12 Of My Favourite Products for 2018

Here are some great products I’ve come across and been using in 2018.

 

I’m not a big wine drinker, and to be honest I’ve never particularly liked it very much, until I came across this one at a local pub in my home city. The wine is really hard to come by, and I think the only way to buy it is online. My favourite is the ‘Coldwater Creek Rose’; it has a smooth sweetish delicate taste. (A bit like roasted bark chips, pickled walnuts  and with an under-current of fresh air from the Swiss Alps; which is actually a load of made-up pretentious bollocks!) It just doesn’t leave that nasty tang in the back of your throat after you’ve had a few sips. I could quaff bottles of the stuff. I hate that bloody word ‘Quaff’

 

 

 

 

 

This is a perfume that was bought for me as a Christmas present last year. I really like it because it has that musky smell and is great to wear in the day. A really lovely scent by The Body Shop. It’s about £12 a bottle.

 

 

 

 

I’ve tried everything over the past year to try and get rid of that nasty black mould that you get in-between the tiles in your bathroom, (my ex-husbands toothbrush etc) neat bleach and different bathroom sprays. It even came to the point where I was thinking of scraping the whole bloody lot out and re-grouting, which would have drove me insane with boredom. I had one last shot at trying something new and discovered this miracle spray. I had to buy it on Amazon, but now you can buy it from B&Q. You spray it on neat in your tile grout and around your windows etc and leave for about 30 minutes. It bubbles away and turns the black to yellow. When you are ready to rinse it off the spray takes away all the black mould. It is absolutely brilliant stuff. £8-9 a bottle.

 

 

 

 

My youngest son has  sore acne on the top of his back and I discovered this quite by chance when I visited a local ‘Superdrug’ store. I asked for some advice from a member of staff and stated that I didn’t want to pay too much in case it didn’t work like all the other spot remedies I’d tried. This clear spray she suggested to me at priced at £3 a bottle. It is actually quite good. You spray it on the affected area and leave to dry. It seems to dry them up and take away the soreness and redness. It’s Superdrug’s own brand.

 

 

Marks & Spencers is a shop in Britain that has always been known to sell good quality items. The food hall is particularly wonderful, a bit overpriced and you rarely see people walking around with large shopping trolleys filling up with their weekly shop. Just the public carrying around small shopping baskets and buying a few treats. There are also vast amounts of retired people shuffling around, so you have to take a deep breath and navigate the aisles with patience and smiles. My kids love pies for dinner and this one is the best we have ever tasted. Admittedly, it is £4, which is a bit steep for a pie, but none is left over in my house. There have been no shortcuts when making this pie, as some are quite skimpy with the meat filling. But this is substantial, full of chicken, gorgeous gravy and beautiful pastry. It’s like eating a homemade one, which is something I can’t be arsed to do when I’ve been to work all day.

 

 

I first tried these ‘Thepla’ when one of my neighbours made them for me and I was hooked. They are like a chappati filled with spinach and taste mild with a little kick of spice. I can’t make roti’s like these at home I haven’t got a clue, but you can buy this brand called ‘Shana’ in the frozen section of some supermarkets. They cost about £1.25 for 5. You cook them by heating a small amount of oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and place one ‘Thepla’ in. Cook on one side for about 1 minute, then flip and cook the other side pressing down with a spatula or a piece of kitchen roll until they look golden and puff up. Turn over again and do the first side pressing down. This should take in total about 3 minutes. Try them they taste lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy art as a hobby or you do craft stuff with your kids then you will know that watercolour paper can be really expensive. ‘The Works’, (a book, craft and art shop) sells really cheap good quality products. This watercolour paper is just £2 and contains 12 sheets to a pad. I don’t know of any other shop that sells it cheaper than this. It is thick and absorbs water really well. It’s also good for craft work and making cards.

 

 

Now this product will only work for you if you have very light brown or dark blonde hair like mine. There used to be a spray bleach for the hair in England for years called ‘Sun-in’ but it was discontinued a few years ago, probably because it gave your hair a crispy burnt out quality. So I gave this new one a try as my hair is the sort that goes dark in the winter (as does my mind!). You dampen your hair and spray this on and leave. I tend to either sit in the sun or use a hairdryer on my hair when applied. It does feel heavy once dried, so I tend to wash my hair after this.  This has really worked for me and made my hair go really blonde and natural looking, similar to having highlights. But, you must do the strand and skin test before you begin for allergy reasons. It’s a really good effective product though. £9 a bottle by L’oreal.

 

 

I had to buy a black mascara the other week and I was pretty short of cash. So I went into ‘Primark’ or what me and my friends affectionately call ‘Primarni’. This mascara was £1, and that’s a bargain. OK, the brush is a bit thin, but the coverage is quite good.

 

 

 

 

 

I need dry shampoo, it’s as simple as that. My hair is long and it drives me nuts washing and drying it because of the time involved. I really need to wash my hair everyday, but I just can’t be bothered, yet my roots become greasy real quick so on the alternate days I don’t wash I spray on this dry shampoo, give it a rub in, and leave for 5 minutes. I then brush out and my hair looks like it’s been freshly washed. I find the Baptiste range the best after having tried many others. It’s about £3 for a can. Oh, and cherry’s the one to go for.

 

 

 

 

I hope I’ve given you some ideas. But please don’t mix up the HG mould spray with the Dry shampoo. Which is something I’ve done before by keeping my cans in the same cupboard and spraying my hair with furniture polish instead of hairspray!