably better off getting a standard blender or smoothie maker. But it would be nice for the juicer to have an option of adding some pulp. Having said that, the frozen option the juicer offers does not leave anything out, all the pulp and skin go into the sorbet. So in theory, you have the best of both worlds here: smooth natural juices and fibrous, pulp filled sorbets. In the image above, I'm sieving the juice again to make it extra smooth for those who don't like any cloudiness what so ever!

Sometimes the sorbet didn’t look particularly appetising. It depends on what fruit you use and how defrosted they are, it is tricky to know exactly when to pop the defrosted fruit in the juicer but after some trial and error this will be mastered. You could always pop the sorbet back in the freezer to harden up if needed or until you want it, which is what I did. I used a banana and blueberry mix for one of my sorbets and I admit it did not look too pretty as it didn’t seem to mix together smoothly. I know the juicer isn’t a mixer, it just squashes the fruit. If you put the ingredients alternately, you do get a better mix, so I think it is just about perfecting that. If you were having a dinner party, I’d specifically choose a sorbet mix that will look nice such as red or orange coloured fruits. Of course, the look doesn’t affect the taste, I’d just be sure to be careful with what combinations I choose if I’m looking to aesthetically impress. I’m thinking you could also dress it up with some sprinkles, mint leaves or even a few drops of natural food colouring to enhance colours.

If I was being really picky (literally, I can hardly fault this product), I’d say it is a little difficult to know what exactly to put in the juicer. As in, what it can handle. At first I was fussy about leaving the skin on apples and the pith on oranges, but I found there was no need to be so cautious, as long as thick skins such as on oranges are removed. Just look at other reviews for advice on what to put in. Cutting up the fruit does seem to be quite time consuming but this is of course no fault of the juicer! As you prepare more and more ingredients over time, you’ll develop tricks and quicker ways of peeling and cutting them.

Cleaning.

I was so thrilled and amazed with the juicer, cleaning it didn’t even cross my mind. Though when it was time to hand it over to the sink, I suddenly realised this device was going to be hell to clean. Wrong! These kinds of things have seemingly advanced from several years ago, no more awkward parts, 101 different things to clean and impossible gaps to reach (as I've heard of older models). The Panasonic Juicer comes apart into several pieces, none of which are complex or difficult to clean. The juicer comes with a tool that looks like a toothbrush on one end and just a thin stick on the other. I used the stick end to poke out any trapped bits of pulp that got stuck in the exit spout. It came away instantly. I found most of the pulp came away when I flushed running water down it. The most time consuming piece to clean is the piece with all the tiny metal honeycomb holes which obviously are so small to stop any big bits going into the finished juice. It wasn’t a problem however, a quick scrub with the toothbrush tool under running water soon freed any trapped bits of fruit.

What I made.

I’ve never used a juicer before and I mainly drank smoothies, not juices so I wasn’t sure what combinations I’d like. Being the little wimp that I am, then, I started with a simple orange juice and oh my word, it was the best orange juice I’ve ever tasted. As I mentioned, I don’t like bits in my juice so I tend to steer clear of fresh juices but with the Panasonic Slow Juicer I was able to eliminate any pulp, leaving the beautiful silky smooth, delicious fresh orange juice. If this is all I make with this product, I’ll be happy. I would recommend spending a few extra pence on some easy peel oranges. As it takes about three regular oranges to make a good glass full, you can see it would be quite time consuming to prep the oranges (as well as causing achy fingers!).

The first ‘daring’ combination I tried was from the Juice Diet recipe book by Christine Bailey. It involved pineapple, kiwi, mango and a bit of lime. If the fruit is ripe enough, it won’t take long to chop up and peel. A pineapple seems like a right task but I managed it pretty quick. I didn’t realise you aren’t meant to eat the slightly hard middle, but I put it in the juicer and it managed fine! This juice is supposed to provide you with energy, so a great wake up drink to have in the mornings. It was a little bitter, so next time I would adjust the bitter and sweeter fruits accordingly. The recipe only required a small part of the pineapple so I used the left overs to make a lovely sweet pineapple juice and a few pieces to eat with a salad. The pineapple juice was so good, nothing like the artificial taste of shop bought juices.

I understand you can also make soups with vegetables too.

For adults only!

As I mentioned before, I made a banana and blueberry sorbet. I also couldn’t help myself trying out a few cocktail recipes! I made a really lovely one with raspberries, strawberries, a bit of mint and some vodka – so yummy! I also juiced some lime, cucumber and mint and mixed with some vodka and lemonade for a refreshing Friday afternoon tipple. I’m really keen on trying to make some kind of Malibu mock up, maybe with fresh coconut and white rum. If I try it, I’ll be sure to post the result on www.sugarblur.co.uk.

Party time.

As part of my collaboration with Panasonic and Come Round UK, I hosted a special juicing party where myself and my guests tried out the Panasonic Slow Juicer and made some delicious creations! I showed everyone how it worked and the party agreed it was easy to use and an all-round great gadget. The juicer is great for gatherings with friends as you can even play a number of games involving the juicer! For example, I had my guests guess what fruit/veg was in the juice they were tasting and had a little prize for the winners. It was also fun to get into teams and try to create the yummiest, adventurous juice or sorbet with the left over fruit! Much more fun than just serving your guests a regular drink, you can make it in front of their eyes – even add a bit of alcohol!

The Verdict.

I think juicing as part of a healthy lifestyle or juice diets are becoming more and more popular in recent years and people are turning to home juicers to make their own quick and healthy drinks and snacks. It is quite overwhelming when trying to pick a juicer as most seem to do the same thing and you probably have no clue what 7264hrtz mean or the significance of 200mph speed of juicing, right? I really believe the Panasonic Slow Juicer is a perfect choice for those new to juicing, like me. You don’t need to be a mechanic to put it together and neither do you need to be a technology whizz to get it working – slot all the parts together using the simple pointers and flick the switch to turn it on. It is a very robust machine, you don’t need to worry about or be fussy with what you put in it, thin skins and pith will go through fine. I love that you can make sorbets too! If you’re trying to eat more fruit, this option is great as it really does not feel like you are eating such a healthy dessert, perfect for kids too. This juicer would be great for experienced juicers as well. Maybe they have an older, more complicated model and looking to exchange for a simpler one or want to try the sorbet feature. Overall, this product is easy to assemble, use and clean, worth the price and will serve well in getting me to eat more fruit and veg.

c/o Panasonic // Panasonic Slow Juicer // £199.99

Purchase yours from:

Panasonic Online; red, silver or gold

Amazon UK; red, silver, gold