Tag: food

Yuka – Why Am I Putting This On My Body?

On By samanthaIn HEALTHLeave a comment

The other morning I watched my husband roll out of bed and get ready to leave the house in about five minutes. It takes me at least an hour to do the same thing. It started me thinking about the multitude of personal care products that perform part of my morning ritual. Are they really helping me to stay looking young and smelling fresh or do the multitude of chemicals that most of them contain cause me harm? I had recently read in a book about dementia prevention that coated dental floss, a product that I have used every day for thirty five years, contains chemicals, such as Teflon, that can contribute towards cognitive decline.

A friend called me and asked which foundation I use. I told her Estee Lauder Double Wear. She asked if I had the box. No, why was she asking? She said that her daughter had recommended an app called YUKA. The app enables you to scan barcodes for almost all your food and personal hygiene products. Yuka then provides a detailed breakdown of the ingredients and rates the product from 0-100 and uses terms such as Bad, Poor, Good and Excellent. The app then suggests more healthy alternatives. There is no advertising on Yuka and brands cannot pay to have their products recommended, the information the user gets is all derived from independent testing.

Within about thirty seconds of finishing speaking to my friend I had downloaded the app and was frantically scanning everything in sight. I must warn you, it is highly addictive.

Here is how my morning list, including my breakfast, scored. My dental floss had a bar code but wouldn’t scan unfortunately.

  • Marks and Spencer Restoring Hand Wash – Poor
  • Sanex Shower Gel – Good
  • Garnier Vitamin C Body Superfood- Good
  • Garnier Soothing Botanical Cleansing Lotion -Good
  • Coco Mademoiselle Deodorant – Bad
  • Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection Toothpaste -Poor
  • Corsodyl Daily Mouthwash – Bad
  • This Works Perfect Cleavage & neck Serum – Poor
  • John Frieda Pro-Filler Shampoo & Conditioner – Poor
  • Boots No 7 Restore & Renew Day Cream – Bad
  • Chanel Chance Eau Tendre EDT – Good
  • Manicurist Active Shine Illumine & Repare – Excellent
  • Marks and Spencer High Fibre Granola – Excellent
  • Vaseline Vanilla Daydream Lip Therapy – Poor

Now this long list does not even include my make up products. As most cosmetic products are boxed, the bar code does not appear on the product itself . I did scan my new Charlotte Tilbury lip liner which scored 11/100 – Bad. My friend is going to take herself off to John Lewis or somewhere similar and scan the various foundations. YUKA will also suggest alternative products as she does this. She has already switched shampoo to Ogx Thick & Full Collagen shampoo which scored 79/100 and a rating of Excellent. I noticed that Garnier products scored highly so I may try one of their tinted moisturisers. Also, the Seoulsista serum infused masks that I often use both on my face and hands scored as Good. You can buy these in Oliver Bonas along with the Manicurist range of nail products (score, Excellent) . My expensive Chanel deodorant, that I bought by mistake thinking it was my usual body spray, was disappointing and joining this as worst of the bunch was my Boots No 7 moisturiser that scored 0/100, especially annoying as I have just purchased a new jar.

My husband and son have eczema so I have always been careful in my choices when buying personal hygiene products for them but have never given much thought to the chemicals in my own make up, body lotions or shampoos. With, YUKA, it is easy to make more informed decisions about what we are putting in and on our bodies. I am going to take it to the supermarket to tweak my weekly food shop. YUKA is a free app, although a premium version is available, so there is no excuse not to get scanning.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Day Out in Kent – Lullingstone Castle and The World Garden

On By samanthaIn GOING OUTLeave a comment

A lovely friend of mine has just visited from Australia. She had an impossibly busy schedule but we agreed to meet on Saturday. She was staying at the Premier Inn in my town so I picked her up and we decided to visit Lullingstone Castle and its “World Garden” .

If you decide to visit Lullingstone don’t do the logical thing and follow the signs for the castle, they will simply take you to a pair of locked gates. You have to head for Lullingstone Roman Villa and then you drive behind the visitor centre and the castle will be revealed in all its beauty. It really is like a scene from Brideshead Revisited. There was even a vintage Rolls Royce parked outside. To visit the house and garden costs a very reasonable £12.50 for adults. There are concessions for OAPs and children.

Both Henry VIII and Queen Anne are known to have been regular visitors to the castle which now comprises of a manor house, gate house, church and a stunning lake. Inside the house you can see one of Queen Anne’s hair pieces along with other historical objects. There are lots of models of the castle on display and a friendly volunteer to answer any questions. The current owner, whose family have owned Lullingstone since 1497, warmly greeted us at the door and chatted to my friend about her own travels. I did wonder if owning such a huge property is as much of a burden as it is a blessing. The upkeep must be enormous.

On the grounds, as you enter through the gatehouse there is St Botolph’s church, of Norman origin and made of flint, which boasts some of the oldest stained glass windows in the world, some from the fourteenth century. Although it is small there is plenty to see inside.

If you have heard of the castle before it may because of the BBC series Save Lullingstone Castle, and Return to Lullingstone Castle or because the son of the owners, Tom Hart Dyke was kidnapped in the Panamanian jungle during an expedition in the year 2000. He and his companions were held for nine months. Thankfully they were eventually released and I remember seeing him on a talk show after his ordeal was over. He has gone on to have a successful career in botany and, whilst in captivity, came up with the idea for the World Garden at Lullingstone. As the name suggests, the garden takes visitors on a botanical tour of the world and is really very quirky and charming. There are lots of unusual plants to see, some sculptures and a touch of kitsch here and there, like the pair of plastic penguins either side of an entry way.

The castle has a cafe where “light refreshments” are served and guests are also permitted to bring their own picnic. There is a gift shop and a nursery so that you can purchase some plants of your own. I thought Lullingstone was really lovely and I will definitely be back again, next time I will visit the Roman Villa as well.

After the castle we decided to go to for a pub lunch. We drove to a nearby village and had possibly the worst meal out I’ve ever experienced. The manager was so rude and unhelpful when my friend asked a question about the menu. I ordered a burger which was served with some sort of sloppy meat on the side. There was literally no service apart from the lad who brought our plates over but a 12.5% service charge was added to the bill. We went to the bar for drinks and ordered from a QR code, something I am wary about after a friend’s husband fell victim to a scam where a fake code was stuck onto a menu. Anyway I won’t name the pub which may be in the most picturesque location but I certainly won’t be returning.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Day Out in London – Afternoon Tea at The Langham

On By samanthaIn GOING OUTLeave a comment

My friend kindly invited me and another mutual, friend out to afternoon tea at The Langham which is a hotel located in Portland Place, a two minute walk from Oxford Circus station. I have only had afternoon tea at a swanky hotel once before, The Savoy about eight years ago, and what I remember was that my sister-in-law politely requested that some of the cakes be put into a box so that she could take them home for her family as she didn’t want to eat any then and there and the waiter refused. So she paid about £125 for a cup of Darjeeling. Afternoon tea at The Langham is slightly less expensive but the bill still came to a hefty £101 per person. Of course you are paying for the location and experience as much as for the tea and sandwiches.

The Langham is a very impressive hotel which opened in 1865. Tea is served in their Palm Court area. It is a stunningly elegant dining room. Dress code is smart casual but there were plenty of people wearing trainers, I suppose people tag on a 3pm tea experience to a morning of site seeing and no one wants to be doing that in formal shoes. I didn’t spot any jeans though. As part of my decluttering project I have decided to try and wear clothes I already own rather than buy anything new and wore some ivory tailored trousers from Mango, a black boucle jacket from H&M and a silk top that I have had forever but only worn once before, from Boden. On my feet I wore some well worn-in ballet flats because I’ve had many a special occasion ruined by .uncomfortable shoes. I was tempted to slip my trainers into a tote bag for the journey home.

My outing didn’t get off to the smoothest start as I could not park anywhere near my local train station. Most of the spots are now restricted to two hours which is ridiculous because who goes in to London and comes back again in that time? After driving around the multi-story car park twice and not finding a single space I rang my friend and manage to catch her before she set out on her own fruitless search for parking. I drove to her house and we rang for a taxi and manage to catch our train.

Once arriving at Oxford Circus via the Bakerloo Line we simply crossed the road and walked a few yards and we were there. I wish I had some pictures but when I sat down in the dining room I realised I couldn’t find my phone. After a second’s panic thinking I’d been robbed or had dropped it in central London I decided that I had probably just left it in my car and, sure enough, that’s exactly what had happened. I managed not to sit there the entire time worrying about it but when we caught the slowest train ever home I did begin to feel a bit jittery.

The Palm Court is stunning. If I go to anything like this again I will be sure not to sit facing the wall because it was impossible to people watch, my favourite thing, from where I was sitting. The walls are decorated with gold coloured ornaments and the chandeliers are beautiful. A pianist played songs from Les Miserable, Wicked and some Billy Joel. It really is the picture of elegance.

The staff at The Langham were far less snooty than at The Savoy. They gave us a warm welcome and explained the menu. I chose Phoenix Honey Orchid tea which was, quite frankly, disgusting. I stuck to water after that. We were brought a platter of finger sandwiches, egg, cream cheese, prawn and Coronation chicken, they were exceptionally delicious. We ate all of them and the lovely, friendly waitress bright some more. Next were the most beautiful small pastries, three for each of us in lemon, coffee and strawberry flavours. The three of us were all sitting there feeling fit to burst when the waitress brought over a little crème brulee creation with a candle in it for my friend. Just as we thought the bill would be arriving we were served warm miniature scones with jam and clotted cream and a gorgeous fruit cake which we had boxed up for my friend’s family. The waitress bought the boxed cake over in a branded gift bag and said she’d popped some extra scones in there too, how lovely. The food was amazing and there was far more of it than I had expected. We waddled back to the Tube. If you are thinking of doing a posh afternoon tea in London then The Langham is the place to go.

For my friend’s birthday gift we bought her a gift set from The White Company in Sea Salt scent. She took that home along with the scones and fruit cake and I think she really had a lovely afternoon, I know I did.

Thank you for reading

Samantha