GOSH BB Cream Sample Winners x

Hi Guys

It's time to announce the 10 winners of my GOSH BB Cream Sample Giveaway which were all chosen randomly via rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Congratulations Ladies - Please can you send me your postal details, and the shade that you would like to pootle28@hotmail.com 

Thank you to everyone that entered and don't worry if you weren't lucky enough to win this time, the LouLouLand annual Christmas giveaway will be live before you know it :)

Foodie Friday - A Real Winter Warmer - Microwave Lemon Sponge Pudding

I don't know about where you are tonight but in my little part of Co Durham the SNOW has arrived - It's not even November yet :(  and here was I still crossing my fingers for an Indian Summer. The cold weather to me means comfort food and this is nothing more comforting than a lovely sponge pudding, apart from a sponge pudding that takes less than 20 minutes to make! This recipe originally came from Juvela a coeliac food and advice site, but it can be made using "normal flour" for you lucky people that can eat consume gluten with no side effects - I've stayed pretty true to the original recipe but I haven't been quite as precise with certain ingredients

 

Microwave Lemon Sponge Pudding

100g Flour (Either Self Raising or Plain - It Won't Rise As Well If You Use Plain But It Doesn't Alter The Taste - I Used Juvela Gluten Free White Mix - A Gluten Free Self Raising Flour Blend)

4 tbsp Lemon Curd

1 tsp Baking Powder

100g Light Muscovado Sugar (Any Sugar Will Do I'm Using a Natural Caster Sugar Here)

100g Softened Butter 

2 Medium Eggs

2 tbsp Water

Grated Rind Of A Lemon (Optional)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Optional

1. Add your butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and cream together till lighter in colour, smooth and combined

2. Weigh out your flour and add your baking powder powder, set aside

3.Crack your eggs into a smaller bowl, add the water, and either the vanilla or the lemon rind, beat together till combined (I had no lemon zest so I used 1 tsp of vanilla instead to give the sponge a nice flavour)

4.Put the flour, and the egg mix into the bowl with the butter and sugar, don't panic and mix it all together, you can use and electric mixer or like I did a wooden spoon. Mix it all together until the flour is mixed in and the mixture is relatively smooth

5.Take a pudding basin (mine holds and 1.5 litres) and put the lemon curd in the bottom of the bowl

6.Pour your sponge mix into the bowl on top of the lemon curd

7. Loosely cover the dish with cling film, then pop it into the microwave for 6 minutes on high.

8. When your microwave pings, be patient and leave the pudding in the microwave for 5 minutes to stand.

9. After your 5 minutes, carefully take the dish out of the microwave, carefully peel back the cling film, this will be very hot so mind your hands. Pop a plate on the bottom of the bowl then carefully turn it out and your pudding should come loose - Voila a gorgeous sponge pudding with lots of lemon sauce

OK, eagle eyes readers will actually see that this pudding didn't turn out perfectly, in fact some of my erm pudding remained in the bowl!

I've made this about a dozen times and I've managed to turn it out perfectly every time, I had to sit and think what I'd done then it hit me I hadn't greased my pudding basin!!! At step 5 before you add your lemon curd, rub the bowl over with a butter paper or a piece of kitchen roll with a bit of butter on it.

10. The pudding  and the lemon sauce will be very hot once you've turned it out so leave it for a few minutes to cool, then serve with custard, ice cream, cream, or my fave the very retro topping - evaporated milk. This pudding will serve 4 people easily.

This is a really good basic and quick pudding recipe, obviously you can use other varieties of jam or syrup, and add other flavourings to your sponge, for example you could replace 50g ish of flour with cocoa etc.

This went down a treat last night it's so easy to make and you only need a couple of basins, a wooden spoon and a microwave. Hope you try this recipe it really is yum, what puddings do you like? let me know in the comments xx

Claret and Blue With A Twist - Nails Of The Day x

I've got an  beauty box on the coffee table at home which is full of nails polishes that I need to try out and photograph for my blog - It drives my mum mad and the cats keep stealing them and losing them under the sofa, but it's the only way that I can keep things in some sort of order. I had a little root through the box and over the next few weeks I'm going to be doing a few nail related posts to try and get rid of some of the backlog and to keep Mummy Lou onside. This isn't going to be an easy task considering the light outside, but there was a glimmer of sunshine this morning so I managed to get some pictures done.

Today's nails of the day features one the Barry M Nail Effects Chameleon shades, NP331 Chameleon Blue, This is a gorgeous slightly metallic blue shade, which despite being a little bit thick, applied perfectly in just one coat - apologies though for the less than perfect manicure my fault entirely not the polishes x

I love this shade but as the name would suggest there is more to this polish than meets the eye, simply apply any top coat onto the top of the dry polish and the colour changes. I used the Perfect Formula My Favourite Top Coat (review to come) and just had a play really painting completely over some nails, doing random dots and designs, and doing straight and diagonal stripes, which transformed my nails into a mixture of metallic blue and a deep claret / burgundy. Obviously with a nail dotting tool or nail art brush you could be super creative but even with the brush from the top coat you can create eye catching nails.

I have to say I really love this look and the opportunity it gives you to create a completely original manicure even on my short nails. I think this comes in 3 shades and I definitely own the lilac one too, so I've got more opportunities to play. I think Boots 17 are doing something similar too which I need to look out for. What do you think of chameleon nails?

Chase Those Dry Bits Away With A Winter Essential From Nelsons

I know I seem to mention the weather a lot lately but I'm English that's what we do ;) Hasn't it been hideous though, rain that wets you (iykwim), and misty foggy stuff that means you can't see a metre in front of you - vile and I hate to say it but it's only going to get worse - in fact one weather report I saw on Sunday mentioned the potential for wintry showers on Friday - NOOOOO! Whether (haha) we like it or not it's going to get colder before it starts getting warmer again, and nothing suffers more than anything our skin. Although I have combination skin on my face as well as my body, I'm already starting to see a few dry patches on my legs and my hands. A survey carried out in the UK in 2011 by Nelsons, the UK's largest manufacturer of natural health care products revealed that around 1/3 of women suffer from dry hands, just from daily activities such as washing up and housework. That's a lot of women, but throw cold, wet weather and central heating into the mix, and I imagine that an awful lot more of us will suffer from dry, sore hands.

I was recently a product by Nelsons from their Skin Range which promises to soothe and moisturise those dry bits away, not just on our hands but also on our face and body.  Nelsons Calendula Cream is a paraben free cream, containing glycerin, Shea butter, beeswax, and of 100% natural Calendula extract. Calendula is probably better known as the marigold, you can see how beautiful these flowers are the picture above. They aren't just a pretty flower though pharmacy studies have found that the plant contains anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory properties which make it ideal for treating sore and irritated skin. I don't know if you remember but I have mentioned a few time that my dad suffered from quite severe psoriasis,and one of the treatments that he was given by a herbalist and that he found some relief with, contained Calendula. That's high praise indeed because he had to be really careful what he used on his skin.

The cream comes boxed, and is packaged in a metal, paint style tube. The product is complete airtight until you pierce through the lid with the lid.

The texture of the cream surprised me, thinking back to the ointment my dad used I was expecting something  quite waxy, and quite thick but this was anything but. It.s white in colour and has a smooth creamy texture.

Again my previous views on products like this were overturned, I was expecting this to be hard to rub in and to feel quite greasy but it was smooth and creamy and it really absorbed quite quickly with only a tiny bit of tackiness.

I've been predominantly using this cream on my hands and on my feet, but I've also popped it onto a dry patch on the back of my left thigh and I definitely think it's made a difference. The dry patches on the sides of my fingers have all but gone, my feet don't look or feel as dry, and the patch of skin on the back of my thigh doesn't feel nearly as rough as it did. Don't forget this cream can also be used on the face too, I don't have any dry patches at the moment but I do sometimes get them around my eyebrows and my forehead so I'll definitely by giving this a go on my face when the weather gets even colder.

This is a great cream if you have dry, sore or irritated skin, and you don't like anything to heavy or too greasy on your skin but that said I'm not sure I would repurchase why? well the smell. I guess the smell of this product proves how natural this product is, because all you can smell is marigolds. My mum grows marigolds in the garden on occasions, and whilst they are a beautiful colourful flower, they don't smell that great. It's not a horrible smell by any means just quite plant and herbal based so I'm going to persevere with this product for the foreseeable future and I hope I can get used to the smell.

Nelsons Calendula Cream comes in a 30g tube which retails at around £4.65 and in a 50g tube which retails for around £6.35. It's available from Boots, Holland and Barrett and several independent health food stores and pharmacies. For more information and to find your local stockist please check out Nelsons official website.

(Nelsons Calendula Cream 30g Was Provided For Review Purpose's)

Jumping On The BB Bandwagon With GOSH - A Review And A Giveaway

I'm going to start this post with a huge apology I've been trying to do this post for over two weeks now and for several reasons including woman flu, it just hasn't happened. Today though I'm  going to talk about BB Creams - otherwise known as Blemish Balms, or Beauty Balms depending on the brand. Up until a few years ago the only people who'd ever heard of BB creams were either beauty junkies or those of us with a firm interest in Asian make up, now though they're everywhere, and available at various price points from budget to high end. I've bought a few in the past but I have to be honest and say I've only ever tried one of them properly, and that was one that I bought from Korea, alas the shade was a bit too pale so I sold it on, my interest in BB creams ended and my numerous high street creams lay unloved in my foundation drawer.

Recently though I was given the opportunity to try one of the newest BB creams available on the UK high street, from a brand we all know and love GOSH.

Earlier this year GOSH introduced it's first ever BB Cream. For those of you who aren't sure what a BB Cream is, let me give you a brief explanation. In it's simplest terms they are cream products designed to perfect our complexion and make us more beautiful. I'm lucky I hear you say my make up already does that, well BB Creams like the one by GOSH are designed to make the make up process quicker easier. Instead of applying 3 products - moisturiser, primer and foundation you just need the one all in one such as the GOSH BB Cream.

GOSH BB Cream comes in 5 shades from the palest of the pale to a deeper shade for those with a richer complexion which will suit most skin tones thanks to their "colour adapt technology" which means you just the shade closest to your own skin tone, and the cream will blend in seamlessly with your own skin leaving a light, natural finish, which thanks to "stay put technology" is long wearing and water resistant

01 Sand

02 Beige 

03 Warm Beige 

04 Chestnut

05 Espresso

The GOSH All In One BB Cream isn't just about the colour though, those clever people at GOSH, have made this product to be good for your skin, as well as containing an SPF 15, it also contains lots of skin care ingredients including Phytosan. Phytosan is a fabulous ingredient which can help to firm and smooth the skin, as well as reducing the the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

I was kindly sent a tube of the GOSH All In One BB Cream to try, I wasn't able to get into a store to swatch the colours in store, so based on pictures I'd seen on the internet I took a bit of a punt, and asked to be sent shade 02 Beige. As you know I am normally quite pale, but the swatches of 01 Sand looked to be a bit too pale, and 02 looked to be a little bit dark so I really wasn't sure what to go for.

The cream comes in a 30 ml matte black tube, with white and silver print. It also features a handy coloured panel which corresponds perfectly to the colour of the product inside so you can see the colour at a glance, essential if you've picked up more than one colour.

The product has a smooth almost cream gel like consistency, and a barely noticeable cosmetic type smell.
GOSH recommend that you apply this product either with a synthetic brush or with your fingertips. I just used my fingers, and put it directly onto clean, toned skin. The product spread  quickly and easily with the fingers and it was very easy to blend out. Any fears I had about the colour faded immediately it does indeed blend into your skin without any clogging or any demarcation lines.

I've done a couple of befores an afters - I'm not sure how well your going to be able to see the difference here especially since the light kept changing but I hope it will give you an idea

Before

After

Before

After

GOSH say that this provides a light coverage and I'd probably agree with that, but I would say that you can build it up fairly easily to increase the coverage, although you still might need a dab of concealer on particularly stubborn blemishes. The finish as I hope you can see is very natural in fact one day that I wore it my mum said my skin looked nice not my make up which is a compliment indeed. I did find that it lasted quite a while too but if you have an oilier skin, like mine, you may find that you do need to blot or powder down throughout the day. I tended to set it with powder straight away and I only found that I need to touch up a couple of time during the day.

I have to say I've really enjoyed using this product and I've used it almost everyday for the past month, normally I reach for my mineral foundations but instead I've been reaching for this. Will I repurchase? Well  it's quick and easy and I loved the finish, so once I've finished and tried out the other BB Creams and bases in my drawer I can definitely see this falling  into my Superdrug basket. If you would like to try it GOSH BB Cream "All In One" Foundation, Primer, Moisturizer 30ml retails at around £7.99 from Superdrug.

Don't be too quick to rush off to Superdrug though, the lovely people from GOSH and Sparkle PR are going to kindly provide 10 of my lovely UK based readers, with their very own GOSH BB Cream in the shade of their choice , if you would like be a winner please read the terms and conditions and then go go go

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have any questions please leave me a comment xx and please let me know if you've tried BB Creams in the past and if you have any recommendations  xx 

(GOSH BB Cream All In One Foundation Primer Moisturizer 30ml Was Provided By PR For Promotional / Review Purposes. The Competition Prizes Will Also Be Provided By The Same PR Company)

Foodie Friday - What I Ate Today x

Since I've been poorly this week I've been a bit lazy and I've let Mummy Lou do most of the cooking, I've only made it to the kitchen today and yesterday, but I've still wanted things I can do quickly and with minimum efforts, yesterday we had crispy fried tofu, with rice, and an Indonesian curry sauce (the sauce came out of a packet - sorry!), and today I did something equally speedy also involving ahem packets. Today's very much been a day of eating what I shouldn't - never mind I'll pay the price for that I guess.- so here you go, here's what I ate today :)

Breakfast

Hmm, it started off well a cup of tea with semi skimmed milk in my favourite Piglet mug, but I noticed that my mum had brought in box of custard doughnuts from her early morning shopping trip - they were still warm and yummy so I had one - whoops

Lunch 

Today was Graze box day (have you claimed your free box yet - use my code LK47LF8D to get one) - so I had a couple of bits from my box for my lunch. First up I had the Salsa Mexicanos - which is a lovely salsa dip with rice based crackers which is gluten free, not 100% gluten free however was the other punnet that I had Cheddar Gorge. This features cheddar cheese cashew nuts, salsa corn sticks and baked herby bites. Everything is fine in the punnet bar the baked herby bites that contain wheat flour - there were only 4 in the punnet so I ate them anyways. I also had a glass of no added sugar Vimto made up with sparkling water.

Dinner 

Not the most nutritious dinner for me today but it was yummy and filling. Basically it's a version of pasta and meatballs, I used some Swedish Style Quorn Balls and Lamb Style Strips (yes I know they aren't gluten free - I need to eat though and their nice ;), mixed up with some chill garlic olives from my Graze box, and some gluten free pasta. I then mixed in a tub of  fresh tomato and red pepper pasta sauce, stuck some mozzarella cheese on top and stuck it under the grill - yummy - I also had some more Vimto (not pictured)

Drinks and Snacks 

You knew it was coming didn't you I had another custard doughnut (not pictured) - smacked wrists for me - I also had lots more Vimto and sparkling water, and  I'm going to finish the day with another cup of tea (again not pictured because I haven't drank it yet :)

So that was my food intake today, not great was it - I'll probably pay for eating the doughnuts one way or another ;)  but sometime you just have to take risks in life - what did you have to eat today ? let me know in the comments x