Sunday 26 February 2017

#Project 52 Week 8

I have been playing Snatch a lot this week which is great as it gets me walking around a lot :) If you haven't played then it's basically a game on the phone like Pokemon Go where you walk around finding parcels - you have to hold a parcel for 6 hours and then once it is secure you can open it and see what's in it - the parcel's can contain vouchers, coins or gems for in the game or actual prizes. If you find a golden parcel that contains a cash amount which you can claim through circle pay. Unfortunately players who are nearby can snatch your parcel so holding on to it for those 6 hours can be hard!

Anyways both m and the dog could do with taking more walks so this week we have done a fair few miles walking around to find parcels :D

Today we went for a lovely walk along the river but my phone was dead (probably due to the fact I have been using it non-stop to find parcels!) so had to take the pics of the extremely muddy hound from home!

Due to the weather the poor dog has had several washes and baths this week! But here he is after our long walk today all muddy and gross - and the after his bath pic where he is all fluffy and clean - Enjoy


Muddy Hound
Fluffy clean and blow dried hound!

Medium Charity Night

I believe in ghosts, spirits and things that go bump in the night haha well maybe not quite but I do believe there are things that can't be explained and am open minded to the possibility that ghosts and paranormal stuff exists.

Last night me, my mum and big sister went along to a Medium night held to raise funds for a local Kitty rescue. It was pretty busy with a couple of hundred people there and we were all sat out at tables throughout the room. We had a table a couple of tables back and to the side.

The guy starts his act and I'm feeling pretty skeptical I have to be honest it all seemed a bit wishy washy to me -  a woman who liked wearing lipstick with tummy troubles - hell that's half the female population its called periods dude! Anyways I was quite bored to be honest until the guy suddenly zones in on me!

Great, because having a room full of people staring at me is just what I want - not!

Predictably I turned my usual glowing shade of red as I was handed a microphone and he asked questions - did this make sense did that make sense and so on.

Anyways he got a few things spot on which are not something you would necessarily guess such as the thing about my sister's dog - she's an old dog who is blind and doesn't go out for walks anymore - she liked to pace in circles in the garden. My sister has no ties to the cat rescue and there is no way they would have known that! There was also a few other things that were spookily right but then there was a tonne of bits that were way off - so I am at a 50 / 50 if it was real or not! Which is kind of frustrating for me as I like certainty!

I have been invited to another medium evening in a little town about 20 mins drive away in April which I am probably going to go to and see if anything comes through again :)

On the plus side I did win in the raffle :) A little black and white fleecey bag with a eye maske, blanket and travel pillow in - purrrfect for me with all the travelling I like to do :D


Friday 24 February 2017

Savvy Circle - Head & Shoulders - Thoughts

So after a couple of weeks of using the new Head & Shoulders 3 Action Formula and getting feedback from the family and friends who tried the unlabelled version:

1. It smells amazing - it  doesnt smell like your usual anti-dandruff shampoo - sometimes they can smell a bit chemically - a 3 of the people doing the unbranded challenge thought it was Pantene  from the smell

2. A little goes a long way - you can use a grape size amount and it lathers through the hair really well - I had similar feedback from my trial buddies

3. You don't need to use conditioner every day - I found that it left my hair silky and soft without needing extra conditioner - I dye my hair a lot and it can show a bit of damage so I usually have to use conditioner every day

The only negative I found is whilst I dont have dandruff using this I did find I did find that there was a little bit of shampoo residue build up no matter how much I rinsed it - this became a couple of dried small bits which were easily removed and didnt leave anything behind.

Also as someone who regularly dyes their hair (in my case blue, green, purple etc) I have found that anti-dandruff shampoos  in the past have stripped the colour from my hair - when using this daily I didn't notice an increase in the fading of my hair colour.

Over all myself and my 6 testers were pretty impressed with the shampoo.


Tuesday 21 February 2017

Rage Against the (blogging) Machine

I follow a lot of blogs across social media - I often follow links posted to blog posts especially from twitter - I may not read them everyday but every so often a post catches my eye and I trot off to read it.

I think in general most bloggers write some amazing posts - they spend a lot of time and energy on them particularly the 'professional' bloggers who have turned their blog into a (usually) 1 person home business.

The influence of bloggers has never been higher and shouldn't be underestimated - they can and do influence people - whether it be to try a new product, or to get involved in a campaign. Bloggers work hard and those with a massive following and who put out continuosly high quality content should be paid for their work and their collaborative posts.

But as Uncle Ben says With great power comes great responsibility (sorry couldn't resist a Spidey quote there). Which is why I really think that there is certain paid for content on blogs which really shouldn't be there - specifically posts promoting PayDay Loan companies (and other financial low lives!) and gambling.

Advertising agencies have super strict guidelines around both these products for a very good reason!

PayDay loan companies are notoriously bad for people who already have money problems or are in any kind of financial difficulty. They are an extremely expensive form of finance and can lead into a spiral of debt if they are given to someone who is unable to afford to pay the loan off in full and not be short the next month.

An example

Anne earns £1000 a month

Her disposable income after all essential bills are paid is £200 a month

Her car needs repairs which will cost £150 so she takes out a short term / payday loan because she has that as disposable income and she read on a blog that all the negative hype about these companies is just hype and that actually they aren't that bad.

The total cost of the loan to be repaid is £200 with charges.

If she pays the loan she now has NO income for the month.

The likelihood is that she will either

A. Pay off the loan in full and then borrow again in order to have money for the month
or
B. Partially pay off the debt and roll it over to the following month: so Pay £100 which takes the debt down to £100 plus the rolling £50 charge so she still owes £150 and the following month will be in a similar  situation.

Either way the loan isnt going to just cost her the initial £50 in fees it's going to cost more and if she becomes reliant on these loans she is basically spiraling!

As for gambling? I have seen a certain well known blogger lets call her Bloggie promoting a variety of gambling sites. Her blog contains affiliate links to the sites so everyone who signs up through her she earns a bonus to play on the sites which depending on the site this could be anything from £5 up to £50 per sign up and deposit of a new player. Whilst this isn't the same as actual cash in the hand if she is still then getting to spend money on the sites for free and to possibly win which leads on to my real issue with this - Bloggie writes up a wonderful review on the gambling site - she also posts her winnings on the review making it seem like it's a sure thing to win. As well as the review she as done she also posts her winnings with screen shots all over social media - just withdrew another £500 from XYZ site if you fancy a go use my unique code for a free fiver etc etc etc

So you then have Anne again - Anne's struggling she doesn't have a huge amount of cash but she reads Bloggie - has done for a while and trusts her reviews - not only that but Bloggie is posting all these amazing things on Facebook and twitter about her wins AND she's offering a free trial on the site so hey why not give it a go? Anne creates an account and plays with the free code she is given and shock oh shock she wins only £10 but that's pretty good right? Within 2/3 games she's doubled her starting money and thinks hey this is actually easy - of course she can't withdraw that money she has won because in the small print of the sign up there is the minimum wagering clause and a bunch of other things. But she is feeling pretty confident now and has a bit of a buzz from playing. She knows it is possible to win - she's just done it - if only she had been playing with actual money like her buddy Bloggie she could be withdrawing that money right now!

So Anne fueled by her confidence that she can't fail to lose decides - I'll just deposit a tenner if I lose it's only £10. She plays ad she wins a bit but nothing massive and after a bit her £10 plus all her winnings have gone. But she is certain she is due a big win soon after all Bloggie won loads and she had won some small amounts, I mean okay she had then spent those winnings but a big  win is due right?  Fast forward a bit and Anne is now spending more than she can afford chasing her losses and spiraling!

Some people might say so what? Anne''s an adult - in both these scenarios she had a choice and she chose  to go down those paths and that is absolutely correct she did BUT her  decision - that first step in the direction of spiraling downwards was influenced by reading a post made by someone she looked up to, she thought she knew and she thought was advising her to do so.

This is why I have personally decided that any blogger who I follow on any platform who advocates or posts these type of collaborative posts I will unfollow. I am sure it wont bother them, the loss of one small follower with an even smaller blog will be like a drop in the ocean but at least I know that I am not going to be responsible for increasing their influence even a smidgen and for me that's important.

NB Yes I know that not all short term loan companies are run by Satan and not all gambling sites are the digital equivalent to crack and that not all bloggers who promote both are in it simply for the cash some of them actually believe in these companies and genuinely enjoy these sites and those who are in it for the cash have bills to pay which are more important than morals and blah blah blah

#Project 52 Week 7

There is a lot of love on social media for furries in the pet brigade - dont get me wrong I do love my 4 cats and the dog but other pets are often over looked especially in the comping world - there's always things like tummy tuesday or caturday or sundaysnoozeday and so on where people can enter their usually very cute furry pets to win prizes. But hey - not all pets are furry :) We are very fond of our corns and corn snakes are the ideal pet for newbies to the non furry pet stakes. They generally have a pleasant temperament, are easy to handle and easy to look after in general. Most corn snakes are captive bred and come in a range of stunning colours. Some colour and pattern combos are highly sought after too!

My family have always had all sorts of pets - my sister currently has a dog and a tarantula, my niece has 7 or 8 different species of lizard - in the past we have had everything from tropical fish to birds to rodents to stick insects

So in honour of all those non furry pets out there I give you Emi and Morfa our beautiful corn snakes

#PostPost Week 7

So I have  kinda taken a step back from comping and reviews and stuff for a bit over the last few weeks due to being really busy with family things and work which means my post has been pretty rubbish :(

Here's this weeks bits though :)

1. Win DVD - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - from savvyentertainment blog - super excited with this as I really want to see it



2. Freebie - Wilkinson Sword razor - this is going in my nephew's easter bundle



3. Review - panda touch screen gloves from vipon



4. Review - wooly snug hat from vipon



5. Review - girls bug dress from vipon for my niece for Easter



6. Review - girls mermaid blanket from vipon for my niece for Easter



7. Review/Project - Daz bundle from SavvyCircle will be doing a review post shortly once I have really tried it out)


8. Review - tongue scraper from vipon (seriously been looking for new one for ages as used to get from boots but they dont seem to sell them anymore!)


Sunday 12 February 2017

#Project 52 Week 6

I spent some time this week with H teaching her different letters - we used one of those magnet board things and I dotted out the shapes for her to draw around and she loved it - she was very disappointed when we ran out of letters so we had to do it again from the beginning :)

#PostPost Week 6


Well not much post here this week :( but I have had a bit of a step back from applying for reviews, freebie hunting and comping because work has been busy and I have been super tired - I'm not good in the winter I tend to hibernate! I also forgot to photograph a few items too :(

Anyways:

1. A Honor 6x mobile phone worth £240!! I won this from their twitter and although I am super pleased to win I am a bit irked see I really needed a new phone and entered a ton of comps to win one and didnt so I then paid for an upgraded contract to get a S7 and 2 weeks later I get announced as a winner of this phone!! So annoying - as my phone is on contract I cant downgrade it so I have regretfully swapped this with a friend who needed a phone and had some amazon vouchers to swap




2. Some little Spa Find freebies - these are lovely I really like the face cream


3. Kitty ear head band to review from vipon


4. A Grossery Gang - win but no picture and I have posted it to a friend for her little boy

5. Roller sticker pen - review from vipon its pretty cool and I am using it to decorate my postcard entries 


Saturday 4 February 2017

Savvy Circle Project - Head & Shoulders 3 Action Formula

I'm super please to be taking part in another Savvy Circle Project - these are always super fun to do with lots of freebies and coupons to share with family and friends too!

This project is to try out Head and Shoulders 3Action Formula Shampoo.

We were supposed to get out packs out before Christmas but there was a little delay and they came out the last week of January.

I got my pack delivered to my work place because I didnt want to have to go to the PO depot to collect as they normally send out project packs via recorded / signed for delivery. Typically it arrived last Friday when I was off work and in Benidorm lol luckily work signed for it for me and kept it safe until I was back from my little break and able to grab it.

As  always the pack is really well thought of and well put together - everything packed into a lovely little bag :)


So what's in the pack?

1 full size product for me whoop whoop :)

6 small size unbranded bottles to give out to family / friends for them to try out - they are unbranded so they can be surprised when they find out its Head and Shoulders :)

35 single use sachets of the product to give out

10 50p off coupons

Ask you friend sheets

Project Guide


Now in my photo above there are only 5 of the unbranded bottles - thats because I gave out a bottle to my colleague at work when I opened the pack - she's my first tester :)

I didn't get my pack home until Thursday - which happened to be the day I got my new tattoo so I havent washed my hair until today (Saturday) because I didnt want to get the new tattoo wet.

First impressions of the shampoo?

It doesnt smell like Head and Shoulders! My sister who is also giving the unbranded bottle a try thought it was Herbal Essences or Pantene based on the smell of it. I have to admit I do like the smell - its fresh ad clean smelling and not overly fruity.

The shampoo itself is a pearly liquid a little bit runnier than my usual shampoo.

Now there are no photos of me washing my hair cos I didnt it in the shower and you dont need my shower pics :P

The shampoo lathers up really well and smells great. It also washes out super easily.

For this first wash I decided not to use any other product on my hair (I'm normally a conditioner and heat resistant spray / frizz ease type of girl). I left my hair dry naturally and was impressed with how soft and smooth my hair was left looking and feeling.




I was surprised that it pretty much left my hair frizz free which is great - it  also left my hair smelling great too.

I'm looking forward to trying the shampoo more and also to hearing back from how my unbranded trial people get on :)

#Project 52 Weeks 4 & 5

Again 2 posts in one - just because I was away last weekend and I am behind on everything boo!

#Project 52 Week 4

As I was in Benidorm and having a great time the photo this week has to reflect that :)

I actually wanted to post 2 photos :)

1st is my Benidorm selfie hehe


2nd is probably my fave pic I took on my weekend away - the beach front at La Cala with the Benidorm rock in the distance and a random sunbather chilling under a palm tree :)



#Project 52 Week 5

I got my new tattoo on Thursday and this has to be my photo of the week - I adore it - it took around 2 hours to do and is a mash up of a fab tree I found on deviant art with the Cheshire cat and some card suits :)




Benidorm

I went to Benidorm for a long weekend for my dad's 60th Birthday last weekend.

It was a pretty good trip - I flew with RyanAir from Bristol to Alicante - flew out at 11.30am on Friday and then flew home at 930am on the Monday. The flight both ways were pretty full - the flight was cheap under £60 return and I went hand luggage only - and I didnt bother booking my seat - I lucked out on the seats I got row 10 on the way out and row 3 on the way home so I was one of first off each time plus had room for my hand luggage - some people had to put their's in the hold!


The weather was pretty good warm enough for jeans and a tee and I had a  room in the Hotel Magic Cristal Park in Benidorm on the 7th floor with great views over te hotels with the mountains to the one side and the sea to the other. The hotel was pretty nice but full of old people haha - my room was good but it was miles from anywhere and although they had working lifts I needed to walk to my room from the 6th floor up a flight of stairs which wasnt too bad but did take a while.


The food was amazing and I was all inclusive - so much variety like 2/3 different main dishes, plus 2 soups, plus tapas, veggies side dishes etc every meal and fresh fruit, yoghurts, cakes, icecream, cheeses, meats, rolls, fish, salads and so on and so on. Also included drinks every meal you had variety of juices, plus a soda fountain, bottled water, cava, beer, red wine, white wine and so on. Brekkie was cooked breakfast, cereals, fruit, yoghurts, danishes/pastries, meats, cheeses etc

In the evening there was entertainment and always a quiz and then music and dancing - I won the quiz twice so won 2 bottles of  fizz :D

I was only there for a short time so my dad took me to La Cala - we had a wander around the beach and into the market - was a lovely day plenty to see and do - the market had some beautiful fruits and veggies and was lovely - I think if we went again I'd go half board or b&b and go shopping for fresh food at the market


My dad was 60 on the Saturday so in the evening they decorated tables in the lounge for him and some of his friends brought him a lovely fresh cream cake :) the entertainer announced his birthday and everyone sang happy birthday to him - he had a tonne of cards from his friends (they all go out every year)ad he even had a bottle of whisky from some of the staff.


 On the Sunday we walked down to the harbour and had a wander along the beach and into the shops - it was a nice chill out day because my ad was pretty much hung over haha from the night before.

I had to get picked up super early on the Monday for my 9.30 flight home - the flight was again fab - I had booked the 1230 coach back to Cardiff as they only run very 2 hours from Bristol - I had an hours wait in the airport but it had free wifi so I had a hot chocolate and sat inside and caught up on the news and things before getting home.

Definitely considering going back to Benidorm - I was expecting to hate it but I actually had a really good time - the hotel was in Old Benidorm and quiet and the shops and markets were fun - I would have likd to have gone to Altaya and maybe had a wander around Alicante too - maybe next year!


#PostPost Weeks 4 & 5

I've had to amalgamate both weeks as I was away for a long weekend last weekend away from the Friday - Monday and then straight back to work and out and about :)

So this is what came in the post :)

1. A Olay bundle I won from SuperSavvy - could choose 1 of 3 different bundles and I chse this one for my mum


2. A win from Sewing mag - some charts and material for cross stitch


3. Win - not strictly post but included anyways because I won 2 bottles of this fizz in Benidorm by winning 2 quizzes :D

4. Product trial from SuperSavvyCircle - Head and Shoulders campaign


5.£10 Tesco gift card to buy whole wheat products as we are taking part in the Whole grain challenge


6. Emoji clip dispenser which I won from twitter - love it have taken it to use in work its brill

7. Again not strictly post as I had to collect them from the box office haha - 2 free tickets to see La Cage Aux Folles at Cardiff's New Theatre - bloody amazing show - seriously John Partridge as Albane was amazing

8. Some different decorative tapes to review from vipon


9. A super snuggly blanket to review from vipon

10. A win - not sue where from but it's a tee and movie poster for the film - Let's Be Evil