Physalis

Waitrose bag of physalis

One berry

Price I Paid

I bought the whole pack of these from Waitrose for £1.  You can probably buy these in most large supermarkets although sometimes you have to scour the shelves a bit.

How to prepare

You just need to peel up the green/beige leaves and give the orange berry a rinse in water.  They keep for just over a week in the fridge.

Colour

Pretty bright orange berries with loads of tiny edible seeds inside.

Taste

Waitrose hit the nail on the head with their description, "the tang of a fresh tomato and the sweetness of a pineapple."  They are known for being very acidic and probably a slightly acquired taste but don't dismiss these little berries immediately and give them a try!

Smell

They have a general citrus smell.

Health benefits

Contains loads of vitamin C, B12, protein, potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium.  They are supposed to be great for your immune system and low on calories!
 
Overall Reaction
After discovering them at a friends house when i was age 8 or so i have always had a taste for these yummy berries.  If you keep them in the fridge they make really yummy summer snacks!

I would rate these 10/10

How to be a savvy shopper!

I decided to try and compile a list of tricks I learnt as a student to get the best deals, click on the underlined words to follow a link to the named brand's website for the deal.

Student deals

Firstly if you are a UK student the NUS card is definitely worth buying it costs £12 for each academic year but the savings you get are immense.  It gets you discounts of on everything from McDonalds to Topshop to club entry and the savings easily justify the cost.

If you are an NUS holder, think before you buy because large websites such as asos.com often sell the same products online and offer a 10-20% student discount that the physical stores don't.  There is also no need to worry about shipping costs as all standard deliveries are free along with returns.  One of my greatest bargains that come under this particular category is a pair of heels that I wanted from River Island.  They were in the London store for £60 with no student discount offered.  After checking online I realised ASOS were holding a "20% off full priced items for students" day and I was able to get them for only £48 which is £12 more off than I would otherwise have managed!

When buying books for uni, have a look on sites such as Ebay to see if there are any second hand course books you can buy cheaply.  I managed to get a copy of a book called "The Dictionary of Human Geography" for £7 including delivery when the retail price would have been £80! I did buy the 4th instead of the 5th edition but apart from the cover and a few odd notes it was exactly the same as the new edition.... except for a few coffee stains so i pretty much saved myself £73!  Google shopping is a great way to source these deals just type in the name of the book you require, hit search and change the sort by option to low to high to find the best deal.


General deals

Vouchercloud is an amazing way to quickly find deals and has a handy app that works on most smartphones.  It is particularly good for 2for1 meals and 50% off codes at restaurants such as Ask, Bella Italia, Handmade Burger co., Me Love Sushi and Pizza Express.

Signing up for a free a Bitecard can be great for commuters as it gets you 20% off food and drink at most of the shops in UK railway stations.  This has been great as I live in london and travel from Kings Cross to university in Leicester frequently and I can justify an extra snack on the train.

Quidco is a free service that gives you get cashback on your purchases from certain stores.  The money takes forever to arrive but you do get 4% or so cashback on quite alot of things so it would eventually rack up.  So far I have a whole £6 in my account after about a year and i probably remembered to declare five or so things.  This one probably takes some real dedication to get any significant money back.

Loyalty cards can be great if you sign up to ones such as The Body Shop, Boots, Tesco, Superdrug and Matalan to name a few.  However, you will need a purse to fit all these cards in and remember to take them with you to the store.  I keep my Superdrug card in my night out bag because it doubles as a super slim mirror, but as I don't live near a Superdrug I doubt Iwill ever use that card for its intended purpose.

If you don't fancy cooking for a while you can sign up to a free 1 month trial of Tastecard which offers cardholders great deals on loads of restaurants around the UK.  However, I remain unconvinced by this card because the vast majority of these deals can also be found elsewhere online on sites such as vouchercloud.  The benefits of this card will most likely be found on local restaurants rather than major chains but in my opinion as it costs £79.99 I don't think for me it would be worth the price.

Brandalley is one of those 50/50 sites, I was able to find a Moschino handbag for £40 that had been reduced down from £180 and it arrived in perfect condition and i use it all the time.  This price drop is normally because they buy them in bulk or they are the previous seasons stock. You must be willing to wait up to 21 days to receive your item as they explain in a long text on their site and pay a £5 delivery charge.  Unfortunately, they messed up my second order so i am not sure how impressed i am with them although they did give me a £10 voucher to apologise and with this i got myself some effectively free shoes that did arrive quickly so it was no real loss but i wouldn't buy anything that i really needed urgently from them.  Another thing to be wary of when using Brandalley is how they mix in semi-designer brands with the designer ones.  If you haven't heard of the brand, it is probably because it is pretty unknown and it might be designed by a designer somewhere in the world but it will definitely not be of the same quality no matter what ridiculous RRP they have stuck on it.

Look online on sites such as Groupon or Wowcher for great days out/experiences/beauty treatments as they often have some great offers up for grabs!  Read the offer through carefully before purchase though to make sure you really know what you are getting and check the expiry date of the experience fits in with your schedule as well.

Another quick tip is if you are going to buy an expensive perfume or beauty product it may be well worth searching around for the best deal.  Often this can be from free gifts with your purchase in store to finding the product in a department store on offer.  Use google shopping to find the best price but don't buy off any unrecognised sites that are not secure.  A secure site will have a padlock symbol in the browser bar or will use a checkout system that has a security certificates.  You can check these certificates for authenticity on the creditors website.  If you can't find any offers, see if you know anyone who will be travelling through an airport anytime soon who will be able to buy it for you tax free.


Feel free to add comments on your experiences with these deals and suggest other ones you have found in the comment box below. I hope you find this list useful, these little things have saved me loads in the past few years!!

Update: Someone who read this post sent me this link to access the taste card for the discounted £49.95!  Click here for that offer!

Cath Kidson Butterfly Necklace

Cath Kidson Butterfly Necklace

In April it was my birthday and this is one of the presents I got from my friends.  I absolutely love this Cath Kidson butterfly necklace because it goes with loads of my casual clothes and looks very summery.  In my wardrobe I have quite alot of dark clothing so I really love necklaces with a bit of bright colour in as they really jazz up what I am wearing.

Cath Kidson was a small shop that was set up in Holland Park in 1993, inspired by her work with vintage fabrics she began making small household items such as cushion covers, washbags and fabric hangers.  She created items that she thought were fun and would brighten up the home. By 1999, she had become such a success that she was able to open new shops and create a whole range of new products including jewellery.  In 2010 she opened her first stores outside England and her business has been a global success.

I love her jewellery range although as a 21 year old some of the styles are a little young for me so it is important to select items suitable for your age.  Although they would make great presents for  kids/younger teenagers!

When looking after any costume jewellery it is really important to remember not to damage it with liquids.  I learnt this the hard way as I always spray perfume onto my neck before I leave the house and one of my other necklaces was completely ruined after I had done that a few times.

You can find out more or shop online by clicking here.  If you have an NUS student card number you can get 10% off!

Lancôme L'Extrême Mascara - Review and Swatch

Lancôme L'Extrême Mascara - Black

The mascara wand and swatch

A photo on my eye of just the mascara no other products



Price I Paid

I paid £22 for this mascara although Lancôme frequently have offers on.  Normally if you spend a certain amount on their products you get a free gift, which is often filled with loads of mini versions of their skin care products, a miniture size lipstick and mascara which fit perfectly in small handbags on nights out.

Design

I really like the design of the bottle because a recent trend in packaging that really bugs me is to have a giant lid to represent how volumising the mascara is.  Ususally those designs don't even contain any more product than this but the very thin lid means that it is easy to manouvre the wand over your lashes and this gives you great control. 

What i love about this wand is how sturdy the bristles are, i do not know what they are actually made out of but it hardly budges which means you can kind of detangle your lashes so that they are all separated and can be fanned out easily while being coated with a mascara that stops them budging and makes them look much more defined.  Some people might find this a negative because you have to have a reasonably steady hand as it would hurt if you misjudge the angle and let the bristles knock against the waterline of your eye but i have never actually done that.

The shape of the wand is also fantastic because although, due to the angle of the photo, you can not see it as clearly it is slightly tapered and so smaller at the furthest end which makes getting into the small corner lashes of my eyes much easier.

When i apply it i like to start with the outer corner lashes and work inwards, putting the wand at the base of my lashes and wiggling it from side to side while sweeping it upwards to spread the product on evenly. 

  

Colour

The colour i chose is black, it does have very deep black pigmentation so if you have light hair and want to keep your mascara looking particularly natural you might like to look at the rest of Lancôme's ranges for a brown mascara as unfortunately i have only found this design in black.

Texture

This is not the waterproof version of this product but from time to time they do bring out a waterproof version.  I do not find this smudges very easily in normal circumstances but i don't tend to wear it when i wear contact lenses because my eyes get watery quite easily and it runs down my face.  When i wear my contacts i always wear waterproof mascara but i find it quite difficult to get off so while i am wearing my glasses for day to day use this mascara is fantastic.  It wipes off pretty easily even with baby wipes but still has great staying power during the day.

It does coat my lashes really well and in my opinion really lengthens them.  If i was going out i would probably put on a second coat just to make them even thicker.  It makes for a very good natural looking mascara but i wouldn' wear it on a night out or with heavy eyeliner.

Smell

Smells not too strongly of a mix of chemicals.

Ingredients

I know very little about chemisty (ask my GCSE teacher, he would confidently confirm that fact) but the products have been thoroughly tested and after a little online research i have found no evidence that the ingredients have caused anyone any skin reactions.

Overall Reaction

My favourite day time mascara so i would score this product 10/10!

I just wish they would introduce the waterproof version permanantly as i have not seen it sold in shops for about a year!

A very healthy/quick to make egg salad lunch

This is one of my favourite quick student style lunches.  It could easily be made into something a bit prettier but i didn't have the time and i was making it for myself so i wasn't really very bothered about the presentation as you can see!

Preparation time

2 minutes

Actual cooking time

8 minutes

What you need

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of mayonnaise 

a small handful of watercress 

How to cook it (double/triple ingredients for more people this recipe serves one)

1. Fill a pan with water

2. Place two eggs in the water 

3. Boil the eggs at gas mark 9 which is the highest.  I find it is best to put the eggs in before you start/light the gas to boil the water so that they don't crack.  Leave them in for 8 minutes.

4. While the eggs are cooking, quickly was a small handful of watercress

5. Run the cooked eggs under some cold water, this step is not necessary but i do this because cooling it quickly prevents there being a grey tinge to the yolk and i also find it easier to remove the shell without digging into the egg.

6.  Remove the shell the eggs by gently hitting them against a hard surface to crack the shell and running a small teaspoon underneath it to remove it all quickly.

7.Stick the shelled eggs in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise and with a spoon crush the eggs and mix in with the mayo.

8. Add your watercress to the bowl, it is much easier to eat if you chop it up first or tear it up with your hands but in the picture i haven't bothered. (You could add a little salt/pepper but i don't do that because water cress is naturally very peppery and i find it too much if i do)

9. Mix together (and present it nicely on a plate unlike me)
Et voilà, enjoy!

Nutrition

information gathered from nutritiondata.self.com

Eggs - about 80 calories per egg. high in fat but also protein, selenium and B12.

Mayonnaise - a teaspoon probably contains around 70 calories 

Watercress - very low in calories around 7 in a small handful! Contains - vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, E and K.  Minerals Iron, Manganese, Calcium, Potassium and Zinc as the main ones!  Watercress actually contains nutrients in higher quantities than broccoli, apples and tomatoes which makes it an extremely healthy option for lunch!

Overall calorie count in one serving

240 calories as an estimate it will depend on the exact quantities you use of each ingredient

Overall rating

One of the best quick meals i know of - 9/10

Nails Inc Warwick Way Review

The Bottle, colour called Warwick Way

The first coat - photo taken using the camera flash

The second day with the second coat - photo taken in daylight

Price I Paid

Retails at £11 but there are always decent deals on Nails inc products, e.g currently Debenhams are selling it for £9.90.

Colour

This varnish is turquoise, in bright sunlight it has slightly more of a green hue than you pick up on inside.  The photo of the first coat taken with a flash is slightly more accurate of the colour in my opinion.   

Texture

After the first coat i was really unimpressed with the coverage of the colour as i could still clearly see my nails underneath as it was very thin.  I prefer to do a few thin layers of nail varnish rather than one very thick layer because it dries significantly faster.

After two coats i was left with the coverage you can see in the second photo, this took about ten minutes to be touch dry and probably about twenty to be safe from any little knock which i think that this is about average in terms of nail varnishes i own.  I really liked the pretty turquoise colour and was very disappointed when it chipped after the first day.  It is now day two and whilst writing this post another nail bites the dust!! Admittedly i did not use a base or a top coat but this is because i wanted to know how strong the varnish by itself could be.  If i was to re-paint my nails with this colour i would definitely take the time to paint them with base/top coats as I was not doing anything significant to damage my nails and they were in pretty good condition to begin with. 

Smell

Does not smell as strong as other nail varnishes i have used in the past but does have the distinct smell so might be best to paint your nails in a room with an open window or outside.

Ingredients

Nails inc do not make any effort to eliminate the dangerous chemicals in their nail varnishes in the way that nubar and others strive to.

Overall Reaction 

I think the colour is lovely although the staying power is minimal so as a nail varnish alone i would only score this product 5/10.

However, if i were to use a base and top coat i would probably raise this score to 7/10.

Mac Cremesheen lipstick in Pure Zen and Cremesheen Glass in FashionWhim - Photos and Swatches

Mac Cremesheen Lipstick in Pure Zen

Mac Cremesheen Glass in Fashion Whim

Swatch of the two, with the Glass on the Left and Lipstick on the Right

Pure Zen on its own

Fashion Whim over Pure Zen

After a scarring incident a few years ago I have felt extremely reluctant to use MAC products.  What happened was a lady at a MAC counter matched me up with a foundation that looked perfect in the shop. After purchase I applied it in my bedroom the next day where there is not a huge amount of light so I was unable to see the colour clearly but from what I saw it went on pretty easily and seemed to blend in. I was going on a shopping trip with a few friends all the way to oxford street that day and after a few hours shopping i finally decided to try something on in River Island.  However, to my horror when I looked in the mirror of their brightly lit dressing rooms I realised my face was a very embarrassing shade of orange.  I shouted to one of my friends who kindly informed me that all of them had been talking and laughing about it all day because it was just awful.  I dropped the clothes I was trying on and my friends rushed me to Debenhams (I did cover my face with my jumper on the journey so I probably looked even more stupid) and luckily a very nice assistant at the Maxfactor counter in Debenhams gave me a makeup wipe and matched me up with a different foundation to wear which I still use to this day! 

Recently, two of my very good friends surprised me for my birthday with a MAC makeup lesson which was alot of fun and changed my opinion completely on their products as the lady who was helping did a much better job.  After the lesson they let me choose some of the products as a birthday present and these were two of the products. :)

Price I Paid

I got these as a present but Pure Zen lipstick retails at £14 and Fashion Whim Glass retails at £17.  Which to me seems a little strange as I would have thought the lipstick would be more expensive.

Design

The lipstick comes in a normal bullet style case that can easily be twisted up and down.  It is very simple to apply thanks to the pointed tip of it.  However once it starts being used up this would round out it might be worth buying a lipbrush in order to apply it right up to the edge of your lips.

The lipglass comes in a very smart looking glass bottle with an easy to apply stick applicator with a slanted bud at the end attached to the lid.

Colour

Pure Zen is described by MAC as a "frosted warm nude" and is a very light beige colour with some very tiny pink metallic flecks in and is highly pigmented and therefore gives great coverage as a lipstick.  It is slightly more matte than most lipsticks I use but does still have a slight shine to it.

Fashion Whim is described as "light beige" by MAC and is slightly yellow toned and peachier in comparison with pure zen but gives a great shiny look over the lipstick.

Texture

The lipstick is very thick and i find if i have dry lips it is necessary to exfoliate them by rubbing them with an old toothbrush a little and keeping them well moisturised before application because it does pick out every imperfection. I find that if i have dry lips using this lipglass over the top hides this significantly although it does push the lipstick underneath around a bit so it can cause it to look streaky if i have not applied it carefully. 

I would say that the lipglass on its own does not actually seem to do an awful lot on my lips, it makes them very shiny and there is a hint of the nude colour but for the price i probably wouldn't bother with it if i were to use it on its own without the lipstick.

Smell

Both the lipstick and the lipglass don't seem to have any particular scent maybe slightly of baby powder but unless I was smelling it from the tube I would not notice it at all.

Ingredients

MAC is a reputable brand owned by Estee Lauder and I would think that the ingredients are of a pretty reasonable quality and they do not smell of chemicals like some other brands.  However, I would note that both MAC and their parent company Estee Lauder are well known to test on animals in China so if this is something you do not agree with it might be wise to steer clear of those products.

Overall Reaction 

I was very pleasantly surprised with both of these products!  I wear them most when I am wearing dark eye makeup and a blusher as on their own they do slightly wash me out as i have incredibly pale skin to begin with but when i do wear this kind of makeup it really finishes off the look!

I would score Pure Zen lipstick - 8/10

And i would score Fashion Whim glass - 6/10