Botanicals Soothing Salve in Lavender & Chamomile Review

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all well.

Today I am bringing you a long awaited review of an award winning product that I have tested out for a few months after being kindly sent a sample from Botancials, it is of their Soothing Salve*.

I have reviewed Botanicals before and had a really good experience so was super excited to give this a go, you can check out my previous review of their Balancing Mask in Green Clay & Avocado here!

So a little bit about this product, it's a nourishing natural salve to soothe, soften and protect the skin. It soothes conditions like eczema and chapped skin and also works as a great after-sun product to restore moisture to your skin. The balm is made completely from active plant derived ingredients and these helps support the skin's natural ability to heal and regenerate new skin cells. Sounds pretty good right?

So, to use it you only need the smallest amount meaning a little goes a long way. Take a pea sized amount and massage in until it's absorbed, the texture is nice and rich without any greasy residue so absorbs in nice and quickly giving an immediate soothing and moisturising effect.

My elbows are particularly problematic when it comes to dry and irritated skin and I can say after a couple of weeks of using the salve it really helped to clear up the dry patches and they look visibly better. I've also used it to replace out my usual hand cream and it's kept my hands lovely and soft with a really nice scent as well. With summer coming up I'll be keeping a tub in the fridge to apply to any sunburn or just heat irritated skin as it would be absolutely perfect for that.

I would recommend this salve to anyone, but particularly to those suffering from sensitive, dry or irritated skin as I think it would be the most effective and work the best.

You can check out the Botanicals full range on http://www.botanicals.co.uk/ as they have a whole plethora of different products to try out and read up on.

I hope you liked this post, let me know your thoughts on Botanicals products in the comments below.

Thanks for reading! Love Sally X

My Farmdrop Experience

Hey Guys!

Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the autumnal awesomeness that is around us.

Today I am going to be talking about a really cool concept called Farmdrop that I've tried out and which basically makes getting tasty local food so much easier.

I've bought items such as meat or milk in the past from local farms in Hertfordshire and I have always had a really good experience, but when you don't have a car to physically go and pick things up it can be a pain.

This is where FarmDrop comes in and makes things easy peasy for you. 

They have an online marketplace, bursting with tonnes of different food options from a long list of local farmer and foodmakers that I could quite frankly browse all day. Once you have made your selection you simply select your delivery day and the order is prepared and packed, then delivered free of charge by their electric vans. 

I had my selections delivered to my office in London and the chilled food came in sturdy freezer bags with cool packs and insulation inside which kept everything refrigerated on the train journey home. They give you a delivery time slot so you know when to expect your delivery so you can either do what I did and get it delivered to work or your house if you live in London. 

Now I've covered how it works, I am guessing you want to see what I ordered!

Firstly let's look at the meat products, all from Park Farm. Here we have their beef burgers, delux pork sausages and chipolata sausages.

These were used to make awesome burgers and hot dogs for my family and they went down a real treat.

I also got 2 containers of fresh whole milk from Hinxden Farm Dairy for us to have on cereal or drink  on it's own. 

It was lovely and creamy and went amazingly with my morning cornflakes!

Lastly me and my sisters thought we'd spoil ourselves to a treat each from Comptoir Gourmand so we got two brownies and chocolate twist.

I had a brownie and it was to die for, deliciously moist and chocolately. It was well worth the syns and perfect as an occasional treat. 

As you can see from all my comments, I have been really happy with the service and the food was of a great quality. Everything you can see in the pictures cost a total of £25.05 including delivery which I think is pretty great and I was kindly given a discount code for £20 off my first order. 

I would definitely recommend checking out Farmdrop and you can sign up for an account on their website www.farmdrop.co.uk so you can start browsing. 

Thanks for reading my review, I'd love to hear what kinds of things you guys buy from local farms and what your experiences have been.

Speak soon.

Love Sally X

Drinking From A Tree?

Hey Everyone!

Today I have something very different for you in my Organic September series and it is TreeVitalise Birch Water. You will be amazed when I tell you the process behind this product and a hint to that is in the name but you will have to keep reading to learn the full story.

The Process 

The organic birch water comes from the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe and the mixed forests are what creates their special taste.

In the first weeks of spring thaw, when the snow begins to melt, the roots of the birch tree absorb and take in the newly created water. Enriched with this liquid are all the nutrients stored in the roots over winter that are drawn up to the trunk and branches and what is left is a water that is filtered by the tree and packed with vitality and it wakes the tree from winter season and brings it into life again. 

This happens just a couple of weeks a year and when it occurs the tree is tapped and a small share taken to create these drinks. The birch is completely unharmed and has plenty of revitalising water left for its own use.

The sap is preserved through gentle pasterisation which keeps its original form but is also available infused with organic mint or lemon. What you are left with is an undiluted, organic, 100% natural and unsweetened drink.

The Benefits

Birch sap is known to stimulate the body's purifying and cleansing systems as in its raw form the sap contains vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants, trace minerals such as manganese and also micronutrients which help strengthen your immune system, lower cholesterol and assist in weight loss. 

I was lucky enough to try out all three flavours of the TreeVitalise birch water, being the original*, mint* and lemon*. 

Here is what I thought!

It's difficult to explain the taste of these drinks, I would say that the birch water is sweet but naturally sweet, it doesn't have that harsh bite that artificial ones have. It's a very pleasant and refreshing drink overall, I loved the mint in particular which I found to be very soothing on my throat. All three were very hydrating and made me feel energised on a dull afternoon in the office which has to be a plus. 

For me, the biggest plus is the concept/process behind the product, I just find it fascinating how these drinks have been made and that added to a nice taste is a winner in my book. 

What do you guys think about this product? It's so different and I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! If you want to read up more on TreeVitalise you can do so on their website: http://www.treevitalise.com/ which is also where you can click to find the online/retail stockist information.

Thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying Organic September.

Love Sally X

Botanicals Balancing Mask in Green Clay & Avocado Review

Hey Everyone!

Today I am bringing you a review of the Green Clay & Avocado Balancing Mask I was kindly sent to review from Botanicals. It arrived beautifully presented in a small branded gift bag with tissue paper inside and I got the 60g pot (they also have a salon size 175g pot available). 

The mask contains Mediterranean green clay to help draw out impurities and eliminate dead skin cells and cold pressed avocado and jojoba which are rich in essential fatty acids to leave your skin feeling soft smooth and clear. Sounds great to me! I was advised that the mask is suitable for all skin types but anyone with oily or problem skin like me will have the best results. 

For anyone with mature or dry skin they have a rose clay and rosehip version available here which is more targeted to your skin types.

The product is concentrated so isn't watered down in any way and you only need a small amount, the directions say that you can mix with a little flower water in the palm of your hand but I haven't tried this yet. 

The directions advise to use the mask once a week which I have now done for two weeks consecutively, smoothing the product all over my face avoiding the eye area, leaving on for ten minutes and then I took it off using a warm muslin cloth and patted my face dry. 

You'll be pleased to know that the scent is really nice and due to the oils the product almost melts into your skin so it doesn't sit on the surface like a normal clay mask would and crack when you move your face!

So the results, after two weeks use (two applications) I can report that I have noticed the redness in my cheeks has calmed down noticeably and I haven't had any new spots/ the ones I did have are cleared up which must be down to the product as I haven't changed anything else in my routine. I am going to continue using it on this basis alone as spots are literally the bane of my life when I want my face to look good for pictures! (Side note- Collection's lasting perfection concealer is the best I've found for hiding the buggers)

I would definitely recommend giving this product a go, for £18.95 you get a good size pot and you only need a small amount each time so it does last a while and it's all natural ingredients (70% of which are organic) which is always something I prefer where possible.

You can check out the range at www.botanicals.co.uk for the full range of products, their cleansers and toners are next on my list to look at.

Have you used Botanicals before? What are your favourite face masks? Let me know below in the comments!

Thanks for reading. Love Sally x

Pure Chimp Review, serious monkey business

Hi Guys! 

Today I'm going to be reviewing a product I received a little while ago from a company called Pure Chimp (www.purechimp.com).

The company was set up in 2013 to help people with various skin problems and they even feature a Top Tips section on the site for targeted advice to help alongside the cream. The graphics on the site are super cute and feature little monkeys as well which I liked! I also noted the banana as the dot on the "I" in chimp which works well in the logo.

 The cream I am reviewing is a completely natural, handmade and vegan super cream for those of us with sensitive/dry/itchy/red/sunburnt skin. Sounds good hey? 

So let's take a look at the packaging, it's a simple black pot (bigger than the usual moisturiser pots I have) with the Purechimp branding. The ingredients are simply the below:

• Hemp Seed Wax
• Safflower Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Hemp Seed Oil
• Lavender OIl
• Wheatgerm Oil

Retail Price £15 for 120ml or £10 for 60ml. This may seem a little high but you only need a small amount so it lasts for ages! I've had it a few months and it's still half full.

I found the cream application to be deeply moisturising and it worked wonders on the dry patches I can never seem to shift, which were gone within a couple of weeks. *Tip: good for your elbows!!* The consistency itself is thick but it isn't heavy or greasy and it glides onto the skin and sinks in nice and easily. It's reassuring that the ingredients are all natural as my skin can be quite sensitive and prone to breakouts when using products for the first time

I have to say I am really pleased overall with this product and will definitely continue using it for problem areas until it runs out. This is definitely a quality product that does exactly what it says on the tin!

How do you treat dry skin or problem areas? I'd love to hear your tips!

Thanks for reading, love Sally X