Tag: No Additives

Marty’s Virgin Bloody Marys

Drinks and Mixers, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Who needs lessons in cocktail making when you can buy the cocktail mixers ready-made nowadays, and enjoy your cocktail without any of the mess!

Marty’s Virgin Bloody Mary is a pre-mixed Bloody Mary cocktail but without the alcohol. If you’re a fan of just the tomato juice, apple juice and apple cider vinegar summer drink then pop this in the fridge and drink away. Hugely hydrating, Marty’s Virgin Bloody Mary has no additives, is vegan and only contains natural sugars. You can of course, add your favourite alcohol to it to make up your own cocktail (conventional Bloody Marys have vodka but you can add anything you like to this!) or you can use it to create a completely new cocktail by adding other ingredients.  The high tomato content in this 750ml bottle can also be added to cooking – Bolognese sauces will never be the same!

Marty’s Mild Virgin Bloody Mary comes in a 750ml bottle but we were also sent the spicy version in 250ml. This had more of a kick to it and I would recommend the spicy version for cocktails where the alcohol balances out the spices. Both drinks are sold alcohol free though, so you can really taste the rich tomato flavours coming through in them, the spices that add the summer flavour and best of all, there’s no pulp from the tomato that you have to wade through in order to get to the flavour!  It is best to shake up the bottle first though as the natural juice does settle.

Best of all, Marty’s has won the Great Taste award in 2023 and A in the Aurora International Taste Challenge. Whenever a food wins such prestigious awards, I always like to find new ways of using it, so my lasagne is going to taste amazing this week, and I have ideas for a new salad dressing too!

MILD Virgin Bloody Mary currently on Sale for £20.99 for 3 at: https://drinkmartys.com/shop-uk/p/martys-virgin-bloody-mary-mild-3-pack

SPICY Virgin Bloody Mary currently on sale for £16.99 for 6 at: https://drinkmartys.com/shop-uk/p/martys-virgin-bloody-mary-6pack

RINGANA Summer Sunscreen and Light Legs

beauty, Family Life, health, Summer, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Summer often brings a need for different, and new, beauty products. RINGANA have sent us these 3 skincare products which are imperative for summer sun life, whether it be in this heatwave we have at home, or to take away on holiday with you.

RINGANA is an Austrian company that prides itself on the natural ingredients it uses for its skincare, beauty and supplement products. Unlike other companies, RINGANA, founded in 1996, use fresh ingredients to make the products from scratch and ship out worldwide to 34 countries, including many which they post products to for free. You won’t find RINGANA in the department stores or High Street, only online where their products are vegan and free from preservatives and additives.

With that in mind, their products are unlike any makeup you’d typically buy. We were sent three summer products to try, the RINGANA Fresh Sunscreen Medium SPF 20 (for medium sun days), RINGANA Fresh Sunscreen Face SPV 15 (face moisturiser for every day) and the delicious RINGANA Fresh Light Legs.

Starting with the RINGANA Fresh Light Legs, I didn’t know what it was so had to look it up on the website to find out what it was used for. Light Legs are for when your legs (or feet) are tired in the summer and need some rejuvenation.  Think about walking around on holiday, in the heat, probably wearing shoes which are totally inappropriate for the weather and terrain.  RINGANA Light Legs is for just this purpose!  I sprayed some on my calf as a test to see what it was like. The light spray sits on the skin and you rub it in slowly so that it penetrates into the muscle.  The feeling on your skin is a slight tingling as the ingredients work away to “pep up” your limbs.  Looking at the ingredients, it includes magnesium, which is a known topical tonic for tired muscles and is absorbed through the skin easily.  The fragrance is that of summer citrus, which also acts to boost your mood as you wear it.  The effect of the Light Legs was to keep my legs (I eventually used it all over) fresh and tingly, giving me some extra energy in the long run, relaxed my leg muscles.

The RINGANA Fresh Sunscreen Face SPF 15 can be used in summer but with the SPF protection it can be used all year round too as your daily face moisturiser. Made with natural plant oils and fragrance free, it protects against UV rays, antioxidants and blue light.  The breezy formula is designed for sensitive skin and is COSMOS certified, leaving your skin matt and smooth.  I like this formula because it’s so light on your skin but gives you all-round protection and is easy to wear under make up, as well as on its own. My skin was super hydrated but not greasy and stayed that way throughout the day.

The final RINGANA product we tried was the Fresh Sunscreen Medium SPF 20. This product can be used daily, but is more for occasions such as holidays or being outside for long periods of time. It’s waterproof and nano-free and relies on the natural mineral that is zinc oxide as a sun protection filter. 

The formula is perfume free, except for the ‘fresh’ smell of the natural ingredients as you apply it, and absorbs with a little effort leaving no film on the skin.  It’s nice and rich but also cooling and leaves skin moisturised.  I like this Fresh Sunscreen Medium because it doesn’t smell of the synthetic sun creams you get in the pharmacy.

All of the RINGANA products feel so soft and luxurious as they are made with fresh ingredients and not kept in unfavourable conditions for months on end.  The whole range of products are designed for everyday living, and summer especially is a great time to start using them.  You won’t find many places that make your skin products with fresh, fragrance free, artificial ingredient free and vegan like RINGANA.

RINGANA Fresh Sunscreen Medium SPF 20 (£38.45) https://www.ringana.com/produkt/fresh-sunscreen-spf-20/?lang=en

 RINGANA Fresh Sunscreen Face SPF 15 (£27.75) 

https://www.ringana.com/produkt/fresh-sunscreen-face/?lang=en

RINGANA Fresh Light Legs (£23.93) https://www.ringana.com/produkt/fresh-light-legs/?lang=en

KIND Caramelised Biscuit Nut Cereal Bar

Family Life, Food & Drink, health, Lunchbox Fillers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I’m a big fan of cereal bars. They’re great for snacks at home, or in your bag to go to work and children love them. KIND have a variety of cereal bars of different flavours, but all of them are high in fibre, high in protein and have no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They’re gluten free too!

The team at KIND send us a box of their new Caramelised Biscuit Nut flavoured KIND bars to try, which have the same high fibre, high quality ingredients. The main food factor in these Caramelised Biscuit Nut KIND bars is nuts making up 81% of the bar overall. They actually contain peanuts, almonds and cashews with added spice biscuit and caramel.  The result is a sweet, slightly sticky cereal bar with a honey coating and nutmeg and cinnamon flavouring. Despite the cinnamon, they don’t taste ‘Christmassy’ at all, more like the coffee biscuits you get in cafes when you order a latte.

I really enjoyed the KIND Caramelised Biscuit Nut bars and found them really filling as either a snack or part of a lunch. They have the added bonus of being high in fibre and have all the nutrients you find in nuts but with all of the flavour.  The bars are great for protein too, although at 226 calories it’s not really a health bar, but will pack in the energy if you need a sugar rush in the afternoon.

As with all KIND bars, these became addictive! Everyone in the office loved them for both their flavour and texture, which is more for adults than children due to containing nuts. If you’re a fan of KIND bars, you’ll love these too!

More details at: https://www.kindsnacks.co.uk/products/kind-bars/caramelised-biscuit-nut

Purchase from Ocado, Waitrose and other stores from £1.30.

Re: Nourish Refreshing Gazpacho for Summer!

Fitness, Food & Drink, health, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Re:Nourish’s fresh Gazpacho for summer has been a welcome refreshment in our house this year.

I haven’t really tried gazpacho before, just once at a restaurant and I didn’t know what to make of it at first, but now that I’ve tried it again, it’s a welcome removal from normal summer drinks or meals. What is gazpacho though?  The simplest way to explain it is that it’s a summer soup – literally a cold soup which isn’t as thick as what you find in a tin on a winter’s day but instead uses fresh ingredients and is never served warm, only cold.

Re:Nourish sent us some Tomato, Red Pepper and Cucumber Gazpacho (95% vegetables to try, which is rich in vitamins C, E and A. It’s also vegan, gluten free, dairy free and has no artificial additives or preservatives and no added sugar. Yes, it’s completely fresh!

How does it taste though? Well straight from the fridge, I put this into a bowl to eat, but you could just as easily drink it straight from the bottle or in a glass. It’s not like tomato soup at all; instead you can taste the tomato and red pepper, then the taste of the cucumber comes through to add a ‘coolness’ to the taste. The texture is very velvety too, not chunky. You could describe it as a savoury smoothie.

It’s important not to heat this as it’s not designed to be ‘cooked’ but instead eaten straight from the fridge.

It’s an incredibly handy lunch (think: working lunch) or as a snack, but if children enjoy it, I can’t see why it can’t go in a lunchbox as well!  The fact that it has so many vitamins and doesn’t have the preservatives or additives of other meals, plus is dairy free and gluten free, it’s accessible to everyone who enjoys vegetables and makes a great alternative to having to cook something when you’re busy, or super hungry!

Their website already has soups, but I am looking forward to seeing what other gazpacho flavours are coming soon!

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