product review Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Review – Real Coffee: capsules for Dolce Gusto machines

September 29, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to be sent some coffee pods, from a company called Real Coffee who make capsules for Dolce Gusto and Nespresso machines. Since we had treated ourselves to a Dolce Gusto machine back in April, we had been trying out different capsules and narrowing down our favorites. We had never actually thought to look at Dolce Gusto compatible capsules, until being offered these to review but I’m really glad to have found Real Coffee. I like to use amazon coffee canister, are an elegant and practical storage, is perfect for keeping coffee fresh and looks great on display in the kitchen.

The bags on offer are Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino, Lungo, Espresso and Espresso Intenso. There is also a new site called Morino Coffee which has brilliant options for coffee machines so have a look there if you need a new coffee machine or specialty coffees such as 2 lb bag whole bean colombian coffee. Each bags has 16 capsules – for the latter three options, this is 16 drinks whereas for the latte and cappuccino, this is 8 drinks as each bag is half coffee and half milk capsules. Chris drinks the Best French Vanilla flavored coffee as his main drink, where I tend to opt for tea. However I love a “fancy coffee” and often go for latte or cappuccino when heading out for coffee. Because of this, the whole selection suited us and we have been ploughing our way through it ever since it arrived.

My favorite by far is the latte but has to be made with a good coffee machine, but I love the cappuccino too. The coffee itself is really smooth and creamy, while the milk is a good thick consistency and gives a really frothy coffee. The Lungo, Espresso and Espresso Intenso are straight black coffee, the Lungo being like a regular size black coffee and the other being more like shots of coffee – espresso.

I don’t tend to drink just coffee, I try to learn more about them, but I have tried these too and they are really nice. Even the girls have tried the coffees and the latte is a big hit with them as well.

Though I probably shouldn’t say it, these capsules are actually better than the official Dolce Gusto ones – in my opinion. You can run more water through them, meaning more drink – and the taste is actually nicer too. Not only that, but the bags sell for £3.75 each, where as the Dolce Gusto ones are £4.49 a box, for the same amount of capsules. Real Coffee also offer free delivery on orders over £20 so again in my opinion, they are a great alternative for your coffee. Did you know that the process of coffee cupping helps evaluate the quality of coffee for your health? Read more on this article.

As I mentioned before, Real Coffee also do Nespresso capsules too, not just Dolce Gusto.

Lush bath bombs and bubble bars

December 29, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Some time ago, after writing a Halloween Lush Wish List, I went to Lush in Doncaster and purchased a whole bunch of bath bombs and bubble bars. Since then I have managed to review Monster’s Ball, Lava Lamp and Ruby Red Slippers but I have actually used them all! I decided that instead of doing a separate post for each one, I would just post a few pictures (for the two I do have them for), the original description from the Lush website and my opinions one which I liked and would buy again etc.

Of the ones I haven’t reviewed yet, there were; Pumpkin, Autumn Leaf, Never Mind The Ballistics and Northern Lights – all of which were bath bombs. There was then Candy Mountain and Big Bang, which were both bubble bars. Northern Lights I have reviewed previously last year, though it looks slightly different now. I have also reviewed Big Bang previously too. As for Candy Mountain, I’ve been using that for years so there is no reviews on this blog but I love it so much that I buy every year, at least one and its my favourite Lush Product.

Never Mind The Ballistics (bath bomb) – These aren’t ingredients for anybody else except for yourself. Lime and sweet wild orange oils are fresh and peachy on the nose, exciting the senses and shaking up your mood. There’s no time for apathy in the bath, so this anarchic bath bomb fizzes and rolls and spews colour with no holds barred energy. Fair Trade cocoa butter melts alongside fresh bananas to soften both the water and your skin. God save the clean; this deserves a replay.

Never Mind the Ballistics is the only remaining bath bomb that I didn’t take pictures for and so it’s pretty hard to review. I enjoyed the smell and the half pink side made the bath water feel smooth and softening. However the pink side did give a similar effect that the Lava Lamp did, adding a sort of residue to the bath.

Autumn Leaf (bath bomb) – Autumn colours dapple your bath red and yellow, as falling leaves signify the start of winter. From the comfort of a hot bath, watch as the evenings draw in, and the trees don vibrant plumage. The scent of fresh grass evokes the crunch of crisp leaves underfoot as the last remnants of summer are stolen away.

One of my favourite things about Lush bath bombs are definitely the way they react when they touch the water and the colours they turn the bath. Autumn Leaves doesn’t disappoint, displaying many colours related to nature in a very pretty fizz. The smell is good too and the after colour of the bath once the bomb is completely dissolved. I don’t remember it having a specific scent, but whatever it was, was likeable.

Pumpkin (bath bomb) – Bath-o’-lantern. This year, we’re introducing a very traditional looking fizzer to our limited edition range: one look at those geometric features is all it takes to put you in a Halloween-y mood! With a spicy, sweet perfume full of exotic pimento, sweet vanilla and warming cinnamon, our jack-o’-lantern will have you imitating his toothy grin once he hits your bath water.

Pumpkin was a great fun bath bomb, both in design and colour. Though it didn’t do anything dramatic when dropped into the bath, the colour of the water was really dramatic – almost like orange juice. The smell was great too, very reminiscent of Halloween and spicy. Again, another bath bomb that I would be happy to recommend.

Christmas Style

December 20, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is the “Christmas outfit” one. This is something that my mum did for us as kids and I have continued to do for my own. Despite the fact that both my girls are 12 and 8, they still like to match on Christmas Day. I think this is absolutely adorable, despite their difference in style. Finding something I like for them is a battle in itself, but luckily this year, my outfit pretty much picked itself.

Christmas Style

SimplyBe were kind enough to offer me a couple of items from their ladies range, in return for a mention on my blog. Little did they know that they would actually become my Christmas Outfit choices. The beautiful Joe Browns top that I chose, was from their women’s jumper range and retailed for £55. The heels I chose from their party shoe range, were by Heavenly Soles and retailed for £30. To make it my Christmas outfit, I also coupled it with a plain pair of black leggings, my silver cuban link chain by statementcollective and also some earrings I owned already.

Both the top and shoes were absolutely beautiful and sadly my pictures don’t do them justice. Not only am I sure that I will wear them on Christmas Day, I’m sure they will get a lot more wear as well.

Children in Need inspired Bath Bomb – Sudsey

November 19, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

During this month I was lucky enough to be offered a bath bomb (they call them Bath Blasters) from Soap Bombs to review. Since Children in Need was coming up, I decided to go for Sudsey (inspired by Pudsey) as there was so much choice in bath bombs that it at least gave me a reason to pick it.

The bath bomb itself came very well packaged and it was sent next day delivery via a courier, rather than regular mail. It was incredibly pretty, especially with its glittery spots and it smelt pretty great too. Now I’ve said before, that I prefer options that provide me with bubbles, so bath bombs aren’t my favourite thing to use in a bath. That said, if they smell nice, make the bath water turn an interesting colour and I can get out smelling good, I’m all for using them.

This bath bomb did all those things and so I am happy to recommend it. They are good value too and there is so much choice, that you might find it hard to decide. I would definitely be interested in trying their bath brulees, mallows or creamers so I will definitely be back for more. Not only that but the company is Lincolnshire based (where I live) so it seems good to support local businesses.

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Lush Bubble Bar – Ruby Red Slippers

November 15, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

After a couple of bath bombs, I thought it was time for a bubble bar instead. I hadn’t tried Ruby Red Slippers before and so I picked it up as part of my haul. At a first sniff, I liked it but I wasn’t really sure but when I went to use it, one of the plus points was definitely that it was easy to break up into pieces and use on separate occasions, rather than all at once.

You don’t have to travel to the Emerald City to find your inner Dorothy. Crumble your ruby slipper under running water to add sparkle to your bath time, then immerse yourself in the spicy, floral fragrance of carnation absolute. With tangerine oil’s hypnotic effect and rose absolute’s soothing properties, you’ll be in the bubbly land of Oz in no time. Lie back, click your heels, there’s no place like foam.

Lush had a bubble bar called Dorothy once and I definitely wasn’t a fan but this one is much better. It’s smell is nice, though not as sweet as I usually like them and of course as with all their bubble bars, it makes the bath water soft and your skin smooth. I also love the colour it turns the water so that’s a plus. I’m not sure if Ruby Red Slippers is a seasonal bubble bar or just a new addition but it’s definitely one that I would pick up again in the future.

Lush Bath Bomb – Lava Lamp

November 8, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Not last week but the week before, I had my first Lush bath in a long time. I’d picked up a bit of a stash (as I mentioned here) and the first lucky dip bath bomb was something called Lava Lamp. Not only did I forget to take a picture of the bath bomb before I threw it into the bath, I also only put pictures and videos on my “Story” on Instagram – so now they’re gone! What a wally.

Pic from Lush website

The first impressions of the bath bomb were great. It was absolutely beautiful in the bath and also incredibly impressive as it did actually remind me of a Lava Lamb. The smell was fantastic and I was already sold on this new bath bomb from Lush.

Having got so excited, posting it all on my Instagram stories, I clearly got myself completely distracted in forgetting to take actual pictures. I did get a few but they were mostly the aftermath – I’ll get to that soon.

Lush describes this bath bomb as:

Just go with the flow and get groovy baby. This time machine of bobbing purple orbs – made with 100% traceable cocoa butter – will create the hypnotic spectacle of a lava lamp in your own bath, taking you back to the swinging sixties. A triple whammy of Sicilian mandarin, tangerine and orange flower give this vibrant bomb a fragrance like fruit pastilles.

The smell, as I mentioned before, was amazing – strong and lasting. The colour was lovely and the effect of the bath bomb was so impressive. My first issue came however, when I looked at my skin in the bath. Everywhere that lay just on the water edge, was covered in a waxy purple layer.

I saw on the Lush website that many people described this as a soft, moisturising, oil layer, but for me it was just waxy. It didn’t really seem to come off, even with shower gel, although the purple did go. My next issue was shaving my legs. This moisturising layer, as it was called, actually caused all the hairs to gunk up my razor and I wasn’t able to rinse or tap them out of it so ended up giving up. I might also add that my skin still seemed to have this wax layer by the time I had my next bath.

Finally and all issues aside (I did like it), I got out of the bath to realise another flaw… my bath was very stained. The pictures don’t really show the extent but this purple wavy reside went all around the bath, where the water level had been.

Did I like the bath bomb? Absolutely, yes.
Would I buy it again?Absolutely not – sorry guys. Too high maintenance for me.

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Lush Bath Bomb – Monsters Ball

October 29, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

It’s been a long time since I treated myself to some Lush but I have to admit I find it hard not to at this time of year. The Halloween range is currently out, as is the Christmas range but when Megan and I went to Doncaster last week, my priority was definitely to grab the pieces I hadn’t tried and would be disappearing soon (as well as a few favourites). I’ll definitely be heading back for some Christmas ones soon but this little lot (plus one I used before picturing) set me back £35.

Monsters Ball bath bomb, is new this year I think (or at least I haven’t seen it before). It looked cute and smelt great, so I was immediately sold in the shop. When I put the bath bomb in the bath, it wasn’t disappointing either. Again the smell was good and the colours in the bath were beautiful.

Lush describes this bath bomb as a…

…mash-up of lime and neroli oils is a sure fire way to get the party started, and leave you feelin’ Franken-fine all night long.

While the smell is great and it lingers all bath long, the colour for me was the most amazing thing about this bath bomb. I definitely prefer bubble bars generally, but this was a really great pick, especially if you’re treating yourself this Halloween.

After my last bath bomb (lava lamp) which I will review once I have the photos off my iPad, this one was a refreshing change (spoiler, I wasn’t a fan of the other one). Honestly I don’t know if, at £4.25, I would buy it again, but it wasn’t a disappointment and I wouldn’t be unhappy if someone else had bought it for me as a gift.

Product Review – Savisto Ice Cream maker

August 25, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

I have always fancied trying my hand at making ice cream and this week I got the opportunity to review an ice cream maker from Savisto. This particular one was red (the same as my other kitchen appliances) and everyone in the house was excited to try it out.

The first thing that is important to note, is that making ice cream does need an element of forethought and preparation. The base of the ice cream maker needs to go in the freezer at least 12 hours before you want to make the ice cream – and the mixture you’re using to make the ice cream, needs to be mixed up and chilled too. Since the one we tried actually required heating milk and cream together, cooling and then chilling took the same amount of time as freezing the base (basically overnight).

Once we decided on the flavour we wanted to make (honeycomb), we bought the ingredients, placed the base in the freezer and mixed up the ingredients. As I mentioned before, the mixture needed to cool so it was all left overnight and made the next morning. The ice cream maker comes with both instructions and an ice cream recipes book so it was nice to not have to go looking for ice cream recipes.

Actually making the ice cream is super easy. Take the base out of the freezer and place the mixture into the bowl. Add the whisk to the lid and place (lock) on top. Plug in and turn on. You then just press to start and you’re away. The bowl mixes the ice cream for the set time (automatically set to 40 minutes) and once it’s finished, your ice cream is made.

When the ice cream is first made, its very soft scoop (which I loved). However we placed it in an old ice cream tub (I’d saved it and washed it out, knowing we would make ice cream during the week) and placed it back in the freezer to set a bit more. Later on, I used another recipe from the back of the recipe book to make some sauces and we served it up as desert after dinner.

So how would I rate the ice cream maker? It was pretty awesome. Set up and preparation were easy, other than needing to know you wanted to make ice cream at least 12 hours in advance. Making the ice cream took only 40 minutes and there is a chute on the lid so you can add ingredients towards the end (we did this with the honeycomb). The ice cream maker does all the work so you really don’t have to do anything. Once its done you can just scoop it all out and place into a tub to store. Cleaning the ice cream maker was also really easy and I just rinsed it under the tap and its now ready to go again.

Panasonic Blu-Ray player and Freeview recorder – review

January 12, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

I recently got a brand new Panasonic Blu-Ray player and I wanted to tell you all about it! It’s a Panasonic DMR-PWT550EB (if you care about that type of thing!). It plays Blu-Ray discs (as well as regular dvds) but not only that, it has built in Freeview AND recorder. This beautiful looking dvd player has fantastic functions, all-in-one and for anyone who doesn’t have Sky (or something similar) this is a great idea for watching freeview channels and being able to record them – as well as the obvious – watching blu rays and dvds.

As all our TV, stand, X-box One etc are black, this dvd player fits in perfectly. It’s stylish and modern in design, light weight but still feels sturdy. Nearly all functions are via the remote control, with the box itself being very simple. The DVD/Blu-Ray functions are fairly standard, but having the built in freeview, really gives this box something special.

The Freeview Play menu and interface is really simple and easy to use. You can watch programs from the last 7 days, as well as the current live shows. You can record programs, both from the box itself or even via the internet while you’re out. There are loads of great features and while my TV isn’t 4K, it supports this and full HD. Again, my TV doesn’t support it, but I believe it’s also suitable for 3D dvds and can even convert 2D ones into 3D.

This Blu-ray/dvd/freeview/recorder is really everything in one and with a nice look, simple use and good brand, it really is one to recommend!

Hari Ghotra Curry Kit review

November 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Last week we were treated to a wonderful handmade curry, partly owing to the Hari Ghotra Curry Kit we were sent to review. Since Lamb Bhuna was one of the first Indian dishes that I tried, I picked this particular spice/curry kit to try. While we wouldn’t usually eat lamb as it’s pretty expensive, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go all in!

The curry kit is made up of three bags of spices and instructions. You need to purchase a few extras, such as meat, onions, garlic, tomatoes etc. but the main flavourings come from this kit.

The kit comes with very clear instructions, which tells you what to do, which bags you need and when to add your ingredients. The first thing is to fry up the contents in bag one. It didn’t take long and just needed to brown off the various ingredients. Once done, it needed to be left to cool and then ground up with a pestle and mortar.

Obviously there are a lot of steps from start to finish and I won’t go into them all. You start with onions, add garlic and so forth. Though the recipe called for tins of chopped tomato, Chris and I aren’t keen on tomatoes and instead I added passata – which gave the same tomato taste without the chunks. Anyway you add the spices and ingredients as told, eventually adding the meat. After that you add a lid and leave to simmer down to a much thicker consistency.

When it was finished, the curry looked like this and it smelt amazing. Chris and I coupled the curry with rice and naan, making it the perfect homemade curry. You can use a rice aroma cooker to have perfectly cooked rice.

Hari Ghotra offers loads of different options for curry kits and I would definitely like to try some more. While nothing will beat the ease of ordering butter chicken and cheesy naan from the local Indian takeaway, this was a lot of pleasure to work on, making the home-crafted meal taste even better for being put together with time and care.