Handbag Essential - Peppersmith Mints

One of the things that I never leave the house without is a pack of mints. I recently discovered these Peppersmith mints and they have become my new essential.

Everything about the packaging is very bright but traditional - all cardboard so it is recyclable which is good!

I got one of each of their mints/gum to try. There is the classic 'fine English peppermint', the stronger 'Eucalyptus and peppermint' and the slightly unusual 'Sicilian lemon and peppermint' as well as the 'fine English peppermint' chewing gum. All of them are sugar free and perfect for keeping your breath fresh after meals or just for a refreshing lift during the day. The only sweetener used is 100% xylitol which makes them better for your teeth than regular mints too. It has been recommended by dentists for keeping your teeth healthy so it must be good! All you have to do is try and keep the mint in your mouth for at least a minute, so no crunching. They are in handy pocket-sized packets so you can easily pop them in your bag for after meals.

I will be keeping a pack of these in my bag from now on! They taste good and do good for your teeth too.

Indruition - 7 Days 7 Ways

First of all, Happy Easter! If you have eaten too much chocolate today you might be wanting to balance it out by eating a lot of fruit next week and these Infruition bottles are perfect for that and for drinking more water at the same time :)

Infruition bottles are basically just water bottles with a tube inside that you fill with fruit so the flavours infuse into the water. I recently got a red sports bottle and a blue ordinary one and thought I would try the 7 days, 7 ways, challenge by drinking a different flavour each day.

Day 1: Berry Blast
I put some frozen forest fruit mix in on the first day (blueberries, blackberries and cherries). When using frozen fruit I would recommend not leaving them in for too long before drinking as bits can come off the frozen fruit and float at the bottom which isn't a problem but it may be nicer without them!

Day 2: Citrus Splash
For this, I just sliced some lemon and orange. This was one of my favourites although if I did it again I would probably have more orange and less lemon as it was a bit tart!

Day 3: Strawberry Refresher
Strawberry, cucumber and a sprig of mint. This was definitely my favourite! As the name suggests, it was really refreshing and would be the perfect drink at the gym. It probably wouldn't make much difference whether it had strawberry in it or not as the main flavours were the cucumber and mint. As you can see, my dog was very interested as to what was in my drink on this day!

Day 4: Luscious Lime and Watermelon
Sliced lime and cubed watermelon is a really simple, refreshing drink which I will be having again for sure.

Day 5: Mouthwatering Mango and Apple
This is a classic combination but the apple didn't really give much flavour off so I think these bottles probably work best with softer fruits or citrus fruits, and the mint gave a really nice flavour too.

Day 6: Perfect Peach and Blueberry
I used frozen blueberries for this so I had the same problem with it defrosting and having bits at the bottom of the water but other than that this was really nice!

Day 7: Gorgeous grape and kiwi
I cut the grapes in half for this one to let the juices flow better but I don't think the kiwi I used was really ripe enough to get maximum flavour out of it.

I would definitely say that some fruits work better than others in this (citrus and soft fruits) but most gave a really nice, refreshing drink. My favourite would have to be the mint, cucumber and strawberry one! An issue I found was that the bottles didn't hold much fruit but if it held much more then it wouldn't have enough water so I understand why it's like that. The sports one is perfect for taking to the gym or any other sports because it has a carrying handle and doesn't leak at all so I will be using it for that :)

Hope you enjoyed reading and maybe try out some of these flavour combinations if you have one of the bottles yourself!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This will probably be my last post before Christmas so I thought I would make it festive by sharing some of my favourite decorations this year (apart from the obvious trees and fairy lights)!

First, if this counts as a decoration, is my Christmas owl Yankee candle tart burner. I love owls, Yankee candles and Christmas so this is basically perfect. You put the tart into the hanging white dish and put a tea light into the little chimney pot at the bottom which makes the tart melt and your room smells amazing. The tart in there at the minute is 'Christmas baking'.

I haven't had a chocolate advent calendar this year but I have had this cute train to count the days. The only problem with it is that I always forget to change the date on it, oops!

A few days ago we went ice skating at a local garden centre and they had loads of cute decorations. This seal pup was my favourite thing there by far though, I just couldn't resist buying it.

I have quite a selection of little Christmas teddies from when I was younger including these Tatty Teddies which are way too cute not to put under the tree!

Ever since we were tiny, me and my brothers have got a new decoration each year. Some of mine are these unicorn, one of the three kings and a hanging Santa jacket. I'm not really sure what is Christmassy about a unicorn but clearly that is what I wanted on my tree 10 years ago! I love having decorations like these with sentimental meaning.

Finally, one of my favourite things to put around the house is lights like this polar bear. They make the whole house feel so much more festive.

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas!

October Favourites

I have quite a range of favourites this month which I'm going to share!

First I will start with some clothes that I have been loving, starting with Topshop Moto jeans.  I struggle to find jeans that fit me well as I like them super skinny. I have  Leigh, Joni and Jamie jeans and they are all so comfy. They are quite stretchy and they come in so many colours and styles.

Burgundy is such an Autumnal colour and so I have a lot of clothes that colour but never shoes so when I saw these boots at the start of the month I had to buy them.  They were definitely worth it as I have worn them a lot! They're really comfy and I like that they have a little wedged heel.

As it is now getting colder, my woolly jumpers are out. There is nothing better than getting cosy in a nice jumper when it's freezing cold outside.

Another favourite this month that is also related to the cold weather is pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. That sounds like such a typical thing to say but honestly they are amazing and so good for warming you up.

Next is Soap & Glory's 'Hand Food' hand cream. Cold weather can make my hands really dry and I have been outside for a lot of the later part of October so this was a necessity. It really made my hands stay feeling soft.

Baths are lovely in the Autumn/Winter time but only if there's something from Lush to brighten them up! The two things I was loving from Lush during October was 'Candy Mountain' and 'the Comforter' bubble bars, Candy Mountain smells like snow fairy and the comforter smells like blackcurrants. Both of them are bubble bars which you crumble under running water to make mountains of bubbles and they also make the water pink which is always a bonus.

Accessories I have been loving is my Klaus Kobec watch and these rings from We Run This. I can't actually wear the rings as midi rings because they are too big so I normally spread them out but I think they look nice as midis too!

A random favourite from the past month has been these drawers and pots from Ikea. My every day make up was a mess before and it all used to fall everywhere but since I got these it is now so much more organised and I can reach it all easily which is perfect.

Finally, my biggest favourite happened in the last week of October which I spent at Woburn Safari Park. It was so amazing as I got to help care for all the animals including making their food and enrichment activities, grooming and cleaning out. I also got to get up close to a lot of the animals and it was genuinely an amazing week and established that working with animals is definitely what I want to do!

And that's all of my favourites from October, hope you enjoyed :)