We were sent a new product from Halos N Horns to try and and give our opinion on.
The Zingy Orange Hair and Body Wash is a new product that combines shampoo and body wash.....an excellent idea for little ones who don't like having their hair or body washed ( Ben!)

Halos N Horns is a product I first became aware of when Megan was born. One of my friends new born babies suffered badly with excema and another mum recommended that she tried this as there are no hidden ingredients to dry out delicate skin.

This is what they say about this...

About Halos N Horns

We are very proud of Halos N Horns, our lovely range of bath time products for kids. We have put a lot of effort into making sure they are as safe to use as possible and have removed loads of unnecessary ingredients that can be found in many other products. We want to make sure you can enjoy bathing your children using gorgeous, fruity-smelling products without any niggling worries about what you're putting on their skin - bliss!

But once you manage to get your grubby little monsters undressed and into the tub, we know that getting them clean sometimes presents you with a few battles. At Halos N Horns we’ve decided that you just can’t fight the fun and we’ve had a blast creating some gorgeous, kiddie-friendly toiletries to help you join in the giggles.

 

Halos N Horns fruity-smelling, funky coloured shampoos, conditioners and body washes are all formulated to help you take good care of your little ones’ skin, and to help get even the busiest toddler into the bath. Use these fruity friends without worrying. Made with natural conditioners and plant derived cleansers and none of the ingredients that commonly irritate delicate skin, Halos N Horns products are safe and gentle.

In the last 8 years, since I became aware of the product it has gone from strength the strength whilst still being a leading brand in protecting skin.

This new hair and body wash states:

Just the ‘zing’ for messy toddlers 

 Halos N Horns announces the arrival of their Zingy Orange Hair & Body Wash with a new fresh fruity fragrance.

Possibly their best-selling bath product, mums love this hair and body wash, but say it’s not as ‘zingy’ as they’d expect.  So Halos N Horns has listened and come up with an even zingier fragrance, that’s even more like freshly squeezed oranges.  And brilliantly the fragrance is still allergen free to help reduce irritations and sensitivity to allergies! Plus, only food grade colours are used in the orange gel formulation.

This product was created to champion the genuine needs of parents who are concerned about the ingredients and chemicals they put on their child’s skin. Formulated with plant-derived cleansing ingredients, this hypoallergenic and non-drying wash is so lovely and gentle it can be used as an all-over hair and body wash.   Halos N Horns understands how delicate and sensitive young skin can be, so Zingy Orange (and all its baby and toddler bath products) contains no SLS and no parabens.    This means it’s not as foamy and bubbly as some other products – but don’t worry it’s still doing a great job!

Mums say:  “It does a great job on messy toddlers and works well on sensitive skin and for little ones who suffer from eczema … If you want a body wash with no nasties this is good for the price”.

In tests, Zingy Orange Hair & Body Wash scores one of the highest ‘kind to eyes’ ratings - making it ideal for tear-free hair washing.

The zingy, fresh fruity smell and bright playful colours, will really appeal to little ones too – helping to make bath time fun for toddlers and parents.

Halos N Horns Zingy Orange Hair & Body Wash is an all-rounder to encourage kids into the bath - the speedy two-in-one formulation also makes it ideal at the swimming pool, for post swim showers with little ones.

You’ll find Halos N Horns Zingy Orange Hair & Body Wash in Asda, Boots and online at Ocado.  RRP £3.05.

With this in mind, me and Ben tried it out. As Ben suffers from mild eczema, I have to be careful what I use on this skin. It is only fairly recently that I have started to add bubble bath to his bath and thankfully there haven't been any flare us.

The smell is lovely, Ben commented on how it is 'like orange', one of his favourite fruits!

It was great to be able to wash his hair and body at the same time as it is not his favourite thing in the bath! It lathered up really quickly and I was able to wash him quickly with no fuss. It didn't bother him when it went in his eyes and we just rinsed it off quickly. A definite hit here!

If you have little ones with delicate skin or children who don't like bath time, give it a go!

We were sent this product for review, all opinions are our own.

Hotel Chocolat Wreath Review

When I was asked whether I would like some chocolate to review I am sure you can guess my answer! Hell yes please!
Hotel Chocolat asked me to select one of their gorgeous chocolate selections and with it being Christmas I picked this very festive wreath.

This is how it is described on their website:

Inspired by one of the absolute classic flavour combinations of mellow 50% cocoa milk chocolate working in perfect harmony with nibbly cookies and hand cut florentines that beautifully balance the sweetness of the chocolate. Perfect for slicing and sharing with family and friends.

Sounds amazing!!!!


When it arrived it looked so yummy it was all I could do to not rip it open and eat it all by myself, but I thought I better at least show Megan, Ben and Mr W first!

The wreath was beautifully wrapped in a presentation box and bow.

We carefully opened it and ohhed and awwed over it for at least a minute before we couldn't resist any longer!

We broke into it and dug in....

What can I say, simply divine!The beautiful chocolate mixes so well with the crunchy biscuit to produce a lovely flavour.
The wreath is so thick that you really only need a small piece of it, although Mr W tried to eat all of it.....

Megan declared it the best thing ever and 'can we have another???' before she had even finished her small piece!

As I was seeing my sister, mum and auntie over the next couple of days I gave them a small piece to sample too and their opinions were an overwhelming YES!

Hotel Chocolat offers such a wide range of products and caters for all needs from diabetic, gluten free, nut free, vegan, dairy free, vegetarian, alcohol free and organic, that there really is something for everyone!

And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, they even have an end of season sale on so you can grab yourself a yummy bargain!

The quality of the wreath, the packaging and presentation made this a beautiful product to review and I would definatly recommend you have a look at their website for a present for someone or even a little treat like this  or this for yourself!!  Go on treat yourself!!!

We were sent this wreath free of charge, but all opinions are most definatly our own!!!

Christmas Day 2013

Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous day.....
I am writing this lying on the sofa, surrounded by the family watching TV, playing on kindles, watching football and eating nibbles.

Megan and Ben had lots of lovely presents off father Christmas. Megan got a kindle fire and Ben got a 3DS amongst lots of other things.

We had a great time opening presents and then we went to visit Mr Ws family and spent some time with them, before coming back to my parents.

We had a lovely time there, although I think my dad was a bit overwhelmed having just come out of hospital on Christmas eve, after five months.

We opened more presents and the most delicious dinner of prawn cocktail, pate for me, followed by turkey, beef, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts, broccoli, pigs in blankets, stuffing, yorkshire puddings and gravy.

Later on we went to Darrens mums for the evening, which was lovely and chilled.

Just a few snaps from today fun......

Meeting Santa at Chill Factor e

Tuesday was a really busy day at work but I had something special to look forward to. We had been invited to the Chill Factor e to visit Santa in his grotto and have a play in the snow!
I went with Laura and Grace, and as I was coming back that way, we agreed to meet there.
When we arrived we went to the Santa desk and a lovely lady instructed us to go and get kitted up and come back round to visit Santa before our play in the snow.
We went into the changing rooms and were very quickly given our clothes and snow boots and got everyone ready.
We then wandered back round, pausing at the gorgeous Christmas tree for a photo opportunity!

All suited and booted and ready to meet Santa!

We queued for about 10 minutes to see Santa, which was no problem as the children were busy watching the skiers through the window or sitting at the small table that had been set up with Christmas pictures to colour and colours for the children.
When it was our turn to go in, we walked along the edge of the snow area which was decorated with lights, deer and penguins.
Santa greeted us in his grotto, which was set up like a living room, with Christmas tree, fireplace with stockings around and other lovely touches. Santa himself was probably one of the best I have seen. He was a jolly round man, in a velvet red suit and authentic looking beard!

SANTA!

Santa took lots of time to speak to the children, asking their names, ages and what they would like for Christmas. He asked whether they thought they had been kind to one another and helpful to others. He really interacted with the children and spent a lovely long time talking to them, asking what they would leave out for him on Christmas eve. We didn't feel rushed at all as we spent quite a while in the grotto with the big man. He gave them all a gift and an extra special monkey teddy for Grace. As we came out, he said we were the loveliest people he had seen, and whether he meant that or not, it made the children really happy!

Ho Ho Ho!

There was an opportunity to buy a picture in a number of different formats, that we had taken with santa too.
We left the grotto and headed out into the snow. The snow play area was set up with a small sliding area, a play house, slide, and lots of lovely snow!

The kids had a ball! Grace loved the play house and spent ages inside.
Megan and Ben had great fun sliding down the small ramp in the rings.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

We then all had a snow fight which was very funny! They all had a go at making snow angels too!

Snow angels.

After about 40 minutes the children were cold enough for us to convince them to come out and get changed. They did this in record time, especially when we said they could open their present off Santa if they were quick!
I would definitely recommend you visit Santa here if you get a chance this festive season. You can check out the prices and choice of activities when you visit Santa and book online before you come as I am sure the next couple of weeks will be busy ones for Santa!



We visited the Chill Factor e free of charge for this review. All opinions are my own.

Shrek the Musical on DVD

Shrek is one of my favourite films, so I was very pleased when I was asked if I would like to review the DVD of Shrek the Musical.

Shrek is now an award winning Broadway show, which is based on the smash hit movie, which includes 17 new songs! Tickets are now on sale for the show in Manchester next December.

Right from the opening scene, it made me laugh.
It starts with Shrek as a small boy who is sent off into the big wide world by his parents. The song that accompanies this is very funny as his parents describe the wonders of the world, but state that they aren't for him! Poor Shrek!

All the usual characters are in the musical and they are transferred onto the stage very successfully.
Donkey is great, with lots more added humour that goes so well in the show. The dragon is very well done and very big! Ben watched the DVD with me and he was very taken with the dragon. There are a lot of little touches that help to make the play so successful.
Princess Fiona is a bigger than life character, who is a bit quirky. She is a perfect match for Shrek, and they are both played so well on stage.
The songs are fab. The ones we knew we were singing along to, and the new ones had us humming too!
The costumes throughout were just breathtaking. Obviously, as ogres, both Shrek and Fiona had exaggerated characteristics which made them very ogre like! This must of been really hard to achieve but looked brilliant !Fiona in particular amazed me, as she has to transform into an ogre and change back into a princess numerous times throughout the show. Not easy thing I am sure, but each time she looked spot on.
All of the other characters were played perfectly too. They looked very realistic and just like fairy tale characters!

We really enjoyed this film and Ben has already watched it again. It will be one that comes out time and time again in our house.

If you are a fan of the Shrek films, you definitely need to see this DVD.

We were sent Shrek the Musical on DVD.

 All opinions are our own.

Skate With Santa At Spinningfields Ice Rink

We were very lucky to be invited to go along and Skate with Santa at Spinningfields Ice Rink in Manchester.
This is available at different times in the run up to Christmas and is proving to be very popular so it is worth booking online.
You are requested to arrive before your skating time so you can get your skates on. When we arrived, we joined the queue that runs around the side of the ice rink so you can watch the ice being prepared and if you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of Santa!

The whole skating rink experience is obviously well run. We were moved round and allocated skates quickly, and although the changing area is small there is just enough room as everyone is eager to get out onto the ice!
All around and on the ice there are 'stewards' ready to help and pick you up when you fall! After getting onto the ice with Ben, I realised that we were going to need help as he was struggling to stand up and I was worried he was going to pull me over too! I managed to have a word with one of the stewards and asked if they could find me one of the orange seals.

These seals are dotted all around and the idea is that you can sit young children on them and push them around the ice. Absolutely brilliant for us. Ben loved it and I had something to hang onto!
Ben also had a go at pushing it around which gave him the chance to skate without the worry of him falling over.

As well as the ingenious seals,  there were also the penguins, which were great for giving older children the confidence to skate, without worrying about falling over.
The big man himself, Santa, was on the ice throughout the session. He was skating around and waving to the children, stopping for pictures and to chat to the children. Megan and Ben didn't want to have a picture with him, but enjoyed waving everytime he passed by us. He wasn't the most authentic looking Santa, but to be honest it is probably quite hard to find an elderly gentleman, with a round tummy and white beard, who is good at ice skating too!
The skating session is about the right length of time, I think it was 45 minutes. Again, as you come off the ice the staff are very organised. Handing out shoes and collecting skates quickly and efficiently so you aren't hanging around.
The seals and penguins are collected in and the ice is prepared for the next session.
We had an amazing time. Megan and Ben really enjoyed it and have already asked if we can go again very soon!
If you get a chance, go and have a skate at spinningfields, it will definitely get you into the festive spirit!

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