Tuesday 18 June 2013

Detox Delivery

I have been looking to do a juice cleanse for some time now, rid my body of all the sugar that I have been craving and hopefully start a fresh on a cleaner diet. I have been looking online at juice cleanses however there seems to be a number of companies that provide this service and the difference in price is quite extraordinary.

One company I kept coming back to is Soulmatefood.  I had read about this company last year so it stuck in my mind, and the great thing about the website was the number of testimonials it had. They also supplied team GB with food for the Olympics!


Juice Cleanse
A couple of weeks ago I was sifting through my emails and I came across a Groupon offer for a Juice cleanse. I was rather excited so I opened the email and read on.  The offer was for either a 3 day or a 5 day juice cleanse, so I picked the 5 day juice cleanse for £75.  I thought the 5 day juice cleanse was a better deal as it was only £15 dearer than the 3 day cleanse, also anyone who has tried any kind of diet or change to their eating plan has figured out that its after day three the magic happens.  By magic I mean that you feel better and your cravings have gone, the sugar withdrawal headaches have disappeared, you feel, well... magic!

Soulmatefood delivers on a Tuesday so I had my juice cleanse program scheduled to be delivered today.

Delivered box, just after opening
I was rather excited by the chap at the door this morning, knowing it could only be my juice cleanse delivery. I signed for my parcel and went straight into the kitchen to open my box of juicy goodness.

All the bottles were lined up in number order in the box and they were kept chilled with ice packs. Included in the box was a menu that advised you to the flavours of each of the juices.

1 Detox Breakfast
Number one to start the day is detox breakfast. This juice contains; carrot, orange, ginger and super foods.

2 Vitality
The second juice for the day is Vitality. This juice contains; pineapple, banana and coconut.

3 Berry Active
The third juice for the day is Berry Active. This juice contains; antioxidant blend, cherries and mixed berries.

4 Earth
The fourth juice for the day is Earth. This juice contains; raspberry and pomegranate.

5 Tropical
The fifth juice of the day is Tropical. This juice contains; orange, mango, passion fruit and goji berry.

6 Nutrilicious
The sixth and final drink of the day is Nutrilicious. This juice contains; strawberry and banana.

Now as this is a cleanse, the usual rules apply; no coffee or alcohol and drink plenty of water. It doesn't mention anything about tea, so I wonder if I could still have a cup of green tea.  I will try and find out.

I am going to be blogging tomorrow to let you guys know my first day went, and if I am still as excited as I was when the box arrived.
 

 

 

Wednesday 12 June 2013

To Ease Those Tangles

It seems as though everyone has been raving about the Tangle Teezer. So I thought I would discover what all the fuss was about.

The Original Tangle Teezer
Now if you have not heard the buzz about the Tangle Teezer, or have no clue what I am on about the do not fret.

The Tangle Teezer is a handle-less bush like device that promises to detangle your hair pain free, so no more pulling at the tugs in your hair.  It has just occurred to me that the brush slightly reminds me of the brushes people use to groom horses.

I popped into Boots to have a look at the range.  I was quite disappointed as there were only a few different ones.  My eyes naturally gravitated to the leopard print Tangle Teezer. I soon shook that out of my system as the leopard print one was much smaller as it was classed as a travel Tangle Teezer - so therefore it was more expensive. I decided to settle for the original version and chose orange over pink.

The Original Tangle Teezer - Orange
Now as you can probably guess from my previous post, I like a bargain.  The Original Tangle Teezer was £10.99 from Boots so I decided to purchase this item with my points, so it felt like a freebie!  My thoughts were:
"If I use my points then I won't be depressed if I am not impressed."
As with any new product, I was excited to try it out.  I jumped in the shower and I washed my hair.  The brush can be used on both wet and dry hair, however I wanted to properly use my new purchase, and my hair was due for a wash.

After a quick towel dry, I threw my hair back and applied the Tangle Teezer.  The Tangle Teezer certainly glided over my hair.  It seems as though it has been designed to glide over the tugs and slowly work them out of your hair, rather than forcing them out.

The Original Tangle Teezer Brush
After the first use it felt very much as though there were no tangles, no breakage but also as though there was no skin left on my scalp.

I would certainly recommend this product if you have thick hair as my rather thin hair did not protect my scalp from those detangling teeth.

I have not given up on the product and I am not disappointed, sadly I really love the sound the brush makes when it glides through my hair.

The Original Tangle Teezer - out of box

Have you taken a trip down the Tangle Teezer tunnel?


Tuesday 4 June 2013

Free Stuff!

I absolutely love a bargain, however what I love more is free stuff.  I have been with my mobile phone service provider for over twelve years and it is nice when you get a little something back, just for being you.

I am currently with O2, and they have an app called priority moments.  I downloaded the app when it first came out, but nothing on the app suited me.

Screenshot of Priority Moments app opening
 The app offers money off and discounts on various things, meals, travel, online shopping. I have never fully used the app.  I had logged in every so often to see what was on offer.

A few months back there was a code to get a free packet of Percy Pig sweets from Marks and Spencer.  Naturally I went and got my free bag of sweets as nothing else was involved, and since then I have been on the app looking out for all the free items.

Marks and Spencer Percy Pigs (picture from Wikipedia)


Yesterday I was meeting some friends to go shopping for another friends birthday present.  Before I set off I thought I would go on and look at my priority moments app to see if there was anything that I could take advantage of and I was not disappointed.  There were three fantastic offers all from the same store!

Sometimes I feel a little apprehensive about redeeming offers when you have clearly only went into the shop for the free stuff. When I went into WHSmith yesterday it was quiet so I though it was the ideal time to strike.

The first item that I redeemed was a packet of Thornton's Continental chocolates.  This was meant as a thank you from O2 as they had won an award for being the best network operator.

My next free item that I redeemed, as they had to go through in separate transactions was; a free book.  I got a paperback book with a recommended selling price of £7.99.  I didn't get a choice in the book, however it was free so I am not going to complain.  It was a copy of 'Close my eyes' by Sophie McKenzie. Granted this book probably does not sell at £7.99, but it is not given away for free either.

The last item I redeemed did require a purchase.  I had to purchase a Fathers Day card to get this free item.  I still believe it was a good freebie as I needed to purchase a fathers day card - even through I can not remember what date fathers day is on again this year. With my fathers day card purchase, I received a free box of Thornton's Special Toffee.

My Freebies

All together I spent £2.99 and I got a book, a bag of chocolate, and a box of toffee as well as an essential fathers day card.  I would say a successful day of bargains.

Monday 3 June 2013

Car Boot Sale - Yay or Nay?

I have recently cleared out my room and cupboard. From this, I have come to the conclusion that I an a hoarder! I live in a tiny house - which most people in Scotland probably do, therefore storage space is essential so I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

Now the easy, and quickest option is to drive to the dump and bin everything.  However in the 'Make do and mend' culture that is developing out of the financial difficulties, I feel it would be a waste to throw out items that are in near perfect conditions.

One option is eBay, which I have used, however there is the added cost of postage and waiting up to ten days to see if an item has sold.  I find eBay useful to sell smaller items and clothing. Larger and breakable items do not seem at home on an on line auction site.

I did consider handing the items into a charity shop, although I recently found out that charity shops only need to donate a percentage of their profit in order to maintain their charitable status.  I found this quite upsetting.  If I am wrong or if you know of a charity shop that does not do this, please let me know.

Since I was made redundant at the end of April, and the sparse job market, I thought I could 'Car Boot' my items.  By selling my items at a car boot I will hopefully release some cash to put towards bills and my up coming road trip.

A few months ago I tried and undercover car boot sale in Glasgow.  By undercover, I don't mean illegal or hidden, I mean it was in doors - more accurately a large empty warehouse.  A few of my friends had attended this car boot sale and managed to sell all their stuff.  I decided to have a go and I was severely disheartened as I only managed to shift some of my items.  After paying for my pitch I just about broke even and I was expecting to make some money. I believe the worst part was that I had to leave the house at five o'clock in the morning, in the winter and deal with people who wanted my items for free.

I have certainly decided that I need to go into my next car boot sale with an open mind.  I need to concentrate more on shifting my items than making money, although making money is always great!

If you have any car boot top tips, please let me know in the comments.