Green beauty bargain

I've just recently started using a new skincare range, but have been so impressed by it so far that I wanted to share with you. Organic Surge is manufactured in the UK, contains organic essential oils, has no animal testing and contains no chemical nasties like parabens, SLS, petroleum or propylene glycol. And the best bit is that it is really cheap! I have very dry, very sensitive skin, prone to flare ups of redness and flakiness and, for the last few years, have been using products from Neals Yard or Liz Earle - products which I love. However, whilst not being hugely expensive, they are a bit more than I really want to spend on skincare at the moment (as we're all trying to watch the pennies, aren't we?) So, when I spotted this new range in Boots last week, I thought I'd give them a go, especially as they had a "buy one get one free" offer on them. I bought the Gentle Cleansing Lotion and the Super-Intensive Daily Moisturiser and, since starting using them a week ago, my skin is now looking better than it has in a long time! The redness has all but gone, there is no sign of flakiness and my skin is feeling really soft and smooth. The products have a lovely, clean scent and feel really nice on my skin. Obviously, everyone's skin is different so what works for me might not work for you but at such reasonable prices I think it's definitely worth trying. I'm certainly converted! The brand also produce hair and body care products, so I shall definitely be giving those a go too. You can find out more about the brand at www.organicsurge.com

Rachel x

Paperless Kitchen Challenge!

A couple of weeks back, one of our members, Jo, emailed Emma with a link to a great post about the paperless kitchen idea. Now, both Emma and myself will admit that we are not great when it comes to this particular area - we both love our paper towels! So I was very interested to read the post, and we agreed that it was indeed something we ought to blog about here (and hopefully kick our butts into doing something about it!). Then, last week I read this post by Jessica of Turkey Cookies, about the very same thing. This time, it actually inspired me to do something about it straight away, so I dug out some fabric and quickly sewed up a few little napkins for the kids to use. They were so quick and easy to sew up, I don't know why I haven't made any before, so I will definitely by making some more grown up sized ones too.




I also remembered that I still had a stack of muslin squares, from when the kids were babies, and thought that they would be perfect to use as "quick clean up" cloths, instead of always reaching for a paper towel. The squares were quite big but by cutting them into quarters they are now pretty much the same size as a sheet of kitchen roll.



Of course, if you don't have any old muslin squares lying around, I'm sure old t-shirts or other fabric scraps would work just as well. Now I just have to get myself into the habit of using them! I'm also going to try and remember to use a sheet of used newspaper for more solid messes - spilled food or vegetable peelings, which can then be thrown straight into the compost bin.

Please do take the time to read the two posts mentioned above if you can, as they have loads more great ideas for reducing paper use in your kitchen. I shall be keeping you updated with how I'm doing, and we wondered if you might like to join us on this little challenge? Please do let us know how you get along or, if you already have a paperless kitchen, do you have any other tips you could pass on?

Rachel x