When Britmums asked if anyone wanted to try a new range of pure and natural skincare especially designed with the needs of young skin in mind, I'd have very much disappointed a couple of our girls if I hadn't applied.

We have 5 teenagers, including girls aged 13,14 and 15, and so skincare is a hot topic in our house (lots of things become a hot topic at some point with all the hormones flying about).

All teenagers want clear skin and unfortunately it can be a battle to achieve. I know I went through just about everything on the shelf and I spent a fortune at my local chemist when I was a teenager in search of anything that helped and gave me back some of my confidence, so we're always happy to try something different.


Amie skincare really is different. The first thing I noticed was that the packaging is very subtle and pretty, modern and attractive. It looks great in the bathroom. The second thing that no-one can fail to notice is the smell when you open it. It's gorgeous. It has a slightly sweet and floral smell, but not at all over the top. It's gentle and really lovely. Although it smells clean, it doesn't smell soapy or have a 'chemical' smell at all.

My teens were keen to give it a go, and along with 2 of them I have used it every day for the past 3 weeks. All 3 of us are very happy with the results. The moisturiser soaks very well into your skin instantly and doesn't leave a nasty film. The cleanser is gentle on my aging skin, but really effective on the girls teenage skin. One of the girls was even brave enough to let me take and post a close up photo make up and concealer free.


Both girl's skin is really noticeably clearer and brighter, their teenage spots are greatly reduced and they're incredibly pleased with the results. They're also delighted with how smooth their skin is, as am I with mine.

The Amie skincare range is subtitled 'Pure And Natural Beauty' and I think that's a perfect description. In their own words -

Amie is the natural skin care and beauty range for sensitive skin, created by top beauty expert, Fiona Parkhouse.
Bursting with natural plant and botanical extracts and free from harsh chemicals, Amie products are gentle yet super-effective. 
Ideal for sensitive skin that can be oily and prone to breakouts or dryness, they have been especially designed to work in complete harmony with your skin to help keep it clear, soft and radiant.
Amie’s high-quality products are completely free from parabens, sulphates, mineral oils, petrochemicals, animal extracts and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Frankly we couldn't be more delighted. It's done everything we hoped it would and more. It's a real find as far as I'm concerned, it works perfectly for my family's skin and I will be buying it in future. We don't need to look for anything else.

The Amie skincare range is available to buy in Waitrose and John Lewis or online. The Moisturiser and Facial wash we were sent retail at £4.95 per tube, which is mid-range pricing. It lasts well and works and is comparable to medicated over-the-counter products for teenage skin and cheaper than many products designed for older skin.

We've just reviewed the Anagranimals Children's book featuring a group of 6 friendly animals who exchange body parts with each other and my 5 year old loves it and finds it very funny.

For a chance to win a copy of the book for yourself signed by the author please enter using the Rafflecopter form below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

The story is a bit abstract, but it introduces the ideas very well and is easily understood by both the 3 and 5 year olds. The 5 year old isn't able to read any of this book himself yet, but the way the anagranimal 'names' are written is broken down and will be very easy for him to pick up in only a couple of months time e.g Hippo-Croco-Puss. 


This is an almost A4 book with an impressive 32 pages, and it is the initial book in a proposed series with an accompanying website (which isn't quite completed as I type) www.Anagranimals.com.

I think this book is ideal for it's suggested age range of 5+. It promotes discussion about the world and the animals within it. It introduces a few animals your child might not have come across and my 5 year old finds it very humourous and loves looking at the back/front inside covers where there are a host of mix and match animals to discover. 7/10

Anagranimals is available as a Kindle download from Amazon for only £1.29 and will be released in paperback on 1st September 2013 for £7.99 (current prices).

It's just a normal day in BrickCastle Land.

Because of this amazing Summer we've had, and the fact we've been somewhat otherwise occupied this year, our garden is full of brambles. The brambles are absolutely laden with gorgeous fruit that is incredibly sweet, so I decided to make some use of it today. You can't really get better than free food.

I made a Blackberry Sponge Tart using pretty much the same method as I did for my Bakewell Style Tart, but substituting fresh blackberries for the jam.

Grease your pie dish and and line with pastry if you wish, or don't, it makes just as good a sponge without, it's just different to serve.

Use a double layer of blackberries. If they are very tart then add some chopped apple or other sweeter fruit.

Cover the berries with a handful of sugar

Weigh 2 eggs. Cream together approximately the same weight in butter and sugar, add the eggs, then add the same weight of self-raising flour and stir in. For a nice Autumnal flavour add a pinch of Nutmeg and a couple of teaspoons of Cinnamon to the cake mix before baking.

Cover the fruit entirely with the cake mix and then bake in a medium oven (180degrees, gas mark 4, 170degrees fan assisted) for around 45 minutes. It takes a while to cook through because of all the liquid in the berries. Don't let the top burn, but be careful not to take it out of the oven too early. If it starts to get too brown on top too quickly then turn down the oven.


When you try to cut the tart it will bring out juice and damp cake, but you shouldn't see raw cake mix. If you completely mess up and find the cake is raw after all, fear not. Put it back in the oven for a few minutes or really cheat and microwave a slice for around a minute. Best served warm with ice cream, cream or custard. Enjoy...

I was really lucky a couple of months ago to win a huge box of H&A Bath Products on Twitter. Real care was taken over what I was sent to make sure it was perfect for my 2 little boys and it was all really lovely. I always intended to write about it, but I never got around to it.



H&A products are designed to make bathtime fun as well as educational and in our experience they really do. We have clocks with removable numbers, build it yourself planes and bath crayons amongst other things. All of the bath and shower gels are hypoallergenic and moisturising and suitable for all ages.



We've been sent a Jake & The NeverLand Pirates Bath & Shower Gel which retails at around £2 for a large 400ml bottle. Like the other H&A bath & shower gels we've tried it has a delicious fruity smell which you can't quite put your finger on - kind of a sweet pineappley mango smell which is really appealing. What's best about this is that it can also be used as a bubble bath - so your children get clean as they play.


We have also been sent a Jake & The NeverLand Pirates Jolly Roger Facecloth, which also retails around £2, is 100% cotton and cleverly packaged as Jake himself.- my youngest kindly took ours out and then put it back not quite exactly as it arrived, but close enough...


We're really keen on H&A products. The bath and shower gels smell great and haven't ever adversely affected my young children's skin. The bath toys and face cloths are fun and easy to keep clean and dry after the bath. The prices are really good and I shall definitely buy more H&A products in the future.

When we were in Scotland at my partner's parent's farm last weekend there was ample opportunity for outdoor play and the weather was very kind to us - it barely rained at all. We spent a lot of time in Grandad's little wood, which he had planted over 20 years ago.




The little boys got to watch Grandad work with an axe and chainsaw, and help remove some of the dead wood. I believe it's far better to teach children to behave safely rather than just stay away, and I also think it's right that if they get to enjoy something, they appreciate the work that has gone into it. So they helped.

It's a mug!

After all of that hard work a hearty lunch and then some time with Grandma's Shetland Ponies. Most of the time the ponies don't have any suitable riders around, so they're also trained to pull a cart.

The 4 year old expert

The 3 year old novice!

 

Boy no.3 is 4 and will start his first year at full time school next month. He's already started learning to read and is very interested in sounds and words. He can 'sound out' some simple words like 'Dad' and 'cat' and knows a lot of his letters, so it's time to start beginning to read.

Orion Books have a huge range of books for children, including Early Readers - with a Blue Band for experienced readers and children to share together, and a Red Band for children to read alone.


We have been sent a copy of a blue banded book 'Mondays At Monster School' by Ruth Louise Symes and illustrated by Rosie Reeve. This book tells the story of Fred, who is the youngest in his family and about to go to school for his first day. He's nervous and doesn't want to go until he finds out his friend also feels the same and he realises he isn't alone.  He talks his friend into going, and in doing so, also reassures himself.

It's a very sweet little tale, and the fact that they are monsters makes it very accessible and interesting to a 4 or 5 year old. There is plenty of repetition in the language, and simple words that can be 'sounded out' and read by a young reader. It offers a lot of encouragement and made my son feel proud when he was able to work out new words like 'bug' and 'Fred'. At the end of the book there are some simple comprehension questions which also give a sense of achievement.


The illustrations are nicely drawn and help the story without being too full of information which distracts from the text. The story itself is 41 pages long, which seems a lot, but because there is very little text on each page it's not intimidating.

I really like this book. My son really likes this book and his 3 year old brother enjoyed reading it with us. It's perfectly timed as my 4 year old will be starting school in 2 weeks, and his brother will be starting nursery, so they're both concerned about that at the moment. The subject matter is interesting and the story captivating, so neither of them realised they were actually 'learning', they just felt they were reading a story with me. We give this book a good 4/5.

Mondays At Monster School is published by Orion Books and has an RRP of £4.99. It is available from all good bookshops, or as a download.