Wonderfully Cute 'Dear Zoo' Storage Boxes. Oh, & Breaking Bad Themed Ones Too!

Far too fierce

Rod Campbell's animal illustrations will hit most of us with a huge wave of nostalgia, being nestled in the pages of children's book favourite, 'Dear Zoo'. 

Too big

Many of us not only remember Dear Zoo from the warm & cosy bedtime story time of our childhood, but also from owning a copy of the book now to share with the kids we have of our own.

Too naughty

The Works isn't a store I'm in regularly, but I needed to buy some storage and I had previously picked up Hungry Caterpillar and London Underground print boxes there maybe three years ago now for £10 for the two.

Brilliantly the offer is still the same price. They are collapsible and fairly sturdy so I use mine to store papers like bank statements, tax credit letters etc.

They are a suitable size to keep in your living room, to tidy away all the kids' toys quickly at bedtime, so you don't feel like you're sitting in a day nursery when it's time for telly, relaxing and grown-up time.

They cost £7 each, or two for £10. I didn't see the Breaking Bad versions in my local Bangor branch, but they do stock them on the  online store, and there are two designs. Great for chucking the otherwise cluttered pile of DVDs and Blurays beside the TV in. Could be a good Christmas present for the untidy Breaking Bad fan in your life!

If meth-themed storage isn't your thing, then there are a dozen or so other patterns in the cube, collapsible box range. 

I was after a particular type of box, for storing my daily-use makeup, so to take advantage of the 2 for £10 offer I chose an owl & the pussycat collapsible box for Michael to keep his room tidy with.

The boxes that suited storing my makeup best were these two cute, vintage-look, floral suitcases, which came as a set for £7, or mix and match in the 2 for £10 offer. 

You can see the pile of various makeup and hair products I use every day behind them in the photo below. Having that cluttered collection sitting there was annoying me, and I didn't want to put it all away in my drawers on the other side of the room, and get it out again every morning and night. 

The large case stores everything I use in the morning. Foundation, mascara, primers etc are loose, then all my eyeshadow products or anything that's a bit messy I can keep in the original vintage Ladybird book makeup bag. 

The smaller of the two Is just the right size for my hair products and my nighttime routine bits as well.

The boxes are a good size and they look more presentable in the corner of the room than a pile of bags.

I like to think this storage will suffice for a good length of time, but considering I've gone from just a tiny bit of foundation & mascara a day, to about twenty products in the daily routine a year on, I could need bigger boxes by this time next year. 

I've seen beauty bloggers post about little sets of drawers that are sometimes on wheels for storing tonnes of products, so that will probably be the next step for makeup mad Claire. 

With the mix and match offer you can get storage for the whole family. As well as the large cube boxes and my choice of two cases, there are also slightly different shaped suitcases in sets of three.

Finally, this set of five cylinder hat boxes are also included in the offer. Useful storage solutions at a bargain price. 

Benefit Air Patrol, Is It Worth Taking To The Skies?

This week I will be filling you in on some of the products we were clued up on at the House of Fraser 'Beauty Confidential' blogger event last Thursday.

The girl from Benefit told us the history of the brand, and schooled us on their newest product, Air Patrol. 

It's a BB cream and eyelid primer all in one, with a SPF of 20. She told us it's major plus is that it will intensify any eye shadow you use over it. We got to try it on our hand during the chat & you can see the pigment is stronger where I used Air Patrol on the right. 

On the night we were all given a gift card to buy something we usually wouldn't buy, but would like to try. I had already spent mine on a Laura Mercier finishing powder, but my friend Sera from  The Style Guide Blog hadn't seen anything that took her fancy, and was rushing off to get home to Ballymoney, so she very kindly gave her card to me!

I do love Benefit products, the packaging always appealed to me and I even made several purchases of products even before I went makeup mad this year. 

So I picked up Air Patrol as I was so impressed by the hand test with the eye shadows. Benefit are known for their innovative products and Air Patrol has a feature that's brand new 'makeup technology' I suppose you could call it. 

The applicator is a super soft cushion calm tip that claims to be more gentle than your little finger. If you go to your local Benefit counter they'll have a large size of the material used for you to poke and test out. Another cool feature is that you can twist the base to dispense, but also to suck the product back in if too much comes out. Money saving makeup! But is it worth its £21.50 price tag?

So this morning before I put on any makeup, I tried doing my eye products with one lid bare and the other with Air Patrol as a primer. 

Left bare : Right using Air Patrol

It's easy to put on and 'dries' quickly. Excuse my novice eyeshadow application, but you get the idea. The pigment definitely has an edge on the eyelid on the right, which is the Air Patrol primed one.

So yes, Air Patrol works, so it's worth investing in if you want to up your eye makeup game. You can buy online where you can get two free samples of your choice with your order, or buy instore at your local Benefit counter, which always seem to have a sample or two for you when you make a purchase.

Air Patrol comes with super cute, pencil case type makeup bag at the moment as its their newest product. Because it was a blogging event they were incredibly generous with the samples!

They also have sweet little luggage tags, to tie in with the air travel theme of Air Patrol. 

Puff Off! Is a product which works to minimise eye bags. It feels nice and soaks into the skin quickly without feeling greasy.

Instant Comeback is a luxurious serum, even the sample bottle is gorgeous. It's a clear serum and sinks in quickly and again without feeling greasy.

The It's Potent! eye cream is just that! I tried it last night when I took my makeup off and found it too greasy for my skin. I guess that's because it's not a product aimed at someone like me, it's best for those with dry skin. 

The last sample I've tried so far is the Lollitint liquid blusher. I naturally have rosy cheeks, very rosy at times, so blusher is a product I've never dreamt of even buying. However, now that I wear more foundation, they are hidden somewhat, so I've been wondering should I use a blusher now. 

So when Rachel at the Laura Mercier concession was doing my full makeup, I asked her if I WAS to use blusher, whereabouts on my cheeks do I put it? So now I know I tried out this blusher sample with a bit more confidence. I think a powder type blush would be more for me. I worry if putting a light liquid like Lollitint on top of foundation would ruin the finish? I think it's a great product for girls who can get away with no foundation. Just a little bit on each cheek would give you a healthy glow. 

More from the House of Fraser Beauty Confidential during next week. The event sees lots of different beauty and makeup brands offer one of their top products with £10 off. The product Benefit and chosen for the promotion is another fairly new one, Rollerlash. Again it's a primer product which lengthens and curls the lash before you apply mascara. The reviews on the Benefit site are great and with the Beauty Confidential event, if you buy it in House of Fraser it's just £9.50

The £6.95 Monthly Beauty Box That Will Find You Your New Favourite Products For Less

The You Magazine Discovery Box is a classic monthly subscription box, that costs just £6.95 including delivery. 

Now that all of a sudden I'm Mrs Makeup, I wanted to check out some of the subscription boxes you can buy online, which let you try a handful of samples of different brands every month. The big names are Birchbox and Glossybox, but ever the bargain hunter I spied the You Discovery box cost just £6.95, saving £3 a month compared to the other subscriptions.  

You still get to try brands you might not otherwise buy from, independent companies and bigger, well known brands like Body Shop. The September Revitalising themed box includes a gift card for £10 off when you spend £25, which I'm thinking of using it before the October deadline and buying some Christmas presents. 

The other products are a seaweed & aloe eye gel, several samples of Skyn firming eye gel, face masks, a serum and more. Another unique feature of the You box is every month you can choose two samples from a selection of brands on offer. So as well as some surprises in the post, you are guaranteed at least two products that you really want to try out.

As well as the monthly box there are limited edition special boxes on offer, such as this Burt's Bees themed collection. 

All in all its the beauty box for me. It's cheaper, I can choose two samples, and who doesn't like getting a little present in the post, even if it is from themselves? 

Next I want to mention a product I'll be trying out over the next few nights, and which I'll tell you all about properly after that. 

On Thursday night a group of local bloggers were invited to come along to House of Fraser to listen to representatives from five beauty brands giving us a short talk on their newest and most innovative products. 

The ladies from Clarins showed us this amazing new wrinkle eraser, but also spoke about one of their top products, the multi-award winning Double Serum. As I said I'll tell you all about it after my trial, but apparently it's a real game changer of a product, so I'm excited to try it out. 

The House of Fraser event was to launch their Beauty Confidential promotion, where a selection of products across all the beauty brands are £10 off. That includes the Clarins Double Serum which is now £59 down from £69. So I have my little samples and I will tell you in a few days if I notice a difference from using my usual Boots No7 serum. I'll also tell you a bit more about the other beauty brands and products we heard from last night.

Drop A Jeans Size in a Fortnight Challenge Day Three Check In

My order of tonnes of meal bars & oatmeal and porridge arrived yesterday at tea time. I've this New You Plan thing licked this time around. I've explained before all the variations of products, but I've narrowed it down to exactly what I want out of it. 

I ordered five oatmeals and five apple & cinnamon porridges for the morning. These taste great. I especially like the original oatmeal, I thought it might be bland, but it's sweetened. I made it up with a little too much water, but I devised a fix for it. I microwaved for 60 seconds, stirred, another 60 seconds, but it was still watery. I tried leaving it for half an hour planning to return and blast it too again, but by that time it has thickened up itself, so 30 seconds did the job and I saved my oatmeal. 

You can also use the oatmeal to make sweet nibbles  by following one of slimmer Dawn' recipes and mixing in some chocolate shake powder. I made the crisps using soup powder as she suggests and it worked!

The meal replacement bars are my other items for the day. I'm allowed three of them to take me to the four New You Products a day and 100% RDA of vitamins and minerals. Please, please take note- New You recommend you only eat ONE bar a day, due to their mild laxative effect. However this doesn't seem to creat a problem for me, so I've tailored the diet for taste. 

I also have a huge backup of low calorie meals, the majority being my favourite, their Cottage pie. I also have the spicy noodles, carbonara and everything else each craving could be covered with.

Now this little tub is my secret weapon. I ordered the three for two, and I'm glad I did as I used a whole jar in five days! The New You Broth is a water flavouring which you can enjoy in unlimited amounts. It's really tasty and I pretty much have a mug on the go constantly through the day: it helps you feel full up and not craving savoury. 

So three days in, three pounds down already, waiting for a delivery of wafer snacks to arrive today. I Will be comfortable in these jeans in a fortnight. They can be zipped up already but are too snug. 

*always consult your GP before starting a very low calorie diet. Results vary* 

Lidl Autumn/Winter Fashion Event- In Stores Starting This Thursday

Lidl launched their first fashion collection last spring, and it was a great success for them. Classic macs, coloured jeggings and smart striped tops all sold out quickly. I really liked their choice of pieces for that season, so I was excited to attend their autumn/winter fashion launch this morning. 

The showcase was held in Belfast's Sixty6 cocktail lounge, at the peak of four or five flights of stairs. I think everyone needed a sit down by the time they got up there! But the trek was worth it, to get a sneaky peek at what will be in our local stores in the coming weeks, starting with  these items this Thursday.

The rest of the collection will be released over the coming weeks until November, so if there is a specific item you've set your heart on, you might have to make weekly Lidl trips to catch it. 

This is the £14.99 leather look jacket I had seen on other blogs from the south and fancied. It's also available in tan which would be my choice. 

And you know I love my leopard. There are tops, fine knit sweater and jeans in leopard print for this winter. 

YI love this tshirt. I'm addicted to stripes so I simply HAVE to get this when it hits my local Bangor store. 

One of my other favourite pieces was the dogtooth wrap. There are wraps coming instore in various colours and designs, and the wool is great quality, it doesn't feel like it would ball up. They'll be £22.99

I love the women's collection but I find the kids wear a bit hit and miss. The quality is fine and the prices are great, but they just don't appeal to my style. This hooded top obviously did though- but I want one in my size! 

The men's wear is great too, and complimentary to the women's looks. 

So here are some of the items that should be instore from this Thursday. The leather look jackets I mentioned and the tan stretch trousers are on my list. 

Shrimps' Faux Fur Dream World Is Coat Lust Heaven

I'm prone to hyperbole, but oh my god aren't these the best scarves and coats you've ever seen in your life? 

 Shrimps is British designer Hannah Weiland's imagination gone wild, with scarves akin to the two tone furry wonders that Prada had a few seasons ago. Until they have a sale I'm only dreaming, but I'm adding Shrimps to my favourite British designer label list which is topped by the fabulous Rodnik Band.

Win an Olive It! Recipe Book & Selection of Olives

​A delicious ensemble of olive marinades, tapenades and tapas, this beautiful recipe book will spark your imagination and show you how versatile and delicious olives can be.

The simple and easy to follow book has something for everyone – irrespective of cooking ability – and for every season. So discover a new flair in the kitchen or develop an old skill using the Olive it! recipe book’s clear guidance and inspiring culinary combinations.

With over 40 recipes that will get your taste buds tingling and awaken new culinary talents, you can explore unique yet delicious combinations, such as green olives with figs, orange and bay to more adventurous combinations such as black olives with wasabi, ginger and smoked salmon, and green olives with manchengo, chorizo and melon.

Loved around the world for their delicious taste and nutritional benefits, olives are the star of the show in this book, which also includes information on the history of this versatile fruit, the different types of olives and what makes them such a healthy treat.

To keep up to date with the Olive it! campaign visit www.oliveit.eu or follow on Twitter @Oliveit_UK and like on Facebook www.facebook.com/OliveitUK.

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Yogland Is a Self Serve Parlour of Pure Joy

I begin a fortnight cycle of my weight loss program again tomorrow, so Michael and I rushed off to review  Yogland on Belfast's Lisburn Road this afternoon. It's a cool little Sunday afternoon treat stop that has something for everyone.

Frozen yoghurt has always been the lower fat cousin of sinful, sugar-laced icecream, but Yogland goes one further with their own blend of high protein, zero sugar recipes, some of which are gluten free.

The flavour options are immense. We tried watermelon, cookies & cream, red velvet cake batter and peanut butter, all tasted beautiful. I'm not keen on plain frozen yoghurt, but there is a classic greek flavour if you want to keep it original.

How Yogland works is simple. You pick a tub, dispense the flavours you desire in the quantity you wish. They encourage trying more than one flavour and we both were able to fit three flavours in their small tub each.

Next comes the fun part. Now if you are having frozen yoghurt as part of a clean eating, fat free diet, you can still top your tub with coconut, fruit & jelly bubbles. If you're a seven year old boy, or a total sweet tooth like myself, then the world is your oyster where toppings are concerned. You can take as much as you want, you're just limited by how much you can balance on top of your yoghurt! 

There are cereals, granola, broken Oreos & Reece's Pieces, Haribo, Love Hearts, Dolly Mixtures, Skittles, Cadbury Buttons, Smarties, just a kid's dream really. 

I tried the little fruit bubbles, which burst in your mouth. I'm wondering is that what's in bubble tea? Whatever they are, they are my new favourite thing.

Cookies & Cream and Red Velvet frozen yoghurt with bubbles, white buttons and coconut topping

Cookies and cream frozen yoghurt with bubbles, Oreos, peanut butter cups, white buttons and Smarties

As the whole process is self serve, they don't charge per tub size, but rather by weight. So they'll weigh your finished tub and charge you depending on that. 

Watermelon frozen yoghurt, popcorn, Cocopop and Haribo toppings

There are window seats downstairs, so if you have a pram in tow you can sit there. Upstairs is more spacious, with lots of bright decor and board games! While we were there a group of student age friends were enjoying their frozen yoghurts and having a Jenga tournament. 

So we loved Yogland, the variety of options means there is something for all the family. I reckon we will drive up every so often to treat ourselves. Given the health aspect, I will definitely be choosing Yogland over any icecream cafes if we are up in that area. I just wish we had one in Bangor for after school treats.