tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772266453844160822024-03-14T04:31:13.792-07:00positive365Having done the 5 things 5 days happy and 100 days happy on facebook I have decided I am going to try and extend that - to try and find things that are positive around me for a whole year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-31319581047248876972016-09-09T12:56:00.002-07:002016-09-09T12:56:51.248-07:00New blog SpaceSo I decided to make a new blog - not that this one wasnt great and all but I decided that going forward I would like a blog more reflective of me - I'm currently in the process of moving some different posts and things that I want to keep over to the new blog and will leave the rest over here :)<br />
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If you want to follow me on the new blog it can be found right <a href="http://elliespider.blogspot.co.uk/">HERE</a><br />
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:)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-25868781277955573582016-08-09T13:37:00.003-07:002016-08-09T13:37:39.559-07:00Vidal Sassoon Salonist - Project with TRNDI recently applied to take part in a project on a site called TRND. The project is basically the chance to try out a product for free in return for providing honest feedback, telling your family, friends, colleagues and filling in some feedback sheets and surveys.<br />
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It took a little while for my stuff to come through but when it did I had a great information pack and 3 boxes of different dyes. One for me and 2 for me to give out to family / friends to try.<br />
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In the information they provide they have various suggestions for spreading the word and trying out the products provided. I decided to hold a dye party with some older family members (as they are keen to hear from older ladies with regards to the dyes).<br />
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I decided to offer to do my mum (age 65) and my aunt (age 70) hair and also invited my older sister (age 44) to come around and help, keep them entertained.<br />
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We have all been using hair dye for years but as this is one not used before I arranged to sort out the patch tests.<br />
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To do the patch test is simple. Add a small amount of each part of the dye into a container - mix well, apply using a ear bud to your arm (about the size of a 10p) leave on for 45 minutes and rinse off. Thn check it 48 hours later - if no reaction your good to go. We actually did a slightly shorter patch test in I did the patch test at around 10am on the Friday and we had our dye party at 7pmish on the Saturday.<br />
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Unfortunately, my aunty had a bit of a reaction to the dye (her skin went red and a bit itchy) so we decided that she would not have her hair done after all just to reduce the chance of her having an actual full on reaction .<br />
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Saturday night and everyone was pretty keen to see how well the dye worked.<br />
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I decided to do my hair first.<br />
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<b><u>STEP 1.- Unpacking the box:</u></b><br />
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In the box you have:<br />
- good quality gloves - these were a great quality (which meant that later on when I actually had my hands covered in dye it didnt go through to my fingers)<br />
- a mixing tray and brush for mixing up the dye<br />
- the 2 mixing items (red VS1 tube and white bottle in pic) used for the first step - doing your roots and hair line<br />
- the extra agent you add when you are getting ready to do the rest of your hair (red sachet in pic)<br />
- conditioner - this is supposed to last 6 washes but I personally found it run out after 4 (silver tube)<br />
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<b><u>STEP 2 - Mixing it up</u></b><br />
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Pour contents of red tube and white bottle into the tray and mix with the brush (making sure to wear gloves)<br />
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It's quite difficult to mix and starts off looking like cottage cheese but eventually goes smooth and paste like<br />
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<b><u>STEP 3 - doing the roots and edges</u></b><br />
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This is actually much more difficult than it looks on the instructions!<br />
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You need to use around 3/4 of mix and leave 1/4 for later<br />
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Once the top and parting and roots are done then you do the underneath at the back and around the edges<br />
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Pretty sure I *never* look like this when I get it done at the hairdressers LOL<br />
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You then need to leave this on for like 10 minutes.<br />
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After 10 mins its on to<br />
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<b><u>STEP 4 - the all over cover</u></b><br />
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You need to pour the red sachet into the tray and get mixing again with the left over mix.<br />
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You then basically get a few handfuls and rub it into your hair - like shampoo! cover it all - make sure it's all done!<br />
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Again you have to leave this on to set for around 30 mins this time.<br />
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Following this you wash it under water until the water runs clear, then wash with a mild shampoo and rinse. You then apply some conditioner. Leave the conditioner on for a couple of minutes (I left it on for 10 mins as I always find my hair needs that extra time to absorb the conditioner) and rinse, dry and style.<br />
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The whole process took around 1 hour 15 mins which is a LOT longer than I normally spend dying my hair at home.<br />
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The results are pretty good:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Nq91WlIk31ki16T2nik12XBj-eZXhNCGuIbd-hBkRwqPD1znyh7-H0G5gFAxb7asZ5RIITj7MyXMNhZpRu_-CjTtj-jOqRL-XfS6DBtsw35Jwvx95XrkmyA-ZnpwCcWsGkIxqWzbHkFd/s1600/20160730_121345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Nq91WlIk31ki16T2nik12XBj-eZXhNCGuIbd-hBkRwqPD1znyh7-H0G5gFAxb7asZ5RIITj7MyXMNhZpRu_-CjTtj-jOqRL-XfS6DBtsw35Jwvx95XrkmyA-ZnpwCcWsGkIxqWzbHkFd/s320/20160730_121345.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnkSDWqUACfKE6Y_pvaNlINH7GGh0N1kDcwV6N_H4AFDsDVZdm1GSfjYzqga5E8LWBH_aPaARTEcLDRb5kL5syy6q53jFj0nR9R7pdsi9DMHlk8e3Yv8-WZgNnBe3fTLjqIZCRxsCpgf9/s1600/20160730_121647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnkSDWqUACfKE6Y_pvaNlINH7GGh0N1kDcwV6N_H4AFDsDVZdm1GSfjYzqga5E8LWBH_aPaARTEcLDRb5kL5syy6q53jFj0nR9R7pdsi9DMHlk8e3Yv8-WZgNnBe3fTLjqIZCRxsCpgf9/s320/20160730_121647.jpg" width="180" /></a><br />
BEFORE<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UVfqQTcE3cH1KjXWpnc85Dsa-ZvR0UL6JTEzaP-DbXjQ3mEbe3Fa_IYs2Fqg6kpkZvSp0p_tB6Jd9AfjOPRxXzk5B7SfzW1W2t7-NTTZq9nK6ypzy9xhZF-eY23fkY_zDTUFlk3w3d1D/s1600/20160809_165332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UVfqQTcE3cH1KjXWpnc85Dsa-ZvR0UL6JTEzaP-DbXjQ3mEbe3Fa_IYs2Fqg6kpkZvSp0p_tB6Jd9AfjOPRxXzk5B7SfzW1W2t7-NTTZq9nK6ypzy9xhZF-eY23fkY_zDTUFlk3w3d1D/s320/20160809_165332.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoYMKvPYlyk_fZ1wwi-eSA6c0NarG3km2G_FNDACJlpHSW4BHTNiolxpjrRQtO9fb5tlEk-lXvA-06vj9H6aImzZIVHy6vpju_mehXHLhZXlFl4UJH8-jZAK-t4wnrqu8iOlxm7NSx6Z9/s1600/20160809_165337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoYMKvPYlyk_fZ1wwi-eSA6c0NarG3km2G_FNDACJlpHSW4BHTNiolxpjrRQtO9fb5tlEk-lXvA-06vj9H6aImzZIVHy6vpju_mehXHLhZXlFl4UJH8-jZAK-t4wnrqu8iOlxm7NSx6Z9/s320/20160809_165337.jpg" width="180" /></a><br />
AFTER<br />
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As you can see prior to my dying my hair it was a faded reddy pink colour - fairly light on the top and dark to the bottom.<br />
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The dye pretty much covered all the colour with a mostly even tone (a little lighter again at the top).<br />
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Overall I am pleased with it.<br />
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Due to the fact its quite complicated I actually had to do my mum's hair for her as she found the process difficult. Her colour came out really well and she is very pleased with it too.<br />
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Would I recommend this? - I think if you are looking to get a decent colour and coverage its a good product but it takes longer than most dyes and it also needs 2 people to really get it done properly.<br />
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4/5Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-89668114679531914352016-07-28T12:34:00.002-07:002016-07-28T12:34:14.017-07:00Lamenting the Loss of the Laptop!Just a brief update with more posts to follow on the weekend when I have some spare time!<br />
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Sadly my lovely laptop died - I have zero idea what happened but die it did!<br />
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I only discovered it was dead when I tried to use it on hols at the Forest of Dean (bog post to follow)<br />
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Luckily my dad had the foresight to purchase extra care insurance and once I was home I was able to get it replaced but it took over a week hence the fact I have not been around for a few weeks.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-62029031446492933952016-07-08T12:36:00.001-07:002016-07-08T12:36:51.309-07:00Reviewing Oral B Smart Series 5000 Electrical Toothbrush :) for SavvyCircle IF<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently applied to take part in a supersavvyme (savvycircle) product trial of an Oral B toothbrush but I didn't make the panel boo! :( I was gutted mainly because last time my dad was down he dropped my electric toothbrush down the loo and even if I had wanted to use it after that (which I really didn't) it wouldn't have mattered as it was completely broken! And it cost me £25 too! So I was using just a regular non - electric toothbrush which just doesn't leave your teeth anywhere near as clean.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, they now have a new IF panel on there (stands for Instant Feedback panel). I joined savvy circle ages ago so when they sent out an email a few months ago about a new panel they were setting up called the Instant Feedback panel I signed up for that too.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyways the difference between the 2 panels is the savvy circle runs projects which run over a slightly longer timescale 4 weeks plus normally. The IF panel runs over a shorter period of around 2 weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For both panels you need to be active - complete any surveys and a couple of reviews.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The savvy circle one has more tasks than the IF hence the longer running time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If your interested in joining over on the site (and I'd recommend it apart from the product trials the whole webbie that is <a href="https://www.supersavvyme.co.uk/">supersavvyme</a> is pretty awesome with tonnes of coupons, free samples, reviews, advice and information) then click on the link and take a look.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For more info on the savvycircle and whats expected in the product trials please check out my review advice page <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/how-to-review-products-for-free-or.html">here</a> :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So after failing to get into the product trial on savvy circle I got another e-mail saying they were running the project on the IF panel as well so I jumped to it and applied. Some time passed and then I got the e-mail saying I'd been chosen - whoop whoop :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then it was just a case of waiting for my parcel containing my new toothbrush to arrive!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The e-mail did say that we might get sent slightly different products to the ones shown and so on - the product I got sent was the Oral B Smart Series 5000 Electrical Toothbrush. RRP of this item on amazon is like £80! Wow right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So as part of this project I got to try the product for 2 weeks and then write 2 reviews one on supersavvyme and one on amazon and that's pretty much it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The toothbrush is seriously awesome! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here is my review (also posted to amazon)</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My review of the Oral B Smart Series 5000 Electrical Toothbrush</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="reviewText" style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This comes boxed and includes:<br /><br />- a plastic travel case<br />- 3 different heads<br />- toothbrush base<br />- mobile phone stand<br />- charging base with separate head holder which can be attached</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnr8Gc6Hqt_RYDcMU72WohAaXjtTGWgMtZesn4bbVgHKe5OE1AuMLV_QLNbqtSb6xJ60Q99QPi9s1pwQfZhbg6qalHsjtAVcQzRPkCwnniAkQVxpNMWf4-SVve3jcWiUXRXBg5WxUtUas/s1600/20160708_173458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnr8Gc6Hqt_RYDcMU72WohAaXjtTGWgMtZesn4bbVgHKe5OE1AuMLV_QLNbqtSb6xJ60Q99QPi9s1pwQfZhbg6qalHsjtAVcQzRPkCwnniAkQVxpNMWf4-SVve3jcWiUXRXBg5WxUtUas/s320/20160708_173458.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />The charger unit with this toothbrush has the 2 prong shaving plug which I find annoying as I don't have a shaving point in my bathroom and therefore have to use it with an adapter to charge the brush - not a huge issue just a tad inconvenient as they suggest that when not in use you leave the toothbrush sat on the stand so it can be kept fully charged (charge turns off when battery is full) however I personally am uncomfortable with leaving something switched on with an adapter over night or when I am home.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_4KB660xTESbVjjLZXQm2RE93nnhUNPOtHlRrOghbTR-CrhKQKWIUNUYqqOcnOpaYeSLpoPuQlOi0-n35Jh6DK2i0_3GK9egBF-xQjuJ7C_CynpvnvBhidxY1kvUFzggWQvJdj1sbGwc/s1600/20160708_173526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_4KB660xTESbVjjLZXQm2RE93nnhUNPOtHlRrOghbTR-CrhKQKWIUNUYqqOcnOpaYeSLpoPuQlOi0-n35Jh6DK2i0_3GK9egBF-xQjuJ7C_CynpvnvBhidxY1kvUFzggWQvJdj1sbGwc/s320/20160708_173526.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />It arrived with a little bit of charge in it but required around 14 hours of solid charging to take it to fully charged for first use.<br /><br />Oral B say that from full charge it should last around 7 days before going flat and needing more charging (will obv last longer if you are storing it on the base plugged in when not in use) - having been using it for 2 weeks I would say that they are pretty much spot on with the battery length - brushing twice a day for 2 - 3 minutes and not charging it on the stand it lasted 6 days before needing a charge.<br /><br />It doesn't have any battery level indicator - it only flashes red on the battery symbol when its running out and needs a charge - it would be more useful if in future models the light indicated the battery level.<br /><br />When charging it flashes green until fully charged.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnERQQOek_jCQ3P80QvTWqmchtuQ0hoL38z_6rNx4klU00DO35JMksp3lhjd2WDet2kDXeK4TEKAp-AlhS6wdS-kq2GS-7-n4ChYH-nrAL_f8MKrcCgy_SqZrHWODGmnlv892ExQA6iCP/s1600/20160708_173636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnERQQOek_jCQ3P80QvTWqmchtuQ0hoL38z_6rNx4klU00DO35JMksp3lhjd2WDet2kDXeK4TEKAp-AlhS6wdS-kq2GS-7-n4ChYH-nrAL_f8MKrcCgy_SqZrHWODGmnlv892ExQA6iCP/s320/20160708_173636.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />I didn't really get much use form the mobile phone stand - perhaps because my phone is quite big and in a heavy case it just didn't seem to hold it in securely and toppled over - it would probably be fine if it was out of the case but it's a hassle getting the phone in and out of the case.<br /><br />The plastic travel case is really useful - to use it you have to take the brush off the base - there is room in the case for 2 heads and if your just going for a week or a few days you can charge the brush before you go and it is nice and easy to carry without having to take all the bits with you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The brush itself is good. It has 4 different brushing settings:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- High speed - for daily use - this is my personal preferred mode</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />- Gum care - low speed to massage your gums and keep them healthy - I use this mode every 2-3 days after a regular brush just to make sure my gums are in good condition</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />- Whitening - this has alternating pulses / speeds to remove stains from the teeth - not really something I used</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />- sensitive - a low speed for those with sensitive teeth - not really something I used<br /><br />Its a bit annoying that there is one button - so you turn it on and it starts in the daily clean mode and then you have to keep pressing the button to cycle through the different settings in order to switch it off. It would have been better to have an on/off button and then a separate mode button that you pressed to switch through the brushing modes.<br /><br />I do find that my mouth and teeth feel really clean using the standard daily clean mode and my gums look healthier using the gum care one too - after 2 weeks of use my teeth also look slightly whiter than before.<br /><br />I really like the pressure sensor which flashes red when you are brushing too hard - I tend to rush in the morning and press too hard in my attempts to get through it quickly - The flashing red light makes me pause and stop putting too much pressure when brushing which can be harmful to the teeth and gums (you can see the redlight in the photo where I push against the brush head attached) the brushing pulse also changes slightly to let you know you are brushing too hard in case you miss seeing the light flash on.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivlcjvO4rAkIXBFMN_jXONwOJ7D4cZxcDBRpQN9DzfWFbKpTMc1opXqwB-cu66UAS9uroaqvbNji1uUVeOZCtevQVBMwuoN9K1cj1v3TMks0jVKir_DmAwxvNoOD00GRW5LV0TkUKv7o7r/s1600/20160708_173209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivlcjvO4rAkIXBFMN_jXONwOJ7D4cZxcDBRpQN9DzfWFbKpTMc1opXqwB-cu66UAS9uroaqvbNji1uUVeOZCtevQVBMwuoN9K1cj1v3TMks0jVKir_DmAwxvNoOD00GRW5LV0TkUKv7o7r/s320/20160708_173209.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />I also like how during brushing every 30 seconds the pulse changes - this acts as an alert to let you know to change the area of the mouth you are cleaning. After the recommended 2 minutes it also changes the pulse briefly.<br /><br />This toothbrush also has bluetooth connectivity - you can download the oral b ap and then connect the brush to your phone running the ap so you can see how long your brushing for, how often you have brushed too hard etc unfortunately I had issues with the ap. Mostly it wouldnt run for me on my phone. I have an LGG4 which is just over a year old and havent had issues with other aps or connectivity but did with this one.<br /><br />Mostly it would have an error saying the ap unexpectedly stopped working. However when the ap did work it was okay but I didn't find it particularly helpful because the data was skewed as you had to start the ap and then start the toothbrush and then switch the toothbrush off and then switch the ap off - I was surprised that the ap didn't automatically start and finish the recording when you turned on/off the brush.<br /><br />I do actually really like this toothbrush and it does have some really good features. I think they need to work more on the ap to make it more useful and responsive but as it has the timer and pressure sensor built in and both alert you from the toothbrush not having the ap isnt really an issue for me.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-66218999936196899872016-07-08T11:55:00.000-07:002016-07-08T11:55:09.015-07:00My Review of the Hisense WFP8014VS Washing Machine from AO.com<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am super lucky in that ao.com kindly offered me a new washing machine to review for free - awesome right?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyways I have written a bunch of stuff about how to review for ao.com and other companies over <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/how-to-review-products-for-free-or.html">here</a> - so if your interested in applying to be a reviewer yourself then check out my guide - and any questions feel free to comment and I'll get back to you :)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after they contacted me to offer me the washing machine the first thing I did was to check if it would fit in my kitchen - I live in a council maisonette style flat and the kitchen has limited room with all the cupboards and work tops fitted tightly. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily apart from being a little bit bigger depth wise the offered machine would fit perfectly in our kitchen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our old machine was a very cheap Beko model that was around 6 years old, very very loud, and not running as well as it had done previously (clothes often not coming out very clean, issues with the clothes being soaking wet and needing to go on for extra spins etc) and it only had a 5kg drum and if you filled it completely the clothes would come out dirty and soaked!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The machine we were offered was the Hisense WFP8014VS - a rather smart looking 8kg one with digital display (posher than a twisty knob haha) and lots of rather smart features. I was a little concerned that my mum would struggle to use this machine because lets be honest here she struggles to send me a cohesive text message (they normally look something like " hi pLLL$ acorn u pick...Me up!!apackofdecaf 8Tbags ")</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However its super easy to use - in fact my mum was the first one to use it because it was delivered and I was in work and then out and she wanted to wash some bedding! It has one single A4 street of instructions with handy pictures.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyways I am getting way ahead of myself! </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After I replied and basically said I would chew my own left leg off for a new washing machine ao asked me to pick a delivery date. I sent them 2 dates when there would be someone in to accept delivery - the dates were 2-3 days away and they replied with a confirmation saying that they would deliver it on the earliest date.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the way through the process they kept me completely up to date - e-mails and a text reminder the day before delivery and then a text reminder on the delivery day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They arrived on time and firstly disconnected and pulled out my old washing machine - if we had wanted them to they would have taken our old machine away but I am a firm believer in recycling and freecycling and I had already decided that I would offer my old washing machine on freecyle to benefit someone who couldnt afford one - sure it wasnt the best machine but if you have nothing then its better than that! So they kindly left the old machine out of the way to the side in the kitchen, they then carried the new machine upstairs, unpacked it and fitted it. the whole thing took them around 10 minutes - seriously that quick. I wasnt home when they did all this but my mum informed me they were lovely friendly guys and nothing was too much trouble - excellent service!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyways after trying out the machine a few times and getting to grips with using it I wrote up my review and recorded my video for ao.com and here they are :D NB I was going to do a separate review for the blog but actually I think these pretty much cover the main points of this wonderful machine :D However, if anyone has any questions about it or how you use it give me a shout and I'll do my best to answer them</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>My youtube video review</b></u></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>My ao.com review</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Hisense WFP8014VS washing machine is great. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has an 8kg drum which is ample for doing most washes - in our house hold that equates to a full laundry bin (on our old 5kg machine it would mean 2 loads) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It looks quite hi-tech and complicated but is really simple and easy to use - making it perfect for most households. Everything is also displayed clearly on the screen when it is on so you can see exactly what it is programmed for. I love the timer which shows how long is left for a wash - you know exactly when it will be finished so you can get your clothes out quickly to avoid them getting creased. It comes with a host of built in programmed washes which are easy to use and to choose the one which suits your needs best. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I particularly like quick wash (for light worn) items which is only 15 minutes from start to finish, the 95 degree antibacterial wash which is perfect for doing animal bedding, or for when there has been any illness in the house hold as it washes the items on a super high temp killing of any bacteria that are on them and the new clothes wash which basically gives them a quick swill and freshen up - which is something I used to do by hand. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also really like the fact you can choose anti-crease / crease-care for your clothes - I hate ironing and this little feature is brilliant - I can put work clothes in on a wash - add the crease care and they come out with barely any creases - if I then dry these on the line outside or the inside line I dont need to iron them - perfect! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has an A+++ energy rating, clever smart technology which adjusts for each load giving the most efficient settings and uses inverter wash technology which means it uses magnets to spin - these 3 things together add up to a machine that works well and quietly and uses minimal energy and water - this means it costs less per wash saving you money. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is also pretty quiet when running - and even when on a high speed spin cycle it doesnt rattle - again perfect for us as its under the draining board in the kitchen and our previous one would rattle any plates left drying and make a racket. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall this is a great washing machine, easy to use, cheap to run and your clothes come out clean and crease free."</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-88168163574408844872016-07-04T12:12:00.002-07:002016-07-04T12:12:15.327-07:00Catching UpIsn't it funny how life suddenly overtakes you when your not expecting it?<br />
<br />
The last few weeks have been chaotic:<br />
<br />
1. Sisters house move - so many issues and things to sort out from getting her to register with a GP, to sorting out council works at the house and getting basics like curtains. She's finally mostly sorted - has beds, curtains, a working connected gas cooker and surprisingly is almost finished unpacking - although she needs to take time to sort through everything too!<br />
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2. Car - my car is currently the bane of my life - the exhaust has now gone so will need to be repaired sooner rather than later - I am hoping it will hold out for the holiday next week and then I can get it sorted when I get home *fingers crossed!*<br />
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3. Uncle who is quite poorly has had his license revoked by dvla due to having been hospitalised due to the Drs messing with his meds - means he can no longer do his basic everyday things like getting his shopping in, making his numerous hospital appointments (hes on dialysis) and even coming round for dinner I have to go collect him - of course this all depends on my car actually running!<br />
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Alongside the craziness though there's been some cool things too:<br />
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- went to see the preview of AbFab The Movie with my mum last Thursday - tickets were free and I won a £40 odeon giftcard last year which provided us with hotdogs, buckets (literally buckets!) of pop and a large tub of Ben and Jerry's too - awesome!!! Movie was pretty good in parts it was really funny - others were a bit strained but you have to love Patty and OMG how many celeb cameo's can you fit in one movie?<br />
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- went for afternoon tea - my former colleagues got me a voucher for afternoon tea for 2 at a local tea rooms - so the day after AbFab I took a few hours flexi time and me and mum had afternoon tea - it was lovely and a nice start to the weekend :)<br />
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- reviews :D I am super happy with my new washing machine from ao.com - it even plays a cheery little tune when you turn it on - I've done my review and will be linking it to the blog shortly. I've also been reviewing a fab tooth brush from oral B (need to write the review on that) and a ton of stuff from AMZ reviews. Most of the stuff is really good which is great for me.<br />
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- comping - I have taken a bit of a break from comping as I am super tired in the evenings and just wanna play some games and watch some crap telly rather than doing loads of comps - however still doing a few and getting my fair share of wins - I now have the mammoth task of sorting through everything I have put aside for Birthdays and Christmas - my family are going to have an awesome year this year thanks to comping, reviews and freebies!<br />
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- nails - I stopped biting my nails its been abut 6-8 weeks and they are nt long because I trim them but apart from 2 of the nails which were really badly damaged and are taking ages to grow out they look in really good condition - I've put a pearly almost clear varnish on them and they look really nice - never thought of myself as a nails sort of person but it makes a change to not have really sore bleeding nails and fingers from chewing them!<br />
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- TV - finally getting round to watching the walking dead series 6 - currently up to episode 14 and still loving it - hear the new series will be out in October so once I have finished this going to watch South of Hell and a few others on amazon Prime as normal TV sucks!<br />
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So thats about it for me - holidays next week so will have lots of time to relax and tidy up the reviews list and stuff on the blog in between lunging in the hot tub and walking the dog<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-56717226567433304222016-06-21T11:35:00.003-07:002016-06-21T11:35:54.665-07:00Holiday Planning - New York & Orlando on a BudgetSo I am a super lucky girl - this year I have a couple of holidays - firstly in July I am heading to the Forest of Dean for a Forest Holiday which I won :) You can read my plans so far <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/holiday-planning-forest-of-dean-forest.html">here</a>.<br />
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However, my second holiday is to New York and Orlando in September whoop whoop :)<br />
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If you have read my blog before you will know that I am a planner I love planning my holidays - I tend to do a random mix and book everything myself for a couple of reasons:-<br />
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<ul>
<li>I want my holiday to be my holiday my way</li>
<li>I am cheap - well actually poor therefore in order to afford to do the holiday I want I have to look at the cheapest way of booking it - holiday companies charge you for their booking service - if your a nervous traveller or your looking for something a bit more bog standard then they are fine - if you want to do some random stuff (like my hol last year - niagara falls, las vegas, disneyworld and then i-drive) it's more costly and complicated.</li>
<li>I'm a control freak - I like to know that everything is planned to the last detail, with contingency plans and a day by day break down!</li>
</ul>
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I've wanted to go visit NY for a while and my mum really wants to go too so even as we arrived back bleary eyed and shattered from last years holiday we were already considering this years holiday.</div>
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Having looked at NY I realised it was ridiculously expensive like a 'cheap' room was running to the 100's which is ridiculous - there was no way we would be able to afford to spend 2 weeks in NY and to be honest whilst there is loads to do I only really wanted to do a couple of days so I could arrange to go back again in the future. </div>
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We decided to do a split stay - as we love Orlando we decided we would do a couple of days in NYC and then 2 weeks in Orlando - skipping Disney and just staying on i-drive this time. I wanted the holiday to be less than £1000 per person as I'm paying.</div>
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I started off by looking for flights on skyscanner - I knew that I could travel at various times including mid week - I also had a variety of airports to choose from - Bristol, Birmingham and London are all easy to get to from Cardiff and I had no preference about which airport to fly into in NY (there are 3 within close proximity) </div>
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I found flights on a Friday from Gatwick to JFK with luggage for £230 per person - my budget for the one way flights to NY was £250 so these were perfect. I never bother pre-booking the seats - I would rather rock up to the airport and hope they have some left available - and if they dont I will just chuck the headphones on and sleep - no worries and a saving of £25 per person!</div>
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Our flights are with Norwegian - now an interesting thing about Norwegian is that your in-flight meal is <b>not</b> included and you have to pay for it - they charge £25 for this service. Our flight is at 5pm - we have free passes to the airport lounge through my mum's bank account which includes unlimited cold food (pastries, bread, cheese, salad, cakes, meats etc) plus your choice of one hot item from their hot menu. So the plan is to stuff myself until I can hardly walk at the lounge! And to buy a pack of sarnies from boots / WHS in the airport to take on the plane - total cost to me of around £8</div>
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I found flights from Orlando to Gatwick on a Wednesday for £176 per person - again with Norwegian and including luggage - again I didnt bother with booking the food or the seats - the flights not until midnight and we always have food at the Golden Coral before leaving plus there is plenty of cheap eats in Orlando airport.</div>
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I havent booked the internal flights yet - I have checked them out and they are running between £25-50 per person which is not too bad.</div>
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Hotels have been an issue - I have booked a cheap one in NY but when I booked it had no review - after re-checking the reviews have been put up and they are bbbaaadddd - we wanted a small room but private bathroom - I am currently looking at some other options including staying in NJ as its only a 30 min bus ride to Times Square which would be fine. I havent paid yet as you pay on arrival and I have free cancellation so I have time to look at the other ones.</div>
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I booked a hotel in Orlando for us - it has mixed reviews but a friend has stayed there and they said to ignore the reviews and go for it (if its awful I am going to kill them). Hotel in Orlando cost £350</div>
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So total cost so far £1132. I still have the NY hotel to sort which will cost between £150 - £300, Gatwick transfers which will be around £100 and Gatwick hotel around £60 but even with these costs the total cost of the flights and travel will be around £1700 - thats £300 under budget - which is great as it means I can book some dinner shows and things too.</div>
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Next month (after payday!) I will be sorting out the internal flights and hopefully the NY hotel, gatwick hotel and transfers :)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-78689678790904099662016-06-19T13:10:00.001-07:002016-06-19T13:10:15.727-07:00A crazy couple of weeks!You know how sometimes you think your all caught up with everything and then it's like the gods look down on you and start laughing and drop you in the middle of a crazy zone? That's been my last few weeks!<br />
<br />
So here is a brief update of whats been happening!<br />
<br />
1. My sister got given a house in Cardiff - she knew about it we knew about it everyone knew about it but do you think she got her ass into gear and got herself organised for the move? Hell no! So I did around 8 round trips back and forth to move some of her stuff then a friend of ours did 2 massive van loads. In between trying to get my sis signed up with a gp, a health visitor for the kids and various other services and unpacked. Total chaos.<br />
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However on the positive:<br />
1. got her some beds from gumtree so her and the nephew are no longer sleeping on the floor<br />
2. got carpet from gum tree for H's bedroom<br />
3. mostly moved in and most of the repairs on the new place done<br />
4. grant application done for some carpets for the rest of the rooms and a cooker (shes currently living off micro, toaster and deep fat fryer food which is not good!)<br />
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On the negative:<br />
1. House in bridgend still not empty!!!<br />
2. unpacking not finished in new house<br />
3. need to sort out sofas she has none<br />
4. waiting on grant application approval to get vouchers for a cooker and carpet<br />
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Overall this is a positive improvement for us - her new house is 20 mins by a direct bus from my house or a short 10min drive. It's a new start and she is working pretty hard to try and sort out her belongings and to get rid of what she doesnt need - this is hard for her due to metal health issues and problems with concentrating but she is doing it slowly. It also means that H has her own bedroom - this will help to get her into a better nighttime routine. There are lots of services available in the area she has moved into for her and J's mental health needs and there is also lots of things nearby for her to do such as parks, a leisure centre, shops and food places. The house is lovely with a large enclosed back garden which J has already worked hard in and brought from the state of an overgrown jungle to a safe play environment for H and for D when he stays over.<br />
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Sorting my sis out has taken a lot of my time and energy - but I have also started my new job. At first I thought I had made a mistake - sure the new job is better paid but it seemed really boring for the first week and I felt a bit let down - I am used to being busy from the moment I step through the door until I go home and the first week I didnt really do anything - my computer id took a long time to come through and it seemed like they didnt really have anything for me to do. Thankfully the second week picked up.<br />
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It's a little scary actually how much I will be responsible for but I am sure I can do it.<br />
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Everyone in the new place seems really nice and approachable which is good. The office is massive and open plan which has taken a bit of getting used to. My parking space is a 10 min walk from the office which means I have to leave earlier in the morning and I get home later in the evening - not a huge difference about 30mins or so but its something else to get used to!<br />
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I've been so shattered with the move and with the new job that I actually took a break from comping and went a whole week without doing them.<br />
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In other exciting news - well exciting for me :D I'm doing a project with savvy circle IF team (thats the instant feedback team) with anew oral b toothbrush I am really pleased about this because I needed a new one as my dad dropped my old one down the loo when he last stayed over and I have been using a regular one and its just not as good as an electric one. The new toothbrush is proper clever and talks to my phone and stuff.<br />
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I am also going to be reviewing a washing machine for ao.com which will be fab.<br />
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Both reviews will be on the blog in the next week or so :D<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-83452548967325682392016-05-28T12:56:00.001-07:002016-05-28T12:56:19.353-07:00Holiday Planning :) Forest of Dean Forest HolidaysLast year I was very fortunate - I won a £500 voucher for Forest Holidays.<br />
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I decided to book for my mum's birthday for this year so we are going from Monday 11th July until Friday 15th July (my dad is kindly staying with the cats & snakes - he loves his pet sitting duties).<br />
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I found out that I could pay extra and take the dog - we were really pleased by this as he is a part of the family (like the cats and the snakes but sadly we cant take them). I also paid a little extra to upgrade our cabin to a hot tub one and to have the entertainment package (Sky movies and wifi).<br />
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My niece who is disabled is also coming - she has mobility probs and tires easily but we have a walking frame for her which she manages pretty well with it.<br />
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After the voucher I have paid an extra £200 or so on top which covers the extras which I think is pretty reasonable - my mum and niece have both contributed £50 each towards the extras too :)<br />
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It's getting pretty close to holiday time now - 44 days until we go! So I have been looking at putting together an itinerary for us - I know some people like to fly by the seat of their pants on holidays but I am a planner and when taking the dog and my niece I do need to make sure that everywhere is accessible and dog friendly for us.<br />
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I have spent a bit of time on trip advisor, the hayandwye tourism website and just generally randomly googling the area and have decided on a few things to do.<br />
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Day 1.<br />
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Leave the diff around 10.30am (to avoid the rush hour traffic - seriously the traffic in and out of Cardiff during the week from around 7,30-9.30 am is horrific maybe not London levels but getting there sometimes!)<br />
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My mum and niece fancy a trip to Weston Supermare (even though it's not actually going the same way as us lol)<br />
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We should arrive at WSM around 11.45ish - we will then head to a pub called Scally's - we have never been there before but the reviews on it say it has decent food, a large beer garden and is dog friendly. If for some reason this place is not open we have an alternative nearby called The Captain's Cabin (this isnt my first choice due to the mixed reviews on tripadvisor)<br />
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After lunch which I am anticipating we will be finished around 1pm we will then have a wander around WSM - my mum wants to visit a jewellery making shop we found last time we were there if it's still open. I quite fancy the 2p machines down the beach front myself!<br />
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We will leave here around 2.30- 3pm and head to Forest of Dean - arriving at the Forest Holidays site around 3.45pm - 4.15pm. Check-in is 4pm<br />
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We will then check-in, check out the hot tub, give the dog a good long walk.<br />
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Around 6pm we will head to a local supermarket and get in some supplies and possible stop for fast food should there be a chain nearby (the dog is partial to a cheese burger from MaccyD's -no sauce, onion or gherkin on his hehe)<br />
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We can then headback - put the shopping away - have a turn in the hot tub - walk the dog, watch a movie and just chill.<br />
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Day 2<br />
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Breakfast in the cabin :)<br />
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A walk in the forest for Jac<br />
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Then we will head out to the <a href="http://www.deanforestrailway.co.uk/">railway</a>. The Dean Forest railway seems like a great choice for us - it costs £12 for an all day ticket for the humans and £2 for an all day ticket for Jac :) It has a few different stops where we can get off and have a wander into parks, down the harbour etc before getting back on.<br />
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We will find somewhere local for a late lunch<br />
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The late afternoon and evening we will see how we feel we might go for a walk or shopping in local shops etc<br />
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Day 3<br />
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Breakfast in the cabin :)<br />
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A walk in the forest for Jac<br />
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Pack up the car with a picnic lunch and drinks</div>
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Head to the Sculpture Walk - this sounds like its quite a cool thing to do - a gentle walk in the forest trying to spot some hidden sculptures - its free to do which is even better! Parking costs £3.50 and you can use the ticket to park at other local sites too</div>
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We will then find a spot for our picnic lunch</div>
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Then head to Symonds Yat rock - which has views over the river wye and the forest and is supposed to be really pretty and just happens to be included with the parking charges we would have already paid at the sculpture walk</div>
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After we plan to find a dog friendly pub where we can stop in for an evening meal </div>
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Day 4</div>
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Breakfast in the cabin :)<br />
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A walk in the forest for Jac</div>
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We will be looking at doing a boat ride down the river wye - I have found a couple of companies who do tours which allow dogs on board too - we also want to go into haye on wye and have a nosy around the shops. </div>
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We will eat out for lunch and dinner and then hea dback to the cabin for some last hot tub time and to pack up</div>
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Day 5</div>
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Breakfast in the cabin :)<br />
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A walk in the forest for Jac<br />
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We will then have to check out at 10am eep<br />
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We havent decided if we will drive straight home or if we will have a stop off somewhere on the way back for a few hours - perhaps g to chepstow castle or somewhere similar<br />
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So that's my planned schedule for us so far. Hopefully my mum and niece and of course Jac the dog will enjoy it</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-54785421221532827492016-05-24T13:17:00.000-07:002016-05-24T13:17:01.271-07:00A Post by LadyCat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Fed up of my human talking about rubbish like jobs, medication and bills I have decided to post something that is infinitely more interesting... a post all about me! LadyCat<br />
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Now in the past there may have been a passing mention of me or the others but I feel I need a dedicated post all to myself to explain my awesomeness!<br />
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So in the words of Maria - Let's start at the very beginning!<br />
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My mamma cat was a poor stray - luckily for her she got rescued by Vale Cat Rescue in Ebbw Vale.<br />
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By the time she was taken in by the rescue she was heavily pregnant - unfortunately the pregnancy went wrong and some of my brothers and sisters didnt make it...mamma was rushed to the vets where she had an emergency c-section - I was last out and because of this I had been starved of oxygen - they weren't sure I would make it.<br />
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Mamma cat survived and was spayed at the same time, myself and my brother also survived and we were hand reared by the rescue. My brother grew bigger and stronger everyday but I didn't really grow much - the vet said that I had special needs - I took that to mean I was a very special kitty and was quite pleased.<br />
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Over time I grew a bit and the rescue started to look for a new home for me - living with 40 other cats was okay but I needed a place of my own where I could live like the special kitty that I am!<br />
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The rescue got me vaccinated ready for adoption (I was still much too small to be spayed as I weighed only 1kg) but just as I was starting to do really well I had a bad reaction to the injection and became very poorly.<br />
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And thats when I met my forever hooman!<br />
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My hooman and her friend came to visit the rescue because her friend wanted to become a foster mamma. As soon as I saw my hooman I knew she was the one for me! I dragged myself onto her lap and sat there for 2 hours whilst she chatted to the head lady at the rescue and then she gently picked me up off her lap and left!!!!<br />
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I couldn't believe it!<br />
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I knew we were purrfect together! Didn't she know how lucky she was that I had chosen her? Didn't she know how hard it was for me to crawl up onto her lap? How poorly I was, how I could hardly breath and then she left without me!<br />
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I was so sad I didn't understand and I felt so so so poorly. I had visits to the vets, antibiotics, special food and plenty of warm blankets but I was so tired of fighting, so tired of hurting and lonely. The rescue ladies try to give everyone love and attention but with so many of us in their care they couldnt spend as much time as I needed.<br />
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Just as I was ready to close my eyes and head to the rainbow bridge the hooman I chose came back! She brought someone with her and I heard the magic words "I've come for Lady"<br />
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The rescue told her I was poorly, that I needed a special home, that I was smaller than other cats and that I might need lots of extra care in the future and she just said okay.<br />
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They wrapped me in a blanket and her mamma held me in her arms as they took the long drive home.<br />
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When I got there she picked me up and cuddled me all night long - but I was still very poorly. I couldnt breathe and the vets told her to prepare for the worse.<br />
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But slowly I got better...everyday my hooman would give me my yucky medicine, she would clean my eyes and nose with special wipes and breathing became easier.<br />
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As I grew stronger I started to meet the rest of my family - my hooman already had 3 cats! a dog and 2 snakes!!!!<br />
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I heard her telling people she hadn't planned on getting another cat but she couldn't leave me behind - well I am utterly adorable!<br />
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After living with my hooman for a longgggg time (9 months) I was finally big enough to get spayed - normally the rescue says you have to spay a cat as soon as they are old enough as part of the adoption process but because I was so small and light my hooman was told she didnt need to get me spayed but as I kept wanting to go outside into the garden and for my safety she felt it best to get me done. We had to wait until I reached 2kgs before the vet would do the op and after the op to stop me biting out my stitches I had a collar on but the collar was much much much too heavy for me even though it was the smallest one and I couldnt even walk with it on. The rescue suggested my hooman get me a babygro but even the prem baby ones wouldnt fit so she improvised and cut up one of her socks instead!<br />
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I didnt really like it as I really really really wanted to bite those annoying stitches out but the hooman and her fluffy sock completely foiled me!!! Grrrrr<br />
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Following the op I continued to get bigger and stronger and to prove myself the Lady of the Manor.<br />
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I soon had put the other 3 cats in their place!<br />
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LeoCat the Bengal became my willing slave - he would often groom me and just generally pay homage to my awesomeness. As you can see her remains my faithful servant, always at my side and about twice as big as me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2Tvnh2BMTKsdA-QaiBSLJfKax1v5VC5UvMmknGe8bBYJUORxOaCXY72sD5U5tJpXZc5rE8VxVXAea6IoBcnoIEcEdajzXVd8qCNqY1mAIlZS_sAQUF3ZIy70cK0kIYiTSeTzJo9VvI6O/s1600/11243456_10153175925680358_6296459172660950445_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2Tvnh2BMTKsdA-QaiBSLJfKax1v5VC5UvMmknGe8bBYJUORxOaCXY72sD5U5tJpXZc5rE8VxVXAea6IoBcnoIEcEdajzXVd8qCNqY1mAIlZS_sAQUF3ZIy70cK0kIYiTSeTzJo9VvI6O/s320/11243456_10153175925680358_6296459172660950445_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU3mTuSWMt7FuVcu3_AlXu5PIzN3wd_tf_0sgKntE0HMGzqdqtUAa8uQbcd2vHJiRVSFbLkn0eWl2jeSuat1XGwX9O-S7d_nK47kbcfny3Ly9nkw5x4b9g4OmboWcEU2ZH89bV3jBzZn8/s1600/12112357_10153522184410358_7745143070192020428_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU3mTuSWMt7FuVcu3_AlXu5PIzN3wd_tf_0sgKntE0HMGzqdqtUAa8uQbcd2vHJiRVSFbLkn0eWl2jeSuat1XGwX9O-S7d_nK47kbcfny3Ly9nkw5x4b9g4OmboWcEU2ZH89bV3jBzZn8/s320/12112357_10153522184410358_7745143070192020428_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Morticia the old lady of the pack and I became firm friends - we often play chase, bite the belly, chew the tail etc and then cwtch together<br />
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Finally there is Dena - we dont get on - she is Mistress of Evil and we take every opportunity to hiss at each other - but occasionally we forget we have a war going on and take a nap together :D The hooman couldnt find a pic of us together so you miss out on my awesomeness and just get her evilness instead!<br />
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There's also the snakes but who cares about them? they are just wiggly wormy things that I am not allowed to eat - I like to watch them sometimes though mmmm tasty wiggly worms<br />
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Then there is Jac the dog - he came after me and he is only little too (he's also smaller than LeoCat!) so he knows I am the boss, sometimes he plays with me when we try and catch the red dot - but he always gets a treat at the end and I dont - the hooman says its because dogs get ocd about the red dot - I think they pretend to in order to get the treats!<br />
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And thats it really a brief introduction to me LadyCat the most amazing kitty ever!<br />
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I will leave you with a few more photos so you can bask in my cuteness and I will be regularly writing for the blog from now on as Ithink the hooman's posts are rather dull myself and I am sure you will be much more interested in the time I fell off the sofa, or how I made her trip down the ladder from the attic than jobs, holidays and money!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw0bqT6jlVc9M9X5yb28zWHQMhG6tIXobhvYssAfMrpDN_uV1Rs-9qKgMKZnrhvrcTb3dJ8VYPV97sUcCm1uHCl49sGhUrLRRabhoF7J_22IjzQxmyuqifOcZ-F38PV_nhdAIMahxfK5H/s1600/1441397_10152867053580358_7716415967624492276_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw0bqT6jlVc9M9X5yb28zWHQMhG6tIXobhvYssAfMrpDN_uV1Rs-9qKgMKZnrhvrcTb3dJ8VYPV97sUcCm1uHCl49sGhUrLRRabhoF7J_22IjzQxmyuqifOcZ-F38PV_nhdAIMahxfK5H/s320/1441397_10152867053580358_7716415967624492276_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & the hooman - selfie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJ4IixKqSmZYJ8v0oRFHfOKYoUu4p5q7shYGmDJipxXGkRDbjwdvtyEcNgXfrK7SgWDrUzXWvLExKhY3STWJOTbJvxfnHNxiuR7vcVIu930eG7d7LcPTRD4ToDVkCOdzIxqfLhxYdX9o4/s1600/1555280_10152124765975358_1987903994_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJ4IixKqSmZYJ8v0oRFHfOKYoUu4p5q7shYGmDJipxXGkRDbjwdvtyEcNgXfrK7SgWDrUzXWvLExKhY3STWJOTbJvxfnHNxiuR7vcVIu930eG7d7LcPTRD4ToDVkCOdzIxqfLhxYdX9o4/s320/1555280_10152124765975358_1987903994_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My fave place to perch and watch the snakes</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YCq8cH6pE5F3EbeaqyblJykqOlKJAwKE07r5SnCrEbq2SYTLLGt8SJ083VJDrk58v8KouLQOJMR_a4C2WHt-yCgfoKbbcDxBUpiN7ckJvjavDui2fggNWxJQemnczv4KRuYt_jV3Jx2k/s1600/10428547_10153188007045358_256554426531826069_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YCq8cH6pE5F3EbeaqyblJykqOlKJAwKE07r5SnCrEbq2SYTLLGt8SJ083VJDrk58v8KouLQOJMR_a4C2WHt-yCgfoKbbcDxBUpiN7ckJvjavDui2fggNWxJQemnczv4KRuYt_jV3Jx2k/s320/10428547_10153188007045358_256554426531826069_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giving my serious gangsta look - you talkin to me?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzH71Fz2GeRXPTZz4cT1ty50JinJlQNcTWi2C3nYMsgSibr0KSfsDPOj-3oTMgTveAYyN-s0h-OBtmC9Uu5J8zY7rbSvaW2VknnAcTJNRcal9KJct8jnQAynDZ9nKXQwBbgyOn8fSPasX/s1600/10917390_10153047364450358_7928822884685626547_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzH71Fz2GeRXPTZz4cT1ty50JinJlQNcTWi2C3nYMsgSibr0KSfsDPOj-3oTMgTveAYyN-s0h-OBtmC9Uu5J8zY7rbSvaW2VknnAcTJNRcal9KJct8jnQAynDZ9nKXQwBbgyOn8fSPasX/s320/10917390_10153047364450358_7928822884685626547_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out these pearly whites!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFyBoxw5N_-pZxyVa3TqKu3-kdOEWJJtk6HkeNQkUtjfOiQ2s7tEWWLObplysj2HMATjYTxAy51pY88dJo1RpFb29pMtm6S-l-AmygmHZIUGN6CIiJ2ZystdPbvQKx2LopT_lx3V-7HEb/s1600/11071039_10153050405320358_8016178909352359446_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFyBoxw5N_-pZxyVa3TqKu3-kdOEWJJtk6HkeNQkUtjfOiQ2s7tEWWLObplysj2HMATjYTxAy51pY88dJo1RpFb29pMtm6S-l-AmygmHZIUGN6CIiJ2ZystdPbvQKx2LopT_lx3V-7HEb/s320/11071039_10153050405320358_8016178909352359446_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surveying my kingdom aka the living room</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFQ9fF0jmS8k0FYo30Dvps_yy4u8O8_SpUwdeldsqvVAE2DH9GSXfnfpXzjgfYaJb1Nrf96-bphGMZ3J7_iFqZEgNGJpqFIGpBph9TsWfQDwATusmTDaUQcNov-fSQyG0Grb1d0ptgCdw/s1600/11254392_10153619754725358_1879545763180129605_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFQ9fF0jmS8k0FYo30Dvps_yy4u8O8_SpUwdeldsqvVAE2DH9GSXfnfpXzjgfYaJb1Nrf96-bphGMZ3J7_iFqZEgNGJpqFIGpBph9TsWfQDwATusmTDaUQcNov-fSQyG0Grb1d0ptgCdw/s320/11254392_10153619754725358_1879545763180129605_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I won this bag to store my treats in - but the hooman has failed to fill it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIu4_bzqDXsFn3WAKBLCaVFaTY4wThCp0yuEBX_8KHH1kHgIuzVGioWp99-FEZwg9Lq-uCijuHcpukjF3JZnlcS3mNiAz_Dx6Er0PDSW2gmyqd6ZuZBA1xOe14TePsM0uKXZwvJRVJ-iu5/s1600/11692723_10153317058530358_8470010405933282590_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIu4_bzqDXsFn3WAKBLCaVFaTY4wThCp0yuEBX_8KHH1kHgIuzVGioWp99-FEZwg9Lq-uCijuHcpukjF3JZnlcS3mNiAz_Dx6Er0PDSW2gmyqd6ZuZBA1xOe14TePsM0uKXZwvJRVJ-iu5/s320/11692723_10153317058530358_8470010405933282590_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hooman thinks she's funny taking this pic!</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-80151551145577849612016-05-21T12:34:00.002-07:002016-05-21T12:34:28.700-07:00Countdown to the new job :)My countdown is on - I have 2 weeks left in my current job - but thats equal to 8 days as there is a bank holiday and I have a day annual leave too.<br />
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After waiting so long for the clearance from Occ health it seems like now its come through the time to finish is coming around wayyyyy more quickly.<br />
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I have a couple of things planned.<br />
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I had my leaving do last night - I wanted to do something different to the usual meal out so I arranged to go to Go Air which is a massive indoor trampolining park. It cost £10 for an hour session plus you have to buy socks which cost £2 but can be reused several times (until the grips wear out).<br />
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Here's a pic of the socks - the only photo we took all night oops<br />
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I wish I had taken photos but your not supposed to have anything in your pockets and we were having way too much fun to stop to go get photos of each other.<br />
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So basically Go Air has like a massive block of trampolines all joined together and surrounded by a wall of trampoline like things - you can jump on a single trampoline, jump from one trampoline to the other and jump into the sides and stuff. They also have a smaller area set up in a similar way but surrounded by netting where you play dodge ball, 2 long strips where you run and slam dunk basketballs (this was out of order when we went boo!) and a giant foam pit (more about that in a bit)<br />
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As we were there kinda early it was mainly kids - I think there were like 4 other adults playing but it didnt bother us.<br />
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We started off on the individual trampolines - I swear I managed a height of around 12 foot at one point - I bravely tried to bounce from my trampoline to the one in front but didnt quite make it landing squarely inbetween the too and looking a bit of a dick but oh well - when your built like homer simpson and wobbling on a trampoline your already surpassing alll dickness of appearance so it was fine.<br />
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We got brave and decided to face the foam pit. The foam pit was set up with 2 low trampolines that you bounce down towards the pit and then jump into it, there is then a solid platform above 2 trampolines that you can jump from the platform onto the trampoline and then fling yourself into the foam pit and then there is another 2 low ones with like a rope ladder. The foam as well its not like shaving foam but big cubes of foam material.<br />
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Anyways we watched a bunch of like 7 year olds doing crazy flips and stuff into the pit and decided to give it a go.... my mate went first and chickened out...then another and chickened out so I was like c'mon guys outta the way lemme show you how its done! So I jumped and jumped and bounced and wobbled my way down the trampoline to the very end... I continued to bounce building height and speed and then ... I looked into the pit and chickened out!!!! So as not to completely lose face I stepped up to the end of the trampoline and bunny hopped into the pit and thats when it went wrong for me.<br />
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The foam cubes were like quick sand sucking me down - I bravely crawled at the pace of a snail whilst my friends literally wet themselves laughing and mocking me!!!!!! Half way to the edge with the end in site I lost my sock and could feel my leggings being pulled down too. So I had to make an 'adjustment' and dig in the foam for my sock. As I continued to crawl to the edge my dignity (as if) in shatters my obvious shame did not bother the girls and they decided to give it ago too.<br />
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They had as little success as me so we went back to the individual trampolines!<br />
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The girls then mastered landing on their bums and back up to their feet - I couldnt actually manage that!<br />
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After a quick wee (I swear they should have been playing Taylor Swift in there and instead of Shake it off it should have been shake it out!) and a drink we decided to brave the foam pit again - it had pretty much the same results as previously except one of the girls tripped on the edge and did an impressive and unexpected forward somersault! As she tried to escape the foam it managed to such one of her boobs out through the gap by her armpit! Bwahahaha that didnt happen to me because I wore 2 sports bras - I couldnt breath but damn you could balance drinks on my boobs!<br />
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After the joy of trampolining we met up with another load of work people who had decided to leave the tena lady at home and skip the trampolining. As lots of people have kids I had suggested that we go to the Harvester which was next door to Go Air and said anyone with kids was welcome to bring them. The Harvester is relatively cheap, does kids meals and is kid friendly which is great. This turned out pretty good the kids were all well behaved and got on, we all had a great meal and chatted and just had a good time.<br />
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I have a few other things planned for work before I leave including:<br />
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- a letter box cake I won from baker days :) I went for an emoticon one with a picture of the poo emoji on it because it's a bit shitty I am leaving my awesome team and they are gonna miss me (although it is awesome to be going to a job that pays more money!)<br />
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- cakes and pinata - I won £30 of credit with a party supplies company I got a bunch of stuff ready for H's birthday in August (I was originally going to get stuff for D's birthday in April but they took literally weeks to get my prize code and then like 4 weeks to deliver my items!) but I also got a monkey pinata which I am filling with sweets and make up samples and freebies. I am sure the girls in work will enjoy it ( I do have one male colleague and whilst he might not enjoy the make up he has teen daughters and eats sweets non stop! so am sure it will be fine)<br />
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I also have a lot of work to do before I finish - there doesnt appear to be any cover for me and there are changes being made to the various admin teams so I want to make sure they are as well prepared for not having any admin support for a while as they can be.<br />
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I also have a hand over to do as well with the community lead.<br />
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So yeah 8 working days left and then that's it!<br />
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I'm not going to lie I am a bit scared about the new job - I worry about things like I wont be able to do it, or the people wont like me, or I'll do something hugely embarrassing on the first day and run away never to return! I come across as a really confident person but I am really not - the more uncertain of a situation I am the louder and ore confident I appear.<br />
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But I am also quite excited and looking forward to meeting the new people, seeing my office and finding out exactly what I am doingUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-79683116530199255472016-05-13T13:43:00.002-07:002016-05-13T13:43:33.595-07:00Calmurid Pro - The Insiders Project - Post 2 - Use & Results?I have been using the Calmurid Pro Body Lipolotion and Hand cream daily.<br />
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My big areas of concern have been my lower legs, feet and hands.<br />
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The Calmurid Pro products sit comfortably on the skin and create a barrier between your skin and the outside world not only rehydrating the skin but also protecting it. The protection is so complete it is easily demonstrated using the spray bottle provided in the Insiders project kit :<br />
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1. take a small amount of lotion and rub it into your skin<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwuQ9disod0FahHObFQ55lQF-hjtxkXm2ZH5nxalQwpc1LVUKHpjhX9b3ErcVOhUVSDAzIkBDpzCmQ6MenK_FT2LFYQf_2EzU97GUJVgfXumK0jL9e_QWtFgGFL5f5XlY0YLN-m58KZsi/s1600/20160511_173856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwuQ9disod0FahHObFQ55lQF-hjtxkXm2ZH5nxalQwpc1LVUKHpjhX9b3ErcVOhUVSDAzIkBDpzCmQ6MenK_FT2LFYQf_2EzU97GUJVgfXumK0jL9e_QWtFgGFL5f5XlY0YLN-m58KZsi/s320/20160511_173856.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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2. Using the provided spray bottle (filled with water) spray the water onto your skin<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqr6Zrec9PbnriKUkvYPK8hblXEwsOsATbK28ltmyaP6y8a2THO4XW0Yy7v6HscMIopyHXerE4ST3NaeFDi-S10iwAqnmzsjDK8PGb54CZTEctfVVtsTcskTArZdqUpm2szrFQm3p8XvLp/s1600/20160511_173817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqr6Zrec9PbnriKUkvYPK8hblXEwsOsATbK28ltmyaP6y8a2THO4XW0Yy7v6HscMIopyHXerE4ST3NaeFDi-S10iwAqnmzsjDK8PGb54CZTEctfVVtsTcskTArZdqUpm2szrFQm3p8XvLp/s320/20160511_173817.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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3. Check out how the water beads on your skin rather than sinking into it</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxoFCv5LqeFG0zTNlLrmIucm0oZr6QhrDwJTKak3RilJgm-ZswW3lJh-maYYlxC7Ndn94ZvHOk7lny-BnaBIcQCM8hXmI_rUXQXTW6D7JKY3VxfepYqdWsSHD_fJEmuGHKFtTkdKEcKAW6/s1600/20160511_173956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxoFCv5LqeFG0zTNlLrmIucm0oZr6QhrDwJTKak3RilJgm-ZswW3lJh-maYYlxC7Ndn94ZvHOk7lny-BnaBIcQCM8hXmI_rUXQXTW6D7JKY3VxfepYqdWsSHD_fJEmuGHKFtTkdKEcKAW6/s320/20160511_173956.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1EKmTppDdt6aj5ALCmBIbtf5BXzTbJ1SfEGDM5PxtNLjUTDxLNwdnvgC_59dghyphenhyphen5v5htPIGh4TG30fVoQWUrM8hZs72E4I3YG-XG-3gI9k6_sqSWkIcmJ8lf8CIUWIdjSHIkEEtP-cSM-/s1600/20160511_174028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1EKmTppDdt6aj5ALCmBIbtf5BXzTbJ1SfEGDM5PxtNLjUTDxLNwdnvgC_59dghyphenhyphen5v5htPIGh4TG30fVoQWUrM8hZs72E4I3YG-XG-3gI9k6_sqSWkIcmJ8lf8CIUWIdjSHIkEEtP-cSM-/s320/20160511_174028.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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4. Take a paper towel and wipe away the water - the skin remains moisturised and unaffected </div>
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So onto my trial :)</div>
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My feet are kinda manky - I am not a fan of feet anyways but mine have a lot of dry skin and cracking especially over the heel area - this is probably due to the fact I live in sandals and flipflops as soon as a single ray of sunshine appears.</div>
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I decided based on previous experience of using products that I would use the hand cream on my feet - I have done this previously and it has worked a lot better than body lotion.</div>
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Before using the hand lotion I washed my feet and then used my pedi to remove any loose and hard skin before wiping them over with a wet wipe and then drying. </div>
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As you can see from the pics below - they were not looking good - very dry, off coloured and cracking too! The dry skin goes down around my ankle, over my heel completely and down over the sole as well.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbpBLllRyfdg3JpCCyLH26tw9HuxGzE2nen04BJ2Pt9ltXd2gwD8Tg_mMROJ3gd_Kst909EReRDCnOBrUQwe0nf5u7Qq28TGAIvHN67K_pXC147C8A4ckyrlCC204PKMgD4qJ0FOce2eu/s1600/20160507_103130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbpBLllRyfdg3JpCCyLH26tw9HuxGzE2nen04BJ2Pt9ltXd2gwD8Tg_mMROJ3gd_Kst909EReRDCnOBrUQwe0nf5u7Qq28TGAIvHN67K_pXC147C8A4ckyrlCC204PKMgD4qJ0FOce2eu/s400/20160507_103130.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-cream (day 1)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXNHgp9tiZRijulTUsV3-BgGM5Mjl2xCrWn3-oF5EqL5jkfae-ZpIdvRLS477eWFAXmALU36X9AsZaVaNT-Bngwnw4ejHmG-YrwSQaiwYpS83BAcHQdIeZj_EHmZc7nfR3JLV0F2yiD0D/s1600/20160507_103142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXNHgp9tiZRijulTUsV3-BgGM5Mjl2xCrWn3-oF5EqL5jkfae-ZpIdvRLS477eWFAXmALU36X9AsZaVaNT-Bngwnw4ejHmG-YrwSQaiwYpS83BAcHQdIeZj_EHmZc7nfR3JLV0F2yiD0D/s400/20160507_103142.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-Cream (day 1)</td></tr>
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I then applied a pea sized amount of the cream directly to my heel and worked it into the skin. I did not like the feel of the cream but that is the norm for me. It took a while to work into the skin and left my feet feeling very slippery! NB dont try walking on laminate for about 5 mins after applying cream to your feet!!!!</div>
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I repeated this for 3 days - I started to notice results from the first application and by day 3 there was a significant difference. The heel looked a more normal skin tone colour (rather than the yellow tinge), the dry flaking skin was significantly reduced and they just looked so much better.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulMxU4oh9lWEBNiPvz8BDeg2dJdIDYb74f05x1zJbE-XJgsqA-i63kijLhB4KUot6WowD71UTSW39DgkSsAx-o-dHoKkYMclKS3-YZbTfj4ENoQf3KzA33N5GjpzBHpu0jcqC8j_gv2ee/s1600/20160508_145840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulMxU4oh9lWEBNiPvz8BDeg2dJdIDYb74f05x1zJbE-XJgsqA-i63kijLhB4KUot6WowD71UTSW39DgkSsAx-o-dHoKkYMclKS3-YZbTfj4ENoQf3KzA33N5GjpzBHpu0jcqC8j_gv2ee/s400/20160508_145840.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post-cream (day 3)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzstWuOdpviBbcncVKhnDTQipijs6RdFiEa3P1BBEXLRV-Sg9S_hp4ylvnt-RUH2wgnPT-ss4CbHStQCdq5dDJw56ZBGaFT7psy13dZTGv8BSjzYejp7MRN5kTjfc__VaYBB8haUKX8Se/s1600/20160508_145844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzstWuOdpviBbcncVKhnDTQipijs6RdFiEa3P1BBEXLRV-Sg9S_hp4ylvnt-RUH2wgnPT-ss4CbHStQCdq5dDJw56ZBGaFT7psy13dZTGv8BSjzYejp7MRN5kTjfc__VaYBB8haUKX8Se/s400/20160508_145844.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post-cream (day 3)</td></tr>
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I have been using the body lotion on my arms and legs as well - both feel smooth and my skin looks more revitalised and fresh although admittedly the results are not as photo worthy as the difference in the feet.</div>
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Unfortunately I havent been able to trial the hand cream fully on my hands due to a rather nasty burn I managed to give myself. (I have cream from the hospital to use on it so can't mix and match them yet), it is nearly healed though so I hope to properly trial the hand cream from next week </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-80932671574856929602016-05-11T15:29:00.001-07:002016-05-11T15:29:12.393-07:00Bloggers Vs Compers my viewsSo this same thing keeps cropping up over and over again on twitter, on facebook groups and on chat forums.<br />
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Bloggers hate compers!<br />
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Then you have massive arguments and much keyboard warrioring and it's basically the same arguments each time and I really dont see what the big deal is.<br />
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Now for the uninitiated this is how I see it:<br />
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Bloggers write blogs - sometimes about specific things, sometimes about whatever floats in their mind, sometimes dedicated to their favourite pair of pants and so on - a blog can be about anything you feel like sitting down and writing content about. I write this blog so I am by default a blogger BUT I am not a professional one - this isnt a job or a source of income for me. For me a professional blogger is someone for whom the blog is an income generator.<br />
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Bloggers run comps/giveaways on their blogs - companies want bloggers to try out and to review their items and to run these comps and giveaways - giving away 2 free items (1 for the blogger and 1 for the prize) is going to be a cheap and quick way to get your brand seen. The blogger reviews the item and then runs a comp which runs for oh I dont know say a month. To enter you have to do things like visit the companies social media or follow them or tweet or share on facebook and so on and lots of these comps have a daily entry option so your doing it every day.<br />
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Now imagine 100 people enter the comp and you can do everything daily to get extra entries - thats 3000 RTs/Followers & 3000 B likes and shares in a month... that doesnt seem much but most people have an average of 150 friends on FB and a similar amount of followers on twitter so thats actually a potential 450,000 people you are reaching on each site - so basically just under 1 million people in a month across both sites - and thats assuming most people have a low average number of friends! To get that kind of advertising on the regular media or even paid for ads on social media is going to cost way more than the item you have given. So it's a win-win situation - the company wins because they are getting a shed load of free advertising and the blogger wins because they are getting new followers, more hits on their site, more hits on their social media pages and so on which then means they are going to get noticed by more companies and pr companies and offered more products and the advertising bar on their blog is gonna earn them more money.<br />
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So it makes sense that actually they want people to enter and join in after all compers have friends and its likely that their friends are gonna see the comps and enter too.<br />
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So why do bloggers hate compers then?<br />
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Well the truth is most of the bloggers I know actually are compers themselves - some of the most successful compers also run very successful blogs.<br />
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And lots of bloggers are very comper friendly - some of them even have a nice little badge on their blog and on their giveaways saying just that.<br />
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I have won some amazing prizes with bloggers.<br />
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In fact there is only a tiny teeny small minority of bloggers who dont like compers and below are some of the reasons I have heard:<br />
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1. They want their giveaways to be for genuine followers of their blog<br />
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- but you can be a genuine follower of a blog and still comp! And since comping I have found so many interesting blogs who I follow on various social media - I now see people and companies in my social media feeds who I would never have seen before and I interact with them more - if I hadnt entered a comp on their site I wouldnt be following them now<br />
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2. People only follow them on social media for the duration of the comp and then unfollow - they repeat this each time there is a new comp!<br />
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- I think this is a completely valid point - however only on Twitter - I have heard of a mystical capped follow/like limit on FB, Instag etc but have never known anyone who has reached it. Personally I try to keep all the bloggers I follow on twitter on there - I only unfollow people when I have reached my follow limit and then I sort by activity and unfollow those who havent been active in a month. Since Twitter increased the follow limit for everyone to 5000 this is less of a problem than it was previously<br />
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3. Compers are rude - they dont say thank you,they dont appreciate the prize and they just want it to sell<br />
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- All sorts of people are rude not just compers - I personally always post a thank you to any company or blog I win form when they announce me as a winner and also I usually tweet or post an fb pic to their wall once the items have arrived. Most of the compers I know do the same, but there will be a few rude people who dont - but you can't blame all compers for their behaviour (just like all compers shouldnt be rude about bloggers because few refuse to let them enter their giveaways).<br />
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I would also say I appreciate each and every item I win or get as a freebie - and am grateful.<br />
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As for selling items...I will put my hand up and say yes I have done this. An example would be winning a blu-ray and selling it on ebay and then buying the dvd (because I dont have a blu-ray player) or winning a runners up prize which I dont want but I never enter a comp and think hmm how much can I get for this item on ebay? But really once the item is in someone elses possession its their item and you really have no control over what they do with it - and non-comper winners might also sell the item on or swap it for something else and so on.<br />
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To be honest if someone says I dont want a comper entering then I am prob not going to enter - whats the point of wasting 5 mins of my time? I'm not going to read the blog post, view their pictures or their videos or even check out the product on the companies website - in fact they become an internet dark spot for me and I avoid them. I'm sure the majority of other compers do the same.So the compers lose out on the chance to win a prize but so does the blogger and the company in terms of traffic and media reach.<br />
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The issue is there are some compers who make it their mission to go out on a limb and attack such bloggers - the quote ASA code and various other things and waste a lot of time and energy arguing and generating hate, they can be rude, they can get their friends involved - it becomes a social media shit storm. And after all that they wonder why the blogger doesnt like them.<br />
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Crazy!<br />
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Now some bloggers who comp take it upon themselves to politely nudge the blogger in the direction of various articles regarding giveaways and fairness and so on. They do it in a way which encourages them to reconsider their views and to allow compers to enter. This is totally the way forward. No shit flinging like monkeys in a zoo - just reasoned and correct information passed on in a friendly blogger to blogger manner.<br />
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So that's my take on the whole mess.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-21766981117621499122016-05-11T10:29:00.000-07:002016-05-11T10:29:58.451-07:00Calmurid Pro - Product Trial with the Insiders - Post 1 - an introductionI'm a big fan of <a href="https://www.theinsiders.eu/">The Insiders</a> - to read more about how to sign up and take part check out my page on reviewing items<a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/how-to-review-products-for-free-or.html"> here</a>.<br />
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I've been chosen to take part in previous campaigns so when the chance came up to sign up for a new campaign working with a product aimed at dry skin I was straight in and applying.<br />
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I have really dry skin - I always have - my GP has prescribed me E45 which is okay but it doesn't work hugely well on my feet or legs.<br />
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The campaign is for a product called Calmurid Pro - a product for sensitive dry skin.<br />
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After applying for and getting selected to take part in the trial I was anxiously awaiting my parcel from them. It arrived over a week ago but I am a bit late posting this :)<br />
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When it arrived I was really impressed by the amount of goodies and information sent<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKzL260rzTmG_g0-1JUT20Gp8q5yPEnSVhRVFrb_-CVvvjj0kzQp_-PfziThOa0Xx4895DUuMxUo0PYDf7p99PEsByqRBELUsed_CdNwc26FuFvAcCCj5So4a2mkdC2hTd3PvD345uc5C/s1600/13102709_10153946669810358_8719749376402305313_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKzL260rzTmG_g0-1JUT20Gp8q5yPEnSVhRVFrb_-CVvvjj0kzQp_-PfziThOa0Xx4895DUuMxUo0PYDf7p99PEsByqRBELUsed_CdNwc26FuFvAcCCj5So4a2mkdC2hTd3PvD345uc5C/s320/13102709_10153946669810358_8719749376402305313_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The parcel contained:<br />
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<ul>
<li>25 x 10ml samples with an information guide and £3 off vouchers to use at boots</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNZraN3bNuB73rIxPfav41SOBcXrMl7ZI26nq5J-nwpgLZSwq4KP6_yUKKYGvTqzkGeFZ79FQx78b6y7i8AlkawHeOe1TUlpzsteHe6Dwf0uGO_dlXBB4YTN53MamD7oR9WuAjwm5GOnU/s1600/20160511_173020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNZraN3bNuB73rIxPfav41SOBcXrMl7ZI26nq5J-nwpgLZSwq4KP6_yUKKYGvTqzkGeFZ79FQx78b6y7i8AlkawHeOe1TUlpzsteHe6Dwf0uGO_dlXBB4YTN53MamD7oR9WuAjwm5GOnU/s200/20160511_173020.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJt29SRhmkR8osrdIAjoDDQi6nnF5kP_2bl6Bk1TBT_j04lV0m0SGzuE4PSu5XpfDuOIx4O0AoPGLyI45TQUNHt5acFdhh3ISv8J00StoluFR0Rc0wTcPPHVaXCwLxFi-Qvpq49mipzbVZ/s1600/20160511_173027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJt29SRhmkR8osrdIAjoDDQi6nnF5kP_2bl6Bk1TBT_j04lV0m0SGzuE4PSu5XpfDuOIx4O0AoPGLyI45TQUNHt5acFdhh3ISv8J00StoluFR0Rc0wTcPPHVaXCwLxFi-Qvpq49mipzbVZ/s200/20160511_173027.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziYj8jA7uFX4xiuFVIk_eUwGzw8UQO3t7RtjGpweAW5VEsoxeK40GRkN3-26p0ZvWkp9FMYConM5zyc05X3MEKOrKc7buLjfCjQhk47AzR0CbzWkNrs5sc8YNjSPlRiv2DWJzvqlue0KN/s1600/20160511_173048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziYj8jA7uFX4xiuFVIk_eUwGzw8UQO3t7RtjGpweAW5VEsoxeK40GRkN3-26p0ZvWkp9FMYConM5zyc05X3MEKOrKc7buLjfCjQhk47AzR0CbzWkNrs5sc8YNjSPlRiv2DWJzvqlue0KN/s200/20160511_173048.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIVx7kioE4esAH5zl6z_B3q0CIIm2R9GA-SWut2VpzGyY5lBmJExBhv4iRFYW91V_smYYJGdAymf4Jzz4tFndNIQWUEfyPl6p3RgEdCdvJtLEAFRomN98101jKBXOYkvrH0b7D-JOxdUd/s1600/20160511_173058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIVx7kioE4esAH5zl6z_B3q0CIIm2R9GA-SWut2VpzGyY5lBmJExBhv4iRFYW91V_smYYJGdAymf4Jzz4tFndNIQWUEfyPl6p3RgEdCdvJtLEAFRomN98101jKBXOYkvrH0b7D-JOxdUd/s320/20160511_173058.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li>An Insiders Guide book with all the need to know information about the products and how to use them and demonstrate them to family, friends and colleagues :)</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Di5y1AX3Takde75lLKcLLBEnVOd7JP64bVNOPVvpAQ8UfAyVp65qTuvKOo5qs41Ni91kbWraY5xk15KoxhmYDkc-FR-iJ-69UFA_XiUGjG-i1wE2fr3c6sSgyg90PP6Vnx9mUXc4BZ8-/s1600/20160511_173441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Di5y1AX3Takde75lLKcLLBEnVOd7JP64bVNOPVvpAQ8UfAyVp65qTuvKOo5qs41Ni91kbWraY5xk15KoxhmYDkc-FR-iJ-69UFA_XiUGjG-i1wE2fr3c6sSgyg90PP6Vnx9mUXc4BZ8-/s320/20160511_173441.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>A pad of ask your friend sheets - these are great to hand out with the samples - so you can get feedback easily from those who you give the samples too.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfcqfQ7aTZjLWUwAl2QnsLww8tXGnLGn1QrAW4UzB_MFHRmx5k20NcX7ZnNLD2mjxUrzPrbTVBBirOmxjwPeRcqlZRjp9L9ALS1GGYXms9n9HEs0IymjLCKmgjVSZbwH2r2XVjAjJYsMT/s1600/20160511_173532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfcqfQ7aTZjLWUwAl2QnsLww8tXGnLGn1QrAW4UzB_MFHRmx5k20NcX7ZnNLD2mjxUrzPrbTVBBirOmxjwPeRcqlZRjp9L9ALS1GGYXms9n9HEs0IymjLCKmgjVSZbwH2r2XVjAjJYsMT/s320/20160511_173532.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<li>A wheel showing which product is best for each skin type</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9j9C8j3jrzsk724O73a9zUoVXYV2F46WEc9IX2Za5h1ZYDHjexHhk91-85dfqUmQbeKzSQlzb6t4bnFgTM8czfFlmzGOAvIUNaP3XUI5QmNeGDtlkHm0sv4S-7HlD168_5rJDkyV8F8p/s1600/20160511_173324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9j9C8j3jrzsk724O73a9zUoVXYV2F46WEc9IX2Za5h1ZYDHjexHhk91-85dfqUmQbeKzSQlzb6t4bnFgTM8czfFlmzGOAvIUNaP3XUI5QmNeGDtlkHm0sv4S-7HlD168_5rJDkyV8F8p/s320/20160511_173324.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14MA8bu5O8kTToxLlH-0Lx58WdBahV0l8fDPuDNPN5Jy2pDu3LHZI52wqGgLGRlEJpyTU3D_HJ5zDzb_9K2Lcbg3sf9Dm4bi-oYzJjYscvtvhbfnvbr6lWFjLYsigT971sdkszsTZqB1E/s1600/20160511_173407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14MA8bu5O8kTToxLlH-0Lx58WdBahV0l8fDPuDNPN5Jy2pDu3LHZI52wqGgLGRlEJpyTU3D_HJ5zDzb_9K2Lcbg3sf9Dm4bi-oYzJjYscvtvhbfnvbr6lWFjLYsigT971sdkszsTZqB1E/s320/20160511_173407.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<li>Some Insiders business cards to hand out to people who want to know how to join in their campaigns</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAArj_lPO5lMRilQMETnc_8_FXzNcNIZLtAT-RAl9Rl8N3HDue5X8YbWamjzSys5d6-9CqLodhE-2Cci7I300j2DyL99YvIAbOjsQCdOSfuhg164toz5L_kRGMSio6KVY7bdfRPrdX3cQF/s1600/20160511_173234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAArj_lPO5lMRilQMETnc_8_FXzNcNIZLtAT-RAl9Rl8N3HDue5X8YbWamjzSys5d6-9CqLodhE-2Cci7I300j2DyL99YvIAbOjsQCdOSfuhg164toz5L_kRGMSio6KVY7bdfRPrdX3cQF/s320/20160511_173234.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Full size products for me to use :) So us campaigners get full sized products to trial (which is awesome!) for this trial we get the Body Lipolotion and the Moisturising Hand Cream</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ldJtMGK4kld8qmH560PJx-nJHZahZrcW7ALUMRUvMufVZ6bktS7VOI-unbEIp2XD4qv7PLsY6l4-FYxvgrAAPkDNI3cj7WB5kIHokbAZGYvsg9Zildb_s6C_HNABRkKYWw0MLkHqQTO-/s1600/20160511_173139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ldJtMGK4kld8qmH560PJx-nJHZahZrcW7ALUMRUvMufVZ6bktS7VOI-unbEIp2XD4qv7PLsY6l4-FYxvgrAAPkDNI3cj7WB5kIHokbAZGYvsg9Zildb_s6C_HNABRkKYWw0MLkHqQTO-/s320/20160511_173139.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ2BzkYhTF1QKSkOvilFG62ziRe6MOZU-yv39yAhnr8xTiYG40etK2glwQh-BtsggN1RIpWRzqbnn3Jyi14RkJhWHowoy3-SfwN_87FqasL4mUbslhbYYvvHO7IeoKK_8-IHq-QNCLLhOc/s1600/20160511_173157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ2BzkYhTF1QKSkOvilFG62ziRe6MOZU-yv39yAhnr8xTiYG40etK2glwQh-BtsggN1RIpWRzqbnn3Jyi14RkJhWHowoy3-SfwN_87FqasL4mUbslhbYYvvHO7IeoKK_8-IHq-QNCLLhOc/s320/20160511_173157.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<li>A spritzer bottle - this confused me slightly as the bottle top had a long like double the size of the bottle straw bit? But after speaking to people on the campaign blog I just cut it down to fit the bottle and it's ready to use. This is to show people how you can rub the cream into your skin and it locks in the moisture and it doesnt come off easily</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QH_Jr4avCDUaICP_1bo9M3X5ebQUM_tDXTjAtQZNCmWrSAj5lZHs-3GhuTeu4SnFIm9oCjDeWWliEc69vMQYr-BkqYAlkQtmq-09ZKZ-selziGimtG2IXd1vxLXgve6QwQ-ONOlYl5iP/s1600/20160511_173603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QH_Jr4avCDUaICP_1bo9M3X5ebQUM_tDXTjAtQZNCmWrSAj5lZHs-3GhuTeu4SnFIm9oCjDeWWliEc69vMQYr-BkqYAlkQtmq-09ZKZ-selziGimtG2IXd1vxLXgve6QwQ-ONOlYl5iP/s200/20160511_173603.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAd708XWKFcs9f4nusjg0Zv3vwfjlT_N9JzL3tucUQrj5VDeDn5BHHySZkkCKSdRuWt-cgR7NlrIYr2V1hFcrPdXf2rze5ZUqWguCsiB3EG_YxIf1n1wdoLSodZF435G1TWU4MInxbFweF/s1600/20160511_173659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAd708XWKFcs9f4nusjg0Zv3vwfjlT_N9JzL3tucUQrj5VDeDn5BHHySZkkCKSdRuWt-cgR7NlrIYr2V1hFcrPdXf2rze5ZUqWguCsiB3EG_YxIf1n1wdoLSodZF435G1TWU4MInxbFweF/s200/20160511_173659.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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So as you can see thats a HUGE amount of goodies and reading and passing out of samples and trying out stuff I have to do - phew.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-80911218884738024252016-05-08T13:23:00.002-07:002016-05-08T13:23:55.353-07:00Braun IPL Project with SavvyCircle - Post 3 - An updateSo let me start by saying I am still loving this Braun IPL for my legs. I now have pretty much baby smooth legs without the need to shave - I am actually dropping down to just 2 weekly sessions on them with the IPL now as I am not needing to shave! and who knows I may even be able to drop to one monthly session eventually.<br />
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However - tragically for me I have had an issue with using it on my underarms!<br />
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So I wrote about how I stupidly used the IPL on my underarms when I had stubble and that it was pretty painful at the time but I carried on. This was a BIGGGGGG mistake.<br />
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At the time my armpits were sore when I used the IPL but felt fine after - but like the next day I noticed some red patches - which got worse for the next 3 days - it looks like I have somehow managed to set off a reaction - so I have had to stop using the IPL until the skin on my under arms fully heals. It's been 2 weeks and there are still pinkish red marks there so I am going to leave it another week before I start the programme all over again.<br />
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I am so annoyed about this - it's my own fault and not down to the IPL at all the literature tells you to shave prior (although in fairness it doesnt say how long prior). It's particularly frustrating as I was starting to see results on my underarms too - slower regrowth, less thick and less coarse hair.<br />
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I am also going to be biting the bullet and trying it on my bikini line - I have to be honest the thought of a super hot laser pointed at my lady bits would generally fill me with terror but having used the IPL and knowing how it works I feel much more confident about giving it a go :)<br />
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So overall, I'd happily recommend the Braun IPL particularly if you are very hirsute (loving that word for those who dont know it means proper hairy!) or spend a lot of time and money getting waxed, laser treated, plucked, bleached or shaved! Obviously you need to check before buying that you match the skin tone / hair colour guide and if you shop around you can currently pick the IPL up for around £300. The product itself is supposed to have a life span of around 2 years so if you break that down to a monthly cost thats around £12.50 a month - much cheaper than salon treatments and much more convenient as well.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-31907700670409033202016-05-05T15:44:00.003-07:002016-05-05T15:44:42.747-07:00New Job :)So I have been really quite on the blogging front - apart form a couple of posts about the Braun IPL and about comping / reviews you haven't heard much from me.<br />
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The reason for this is that during January I was applying for a new job - it closed at the end of Jan and it took me ages to complete the application form and update my CV and stuff.<br />
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Throughout February I was stressing about not getting short listed - this lasted until the end of February when I got invited for an interview.<br />
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At the beginning of March I was stressing about the interview. Then in the middle of March I found I got the job :) BUT the HR team took until the end of March to send out my provisional offer letter (subject to checks).<br />
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At the beginning of April I had completed all the checks and thought everything was fine...but as it is for a different Healthboard to the one I currently work for I had to see Occ Health. I arranged the appointment and travelled like over an hour to get to their head quarters for my appointment. When I got there I met with a nurse who made me feel woefully inadequate, who came out with wonderful comments like - "well your diabetic so changing office might cause you to go into a hypoglycaemic attack" and "you have migraines? you might faint" or a personal favourite "you had a perforated ear drum? well you cant use phones". At the end of the consultation I was starting to think I should go for a PIP assessment as clearly they didnt consider me fit for work!<br />
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I explained the situation to my new manager who told me I would be getting a phone call to have a consultation with a dr/consultant. A few days later I hadnt heard anything so I called them and they had no availability until mid May - I may at this point have lost the will to live and work!<br />
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Happily at the end of April I was squeezed into a cancellation review by phone and the Dr after 5 minutes said there was no reason I couldnt work - YES. He wrote a letter confirming this.<br />
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Which brings us to the first week of May - HR contacted my manager to say I passed all the checks, she contacted me to arrange a start date and I handed in my notice.<br />
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I will be starting my new job the second week of June nearly 5 months after applying.<br />
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I am now feeling a lot calmer and a lot more like I can relax and get back into the joys of comping, reviewing,updating my wins and reviews list and of course blogging in general :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-13347376301185559552016-04-25T14:12:00.001-07:002016-04-25T14:20:31.381-07:00Braun IPL Project with SavvyCircle - Post 2 - Using it weeks 1 & 2So I am getting to try and review the Braun IPL with SavvyCircle - you can read a bit more about the project on my first post <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/braun-ipl-project-with-savvycircle-post.html">here</a><br />
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So<br />
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I left you last time following doing my patch test which worked out fine no issues.<br />
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I was prepped (meaning I had shaved my legs and arm pits!) and ready to go for my first use :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdq3Axtj5Kh8WubLyYD_X33DLbIZvrw-UO3MJMi_3K2oYWMSzwAJ0PuDcJ4KF1lKoldO5vK02T_CkXi7KqKRjYjWCPkfl3DUMqmlRc3hpLPdT_lAJwI0n9S4imhCGzfXA22TMiZUugNbY/s1600/20160424_105302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdq3Axtj5Kh8WubLyYD_X33DLbIZvrw-UO3MJMi_3K2oYWMSzwAJ0PuDcJ4KF1lKoldO5vK02T_CkXi7KqKRjYjWCPkfl3DUMqmlRc3hpLPdT_lAJwI0n9S4imhCGzfXA22TMiZUugNbY/s320/20160424_105302.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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To protect you the IPL has 2 sensors either side - these have to be in contact with your skin for it to work - no contact no laser (you can see these in the pic above with the bluish tinge)<br />
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Once you have those sensors connected to your skin the IPL adjusts the intensity of the light based on your skin tone - as you can see in the pic above my pasty pale skin registers for full on top level zapping! EEK<br />
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Now I acknowledge my cowardliness and for week one I used the IPL on sensitive mode.<br />
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I used it on both legs - it was completely pain free - I used it on the glide setting meaning I just held the power button down and it flashed out a pulse of light every 30 seconds or so. It's a bit like shaving but without the razor. The video below (links to youtube) shows how easy it is to use - yes I apologise for my pasty white tree trunk legs - they arent actually that big in real life its the angle honest!<br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/qUNq3rCnI1g">Youtube Video</a><br />
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Both legs took around 10 minutes.<br />
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I did have some difficulty around the ankle and the knee area. To overcome this I did top of ankle to just under the knee in strips around the leg and then I turned the IPL on the side and and went around the ankle in a circle and did the same by going across the knee - problem solved and all bits done!<br />
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Armpits - again used it on the glide setting - slightly more awkward to do and to manoeuvre due to the fact the IPL has a large head and a large handle which I struggled with.<br />
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Each armpit took a mere 2 swiped with the IPL and were done.<br />
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Following day:<br />
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Legs fine no issues<br />
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Armpits - itching like I had an infestation of armpit nits! Seriously itch itch itch it drove me NUTS and it lasted for around 3 days. Whether due to the IPL, the sensitive underarm skin or my scratching I ended up with some rather ugly red splodges on my pits which didn't look great,<br />
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I was going to take a photo but taking a selfie of my armpits proved to be quite difficult! So just imagine a lot of red blotches no spots, no cuts, no grazes just like a red stain on the skin.<br />
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Apart from the arm pit issue there were no other issues and this resolved after a few days<br />
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Fast forward 1 week and I am ready for round 2.<br />
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To prep I go to shave - but my legs are still pretty much hair free not much stubble at all - however I shave the little hair that is there.<br />
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On checking out my armpits there seems to be slower growth than usual - for some reason the hair on my under arm grows quicker than hair on any other part of my body. I shave and within 24 hours I have stubble nd its not that light soft downy looking hair either we are talking thick black stubble! Within a couple of days its practically long enough to plait! So I was quite pleased to see it was only around 3mm in length - SCORE!<br />
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I shaved my underarms in prep for their second shot of lasering.<br />
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I did all this on a friday evening around 7pm (your probably wondering why this is significant - it is and I'll tell you in a few lines why!)<br />
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Saturday morning I was up at the crack of dawn and off out for the day - I didn't get home til gone 10pm d I was wayyyyy too tired to do anything other than feed the cats and clean my teeth and crawl into bed.<br />
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Sunday morning I got up showered and thought okay I am a day late but lets get our IPL on!<br />
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Did my legs with ease no probs no pain just a quick and easy up down and around whilst catching up on Britain's Got Talent.<br />
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Checked my arm pits they were a little stubbly as it had been over 24 hours since I shaved but thought thts fine its not like I have dreadlocks there...well it was most deffo NOT fine. The first blinding flash was followed by a searing pain and a smell of burning hair. I was shocked - surely my lovely IPL machine had not just given me the equivalent of a nipple tweek on my arm pit? No it couldn't be so I carried on and the searing pain came again and again and again. Followed by the stench of burning hair - gross and painful.<br />
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I carried on though - bravely did both armpits (in fairness it literally was 2 glides on each but damn they were the longest few minutes ever!)<br />
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So what did I learn from this? You need to shave no more than 12 hours before using the IPL any longer if your me and that bugger is gonna sting like mad! See and now you know why my shaving my armpits at 7pm on a friday is significant!<br />
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Anyways it is now Monday evening and unlike last week I have no itching or after effects from using the IPL.<br />
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Next week will be my 3rd time using it. According to the literature you start seeing results in 3-4 weeks so I should hopefully start seeing some real results then<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-61892741159782990232016-04-15T15:49:00.002-07:002016-04-15T15:49:53.139-07:00Braun IPL Project with SavvyCircle - Post 1 - getting selected and prepping to use itI was super excited to receive an e-mail from the savvy circle team the other week telling me I had been successful in applying to take part in their project to review and spread the word about the new Braun Silk Expert IPL Hair removal system.<br />
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Now in case like me before I applied to take part you have no idea what this is:<br />
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The Braun IPL (thats intense pulsed light) removes the need to pay expensive prices at the salon for hair removal treatment - it provides permanent (with maintenance sessions) hair removal! So that's no shaving, no waxing, no using stinky hair removal cream! How could I not apply? think of the savings!<br />
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So the technology has been around in salons for years and now they have put it into a product that can safely be used at home.<br />
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It works based on skin/hair pigmentation so it's not suitable for everyone but for pasty pale creatures with dark hair like me it's perfect. It basically zap the root of the hair stopping it from working - okay it's a bit more complicated than that but after reading all the material about it thats basically how it works.<br />
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It only works on light skin because it works on the pigmentation in the hair follicle - so if you have very dark skin and dark hair it wouldnt be able to differentiate and would zap your skin instead which probably wouldnt be very pleasant. For the same reason it doesnt work on people with grey or very light hair (or red hair for some reason!) as there is little to no pigmentation so nothing for it to zap!<br />
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What makes the Braun different to other similar items on the market is the built in SensorAdapt which scans your skin and then tailors the light to match your skin tone - other similar products you have to match skin tone on a colour chart and then set the machine to a specific level - as different parts of your body have different skin tones you then have to change it if your doing your lip, your legs, bikini etc - in fact even on one body part you can have different skin tones for example on my legs my knees are always darker than the rest. The Braun adjusts for this automatically meaning you always get the right level of light for the part of your body your doing! Making it safer and easier to use.<br />
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A few days later I received my exciting package in the post<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPAfLvB0JzVfUKVZ-GndezQvabUvH27Wmddno7cPA97Wy_5nd67PA_gw19sz9dfuh4tvaHI6lD6lhOFnabx9T3Mb2B85yT9m55hsXTOAqBcSPezN_8xQ7a8JYKQw_WRGInNxijGSmsb7x/s1600/20160411_171035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPAfLvB0JzVfUKVZ-GndezQvabUvH27Wmddno7cPA97Wy_5nd67PA_gw19sz9dfuh4tvaHI6lD6lhOFnabx9T3Mb2B85yT9m55hsXTOAqBcSPezN_8xQ7a8JYKQw_WRGInNxijGSmsb7x/s320/20160411_171035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now, to be honest I dont know much about salons and treatments like this - I dont even pluck my eyebrows! So I am not sure what I was expecting to arrive but if I did have something in mind it was small and delicate like a Lady Shave.<br />
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I was a tad alarmed by the giant box and had visions of a crazy ass laser!<br />
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However on opening the box it contained 2 smaller boxes one containing the IPL and the other containing a sweet bonus in the form of a sonic body exfoilator (and I have no idea what that is either! - perhaps I should start reading the beauty blogs I follow instead of looking at the pretty pictures!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSOveHpnxzhqkfsU3xbE8B_jSeCTiWxszPAmbC5u1SK-lwnhdHT1WB0ro69fZfErvQ7Z1LK4W9YYcPvSXbM49k8b6z7mKdXUpP4xq7it3MuLkeMmgPMPv1EV4i3AVXwofNRZaoUl2B-Ml/s1600/20160411_171459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSOveHpnxzhqkfsU3xbE8B_jSeCTiWxszPAmbC5u1SK-lwnhdHT1WB0ro69fZfErvQ7Z1LK4W9YYcPvSXbM49k8b6z7mKdXUpP4xq7it3MuLkeMmgPMPv1EV4i3AVXwofNRZaoUl2B-Ml/s320/20160411_171459.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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So I put aside the exfoilator to look at another day and got out the IPL to examine and see what was what.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9xBVcJDzRzslADCit3wA9DK9W41ZVNxdxwiVhaBf73szApnphc-55wGEnl0wsPiJqrOHSN-AHBsB_BeH6cwDFrmBiz8kLv6t2JWr03ted0_73YuAPYvL3yTT26fr4VwaZyBmDtmKWJNs/s1600/20160411_171544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9xBVcJDzRzslADCit3wA9DK9W41ZVNxdxwiVhaBf73szApnphc-55wGEnl0wsPiJqrOHSN-AHBsB_BeH6cwDFrmBiz8kLv6t2JWr03ted0_73YuAPYvL3yTT26fr4VwaZyBmDtmKWJNs/s320/20160411_171544.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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In the box was the IPL hand held device, 2 rather large manuals, a cable and 2 x plug attachments one for standard and one for the shaver socket.<br />
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Being my usual geeky self I had a good read of the manual...okay I skimmed the first bit and got straight to the how to guide. Where it told me all how to use it which was remarkably simple - hold the device - press to the skin - press the button and zap away (but they took a lot more words to say it).<br />
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The device uses an intense light so as a safety feature it only comes on when 2 sensors built into the device are pressed firmly to the skin - if they are not attached to the skin the device will not work. This stops you from accidentally burning out your eyes or those of anyone unfortunate to be nearby - I love a good safety feature like that! It also means if you have kiddywinks or pets they cant accidentally set it off.<br />
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Part of the instructions stated that you have to shave (or use whichever form of hair removal you normally use) before using it - I was a bit gutted by that I had been growing a nice pair of furry tights on my legs thinking it would magically remove it all in one swoop.<br />
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It also recommends you do a patch test on an incongruous body part before using.<br />
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I chose to try it out on my thigh - a body part I rarely display due to it's wobblyness and pastiness and therefore I wouldnt mind if it turned red and blotchy for a few days.<br />
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So I hooked up the device to the power source - first impression here was that the cable didnt fit as securely as it could and it popped out once.<br />
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The device is slightly bulky to use and didnt fit comfortably in my hand which is a shame as I really want to like this product (I really want to quit shaving!)<br />
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I set it up for the patch test. They recommend that you use the single pulse option - so I pressed the device firmly to my skin and .... wussed out!<br />
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I went back to the manual and checked on how to turn on the sensitive mode (that is where you can set it to be slightly less intense)<br />
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I turned on sensitive mode pressed it against my thigh and pressed the button and ZAAPPPPP!<br />
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Apart from a rather blinding light which I could see even thought I looked away and a warm sensation a bit like a camera flash going off next to your skin there was nothing else.<br />
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Felling brave I move it down and zapped again - this time no warm sensation ... no sensation at all.<br />
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Really completely painless.<br />
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I checked my skin - no bright red mark, no oozing blister, no anything - it was fine.<br />
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And 24 hours later - there is still nothing - no ill effects, no pain, no reaction.<br />
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Tonight I shaved my legs in anticipation of using the IPL properly tomorrow evening on them and I look forward to updating everyone soon with how it works, ease of use and hopefully some pictures of my silky smooth alabaster white legs (if your really lucky)<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-2208551987309875032016-04-10T10:51:00.002-07:002016-04-10T10:51:12.958-07:00Facebook - SCAMS & FAKESLoads of companies run great competitions across Facebook which is great as they are generally easy to enter and have some lovely prizes. Unfortunately Facebook is rife with SCAMS and FAKES.<div>
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I hope this information will help you spot a scam/fake site.</div>
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Scam/Fakes sites are on Facebook for the following reasons</div>
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1. To like harvest</div>
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2. To get your information</div>
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3. To earn money through affiliated links</div>
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4. To scam you out of your money</div>
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I'm going to explain the above in a bit more detail.</div>
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<b><u>1. LIKE HARVESTING</u></b></div>
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A scammer will make a page. They will then by various means get people to like and shared the page. Some of the tricks they use include:</div>
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- a heart wrenching picture such as a cancer sufferer, an abused animal, a child molester, etc these pictures are used without permission. There will be usually text included such as Like and share if you hate cancer ignore if your a heartless piece of shit (okay maybe not quite that graphic but it's the implication behind the like and share bit) or like and share if your against animal abuse ignore if you like having sex with horses and so on and so on. The purpose is to get you to like and share the post and the page with the text written in such a way as to make you out to be evil and nasty if you dont.</div>
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- a post with or without a heart wrenching picture saying that Microsoft, Bill Gate, Facebook etc will donate 25c (it's usually in american but could be 25p or other currency) to some charity for every like and share - again they are working hard to get you to like and shared the post and page</div>
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- a post that Bill Gates, Microsoft, Facebook, someone else who is loaded is giving away a prize of $gazillion to one lucky person who likes and shares the post/page</div>
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- a post that you can win some amazing prize by liking and sharing the post to all your friends.</div>
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With all of the above they want you to like the page and the post and to share it. </div>
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They want you to share it so they can reach as many people as possible, if your friends see you sharing something they are likely to look at the post and they might be encouraged to like and share too. </div>
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So - if you share to your wall - </div>
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1 share and 1 like</div>
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5 of your friends then share and like</div>
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5 shares and 5 likes</div>
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5 of their friends share and like</div>
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25 shares and 25 likes</div>
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5 of their friends share and like</div>
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125 shares and 125 likes</div>
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So the numbers increase exponentially and before you know it the page has a few thousand likes and shares and the more people who like and share it - the more its showing up on news feeds and timelines and the more people will see it and like and share it.</div>
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<b>Whats the purpose of all this?</b></div>
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Well once they have reached a set number of likes on the page its going to show up in lots of newsfeed and timelines and high on searches too. They can then sell on the page. The more likes and shares, the higher the value of the page.</div>
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Who do they sell it to? fake companies, scammers and other nefarious people who then use it to scam people.</div>
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It's easier to trust a page with 10,000 likes than one with 100 likes.</div>
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<b>How can you tell a fake page?</b></div>
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Luckily it's fairly easy to tell a fake page:</div>
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1. Have a look at it's history - scroll down the page - if there s literally nothing but giveaways, no winner announcements and little info it's likely to be a scam or fake page</div>
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2. How long as the page been running for and when was it created? If it's just been started and is giving away crazy prizes its most likely a scam or fake page</div>
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3. Is it claiming to be part of or affiliated with a specific well known company E.g. Disney, Thomas Cook etc? Check by the name for a blue tick - if it doesn't have a blue tick it's not a verified company page. Other things to look out for are slight mispelling's of the name and / or additional punctuation e.g Disney. Company or Tomas Cook Holidays, Carnivaal Cruises etc. Also check the company information section and the logos used. If your not sure then check out the companies official page - if they are working with another company or running an amazing giveaway its going to be listed on their official page</div>
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4. Do they have a website? If it's a real business then they will have a website or at the very least a lik to their etsy shop. If the website is down or the has a strange link then it might be a scam page</div>
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5. Is it too good to be true? No company is going to give away 1000 free cruise line tickets, or 200 first class flights or 700 ipad airs if it looks too good to be true it probably is! </div>
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<b>What should you do if you have been suckered in?</b></div>
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First thing first - go to your timeline - find the shared post and delete it</div>
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Second - unlike the post, unlike the page and hit the report button - report it as a fake, as a copy or as spam.</div>
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Third if you see your friends or family sharing it - tell them to stop - tell them it's a scam and tell them to follow the steps above.</div>
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<b>Why is it important to do this?</b></div>
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Because it can lead to vulnerable people being fooled and scammed</div>
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At the least it's annoying to have your page spammed with fake comps at the worst by promoting the page you are helping the scammers who will then go out and prey on other people.</div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b><u>2. GETTING YOUR INFORMATION</u></b></div>
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Please see my post on <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/spam-spam-spam-companies-who-use-comps.html">SPAM sites here.</a></div>
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Often these fake pages will have a link to another site to put your information in to win or enter. Once you have done this your information can then be sold on by the scammers or used by aggressive telesales / marketing people. I wont go into detail here as I have already written in depth about it on the SPAM site posts.</div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b><u>3. TO EARN MONEY THROUGH AFFILIATED LINKS</u></b></div>
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These fake scam pages will often have a link for you to enter to win the competition - this will be a link to sign up for some site, or to complete a survey or something similar. As soon as you click on the link the scammer is earning money, if you complete the sign up process then they earn even more money. It's a win win for them and a LOSE for you as you are likely signing up to a spam site or worse. If you share their post and your friends all click on the link thats even more for them! </div>
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<u><b>4. TO SCAM YOU OUT OF MONEY.</b></u></div>
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So the page announces you as a winner (along with a whole bunch of other people) The prize is free but you have to pay postage. You can pay it via paypal, money transfer or some other means. The P&P is only a small amount say £3. But they announce 3000 winners, the prize costs less than 25p from china or some other country an they are pocketing nearly 10 grand off the back of their competition. That's a best case scenario. A worst case is where you give them some information that allows them to get access to and wipe out your accounts or through paypal. </div>
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If in order to get your prize you have to pay it is highly likely that it's a scam and you should seriously consider whether you should enter. You should NEVER give out bank details or any other information.</div>
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The only cases where you may need to pay towards the prize would be:</div>
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- The item is coming from outside the UK and your liable for tax and customs - you should take this into consideration when entering international comps (although I have had prizes come this way and just be marked as gift so no customs applies)</div>
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- The competitions clearly states that anyone applying from outside the country it is run from will have to pay the international postage costs</div>
<div>
- The competition is being run by a small business - they clearly state in advance on the competition post that the item is collection only or can be posted at the winners expense and has a set postage cost listed (and is only offering 1 or 2 prizes)</div>
<div>
- If the prize is a holiday and there are additional expenses not included with the prize e.g.the cost of upgrade, the cost of a single person supplement, the cost of visas, the cost of travel insurance, etc</div>
<div>
- If the prize is for appliances or furniture or flooring etc where the prize is the item but fitting is not included.</div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b><u>Please note</u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Scammers are clever people - they are constantly changing the way they work in order to rip people off - if they put as much effort into a real job they would be loaded! Therefore this page doesn't list every scam but hopefully it does list the main ones run on facebook and also how to spot them.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Spotting fake comps on other sites is a whole different topic and I will be posting on that separately.</div>
<div>
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Any comments or feedback or anything you think I have left out please let me know</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-72428547881352054852016-04-10T08:34:00.002-07:002016-04-10T08:59:55.338-07:00SPAM SPAM SPAM - companies who use comps to harvest your personal dataThere are lots of real and great comps out there but there are also plenty of companies who are harvesting your data and using comps as a way of spamming you<br />
<br />
This is some information that will hopefully help you make an informed decision about whether to enter the competition or not<br />
<br />
Firstly SPAM sites (and no thats not Monty Python fan pages)<br />
<br />
SPAM sites run legitimate competitions for the purpose of harvesting your personal information. By entering their competitions you agree to your information being used for marketing purposes and for it to be shared. They may also lead you on a wild goose chase to enter the comp by having you sign up to affiliated links.<br />
<br />
<b>The purpose of these sites is:</b><br />
<br />
1. to get your information - they can then send you emails for offers and other sites. Any time you sign up to one of these they make money as they are the one who referred you<br />
<br />
2. to sell your information - to other companies who will then spam you via post, email and the phone<br />
<br />
3. to earn money from clicks on their site - to enter the comp you have to click on a link - every click on the link earns them money<br />
<br />
4. to promote their site so it shows higher on search engines as the more visits it has the higher it shows in the listings - the higher it shows the more money they can make from ads<br />
<br />
5. your name, address and other details get added to a 'soft' 'easy target' list. You then get less scrupulous companies and people using your information to aggressively target you.<br />
<br />
The issue with these sites is not just that they sell your information on it's that its incredibly hard to get you details removed.<br />
<br />
<b>An example. </b><br />
<br />
You signup to site 1.<br />
Site 1 sells your information to sites 2, 3 and 4.<br />
Site 2 sells your information on to 5 , 6 and 7,<br />
3 sells your information to 8, 9 and 10<br />
4 sells your info to 11, 12, and 13 and so on.<br />
<br />
You go back to site 1 and say hey take my details from your list which is fine. They remove your details BUT by this point another 12 sites have you details on their list and will therefore continue to spam you.<br />
<br />
It can be difficult to tell if a site is SPAMMY or not.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Here are things to look out for:</b><br />
<br />
1. If as part of the sign up process you have to sign up for other deals/offers<br />
<br />
2. If during the sign up process you cant opt out of marketing information via post and telephone<br />
<br />
3. If the T&C's have a phrase in there which says by taking part in the competition you agree to your details being shared / used for marketing purposes and if you dont agree you cant enter (It will be worded differently but that is the gist)<br />
<br />
4. If you are sent a winner's e-mail where you DONT win outright - by this I mean an e-mail which says you have been selected as a potential winner of 'prize' and then has a link for you to click and follow or one that lists like 3 people's name including yours with text similar to " The following people have one of the winning tickets: Joe Bloggs, Bugs Bunny, Your Name - click here to confirm your entry"<br />
<br />
5. A company that offers lots of high value prizes but appears to have no means of income or sponsorship for them - or a company website that is only giveaways and affiliated referrals.<br />
<br />
For example a page might be called AllUkPrizes and list giveaways for Macbooks, iPads, Iphones, Holidays, £1000 shopping vouchers etc but has no other content other than links to offers and lots of ads. A genuine site that is giving away these type of prizes such as the Daily Star will have articles, content, sponsored ads and paid for content - it's also a site for an in-print magazine/paper and is a recognised name and part of a specific new group/company.<br />
<br />
6. The site name is similar to that of a well known company yet is not affiliated with them in anyway<br />
<br />
<b><u>What can you do if you are signed up?</u></b><br />
<br />
To be honest there isn't really a huge amount you can do!<br />
<br />
- you can wait for the e-mails from them and look for the unsubscribe link at the bottom and click on unsubscribe. This should reduce the amount of junk e-mail you get.<br />
<br />
- you can find the contact me section on their website and send them an e-mail asking them to remove you, or if they are uk based send them a recorded letter requesting they remove all your details - if they dont they can be taken to court - a bit extreme! If they are non-uk they dont have to comply<br />
<br />
- you can set up a separate e-mail address just for comping and then it doesn't matter if its hugely spammed<br />
<br />
- If giving your phone number never give your home number/landline. You could also 'mis-type' your mobile number so it's one digit out - you could also screen your calls on your phone - dont answer any numbers you dont know - look them up on google if they are known as spam/scam or telesales/nuisance calls add them to the your auto reject list - I've found that after about 2 weeks of daily calls being sent straight to my reject list the company gives up.<br />
<br />
To be honest for most people these guys are an inconvenience that we are well able to deal with - the real problem is when a vulnerable person is targeted and bullied into giving money or buying into services they have no need for.<br />
<br />
Below is a list of SPAMMY sites I have come across in my first year of comping. It's not an exhaustive list - there will be others. Also, these sites can and do give out prizes. I am not saying they are scams - I am simply saying that the cost of entering these sites is your personal information being compromised and used and sold. It is completely up to you whether you are happy for this to happen and to enter<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>SPAMMY SITES</u></b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Activeyou - activeyou </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fco.uk%2F&h=EAQFhfYS5AQFAK_oaJy06Xy9vNNoRuiP5xWJ2_WJ8lqRIjQ&enc=AZO0bijO-J40t_0xtSqpitujiCiQNyNb0wOdTmppIX2dGqWp2XX9hjx9SSu1R-qiIvC2H8UcDSru0NJYjwbRNPFIJ00ToKB1hAru5KNDPiwkqP16hQ5iBWYmoxSN6OW-X5-Xgj4KHWbfUA_P88hly7s6at_auW-8OPNfqr79JP54I2E1EqLkmUS9_MtnxcJMZME&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Britpoll - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbritpoll.co.uk%2F&h=GAQHmGLiGAQHXxOrEJhUqRHplli7zXzYNRc4b3_QZ6YwtUg&enc=AZMzlyhFag0VKS5r1Vq4zbHiIxkhKySeb6BWWiMeNs-RuddVV5AdVeGdofQHhKhpsC-EKqaXiNBFcfCISOuPJMHpibMN6xYv3cl_HA2D5OWlj0avYJETPzH69pS5_u5y9D78Nj9poVIszRYb8HnJ06OALbEhxUvOi-tjihA2fGMmHYL8OEbjmFQ_qXb-50SKDLc&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">britpoll.co.uk</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Catalink - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalink.com%2F&h=xAQH9gg6qAQEijId67W6CcCE1c1jD75bFuKsiSzT-j8b0Vg&enc=AZPzNSgkufDfp_9-4lAHGz1tcyq1s5nXTXrBWwsBBD6ZUWUoQ2w4Y_k5F66vP5dOR2GQTUFWyRURdsoG53p-p6XL8kED3f-amOMmUO7kZq9VDskVFWnzVVdnupgFH4BPb2nAXb_aw_-c7I8lCZqp8v8HHBQEYhTlUeUyzkHHPpEo-PegW4bfpHzlVcz0IyrK6Sg&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">catalink.com/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">FreeStuff - freestuff.eu/</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">GetMeATicket - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgetmeaticket.co.uk%2F&h=9AQEyWrN9AQFlTIh-ER4EoYgJ_lKXdjEJ6JjaPlauq9H89w&enc=AZOHQR548C7T0g0cAI0BgjGPufiSLB9FvBjtJIiUdmoqAEfVo5goWdGdi8N2q8J6SUA5W51cWdvQWiFpxRkQnlG6dZzL3kvRNugq3gqmr9GWWxZ5CLTIyZ_mmLKhq-xS-SMwla4jZz0KSUP2P0Kut9OctTdfqi5enI7tzgc9p6mYVlEVixyl9CI91WgpmXVAuPo&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">getmeaticket.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">LoveMyOffers - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flovemyoffers.co.uk%2F&h=VAQH5R6eVAQEIKlsog4zVuoa37FdTwSRB1gCRoUslAZ3ipg&enc=AZNyOKoIPKiZ923_y_d6LN5dbVa9OrqLZWpe2k9AGuswKCfi10p68R3nGDDTKQf42JC12E36Rh8_2VvTocBZH82gZR2Zi9zqDGjv6OAl4Ztf-HvWBm2fuuUNhSPXXPOg7H3KjqAcZdZ5P6qT0b8-o_DS2b7PRpnuEx-lCBbqW7k-SLd506yWh0WqEL_9HDDtKBI&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">lovemyoffers.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">MyOffers - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmyoffers.co.uk%2F&h=dAQH0swIiAQE-Ls58rYLSMeTr7wEUiTZ9OoW3dGuNFpFmNQ&enc=AZOstdikqyY-a77WAEbXywevcKCVeo94f6nnGfox89Ve8xJxhJJ_bs0kU7XQGJNB1pYWH5O-ooeNO-wbBlke8X6qxp-I5pye_9PBH2mkfdXFuIvGEhVgSgefx79gRbrVA5AYxgHDemLS5aztecAVy6BHK4WKBS3SAjDuu2Wp3Up0yCUZDL6spZfdMKiYeRLuYI8&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">myoffers.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">OfferX - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fofferx.co.uk%2F&h=-AQHEV1OIAQFgg7Ybp738J3Vn-pyG8aM2YAwgRAsEZOsK1A&enc=AZNXjpFjcCbsqcMA7IcYqrmN2I04ElEmgd_gaZOiVNsPjUgwjdA1Aw2UrxowbwZtVA_9tkGY_46k29nKFtlir4RkpGoPhGiwcgRHHUGiUDaBlH0nEzNG1FIBBz4lHgUWfr04DHRGRzjgbRrUPUNVTr3buyNX-o14HBg1DRjCKi0Ss5LTU59rA0pNJTEJpaUxOkY&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">offerx.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Prize Reactor - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fprizereactor.co.uk%2F&h=aAQFf2CvXAQFb-5iCLNtZ4cT0N6L_SWKYksddv7gYYe7Lhg&enc=AZPvkcnRe27VtAmLmM9kJdp3IpzWSfDj9f9kcNSS0dEq2x3EahvHbQsC-0anOSuPZkJ_0aQYDVP2ZhuydHfbqljafDYSavMAD5G71LkjRFTFnhevu343QavfT8ucls6ngR2OZ3kUqRDzEDt10sWzbckMhfncrqZ3nvM3WU7tAvejd_XRmpJp-YtEFEFImkl1GKw&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">prizereactor.co.uk</a><br />
<a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FSign-ups.com%2F&h=wAQELdCy3AQEM8VlnXOWcYptwadIpfeFy8D3E_PXCMosfpw&enc=AZP6FqMC2yYCwxiyMutP5ieRwD0z9cpnSO-bD-FjtP1yjHAShVnHuS5FRQy1XtdZa82Ab4uQM38kj9d52978CFnR8FIiieNdtvrdxbLzpzYKgwN-qA_eGP8m2NBxWQN_76mRk6aHau0AUwKj35BVgq3Gt16nMoX7fudYqCLEqO6N6bSjfalqfP-Lt-HtRMPqs10&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sign-ups.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"> - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsign-ups.com%2F&h=jAQHxDUuHAQGfzTblOeVBncpuvhEvfgfHlMLWPT8uDmaylg&enc=AZMtmuw1GxjNzMhdGlO7_ysar9Zc_TBEquHZfuXWhUniG7h6x2m57bFTSfeAHJbvIq8qZcHNBJJZ_BtYTL-EB-6_laHZhlSEWle87jJ4jyQdtyPcElB2D4HVNzJLC1Z0ef8vjBd3PFWMy5K31h2KRJ45IUR8ijrLXNKoaW8Q6VAXLFtmolxJZ1m9JK2uz1fRYt8&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">sign-ups.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FSimple2win.co.uk%2F&h=yAQEzVZb5AQG45L3xZXrCAbBcCP_avuGoFXUepg_19TgPTw&enc=AZM0STtmcD8BIeX1o3OazN_xzB4sy43yJEQIftxwb5i8IYVJ11N2LlBQtG8tntLrf4eXRG7KitE32FForYQupiMqox0YTAGJ_A6D2j2ckIQXwKpgMJG_7N_uE7kZIZitJsoYHSfw_zlR_wuk9aO5Ulzu5t1RA9DNtGWVgZE1HSCxyICFBj6sM0sJ-iet45MiAA8&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Simple2win.co.uk</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"> - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsimple2win.co.uk%2F&h=DAQHoxBkIAQHKwU8SyPcwvE7HxYFLH-zOQ7rCO5j9Xsdijg&enc=AZOgPR8qR9gml6-WFenNsY33k7znjoN4gPFVmZ_X3moLdUeYcSKyavLQy9ixtW2NHzefK2FmEU8yxpRXJxm_4umf-fB_E5NW9lbSZR2_lfyiaeR6DkeW5qKrq3QLtpzBLElTm6H8RyznFBZbwC_5Hyh0VB21cV9AvSH8SLyunGq92lWe7ASIwcyLZCHDtCSnfTo&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">simple2win.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">SoapboxSurvey - </span><a href="http://soapboxsurvey.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">soapboxsurvey.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">SurPrizes - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsurprizes.com%2F&h=LAQEQ5eeAAQHr1RwE1Rd7tpKFwmD7BEvrdP_boubIbq8MUA&enc=AZNe2aFpmlbkP1bQzoY7raMvJYeDehrKXX3w3u63-L7LlfwXIz1BQDN8K7v8Ts5WazdRqgVyD4hHZE4JY2wqeONUNjCaM6O3vPCvPPz6SJme16V5XbuBgWtuUzBIp_oSLwlc8vB5djhHvQlC8s4WgrOXKWSbuwJyWsexDxyCIwJM9LDjQvBp6bhUpnElAz3YopE&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">surprizes.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FSurveys.co.uk%2F&h=9AQEyWrN9AQH_u7ZITFpjyYH8x74zt9-9WwnbViOqNdoAWA&enc=AZP-aBjSZ-hDLgPaG7hQFWkKbp-bCXTCFxGUTwka5lZf0bRd6vC08pZVJhz3fS8AtHnzfEj1lOeLWseHsJfieW7L8_hydHaFMw7eK4TcqhQnTMEiQVy2BW69qum1-l63n3S7WrO6mgxTq50QjNrQjvWf42pLiFqg0RyFDbp_IvMZm1qa_zN4pNJ1q4VsrUtCGfc&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Surveys.co.uk</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"> - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsurveys.co.uk%2F&h=iAQHospVtAQH38ChJ7FI1rbfTuwovjbM6DZw84YkC1SWnjg&enc=AZMqG8GNA2uYfpkKt29WMt-SAQ3AfPUDkrPm5uuKJH5FYgW6pxVWAKCiGut_qpOxK_sDwWvrCrvbnowor67CSj44vE8E7li9xs9gy-GEXRtynbbQ-qJ2bme_or7f9xbx-dDSOoGUWONnruqQLJa9F8b2-0laNsUC4CF6jvvUj4NTjjaffYXjheStQ7Mv9WhdIcQ&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">surveys.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">SurveySavers - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsurveysavers.co.uk%2F&h=MAQGVKb4KAQF-qyU1QKsv4xhPyDvEPhOaoTKX2_2-f4Ygjg&enc=AZOyOMupyKySI8q-LcfzTZfOd5eRzocwBRa_uppsc7ixq5kZwambeH-6c6IYoXjLlD-5w5kBbdpca5-EDXX1IjAd8v1fSkYWqCt4ysuE51uLelgztNWpG4jvS5weioHv2J1xd7IaCX0E0cgnYqvEyW07GYv74mkwyBa0ES0KrQI5zJ8jGe_fgWmUR7XqpVbV9WI&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">surveysavers.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Swooosh - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fswooosh.co.uk%2F&h=HAQFl0cymAQEIEMrSFzZcgG2EL-uhK1zeGMS0wJvjMnLEXg&enc=AZNeZaxvbf1l1hG2ga9ZnaYtX2IYkJN2s6i6zUJGlNjKf_nFMbZvvrTJP90FHmYql82Ii-b58k2A3c7-2JUEHi-VoADL8Nfu-9fY4ntGWavUD85vq1Bl7rqkiB-85KoyPuZsNArHVZa2iWsoVVrvQYos0DgiLgZFmAiiCYwJLfLqvocYTjk0nyJSL81ud9jAa4A&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">swooosh.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">TopFox - </span><a href="http://opfox.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">opfox.co.uk/</a><br />
<a href="http://ukprize.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">UKprize.co.uk</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"> - </span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fukprize.co.uk%2F&h=tAQG6TtF7AQHul4-ioFvklihT5JA26u1g0SJqL-rs2A1dlw&enc=AZN6mbVrID6WJW5g8UmOAtU_WImvXUSaeZ4SUdSIHw4v-26NPAgk2uufNdlzDG-M-j9JOO0vrNo5DmtrctuQkhjpZxqoYodPlusJLU5ndapBZw7NV2l3sbPuT45v0j5zzloQon8CAS9mEkzsFTj29c1lIQo3IsIUGRd7BzHvM6tt3rZNB7j0t0qAKQh2kgTYBrc&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ukprize.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Vaniki - </span><a href="http://vaniki.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">vaniki.co.uk/</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Very Us - </span><a href="http://veryus.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">veryus.co.uk</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-47166905943349893992016-04-10T07:51:00.000-07:002016-04-12T13:21:46.126-07:00How to review products for free or a discountI have previously posted about reviewing for companies on amazon but there are so many other opportunities out there I thought I'd do a separate post on reviews.<br />
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Firstly this isn't an exclusive list there will be other companies, other promoters and other opportunities out there especially if you are a full on professional blogger who posts daily and youtubes and stuff.<br />
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Secondly this is a list for UK mainland people - some sites will offer opportunities to EU residents or to ROI/Northern Ireland as well but it's best for you to go check the info out yourself if your interested in them.<br />
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Thirdly there is no specific order to the sites - they are simply ones where I have had the opportunity to get items for free or a discount in order to provide my feedback and review.<br />
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Finally, there are a lot of scam sites out there - all the sites listed here are ones that I have personally had experience of using, that I have received items from and that I would be happy to use again. I would say if something looks too good to be true then it probably is - whilst there are opportunities to review some incredible big expensive items these are few and far between and the majority of items for review are every day essentials and basics.<br />
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If you have any questions or comments please feel free to add them :)<br />
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<h2>
<b><u style="background-color: yellow;">AO.com</u></b></h2>
AO or appliances online is a major uk retailer supplying various hold hold appliances. They are online only and have a massive social media presence on both <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AOLetsGo/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ao">Twitter.</a> They offer people the chance win items to review via their social media channels. You can also just apply with them to be a reviewer as well.<br />
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<b><u>Things to note:</u></b><br />
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- you must provide a video review therefore you will need a youtube account (these are free to set up)<br />
- you must provide a written review<br />
- you must provide both reviews within 7 days of receiving the item<br />
- if you do not provide the reviews in the set time scales then you are liable for the full cost of the item<br />
- you can review for them once every 6 months<br />
<br />
To apply to review for ao you can<br />
<br />
- following their social media channels and enter their competitions - they get several thousand entries so chances of winning and reviewing are low<br />
- create a short video explaining why you would like to review for them and upload it to youtube. E-mail a link of your video to <a href="mailto:customerreviews@ao.com" style="background-color: white; color: purple; cursor: pointer; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">customerreviews@ao.com</a> or post it directly to their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AOLetsGo/?fref=ts" target="_blank">FB page.</a> If they like the video they will get in touch with you usually within a couple of weeks. If the item you are asking to review is not currently available they will either offer you what they do have available or put you onto a waiting list. There is no guarantee if you are put on the waiting list that the item you want will come up so you should consider what other items you are interested in as well.<br />
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Items that are available for review from them include TV's Fridges, Freezers, Washing Machines, Hoovers, Smoothie Makers, etc<br />
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I reviewed a Miele hoover for them.<br />
My youtube video which I used to apply can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUDhhE4vEQQ">here</a><br />
My review video is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AFyrE7cHM8">here</a><br />
My written review has vanished into the ether that is the internet as ao no longer stocks it!<br />
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="https://www.theinsiders.eu/"><b>The Insiders EU</b></a> (This site runs campaigns across Europe as well as the UK)</span></h2>
This is a company that works with various different products and companies. They have various campaigns and during these they look for a set number of people to try a product.<br />
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<b><u>Things to note:</u></b><br />
<br />
- you will be expected to discuss the product with other people and then put on conversation reports, to post reviews and send in the links and to blog about the product (a basic blog like mine is fine)<br />
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- for higher end products you will be expected to provide your banks IBAN details. If the product for review is a loan only then you will need to return it at the end of the review or you will get a set price deducted from your bank e.g. on the LG G4 campaign they ran you had to agree that if you did not return the phone at the end of the trial to pay them £250 or so which was at the time 50% of the cost of the phone. As it happened everyone who took part in the project got to keep the phone at the end after completing all the set tasks.<br />
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- they expect you to apply for each trial and you have to give valid reasons as to why you want to try the product<br />
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- not everyone who applies will get chosen - they have set numbers for the trial and they have criteria on the candidates e.g. If they are working with company who are marketing their product at big and tall men then being a short woman I would be unlikely to be chosen.<br />
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- the more campaigns you take part in and the more active you are the more likely it is that you will be chosen for campaigns in the future - even if you are not selected for one of the current campaigns it's a good idea to make comments on the blogs etc for the different campaigns as it shows you are active and want to take part - it also earns you points which show on your account and show how active you are - just make sure the comments are relevant and not spammy.<br />
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To review for them you need to visit the page, find the campaign your interested in and apply - they will ask you a few questions, get you to confirm your address and filling the all important 'why you want to take part' box. If you are successful you will get an e-mail confirming this and the item will be set in the post within a couple of weeks. You may or may not get set tasks to do during the campaign. You should complete these as you go along as well as recording your conversations and following the blogs.<br />
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You should be aware that these campaigns can be quite time consuming and you do have to put a lot of effort in - it's not just one review post and a few photos and your done - for the LG G4 campaign we had to take 100 different photos and upload them with #LGG4 to social media and via an ap, we had to write reviews, write up several conversation reports and provide feedback.<br />
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Previous items offered for review include cat food (read my reviews <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/365-day-16-purina-proplan-trial.html">here</a> and <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/an-update-on-our-proplan-trial.html">here</a>), LG G4 phone (reviews <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-lg-g4-or-trylgg4-all-about-that.html">here</a> and <a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-lg-g4-or-trylgg4-all-about-that_13.html">here</a>), samsung home security, Dog food, Coffee, skincare products<br />
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I have done 2 campaigns with these guys (I applied for 3 but only got accepted for 2)<br />
<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow; color: black;"><a href="http://circle.supersavvyme.co.uk/uk/">Savvy Circle</a> (This is part of <a href="https://www.supersavvyme.co.uk/">SuperSavvyMe website</a> - you need to be signed up for the website and the the savvy circle separately) </span></h2>
These guys have been around for ages - their main website which has lots of money off coupons, freebies, reviews and advice on various products - mainly home and health items such as laundry products, skin care, baby etc. It's a good site to sign up to if you like your free samples and coupons as well as for reviewing. The site is part of the P&G family so it's mainly their products and companies they work with that are offered.<br />
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The Savvy Circle is a separate part of their site where they run specific campaigns. They run these pretty regularly and you apply through clicking on the savvy circle tab and finding the current campaign and applying.<br />
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Things to note:<br />
<br />
- you will be expected to discuss the product with other people and then put on conversation reports, to post reviews and send in the links and to blog about the product (a basic blog like mine is fine)<br />
<br />
- they expect you to apply for each trial and you have to give valid reasons as to why you want to try the product<br />
<br />
- not everyone who applies will get chosen - they have set numbers for the trial and they have criteria on the candidates e.g. If they are working with company who are marketing their product at big and tall men then being a short woman I would be unlikely to be chosen.<br />
<br />
- the more campaigns you take part in and the more active you are the more likely it is that you will be chosen for campaigns in the future - even if you are not selected for one of the current campaigns it's a good idea to make comments on the blogs etc for the different campaigns as it shows you are active and want to take part.<br />
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- it's usual when you take part in a campaign for them to send you out a complete pack of info including money off vouchers and samples to share with family and friends - unless the item is something like a shaver or face sauna or similar then you will just get the information pack<br />
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As with the insider these campaigns are time consuming - you usually have 3 questionnaires to fill in online 1 at the start, 1 half way through and 1 at the end. You are also expected to submit conversation reports, reviews, complete feedback sheets with people who you give samples to, provide photos and videos etc. Most campaigns run over 4-12 weeks and you need to be able to commit to taking part in the activities during this time.<br />
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I have taken part in around 10 campaigns with these guys and had some great items including hair dyes (x4 1 for me and 3 for friends), lenor products, car air freshners, toothpaste etc Whilst most of the items I have had have been lower value ones (by that I mean under £10 to purchase an item) they do higher end items as well - I have recently been chosen for a braun IPL hair remover that is really expensive. The items they tend to offer are things that you would buy as part of your weekly shop but new versions so the latest fabreeze product or flash, perhaps some olay skin care or head and shoulders shampoo.<br />
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They have a lot of people applying for projects so dont be too disheartened if your not selected the first time round - follow the campaign blog, get involved and apply for the next project. Some projects are really popular and they only have 30 spaces, others they might have 2000 spaces. If your new try going for a project that has a larger number of spaces - complete all the tasks submit all your reports and earn some stars and then when a project with less spaces comes around and you apply they can see that you are going to take it seriously, get involved and complete the tasks.<br />
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="https://toppsta.com/">Toppsta</a> (They do their giveaways via<a href="https://twitter.com/toppsta"> twitter</a> /<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ToppstaKids/"> FB</a> and their website ) BOOKS</span></h2>
Toppsta do kids books from ages 0 up to teens. They usually have a couple of copies of each book to giveaway.<br />
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To apply to review a book you can follow them on facebook or twitter (links above) and look out for their review posts. You will need to say why you want to review and like/share, follow/RT the posts. You can also sign up to their website and have a look at their giveaways and apply to review.<br />
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Once chosen to review you will receive the book in the post - they usually come with a certificate for the child too which is a nice touch. You then read with your child or your child reads the books and you log onto their website and leave a review once your ready. Like most places they like a review within 7 days or so.<br />
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There is no limit to the amount of books you can apply to review with them.<br />
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To increase your chances of being selected to review you can sign up to their website and submit some reviews on other books you have read.<br />
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I have reviewed for them once with my niece H - we won our review from their twitter page.<br />
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="http://www.childsfarm.com/">Childs Farm</a> (sign up to newsletter) Children's skincare / toiletries.</span></h2>
Every couple of months these guys recruit some new ambassadors - they recruit between 50-200 at a time. To find out when recruitment is open you need to be signed up to their newsletter. When recruitment is open you fill in a brief form to sign up. Once selected they will send you a selection of full size products from their range to use with your child and some miniature/ sample bottles too to give out to friends and family. They ask that you try out the products and then review them across various sites including superdrug, netmums, mumsnet, boots, ocado etc<br />
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They have a private FB group for ambassadors and they e-mail you surveys and activities every now and again to complete and for completing the activities you get entered into various prize draws.<br />
<br />
I am an ambassador and the products are fab<br />
<h2>
<br /><span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SearchPressArt/?fref=ts">Search Press Art</a> / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Search-Press-Art-and-Craft-Books-101643268908/?fref=ts">Search Press Art and Craft Books </a>- Facebook giveaways for reviews - BOOKS - must have an amazon account</span></h2>
These guys do regular giveaways on their Facebook pages (linked above). The books are all about arts and crafts, artists etc.<br />
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The giveaways are listed usually on a wednesday or a friday.<br />
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To enter you need to like the post and then add your name under it in the comments.<br />
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They announce the winners the following week - they don't always tag you so its worth going back to check.<br />
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If chosen to review you need to send them a DM/PM with the name of the book you have won and your contact details.<br />
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When the book arrives you have to do a review on amazon within 7 days and the e-mail or DM/PM them the link to your review.<br />
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There is no limit on the amount of times you can enter. I have reviewed 2 books with them so far.<br />
<a href="https://www.amzreviews.co.uk/"><br /></a>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="https://www.amzreviews.co.uk/">AMZ Reviews</a> (review amazon seller products) - must have an amazon account - worldwide</span></h2>
AMZ reviews is a site that allows amazon sellers to offer their items for free or at a significant discount in return for reviews on amazon.<br />
<br />
Its completely free to sign up to be a reviewer. Once you have signed up you can then browse the offers available and then request to review any items you fancy.<br />
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<b><u>Things to note:</u></b><br />
<br />
- discount varies between sellers - if you see an item you like have a look to see if any other sellers have something similar - some will charge you £0 some will charge you £5<br />
<br />
- the site is quite glitchy - often it removes items so you cant log your reviews - it says they will find them but I have done around 80 reviews but have under 60 confirmed the others have vanished in the ether!<br />
<br />
- be sure to check the postage costs! If you plan on doing lots of reviews through here then amazon prime is a great idea it costs £8.99 a month and majority of deliveries will be free.<br />
<br />
- Sometimes the codes dont work or they give a different discount to that listed - always check before you click buy on the price. If the discount hasnt worked or is less than expected dont buy! Contact the seller first<br />
<br />
- to increase your chances of being selected go to your amazon account and review some regular items you have bought - include videos and pictures for brownie points.<br />
<br />
- you have to declare at the end of the review that you received the item at a discount/for free - if you dont declare it you can get into serious trouble with amazon - they took a bunch of people to court last year for 'fake' reviews!<br />
<br />
- you should be honest if the item doesnt work in the first instance contact the seller, if that doesnt resolve the issue leave a constructive review<br />
<br />
For a list of the items I have reviewed check out<a href="http://pstv365.blogspot.co.uk/p/reviews-2016.html"> here</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/447694105415683/">UK amazon review AFUNTA</a> - specific facebook group for AFUNTA an amazon seller - must have an amazon PRIME account</span></h2>
Group on facebook - anyone can join. Offers items at a significant discount in order to provide reviews. Expect picture / video reviews.<br />
<br />
You need to sign up via a form they have posted in the group, add the 2 admins as friends on facebook and then comment under posts of items you want to review. If chosen they will inbox you a link to the item and the discount code.<br />
<br />
Once the item has been received you need to post your review to amazon and then send them a link to confirm it's done.<br />
<br />
No limit to the amount of items you can apply for - they usually post 2-10 a month<br />
<br />
I've reviewed several items for these guys - I had a problem with one code but they responded to me via dm and we sorted it out until the code worked.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="http://www.mumsnet.com/">Mumsnet</a> / <a href="http://www.gransnet.com/">Gransnet</a> </span></h2>
They often look for people to take part in trials. As well as getting the item for free you also get entered into a giveaway for giving back your feedback.<br />
<br />
You must be a member of the site to apply and they usually send out an e-mail when they have a new trial available for your to sign up. Sign up to the sites completely free.<br />
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Generally they get more applicants than they have spaces so you may not be selected. If you are selected you need to complete the different parts of the project as given. This may include taking photos or video. If you fail to complete all the tasks set then you may be excluded from future projects.<br />
<br />
Items available depend on the brands they are currently working with. I have had audio books, chocolate buttons, hair dye, hot chocolate and dog food to try so far. I have only ever had trial items from mumsnet but I have included gransnet as they are run by the same team.<br />
<br />
FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM...<br />
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Please remember these companies are looking for genuine feedback on their items and that people out there will read your reviews and make purchase decisions made on what you say therefore it's important to be honest in your reviews.<br />
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List the Pros/Cons or what you liked or didnt like.<br />
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Include photos and video if you can so people can see how the product works or how it looks properly<br />
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Think about if you would buy the product at full price or again, if you would recommend it to family and friends and the reasons.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-85264709114055635072016-03-24T12:18:00.001-07:002016-03-24T12:18:41.999-07:00Upcycling Project :)So I like unusual objects in my home - I like to have items that other people dont have and one way of doing this is to shell out for one of a kind pieces from expensive designers or if your skint like me check out charity shops, freecycle and car booties for things that you can change and upcycle to fit in your home.<br />
<br />
So the computer chair I had (previously upcycled too!) got broken and I wanted to replace it - I could have gotten another computer chair the basic kind for around £20 or a luxury one for upwards of £50 but instead I spotted a chair being given away for free on me2ufreebies a local freecycling site on facebook.<br />
<br />
The chair cover was in poor condition BUT the mechanics were all fine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYJRFiOXJopcJAkSsvrXqlORtgO6isGaGxl0JOMIH5VPPx1v1CQpbjT-kx3JF9gocxQWcNmO-w3Ey6G_dnjxxfdZ0k0YhHi-Da2QugHwbw8s2VIQJmic6SeLDKFRJ8C4aOT5wJhjZ0y6Y/s1600/65835_10153816269430358_2167865789336386256_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYJRFiOXJopcJAkSsvrXqlORtgO6isGaGxl0JOMIH5VPPx1v1CQpbjT-kx3JF9gocxQWcNmO-w3Ey6G_dnjxxfdZ0k0YhHi-Da2QugHwbw8s2VIQJmic6SeLDKFRJ8C4aOT5wJhjZ0y6Y/s400/65835_10153816269430358_2167865789336386256_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chair that I collected for free</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I asked and was chosen to collect the chair - it's quite a large chair so I struggled a bit with getting in the car and then getting it up the stairs in the flat when I got home.<br />
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I had a look through my material box but the colours I wanted to cover it in I didn't have enough of.<br />
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Back in the January sales thought I bought new bedding so I decided that one of my old quilt covers (that I had originally planned to make a new kitty bed out of!) would be perfect to cover it.<br />
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I started by taking all the pieces of the chair apart - luckily it was all connected with allen key fitting screws so relatively easy to get it done in around 20 minutes<br />
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The back was actually the least damaged but took the longest to cover - there was very little 'hard' sections where I could staple the material on - I prob went through half a box of staples because they just couldn't grip. It took around an hour to cover the back<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsNb7FlK4Rgect5jtd54D8WcU8cnNDR9NAqTUhjBn953RhcuBpa7mHCUuEPP_1J1OfVP3apPh6qBnzW9k7DWv3pljUm1f9MVo-q09-0XWRSZJmJ1AZep3c-GzSB1wz2DsTZ71cBN-PeQ-/s1600/10405698_10153814988405358_7991371791793465417_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsNb7FlK4Rgect5jtd54D8WcU8cnNDR9NAqTUhjBn953RhcuBpa7mHCUuEPP_1J1OfVP3apPh6qBnzW9k7DWv3pljUm1f9MVo-q09-0XWRSZJmJ1AZep3c-GzSB1wz2DsTZ71cBN-PeQ-/s320/10405698_10153814988405358_7991371791793465417_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back piece before being covered.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Next I did the wrap around arms - these were relatively quick to do as they had quite a solid structure. I cut slits in the material to accommodate the metal bars - ideally I would have sewed around the slits to reduce the chance of it laddering/fraying but as these pieces are actually where the arms screw into the base and back it's not a big deal that I didnt do this. The arms took around 20 minutes each to do.<br />
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Finally I did the seat base which was the easiest part to do it just involved cover the seat flipping it and stapling it underneath and then making holes for the screws. It took around 15 mins<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9TXKFIfhd_c-LvxE_s2rMC7_KUetqTB7ExQ-lO74TDvjHP4DDr8W60IgDJ9lkLLyI6Wv0Tcscrwlpkt28614Lm6ln3V4Xw9aVDVoKeh3YZhI4gBkJB7kuabV1gAZ7b4lCdyuh07QJjNw/s1600/12805814_10153814988765358_8439207983798929353_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9TXKFIfhd_c-LvxE_s2rMC7_KUetqTB7ExQ-lO74TDvjHP4DDr8W60IgDJ9lkLLyI6Wv0Tcscrwlpkt28614Lm6ln3V4Xw9aVDVoKeh3YZhI4gBkJB7kuabV1gAZ7b4lCdyuh07QJjNw/s320/12805814_10153814988765358_8439207983798929353_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seat base and arms before getting covered</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I then screwed the whole thing back together. This took around 20 mins as it was quite difficult getting the screws to go back in - the arms were the most difficult to get to lay flat.<br />
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I finally finished off by using a pillowcase to make a padded seat insert to match the chair.<br />
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Total cost = around £2 in petrol to collect, around 20p worth of staples and from start to finish around 3 1/2 hours to collect and cover.<br />
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I'm really pleased with this chair - it looks great and is really comfortable and I know that it's completely unique too<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-59470949422105802582016-02-20T06:41:00.003-08:002016-03-24T12:19:29.246-07:00Weeks 2 & 3So I am still alive I've just had a bit of a crazy month so far.<br />
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I've had lots of medical appointments and work meetings plus a fair amount of bad news.<br />
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So lets start with the bad news and get it out of the way and then move on:<br />
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1. I was wrong about my weight I actually weighed more than I thought - gutted! I weighed in at 92kgs at the GP's 2 weeks ago - happily at my weigh-in this week I am down to 90kgs so I am losing weight which is good but the starting point was higher than expected (I blame christmas!)<br />
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2. My blood test results werent as good as expected (going to blame christmas for that too) so my meds have been increased which has left me feeling a bit rubbish - I'm under a 3 month review so hopefully at the review my results will be better and I can start to reduce them again.<br />
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3. My aunty's hubby was feeling poorly over Xmas - he was sadly diagnosed with small cell cancer throughout and passed away 4 weeks later. My aunty and his kids are obviously devastated by the whole thing - the funeral was well done with the kids stepping up. Sadly my aunty is also poorly with stage 4 lung cancer so her kids are really going through it right now.<br />
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4. My lovely neighbour passed away unexpectedly - I spoke to her like 2 days before she died and she was her usual bubbly self it's really shocked me she was only in her late 30 and she leaves behind an 18 year old daughter and a her hubby.<br />
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So yes thats been my last 2 weeks :(<br />
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On the plus side :)<br />
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- I've sold a bunch of stuff on ebay and put £165 into savings for the holidays :)<br />
- I paid off the last of the Forrest Holidays so thats completely paid up for July<br />
- I've been doing lots of reviews for amazon so getting lots of great items for free or reduced :)<br />
- went to see a local amdram production - great thing about am dram stuff is tickets are usually under £10 whereas you go to the proper 'professional' productions its usually double or triple the cost. The show was pretty good it was Eric ( Terry Pratchett novel) I enjoyed it although I think my friend found it a tad confusing - if you havent read the book it is a bit strange to watch the production as your missing out on the background info.<br />
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That's kind of it really - Next weekend I am going to the dance off thing - a couple of us are going in 80's costumes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-31553353280659166482016-02-02T16:12:00.005-08:002016-02-02T16:12:34.938-08:00Week 1 of new me :)So I meant to post this on Monday however due to some issues with my laptop and general exhaustion I havent so I am posting now :)<br />
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So to recap goals for the new year are:<br />
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1. Lose weight<br />
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2. Get Healthier/fitter<br />
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3. Save Money<br />
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As today is my first week I am just going to start with my current stats :)<br />
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1. I'm a size 20 on top and a 16-18 on bottom - I weigh in at 89-90 kgs depending on the scales - I am seeing the nurse for blood tests on friday so will get weighed in properly then<br />
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2. I'm not fit there's no denying it<br />
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3. My savings account balance is £0<br />
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So what am I doing this week to achieve my goals?<br />
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1. I have started on meal replacement shake for breakfast, cutting down snacks or snacking on foods that are high protein such as boiled eggs and nuts and drinking water - I have managed to drink 2l of water each day in work so far and hope to continue - this replaces they 4-6 cans of fizzy stuff I drink everyday (although not completely as I am addicted to pepsi max but reducing it to 1 can in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 for bed - thats a huge reduction from the 2-3 litres I normally drink) I have to be honest my body is not enjoying this change - I swear I am getting withdrawal symptoms, seriously! I am short tempered - more so than usual and I keep getting headaches and cravings!<br />
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2. I am taking the stairs - yes instead of being incredibly lazy and using the lift to get up 2 flights of stairs in work I am walking them! I am also going for a 15-20 min fast walk during my lunch half hour.<br />
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3. I have switched my insurance for the car as its was down for renewal this month - saving myself around £40 but I also bought the new insurance via topcashback so I should in couple of months get some more money back from this - around £45. I have also switched my internet, tv and phone supplier for 2 reasons the first was the customer service in sky has been beyond appalling the entire 18 months I have been with them with my super fast fibre optic my speed has never been faster than 28mbs - its supposed to be up to 100 and I have had enough! I have switched to virgin media which initially is going to be more expensive as I have to have an engineer come out (ouch) but my monthly bill will be less by around £20 and again I bought via topcashback so I will get around £75 back in a few months. I havent put any money into my savings because I dont get paid until 21st however I did go shopping for food with a shopping list and mostly stuck to it and along with my shakes for breakfast and taking water into work and my own I am saving around £3 a day on food in work which at the end of the week will be around £12 (as we go out for lunch on a friday as a team I cant skip that!)<br />
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So I think I am starting well and will hopefully continue. I hope by week 4 to actually start seeing some results :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277226645384416082.post-67634243719235602952016-01-28T16:10:00.001-08:002016-01-31T04:39:52.856-08:00Amazon Reviews :)As everyone knows I love a good bargain so getting something at a significantly reduced price or for free is my kind of deal. I had heard of people reviewing for companies on Amazon where they get items for a really low price or free in return for an honest review. However, these reviewers are pretty quiet about how you sign up for these programmes so it can be difficult to get into.<br />
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I decided to give it a go - after all there was nothing to lose.</div>
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So I turned to my good friend google to find an amazon review site - I found one called <a href="https://www.amzreviews.co.uk/" target="_blank">AMZ reviews</a> (and I have even included it as a linky so you can check it out) it lists a few hundred products that you can apply to review. You scroll through them and click on any items you like the look of, read the t&c and if your happy you can request to be a reviewer. If the company accepts you then you get an email with a link to the product and a code. You have to buy the product through the link in amazon and then at check out you add the promo code and it reduces the price - it's really really simple :)</div>
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Once you receive your item you then need to try it out - if possible take some pics or video so people know your a real person. Try to think about what is good, what is bad and what is okay about the item - what are the stand out features - would you really buy this as a gift for someone or for yourself? Or would you be horrified to receive it? think about any advice to future purchasers - does it need batteries, is it easy to open/use etc</div>
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Then get yourself back to amazon - go to the my orders page and click on the review item bit - there are 3 reviews you can do - a product review (essential - this is what you are getting it for), a seller review (desirable - you dont have to do this but it shows others that the seller dispatched the item, it arrived as it should etc and I am sure the person giving you the item for free or cost appreciates it) and package feedback which is for amazon really as they are generally the ones who package and send them out :D</div>
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7p</div>
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Amazon can take anywhere from 5 mins to a couple of hours to review and accept your review. Once it is up they will email you. You then need to log back into your amzreviews account - go to the review requests page and find the item - then click on I have reviewed this and copy the link to your amazon review into the pop up box and thats it.</div>
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So what can you review? I think this really depends on your profile on amazon - the more reviews you do the more likely it is companies will choose you for bigger and better items - the more detailed reviews the better. As a newbie I have applied for loads of different items but I have been accepted for 7 and rejected for 1 - no explanation is given for the rejection so I wont take it personally :)</div>
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If your on facebook there are also specific companies who recruit people to review their items - similar to above but generally for one specific company rather than lots of them. I recently joined such a facebook group and requested and was accepted to review an item - unlike amzreviews these guys want you to put your review on different amazon sites around the world rather than just amazon.co.uk</div>
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So here is what I have been sent to review so far:</div>
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- 3D glasses/box to use with mobile phone - cost£12.99 reviewer price £0 (although if you dont have amazon prime you would have to pay p&p at £3.99)</div>
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- UV face and body paints - cost £3.99 review price £0 p&p £0</div>
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- wrist support - cost £29.09 (incl p&p) review price £0.10 (incl p&p)</div>
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- spiralizer - cost £7.60 review price £0 - free p&p</div>
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- freeview booster aerial - cost £11.75 - review price £2.35 (incl p&p)</div>
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- shake meal replacement plan - cost £10 review price £1 incl p&p</div>
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- foot pedi thing (one of those hard skin removers) - cost £15 review price £2 incl p&p</div>
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I'm also waiting on being sent a colour changing lamp - cost £3.40 review price £1.70</div>
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So that's £93.82 worth of items for £7.15</div>
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If you are thinking about becoming a reviewer please remember that in line with amazon's policy you need to declare on the review that you have received the product at a discount or for free in return for your review. Amazon took like over 1000 people to court recently due 'false' reviews or reviews which didnt disclose they had received the product for free/discount.</div>
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Also remember you should be leaving an honest review on your experience if you receive the product and it doesnt work then you should be saying that too as someone else is going to come along and read your review and pay full price and then be hugely disappointed.<br />
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Amazon itself also runs its own review programme its called review vines and you have to get loads of helpful votes and put on loads of reviews in order to get invited to join (its by invite only) if you are lucky enough to join this you are gonna be offered a whole bunch of amazing goodies we are talking top range oh em gee type of goodies but as I dont know anyone who has been invited to join I doubt I will be gettig an invite any time soon lol</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0