Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own
It’s the 1st of February today – which means Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! All the shops are currently full of cheerful displays of gifts and flowers and it’s the perfect excuse to treat your loved one and bring a little joy to the gloomy February days.
Food gifts are a popular Valentine’s gift and your Valentine is bound to be impressed with the Valentine’s Gift Box from Sponge.
When I opened the box, I was delighted to find a nicely wrapped parcel containing a lovely selection of treats. The top layer contained four baby sponge cakes, each in its own little box and sealed in plastic to keep it fresh. We received Red Velvet, Chocolate Orange, Sticky Toffee and Carrot cakes and each cake was lovely and moist and incredibly delicious. Sponge Cakes cater for all types of dietary requirements, and you can request standard, gluten free or vegan cakes in your giftbox.
Underneath the cakes were even more treats
Valentine’s cocktail & a mini bottle of Prosecco (or a non-alcoholic cocktail & ginger beer)
A single white rose
6 heart chocolates (vegan fudge instead of chocolates included in vegan option).
A Pukka love tea bag
A Valentine’s Card
Considering there were cakes and a real rose in the box everything was packaged really well and arrived in perfect condition. I also liked the little touches like the organza bag containing the chocolate heats, this simple touch makes the gift even more special.
This is a lovely, thoughtful gift and now I know how delicious the cakes are I will definitely be ordering from them again. I had a look on their website and have my eye on the sharing cakes, these are such a fantastic idea and are perfect for families like ours where everyone likes a different type of cake.
Sponge online cake company make all their cakes from scratch, using only high quality ingredients and deliver all over the UK so if you want to treat your special person on Valentine’s Day I would take a look now!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
I’m a lover of afternoon tea. I also love Indian food, so when they mentioned Indian afternoon tea, there was no way I wasn’t going to try it!
Colonel Saab, located at the Holborn Old Town Hall at 193-197 High Holborn, London WC1 was only opened in October 2021 but is already winning awards. Just walking through the door, you can see all the accolades, including the Forbes top 40 Indian restaurants in London.
Inside, the 134 covers restaurant is situated over the ground floor and a cut-o mezzanine floor. As soon as you pass the bar, it’s the giant multitude of rose glass Indian chandeliers which leave you fascinated with the décor. Photos of owner Roop Partap Choudhary’s family, antique paintings and at the back, a photo each of his parents, Colonel Choudhary and his wife, Binny Choudhary. The restaurant is named after Colonel Choudhary and is a love letter to their relationship since their marriage more than 40 years ago.
We were there to review the Indian Afternoon Tea, a specialty of Colonel Saab which takes a bit of explaining as India isn’t known for their own Afternoon Teas. Firstly, Champagne was brought out to each of us before the tea arrived. You don’t have to have the typical English Breakfast Tea to accompany your meal, so I tried the Massala Chai tea whilst my guest had a latte coffee. Massala Chai is a special blended tea, with milk, which has spices such as cinnamon and a touch of sugar to give a full bodied, slightly sweet tea that challenges the usual English Breakfast. I ordered a second pot of Massala tea in the end as it was so delicious!
The beautiful afternoon tea cage was brought over to our table with the familiar three tiers, but with an Indian twist. The first tier of sandwiches were cucumber and yoghurt, and dhokla fingers. If you’re not familiar with dhokla, it is an Indian cake-like fermented batter that is savoury but flavoured through the middle. The middle layer had the familiar scones with cream and jam, but their added Indian twist here was a vegetable samosa!
The final layer at the top were the cakes! Carrot cake, Lemon Meringue, two different flavours of macaron and a chocolate truffle each. If, like us, you were particularly full by this time, you can always ask for the cakes to be boxed for you to take away. However, they are so delicious, it’s easier to just have another cup of tea and work your way through them!
With the delicious afternoon tea finished, I was given a tour of Colonel Saab to show where the idea came from and the facilities beyond just the restaurant floor. The bar, on the ground floor, is available at any time and doesn’t need booking. Around the corner are the family photos of Roop Partap Choudhary [the founder] and love letters between his parents. Behind the front door, there are the private dining rooms, which were beyond magnificent! One large room, or a divider makes them two smaller rooms, the area is dominated by a huge canopied fireplace. You can’t miss the enormous mobile bar though – which although made by Aspreys of London, belonged to Colonel Choudhary and travelled around with him whilst on campaign. It is stunning, and still looks as if it could serve drinks today.
Going upstairs, there’s more tables, all of which have different styles. At the far end of the mezzanine there is a quiet ‘nook’ area of a canopied table for four. A perfect hideaway and position to watch the restaurant downstairs!
I was also told to walk downstairs to the bathrooms as this is one of the most ‘Instagramable’ areas of the restaurant. Dark red walls festooned with family photos and even more of the beautiful rose glass chandeliers. The bathroom itself was also very beautiful with carefully designed soft furnishings and retro sinks.
Don’t forget the two portraits of Binny and Colonel Choudhary in the main restaurant, with so many decorative plates around them, and the 6th centuries old painting between them that is an Indian traditional and takes literally years to paint.
By the time we had finished, we had been there nearly two hours and didn’t want to leave. The atmosphere of the restaurant and the friendliness of the staff, all of whom said hello to us whilst we were there made this a hidden treasure. Just outside of Covent Garden but not quite in theatre land, it’s easier to get to than you think and as well as the fantastic food, it’s fascinating to visit.
Afternoon tea is £25 per person or £48 for two. Champagne afternoon tea starts at £41 per person.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Hada Labo Tokyo is Japan’s favourite skincare brand, and it’s now available over here in the UK, selling at Superdrug. The team at Hada Labo sent me some lovely Anti Aging Sheet Masks to try out, and seeing as the weather has got so cold and the heating has been turned up, I am going to need some hydrating, and anti-aging!
Each mask costs £2.99 and although they can only be used once, you can use a mask three times a week. The mask itself is infused with hydrating serum, in fact it’s dripping in serum so you can adhere it to your face but also top up the mask whilst it’s on your face, or on the neck and décolletage. The Hada Labo Anti-Aging Facial Sheets are pre-cut with the holes for eyes, nose and shaped around the hairline. The sheet is left on for 15 minutes.
I left the mask on for the given time, but I did find that it was a bit big for me, and I had to wrap the edges a bit like hospital corners. The mask does stay on though, probably due to the amount of serum used. I could feel the cooling effect of the products seeping into my skin, and thankfully, the mask didn’t dry out, even with the heating on.
Taking off the mask, my skin was still covered in hydrating serum so I let it sink in a little and rubbed in the remaining amount in the packet. As it started to dry, I could feel that my skin was more hydrated and smoother, taking away the dryness from the central heating after I’d been indoors all day.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
New Year, New Routine!
With New Year comes change, and many of us are looking to improve our self care. Image Skincare offers a whole range of options for all skin types, from moisturisers and serums to SPF sunscreens and facial cleansers.
Starting with the MAX Facial Cleaner, this luxurious cleanser is mild enough to be used morning and evening to take away impurities on the skin as well as any make-up. Work a generous amount into the skin and rinse off with warm water followed by a cool splash to brighten up your skin tone.
The MAX Facial Cleaner combines plant stem cell technology and botanicals to create a sumptuous, rich cream which provokes your sense of smell with citrus and floral tones. The peptides promote youthful looking skin and target the visible signs of aging but cleverly, don’t include traditional sulfates.
Trying this before my beauty routine and the rest of the Image Skincare products, it’s the heavenly fragrance that hits you first. The cleanser is effective but doesn’t dry the skin out with use. I particularly liked the richness of the formula which didn’t feel abrasive on me at all, and didn’t foam up and get in my eyes. It felt like when you have a facial and the steam and products are lathered on by your beautician and then gently exfoliated away to leave clean, crisp skin ready for papering.
Before moisturiser, Image Skincare have the Vital C Hydrating Anti-Aging Serum. A handy 50ml pump of morning and evening pre-moisturising serum to go under make-up and skincare. The Vital C promotes elasticity and signs of aging, softens wrinkles and combats environmental damage before it even hits the lower dermal levels.
Vital C Hydrating Serum contains many different forms of Vitamin C (hence the name) to impart brightness and glow to the skin, whilst hyaluronic acid helps with moisture control and antioxidants defend against skin stresses. It can be applied day or night onto cleansed skin, and works best when an moisturiser is applied on top, but is equally good on its own.
I loved this serum. With a similar scent to the cleanser, it really moisturisers deeply in the skin and exudes a richness that gives away the quality of Image Skincare. It does sit on the skin momentarily before it is absorbed in but once it does, it’s dewy and soft and leaves your skin feeling fresh. The citrus fragrance also helps, and reminds you of the lovely Vitamin C it contains!
In the same range is the Vital C Hydrating Repair Créme. Another of the Image Skincare products to fight the signs of aging and fine lines, it also contains Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid to add bounce and vitality to the skin. Any skin which is lacking nutrients will enjoy the benefits of the added nutrients of this Hydrating Repair Créme and the Vitamin A which refreshes skin texture and tone.
Once you open the pot, you’ll see there’s a tiny applicator to use instead of dipping in a finger! The créme itself is just as rich as the other Image products, and also has the Vitamin C kick that gives it the same citrus smell. Applied on top of the Vital Hydrating Serum this combination created the salon-like texture of new facial and the freshness of a spring spa break, just without the blossom! Once the hydrating crème sinks in, you can feel the texture of your skin smooth and elasticity is added where once was lost. Yes, it really does feel that poetic.
Lastly, we were also sent the Image Skincare PREVENTION+ Daily Ultimate Protection Moisturiser. My one gripe with modern moisturisers is that so many of them still don’t contain SPF despite us knowing about the cost of sunlight to our skin. The PREVENTION+ Protection Moisturiser is a very handy 50 SPF, so much higher than most moisturisers in this country but also useful for travelling abroad when you might need to wear a higher Sun Factor Protection.
The uniqueness of the PREVENTION+ is that it can be used as a sunscreen when needed, or as a daily moisturiser. If you’re using it as a sunscreen, then it needs to be applied 15 minutes before you go out in the sun. It needs to be applied every 2 hours as well. As a daily moisturiser with the added sunscreen factor, less can be applied. The more product you use though, the higher the sunscreen protection and longer it lasts. It also works best if applied to cleanses skin.
The PREVENTION+ Protection Moisturiser is another excellent skincare product from Image Skincare, with a richness which makes it easy to wear but not greasy enough for you to notice it. It also has a lovely fragrance to it, although not as citrus as the other products featured but works beautifully as either a moisturiser or a sunscreen.
All of the Image Skincare products are available online, and I can’t recommend them highly enough, especially for upcoming Valentines gifts.
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own
We’re almost half way through Dry January and with so many new and exciting non-alcoholic drinks to try I’ve found I haven’t missed alcohol at all!
Ordinarily I do enjoy a nice G&T so was really pleased to receive a bottle of BOWSER LEAF from Conker Distillery. Launched in 2021 LEAF is a unique botanical blend offering all the complexities of a premium gin but without the alcohol. It can be served with ice and tonic for a refreshing drink or if you are feeling a little more adventurous you can create a mocktail?
Distilled in copper pot stills using New Forest Spring Water, five carefully selected botanicals – Patchouli, Mint, Basil, Tarragon and Thyme are distilled separately and blended carefully to create a well-balanced, complex spirit that has a beautiful mouthfeel and that vital fresh dryness that you expect from a premium gin. I tried it with an unflavoured light tonic to get the full flavour and I was really impressed.
A hint of spice, followed by fresh mint and thyme, this is a sophisticated drink that is refreshing, light and best of all doesn’t leave you with a hangover the following morning. It has the classic gin bitterness but with none of the alcohol or calories (BOWSER is calorie free) so it is much better for your waistline too!
BOWSER is perfect when you want something special that isn’t alcoholic. A party taste without the hangover – what’s not to like!
A 70cl bottle costs £20 and is available from Ocado
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are our own
Arran Sense of Scotland is based on the beautiful Isle of Arran, if you haven’t visited Arran, I recommend that you do – the island is beautiful and the breath-taking views from the summit of Goatfell are definitely worth the climb! Their skin care products and home fragrances are inspired by the unspoiled way of life on Arran and the intoxicating fragrances aim to help reconnect you with nature.
The latest addition to their iconic After the Rain collection is the After The Rain Bath Salts. A carefully crafted blend of natural sea salt and Epsom salts, they are fragranced with Lime, Rose and Sandalwood and are formulated to revitalise skin, relax the mind and aid restful sleep. As a perimenopausal woman I struggle a lot with sleep, often waking several times a night, so I was very interested to see if the salts could help.
I added a good handful of the salts to a hot running bath and the salts quickly dissolved, filling the whole bathroom with comforting scents of Lime, Rose and Sandalwood. The salts created a heavenly experience to unwind in, especially when teamed with candlelight and I was soon laying in a relaxed state feeling the warm water over my body. All my worries seemed to melt away and when I finally dragged myself out of the bath I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I even slept all night, waking up feeling energised and rested which was amazing.
If getting a good night’s sleep is top of your list of priorities, this product is definitely worth trying. Using the salts and following a simple sleep routine has worked wonders for me and has enabled me to enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep and soothed my aching body and tired mind.
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching why not treat your loved one to a bottle of these amazing bath salts?
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Valentine’s Day is only a month away and you may (or may not!) have started thinking of gift ideas. Whilst the traditional gifts of chocolates, flowers or fragrance are always well received I always think a personalised gift means a lot more as the recipient will appreciate the thought that has gone into creating it.
Vistaprint have a huge range of products on their website that would make superb Valentine’s gifts including photo books, canvas prints, mugs, cushions and my favourite – a fleece blanket to snuggle up with rather than turning the heating on!
The website is really easy to navigate with all the personalised gifts on one webpage. Each gift has clear images and the prices are clearly shown. Once you have selected your gift it is really easy to create your masterpiece. Simply choose the photos you love and Vistaprint will turn them into personalised artwork and gifts that you and your family can enjoy for years to come.
I created a photobook which was really easy to do – there is a choice of 8 different sizes and once you have decided you are ready to start creating your photobook. I found it very easy to add photos and once I had selected them I just clicked the upload button and the photos were quickly uploaded. I was amazed how fast this process was, the last time I created a photobook I remember this stage taking ages so this was a definite improvement. Once the photos are uploaded you can use Vistaprint’s “Smart Selection” which removes any duplicates, blurry or out of focus pictures so you only have the best pictures in your album.
Once you are happy with your design it is then straightforward to finalise the order, just choose either standard or premium glossy paper and you are ready to go. Vistaprint have a range of delivery options including free economy delivery on orders over £40.
Ordering was very easy, once the order had been placed I received a confirmation email with estimated delivery dates and a second email once my products had been despatched. I actually received my gifts before the estimated delivery date which was quite impressive.
Now that it has arrived I am thrilled with my photobook, it looks very professional and I know my husband will love it. I will certainly use Vistaprint again as after seeing the quality of the photo book I am really interested in trying some of the other photo products that they do. With such a wide choice I just need to decide which ones!
Photobooks start at £7.49 and there is currently 40% off so get those Valentine’s gifts ordered soon!
The Review Studio 