Bean's mum's blog

A very odd Degustabox in May, especially after they were hinting it was a box we needed before the bank holiday. So I assumed it would be bbq themed but instead it is the oddest box I have had with no real theme but nevertheless a good box for me. This is what I received: Daelmans Stroopwafels (£2) These are authentic Stroopwafels from the Daelmans family bakery. They are toasted waffels with a creamy caramel filling. We have all fell in love with these and will be ordering more direct from the manufacturer. These are yummy caramel wafers that are so moreish that we were all a little sad when they were all gone. Need need need more. Slim Pasta (£2.49) These are lasagne sheets made from Konjac flour and oat fibre and are a low fat and carb free alternative to the traditional lasagne sheets. I am really not to sure what to think about this item to be honest. I like lasagne and although the normal white lasagne tends to be high carb it does feel satisfying so I...

Popinabox is a monthly pop vinyl subscription service where you receive upto 6 mystery pop vinyls a months and you can hate a pop and never recieve it so it is slightly customised. I have to admit that this month I am really less than impressed with my popinabox sub as I paid on the 1st and recieved it on the 23rd. After seeing that other people received their pops a week or more ago and they were Marvel I got excited but instead mine stayed on packing for so much longer and then I received mine and to be honest I am not too sure how I feel about these two. This month I have received Bender from Futuruma and BMO from adventure time. Both are fine and they aren't on my hate list but meh at the selection and the long delivery time. I'm not really overwhelmed with excitement about this months selection to be honest, as you can see, and have reduced don to one pop for the time being. I think that eventually I will quit this sub too. x-J-x More info on pop...

Time for another confession I suppose. I have to admit that it is odd but whenever I see sweet/candy/soft drink scented hand washes I cannot help but buy them. Although it is an odd I love that the handwashes are getting funky and I hope the trend will continue. This obsession is a recent development and that is due to me finding that Cussons have created a sweet inspired hand wash line. The larger two at the front, fruit salad and jelly beans, were the two that started the madness. The other front one is a superdrug own brand which was on sale and is strawberry scent but the cussons ones at the back are where the madness really took over. These are in strawberry laces, bubblegum and cola bottles and all are true to the scents of the original sweets and even better after ashing your hands the scents remain. These are also antibacterial and aren't drying so great for both little and big hands.  I just wish I could find the chocolate orange one though. These are cu...

Whenever I get ill or I am overun with tasks my skin tends to suffer as I don't do the long skincare routine that I normally do. So I have been trying to get my skin back to tip top condition and using masks and this will be the second mask I will review. I have to say that the first thing that hit me when I used this mask is that it is a nightmare to open but it has nice colourful packaging. Then immediately after that the next thing is that the ingredient list reads very chemical though as after water the next five ingredients are glycerin, betaine, pathenol, ammoium Acroloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer and Phenoxyethanol. Rose extract is the thirteenth of sixteen (if my counting is correct) ingredients. Seeing so many chemical ingredients does make me worry about allergic reactions to be honest and it does irritate me a little that they promote that it contains rose extract when it is so low down the list. It does have a nice scent of roses though. The mas...

I received this in my premae box this month and really wanted to try it as I love clay masks and this is a lower price than my hg, glam glow supermud, and I also wanted to see if I wanted to get another before my sub runs out. The first four ingredients seem to be beneficial to the skin and these are: Water, which will help hydrate the skin. Aloe vera leaf extract, which will soothe tired, sore and/or sensitive skin. Kaolin, which will extract oil and dirt from the pores while the mask dries. Cocoa seed butter, which will moisturise the skin. Due to the high water content as well as the high levels of aloe Vera leaf extract this is quite a soft textured mask and it is easy to apply on the face and feels more like applying a cream to the face rather than one of the stiffer clay masks. A little goes a long way with this mask due to the soft texture and on the face it does not make the skin feel extremely tight like some clay masks although as it dries it is...

I fell off the no added sugar/healthy eating wagon quite significantly and this was the box that caused it. Okashiconnection is a japanese snack box which includes both savoury and sweet snacks and generally includes both well known snacks, such as Pocky, as well as ones that are harder to get in this country/ out of Japan in general. Oyatsu kids pack This month once again had some great products and the first product to disappear was the kids selection bag. Edward claimed this as soon as he saw it and had a lovely time eating both the sweet and savoury contents. The only item I ate from this bag was a boiled sweet as Edward doesn't tend to eat them as he doesn't enjoy hard sweets but other than that he happily ate the rest. Peanut pocky (Glico) I thought that I would enjoy these Pocky as in general I love them and love peanut butter and expected these to be peanut butter like but I don't really like them as they are a little bland tbh. Lemon s...

Another non beauty box but I really like these Kawaii boxes. This one is called Kawaii monthly and is from the people at Oyatsucafe (who also run the snack box called Oyatsubox) and it is quite different from my kawaii box as you will see below, but I suppose that adds to the benefits of keeping both. Here are the contents of my April box: This is a Japanese capsule toy (gachapon) and I received what looks like a goose. This really is a cute goose and has sadly disappeared as Edward stole it. I guess he thought it was cute too. Next is this Sebon star item. This hexagonal box contains a small chocolate bar as well as a small piece of jewellery with a charm. This will probably be given to Edward as he will probably like it. Next are the Cherry Coco sticky notes and these are going to really useful and are a lot more 'individual' than using a boring old post it note. This item was packaged in a small paper envelope and is a Usavich screen cleane...

Books, books everywhere in our house and although my own collection seems to grow on my Kindle, mainly due to lack of room, Edward's collection of books seem to be breeding on his bookcase as I find it hard to say no to the Bookpeople deals. But these are our favourite books at the moment and most have been favourites of both Edward and I for a while. This is the first of three Julia Donaldson books for this post. It is a food related rhyming book with animal characters. One of Edward's favourite and an easy and fast book to read on a day that he wants three or four books. Gotta admit the last two pages are my fave with an alternative to washing up. The Gruffalo is definitely a modern classic when it comes to children's books and I love the wiley mouse's adventure through the woods. Smart and amusing this is a rhyming book I read probably three days out of seven and never bore of. Another Julia Donalson book and this one sees the Gruffalo...

Since I fell in love with the triumph moisturising creme balm from Premae and have very good memories of using their harmony serum so I couldn't resist buying their Premae donna three month subscription when I had a coupon code to use. It might cost £99 for the three months but if you have fallen in love with their creme balm and other products it is well worth it.  Each month you get to chose three different products to try (all full sized) meaning that for your £33 that month you are buying upto £125 of goods for your money, so upto £375 of goods for your £99. This month I chose: Plush Therapy Extraction Face Masque. This contains ingredients such as aloe vera to soothe the skin, kaolin clay to draw out imperfections as well as cocoa butter to moisturise the skin. It has a texture that is somewhere between a moisturiser and a mud mask and is applied to the face after toning for 30 to 45 minutes then washed off with lukewarm water. This has a price of £25 ...

This is an extremely personal post. Possibly the most personal post that I will ever write on here. But I have to tell the truth of my life at the present (other than the fact that I am a klutz that falls down the stairs). But here it is. I'm 33 and I'm getting my butt kicked by PCOS. PCOS is a medical condition that affects different women in different ways and because it is a syndrome it has a wide variety of symptoms that ultimately arise due to the fact that women with this condition grow small cysts on the ovaries (although some women don't have these visible on scans but have the condition). These cysts in return play havoc with the hormones levels and cause emotional and physical issues that differ from woman to woman. For me, at the moment, the issues are facial hair and weight, with body confidence issues relating to this issue. But for a long time the huge issue from my condition was fertility issues. Beany was the product of a very long ...

Another day, another box and today it is my Kawaii box for April. Kawaii box is a box from Singapore that contains all things cute (Kawaii means cute in Japanese). It costs $18.90 US (approx £13 atm) and is great value for the amount you get. Here are the contents this month. The first item is a little green cat plushie that can be used as a handbag charm if you use the chain attached to it. It is about two and a half inches tall and feels like it has soft shortpile plush. So cute and a great addition to my collection. The next item is a rillakkuma shaped notepad that contains pink pages and is ever so cute. Perfect for blog ideas or writing notes. The next item is a kawaii sheep pencil case by sepovica. It is in a turquoise colour and I really like it as the blue sheep is just like a plush I have. There are a sheet of cushioned stickers in this box.  These are the 'love rabbit' stickers by Eaki and will look great as accessories on whatever...