More 'Natural' Perfume

Since embarking on a more natural beauty routine for the past 6 or so months, I've really missed having a perfume that I could wear on the few occasions that I go out anywhere special.  I have been using a Neal's Yard blend of essential oils, which I have now really got into using on a daily basis and I like it, but it isn't a strong scent and does tend to wear off pretty quickly.

Anyway, after watching Rachel from All Natural Aspirations on YouTube, I heard about a company called Eden Perfumes, which sells similar perfumes to some of the famous perfume brands, but made largely from essential oils and other natural ingredients.  To be perfectly honest, I was a little sceptical, but Rachel found that they did smell like the originals (or the one she'd tried did) and that they lasted well too.

After feeling deprived for so long, I finally cracked and ordered myself a bottle the other day.  At £15 for 30ml (including postage), they are far cheaper than the similar branded versions.  I went for No. 404, which is supposed to be made from similar notes to YSL Paris, which is a longstanding favourite.

A few days later it arrived. I was quite excited to see if it did in fact resemble the original and to my surprise it did. It is largely made from natural and organic ingredients, bar one ingredient namely, alpha-isonomethyl ionone, which is regularly used in fragrances and fragranced products.  It can, however, cause allergic reactions, so there are restrictions on it's use.

Other than this, Eden perfumes apparently do not contain any nasties such as parabens or phthalates. I did, however, find the perfume itself gave me a slight headache when I first put it on. Perhaps this was because I haven't worn a 'perfume' for so long now, but it did subside within an hour or so and on subsequent use didn't affect me.  It hasn't put me off using it though and this will definitely be my go 'perfume' to for nights and days out.

When I put on the same sweater the next day, I could still smell the perfume from the night before, which was encouraging, as was the fact that LB said that I smelt like me again.  She remembered me wearing the original in the past.  If that isn't proof that it smelt very similar, I don't know what is. I may even ask for another different blend for Christmas, as there is another branded 'perfume' that I like that they also do a similar perfume to.

Here's a picture of the perfume and the box it comes packaged in.

The packaging is very simple, but not unattractive.  The perfume comes in a spray bottle that can be refilled. I believe that they are a vegan brand and they have shops in Brighton and Hove and take a stall at some Vegan Fairs, where you can get a refill rather than buy a new bottle.  If you are interested, take a look at their website edenperfumes.co.uk.

Please Note:  I purchased this item myself and this is not an affiliated post, nor am I sponsored by the above company.  I just thought they may be of interest to anyone who is looking for a more natural perfume at a reasonable cost.

Homemade Doggie Paw Balm

The other day, OH informed me that we'd run out of Doggie Paw Balm.  We tend to treat our dog's paws with it in the winter, as the wet and cold causes them to crack and get sore.

As a new pet shop had just opened on our high street, which I've been hoping for for a while, I thought I'd pop in on my dog walk the other morning and see if they had some.

As OH bought the last lot online, I wasn't sure how much it cost, I was thinking perhaps £5, but when I did see the price of the one in the pet shop, although it looked a big jar and good quality, I just couldn't bring myself to spend so much on it. (It was quite a lot more than my estimate!)  I decided instead that I'd look for a recipe online and make some.

As I carried on with my dog walk, I googled a recipe on my phone and to my delight I already had all the ingredients in my cupboard.  As soon as I got home I set to making it and within a few minutes I had several small pots of it ready to use. Here's the recipe I used:

(I checked this out on several different web sites and checked items for sale on Etsy and eBay, and most have the same or similar ingredients, so I'm 99% sure that this will be a safe recipe)

2tsp Organic Shea butter
2tsp Organic Coconut Oil
4tsp Beeswax Pellets
1tsp Sweet Almond Oil
1tsp Vitamin E Oil

I actually halved the ingredients for this recipe and then all of the ingredients were melted in a bain marie, before pouring them into small pots.  I'd just bought some pots on eBay in order to make my Peppermint Lip Balm for Christmas gifts. Here's the finished result:

Apparently, you can add Lavender essential oil to the mix, but I did read somewhere that you need to use therapeutic grade and mine is a cosmetic grade, so I didn't bother.

I tried it out on the dog.  She seemed to enjoy being pampered a little once she got used to it. She had no adverse reaction whatsoever and didn't even attempt to lick it off, so I will be using this regularly throughout the winter. I may even make a pot for some friends who have a dog. The best bit is finding a new and interesting way to use some of my stash of natural ingredients.

A Few New Books to Read

On the dog walk last Friday morning, I stopped by the new Little Free Library again, to drop off a couple of books and see if there was anything that appealed.  What I found, aside from an autobiography of a cricket commentator for OH, was this book, which for some reason I fancied reading.  I seem to be getting more and more drawn to the idea of eating less meat and this just looked to be a very interesting read.

Later on the same day, I had to pop into the library with LB, for her to take back some books and I saw this book on the shelf.

I was looking at this on Amazon the other day, with a view to asking for it for Christmas, so when I saw it I thought, why not borrow it and save OH some money.  So I did.

The following week, despite being on a no buying of books ban, as I've got so many still to read on my shelves, I'm afraid I was a little naughty, as when I popped into Poundland the other day, I found four books that sounded like they were worth a read for £1 each.

Here they are:

One is by Lucy Diamond and I've read a few of her books over the last couple of years and have really enjoyed them.  This one sounds like a good read too.  The other three authors are all from the US and the synopsis on the sleeves sound interesting, so I indulged myself. I've often bought books from here and they've more often than not turned out to be good reads too. Definitely good value.

They will of course be shared around once read via the Little Free Libraries, so call them a future community donation.  Sounds much better than self-indulgence. I'm looking forward to reading all of these books.  Consequently, there could be some more book reviews coming in the not too distant future. Brace yourselves!

Procrastinating Can Have Benefits

Firstly, I have to admit, that I am a great procrastinator.  If I can put something off until tomorrow, I generally will.

I've been procrastinating about a certain health issue for a couple of years now, but in the last couple of weeks my thoughts have been focused on this issue more than ever and I've suddenly felt compelled to do something about it, but not actually found the courage. (Don't worry, it's nothing too serious - I hope).

Anyway, for the past week I've even been losing sleep over it, as I've been waking at 5am a couple of times, feeling a bit panicked, and then not being able to get back to sleep.  On both these occasions I've got up and got on with quiet tasks that don't disturb anyone else in the household, which has in turn made the following day a little easier.

In addition, my procrastination has led me to do quite a few other things, which I've blogged about here.  You were probably wondering why I suddenly got interested in defrosting the freezer and de-gunking the bathroom.  Yes, procrastination works wonders on those jobs you hate to do, as it serves to make these jobs seem positively enjoyable.

The final distraction came last night.  I decided to declutter and re-organise my photos, both on my computer and on my phone.  I went through them all meticulously, created seperate folders based on what the photographs were of, distributed the photos accordingly and deleted any I no longer needed. It felt great and it will be much easier to find a photo to upload when I don't have to scroll past hundreds of holiday pics.

Perhaps it was the final straw, but you'll be glad to know that I actually finally did something about the issue concerned today.  I made an appointment to see someone. Hopefully, I can now get back to normal and can leave those not so pleasant jobs undone from now on.

Freezer Defrost and Reorganisation

Defrosting the freezer is one of those jobs that I really don't enjoy.  I know it's necessary and all that and I usually do it at least once a year, usually before Christmas.  Consequently, it was looking pretty bad and desperately needed a good defrost. I've kept waiting until I didn't have much in it, but it just wasn't happening.

We've got a second stand alone freezer in OH's office, (our basement) which I bought to store allotment produce.  In all honesty, I've hardly used it, as I don't have that much produce from the allotment as it is quite a small plot.

In addition, the noise and presence of it in OH's office isn't really appreciated and he wants to build some storage into the space it currently inhabits.  As his parents have recently been looking for a new under counter freezer, I have offered it to them.  We just need to take it up north with us next chance we get.

Before I lose it forever, I decided I needed to use it to help me defrost the freezer in the kitchen, which currently has quite a bit of meat in it.  It's well frosted up as the photos attest to and the ice is taking up precious space for storage.

We don't have a large freezer, just two shelves, so space is of a premium and in an attempt to re-organise the freezer a bit more satisfactorily, I decided to splash out and buy some new freezer containers to store leftovers and other loose things that I freeze, such as pesto cubes, tomato puree cubes, garlic cubes, fruit, home grown vegetables, meat for the dog, etc. Here's the stack of boxes I bought at Poundland the other day to do the job.

I spent £6 buying all of these, but it will be money well spent if it makes life easier when putting away the shopping every week.

I plugged in the other freezer and let it get cold overnight and then the next day I set about transferring the contents so that I could get on with the job.  Here's a photo of the freezer before I started work...

....and here's the end result.

A few things did get thrown away, mainly due to the fact that they didn't look too good and had been in there for far too long.  The chicken got removed to defrost for our Sunday lunch too, which freed up some room.  When it was done, it felt very satisfying to have a more organised and better utilised space. I'm aiming to use much of what is in here this month and whittle the contents down in the lead up to Christmas.

Sunday Shopping

I don't usually like to do my weekly food shop on a Sunday, well, not all of it that is.  I often drop into Lidl after the gym to get some basics that see us through the rest of the weekend and part of the week, but generally do a proper food shop on a Monday.

This week, however, was an exception, as I had my last Waitrose £16 off a £75 spend voucher to use up and after unsuccessfully attempting to order my shopping online and either collect it or have it delivered in time to still qualify for the discount, I decided to head to the store to make sure I could use the voucher before it expired the same evening.

I went to a different and closer store this time, one where I would normally have to pay for parking in the shopping mall where the store is situated, but with a bit of creative thinking, I managed to persuade OH to drop LB and I off to do the shop, whilst he walked the dog in nearby parkland. (He could park for free elsewhere)  He then picked us up when we'd finished and thus we avoided any ridiculously hefty car parking charges. They're a real bug bear with me.  I think if you are spending money in the mall, you should get free parking, at least for the first couple of hours, which was the case when it first opened, but it now costs at least £5 on a weekend, which I resolutely refuse to pay. I'd rather catch the bus in and have no parking charges or more simply not go at all.

Anyway, I digress and needless to say, it was very busy with shoppers on a Sunday afternoon. The till operator indicated that a lot of people had been using up their vouchers, so I obviously wasn't the only person to make a point of doing it.  I managed to get most of my shopping bar a couple of small items, which I'll pick up today and saved £19 in total by using another voucher I had.  A good result, but I'll be happy to go back to my normal shopping routines next week and not feel compelled to shop at any particular store.  That is unless another set of vouchers come winging my way in the mean time.

We were straight in and out, the only extra that went in the trolley were some chocolate Christmas tree decorations, which although not essential, will be put away for Christmas.  I like to buy the odd thing here and there so that nearer the time we just have to buy the fresh items of food that don't keep. With two bags full of groceries each, even if we'd wanted to, we couldn't even begin to think of looking in any of the other shops in the mall.  To be honest, there wasn't anything I needed or wanted to particularly look at.  Instead we headed straight home, for our Sunday roast chicken dinner, before I spent the evening catching up with Saturday's Strictly show.  

Next weekend, we're off to France for the day on Saturday, for our once yearly booze cruise, where we'll be picking up lots of wine and spirits for ourselves throughout the year and to give away as presents this Christmas.  I will be doing some of my weekly food shop there too, which will be a treat. I'm already looking forward to buying a whole heap of French style set yoghurts.  I just love them. It will also be the first shop I've done in France since I changed to eating more wholefoods, so it will be interesting to see what they have to offer on that front. 

An Interesting New to Me Magazine

The other day, whilst getting a few bits in ASDA, I noticed this magazine on the rack and for some reason it called out to me.  Now I'm not a vegetarian, although I do use meat free products several times a month in my menu plans, but I thought I'd take a look as I'd never seen it before.

I was quite impressed with the contents.  Recipes, natural beauty, vegetarian gift/shopping guides. places to visit and other articles. I normally only buy magazines when there is a free gift I want attached, as I already get two magazines a month on free Tesco Clubcard subscriptions, but in this instance I decided to purchase it. It cost £3.99, but I have to say I'd probably buy this again, as it was quite a useful read and the ads in it are ones that would interest me.

If you like animals, veggie recipes, natural beauty (or know someone else who does) and want to read a glossy mag that isn't full of high end fashion adverts or if you want to buy a magazine subscription as a gift, you could do a lot worse than trying this one.