No Preservatives – The Review Studio

St Michel Choco Snacks

Children, chocolate, Family Life, Home, Lunchbox Fillers, snacks, Summer

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

The St Michel Muffin, Waffle, Burger and Donut Choco snacks have recently been launched in the UK and we were sent a sample of each to try for this summer.

Made completely free from palm oil with no preservatives, interestingly they are made with cage-free eggs, giving a better life to the hens. St Michel is France’s premiere cake and biscuit brand, in business since 1905 and very proud of how they select the best quality ingredients.

Each box has 6 individually wrapped cakes, each one weighing around 30 grams each. Each variety has a different shape and use of the chocolate, so you’ll soon have a preference as to whether you like your chocolate in the middle (Choco Burger) or a Choco Donut, dipped in chocolate instead. The Choco Muffins are just as tasty and probably more suited to adults wanting a snack in the office or on the go and the Choco Waffles make a fun treat for anyone.

They’re made in France with French ingredients including French wheat with each sponge cake in a different shape or formation and topped or filled with smooth chocolate. They certainly have that chocolate-y taste which gives you the sweet hit when you need it. The sponges are feather light and contain sunflower oil instead of palm oil to not only save the palm oil forests but the sunflower gives a different hit to the texture of the sponge. The chocolate, which is made of hazelnut paste, is deliciously decadent and just what you would imagine from French patisseries. Just keep them less than 25 degrees centigrade otherwise you’ll end up with a sticky mess this summer!

St Michel Choco snacks are a fabulous snack idea for anyone who loves cake, needs a snack or wants something with a bit more goodness than sweets during the day. Perfect for chocolate lovers too.

Available from £2.00 at Tesco, Waitrose and online at Ocado: https://www.ocado.com/products/st-michel-doomino-chocolate-584037011

Re: Nourish Gazpacho and Soups

Children, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gluten Free, health, Lunchbox Fillers, Summer

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

Have you ever tried gazpacho before? No? Not sure what it is? Well gazpacho is a summer soup; cold soup drunk in the warmer months when hot soup would be unbearable but made with summer vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber etc) it is a favourite of BBQs and dinner parties.

Re:Nourish have a huge selection of soups and a gazpacho available in the shops in an array of flavours which would suit anyone. We were sent a selection including;

Pea, Basil & Lemon (for Energy)

Tomato, Red Pepper & Cucumber (to Refresh) – their gazpacho

Roasted Carrot & Ginger (to Digest)

Kale, Spinach & Turmeric (for Immunity)

Each of the qualities of the soups and gazpacho (Energy, Refresh, Digest and Immunity) are written on the bottle labels so that you can see what they’re great for, as well as the fact that they’re all delicious. The labels also tell you their nutritional content up front too, so the Pea, Basil & Lemon flavour is great for high protein, whilst the Tomato, Red Pepper & Cucumber flavour has vitamins C, A & E.

If you’re put off by the fact that a gazpacho is a summer soup then think of it asa vegetable smoothie. It has the texture of a soup, thin enough to be eaten with a spoon or if you prefer, they can be poured into a glass or drunk straight from the bottle. It’s not designed to be heated up, so there’s no temptation in making it look homemade, but they are very easy to eat as a snack or for lunch. I like to eat mine with a spoon and add some crème fresh or eat with crisps or tortillas for lunch.

The first flavour I tried was Roasted Carrot & Ginger soup. I particularly like carrot soup, so this with the addition of ginger seemed like a good place to start! You can really taste the ginger in this flavour, but not so much that it becomes too tart to eat. The Tomato, Red Pepper & Cucumber is the only gazpacho so far in the range, and is so refreshing with the addition of cucumber, working well with the fresh crème fresh. It’s very easy to eat because it’s essentially a tomato soup with some added extra veggies for flavour. These flavours would be great for children in order to get their vegetable quota in each day.

The Kale, Spinach & Turmeric and Pea, Basil & Lemon soups are different flavours as they’re more savoury and lend themselves towards a lunch rather than a snack. The added lemon and turmeric add a certain ‘kick’ to what you might think are bland green vegetables, but also add extra vitamins and minerals to make the drinks more exciting. I wouldn’t suggest introducing these ones to younger children as they’re a distinct taste and it will probably put them off Re:Nourish completely!

In addition to the mixture of vegetables and their vitamins, Re:Nourish gazpacho and soups have no additives, no preservatives, no added sugar and are high in fibre. They’re also gluten free, dairy free and low in fat, which is obvious if you think about how they’re just made from lots of vegetables!

Re:Nourish is available on their website: https://renourish.co.uk/collections/bundles or from retailers including Waitrose, Ocado, Planet Organic, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Co-Op among others!

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.