The Coconut Craze?

Being relatively new to the coconut game, I was quite skeptical about all the magical properties people claimed the humble coconut held. Ever since I was a child I hated the taste of coconut (anyone who had a Bounty as their chocolate bar of choice was nuts in my opinion...).

A few weeks ago though, I bought my first jar of coconut oil. Not for myself but for my dogs, I had heard that feeding a small amount of coconut oil a day had various health benefits for them, including healthier skin, a healthier coat and aiding their digestion.

Happy, healthy whippets!

As I had found coconut oil to be rather expensive, I avoided buying it until I came across Aldi's own brand 'Coco Loco' Which I believe is around £3 a jar?  The dogs absolutely loved it, I am currently feeding about half a teaspoon each a day melted into their food with hot water.

I was cooking chicken one evening and was feeling adventurous, so I decided to cook it using coconut oil. It smelled like suncream- which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it tasted delicious! I was expecting an over-powering taste of coconut but it just tasted good, like really TASTY chicken. Sadly for me, coconut oil is not really allowed on Slimming World (which I am currently following) so it will have to be a treat for me, but the dogs can carry on having it.


Now I was more open to the whole idea of the coconut, I bought myself a carton of coconut water, in particular the Naked 100% Coconut Water, expecting to hate it.... Of course I didn't, it's so refreshing and delicious! Once again quite expensive and also not really allowed on Slimming World! So another treat for me!

I know there are still many more coconut products for me to try, and I'm actually looking forwards to it!

Food Review - Provamel Cashew Milk (Unsweetened)

I love cashews, and I love cashew milk (having made the homemade stuff a few times), and I know that in America you can buy cashew milk in cartons already, but not over here! You wouldn't believe how excited I was when I saw people talking about Alpro bringing out a fresh cashew milk, nor how disappointed I was when I couldn't find any!

Holland & Barrett to the rescue again! I popped in there to get some snacks, and low and behold, there was a teeny weeny carton of Provamel Cashew on the shelf. I bought it, despite being a whopping £1.79 for 500ml, and took it home to try.

I was quite disappointed initially, it doesn't really have much of a flavour to it at all. However, it is creamy and was good in a cup of tea, and definitely yummy with cereal .Drinking it by itself wasn't so great - too plain! I would buy this again if I couldn't find another safe nut milk to buy, but I wouldn't buy it out of choice.

Provamel Unsweetened Cashew Milk

Taste - 5/10
Price - 3/10

Put To The Test: Younique Touch Mineral Liquid Foundation

Put To The Test: Younique Touch Mineral Liquid Foundation

I have been looking for a better foundation for a while now. I stopped wearing make up when I got very ill in late 2015, but for the last couple of months, I have been wearing make up once more! I love it, I missed it, but now I'm in a much better place and have the energy and inclination to do it properly. 

The last foundation I bought was Boots No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation in Calico. The colour was ok, but I didn't like the feel of it at all, and found that by about 2pm it had started to separate and get quite patchy. It was very heavy on my face - you could really feel that you were wearing foundation. However, my sister loves it! So we did a little trade - she gave me the No7 Airbrush Away foundation (also in Calico) for my bottle of Beautifully Matte. 

I definitely liked the Airbrush Away more, but if you wanted to up the coverage it didn't quite cut it. I always found that by lunch time it had disappeared from my nose and chin, but it was definitely more comfortable than the Beautifully Matte.

The lovely Gee, a Facebook friend, very kindly sent me some samples of her Younique products to try. I will be honest, I was skeptical to start with! These products seem to get the hard sell all the time, all over social media. That really puts me off, but Gee sent me three samples; Touch Mineral Liquid Foundation, Glorious Face and Eye Primer, and BB Flawless Complexion Enhancer. 

Here's the look that I did with the primer and liquid foundation.

I love the foundation - I tried it with and without the primer, and it goes on easily if you have primer or not on. It sets quickly, blends well, and the coverage is nice and variable. The best part is that the shade Scarlet is a perfect match for me! That literally never happens! I'm so freaking pale, it's nigh on impossible to find a perfect match that suits my sensitive skin. 

Needless to say, I will be placing an order for some of the foundation. There is a deal on a kit at the moment, so you get the brush free when you buy foundation, concealer and primer. It's £79.00 which is way more than I would usually spend on beauty products, but a little goes a long way, and this should last me quite a while! 

List of products used for this look:

• Younique Glorious Face and Eye Primer
• Urban Decay Potion Eye Primer
• Younique Touch Mineral Liquid Foundation in Scarlet
• Smashbox High Definition Concealer in Fair
• Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder
• Benefit High Beam Highlighter
• Soap & Glory Love At First Blush 
• Elf High Definition Loose Powder
• Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Deep
• Benefit They're Real Mascara in Jet Black
• Barry M Bold Black Waterproof Eyeliner
• Stila Trust in Love Palette Eyeshadows in Nude Shimmer, Metallic Bronze, Snowflake and Black Pearl

Links

Boots No7 Airbrush Away Foundation

Boots No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation

Gee's Be.YOU.tiful You