The Musings And Thoughts Of A Butterfly Mind

Decleor Prolagene Lift Lifting Flash Mask 50ml

I was lucky enough to win this marvellous product the brilliant Gorgeous shop - they are mine and girls must go to beauty online retailer because of their great prices and wide range of products

I am always manically busy so when I read this is An anti-ageing 1-minute flash mask promising firmer, more radiant ski in a minute it sounded perfect With Iris Essential Oil, Iris Pallida, this natural origin mask combats the effects of time while preserving skin’s integrity.

Decleor claims that this mask reconnects with its firmness and elasticity, face contours are like lifted, wrinkles are smoothed. - some promising words My skin will radiate an intense glow. I’m getting excited !!!

So does it work ?? Well I scared myself by removing al my make up and massages some on . The texture is just right and like all decleor products smells just divine … that’s down to Its 100% natural origin fragrance formulated with Real Lavender Essential Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia

Queen Tea - Really Royal Body products !

As you may have gathered by now I’m A total tea lover. I can give up booze but my cup of tea…. No chance! So when I some products from Queen Tea cosmetics I was more than slightly over the moon.

Queen tea is a range of fresh and natural skin food inspired by Afternoon Tea (these sound like my kind of people!). There slogan is Cosmetics with a Conscience and for every milk bath sold they donate milk to children to help fight poverty and malnutrition around the world. In addition 10% of the profits from the detox boxes are donated to the Trussell Trust to raise awareness for Uk hunger poverty . In this somewhat materialistic & money grabbing world it’s great to see a company actually putting back rather than taking ,

I got sent two products - The black tea body scrub & the bath milk powder . There are currently six products in the range - the other four are a green tea body scrub that sounds fabulous and the remaining three are bath tea bags - each with different qualities

I am a total beauty product and cosmetic freak and love body scrubs, the only problem I usually find is they are gritty but don’t always leave the moisture behind in the skin after exfoliation . tHe scrub is packed in a plastic pouch as you can see and comes in a cute tea caddy style tin. I opened the bag and was semi expecting a sort of mushy teabag smell - how wrong was I ! It has the delicious aroma of Bergamot essential mixed with the tea and it’s divine ! The scrub is not thin and runny like your normal scrubs it’s thick & chunky so off into the shower I hopped! The scrub itself is made from black tea, olive oil, sugar salt & bergamont oil. The tea helps to tone and protect the skin from premature ageing (boy do I need that!) the oil oil nourishes and smoothies the skin, the sugar and salt exfoliates and the Bergamont oil - besides smelling fabulous, induces sleep . I rubbed the product on my skin and a little goes a long way .. The scrub is effective but doesn’t strip the skin and leave it dry .. The oils totally moisturise the skin and appears to trap the moisture - as well as feeling deliciously clean, scrubbed and polished my skin felt smooth and moisturised and 3 days later it still does, this Is a definite product for my list ! I normally use the elemis salt scrub, this is at £16.50 a tin half the price and works even better and I don’t say that lightly ! Really fantastic product that should be used once a week

The other product I was sent was the Oat milk Bath Powder . This was cutely packaged in a brown paper bag It contains non fat dried milk, cocoa butter and oat bran . There wasn’t really a distinctive smell to the product like the scrub but I think for ultimate benefits this is designed to be used with the bath tea bags in the range . The product is an off white powder so i put some in the bath and prepared to soak ! I felt like Cleopatra soaking in her ass milk bath, though unfortunately with no one around to hand feed me grapes . The milk was moisturising and left my skin noticeably smoother and I did I fact feel a lot more relaxed after using it . The bath milk sells at £13.50 a bag The products are all natural, vegan and vegetarian friendly with the added bonus that the packaging can be recycled

Quite simple Queen Tea have great products on their hands.. Am so delighted I’ve stumbled across them .Especially the scrub - Evie my teen daughter is as equally obsessed with it. She left the evidence of her sneaking her use of it on the side . I reprimanded her for using my stuff without asking - her reply “ but mum it looked so nice and I only had to use a little bit ” . Can’t disagree with her !

Possibly the best tights in the whole world !

Since losing weight I’ve found that I can now buy clothes that I actually love rather that camouflage kit ! It’s a revelation ! And I’ve found rather than dressing to “hide” so to speak I’m now going for bright and beautiful ! So when the lovely people at thetightspot.com contacted me and I asked if I’d like to do a review for them my fingers were on the keypad checking out their website quicker than Usain Bolt out of the starting block ! I was astounded At the range and choice of hosiery, socks and other things on their website - how the heck have I not come across them before ? They stock all the top names such as Jonathan Aston, Wolford Charnos and many more

The product I was asked to review were a pair of Cecilia de Rafael Uppsala high gloss tights and they come in a choice of six fantastic colours . I decided after much deliberation decided to go with the black. - see here why I was spoilt for choice! Cecilia de Rafael Uppsala, High Gloss Tights from www.thetightspot.com

Luckily for me they arrived on Christmas Eve so I could really put them through their paces over the Christmas period. First up was Christmas Day ! I took the tights out of the packet and they reminded me of dance tights, they are super smooth, gorgeously satiny almost and beautifully glossy . I’m a size 10 and between 5ft 5 and 5 6 and I fitted perfectly into the medium size - they come in small, medium, large and extra large . They are 150 denier, gloss opaque and made from luxurious high shine yarns- the finish of them is fantastic - there is a cotton gusset and the seam is stitched down the back. They pulled everything up and in (ladies you know what I mean!) With it being Christmas I decided to team them with a glittery dress and heels … This dress had been in the wardrobe winking at me but I always put it back thinking it’s just that little bit to short - teamed with tights it was perfect and the sheen of the tights gave the dress a more edgy and glamorous feel - they took it from being a dress to actually being an outfit ! The tights actually got more comments than the Christmas presents - everyone was like “what have you got on your legs? Tights or leggings?” And my answer was “well actually it’s the best of both words. They have the sleek fit of tights but the coverage of leggings - just with sass! ” I felt strong, sexy sassy and confident - they were Mega comfortable, no wrinkly, no droopy knees riding down, twisting or anything .. They stayed put and the “tight workout” included cooking Christmas dinner, tidying up and maybe a little bit of karaoke (ssh don’t tell anyone !) . I loved them so much I wore them again to a Boxing Day party, this time with a red tunic blouse I have - the perfect foil. It just covers my bum and with leggings it’s always looked out of place and lumpy - with my stunning Cecilia de Rafael Uppsala tights and my knees boots - A sort of sexy puss in boots look or so I was told 🙊- it was the perfect outfit. Although the the tights are high gloss they are ultra flattering - they hold and shape the leg and give a brilliant sleek silhouette …they are my new favourite wardrobe staple. Yesterday it was the theatre and I wore them again - teamed with. My Biba dress and knee boots. The tights don’t snag, ladder and wash like a dream .. No sagging or losing shape - just brilliant

So I think you can gather these are a massive massive hit - I’ve never had so many compliments over my legs ! They are super flattering, extremely comfortable to wear and add a bit of sass to any outfit .. I’ve worn the with a sloppy jumper and they look equally brilliant - they just edge up any outfit with style.. And you can have a pair for free !

To coincide with this review www.thetightspot.com are giving away a pair of these stunning tights on my Twitter page worth £34.95 in the colour and size of your choice . Whoever wins, just let me know which you want and www.thetightspot.com will send them straight out to you !

To enter just follow me @abutterflymind … Follow @thetightspotuk, retweet the pinned tweet, tell me how many colours that Ceilia de Rafael Uppsala tights come in -simple 😀-

Total Gem in Liverpool ❤️

Last week as you know the horse mad Hopey and I went to the Liverpool international horse show .. So we decided to make a weekend out of it ! I love spending time with each of mys girls individually and this was a perfect opportunity !

Because I knew that we were going to be short on time between performances I wanted to stay close to the arena. I know there are a couple of hotels on the dock but had never heard of the Staybridge Suites until I stumbled across them on good old trip advisor . A little bit more research showed that the hotel is actually directly opposite the Echo Arena where the horse show was being held plus there was limited parking at the hotel which was a real bonus. The thing that attracted me the most was the fact that the suites are actually fully kitted out with combination ovens, fridges, dishwashers and importantly for mega tea lovers like us.. A kettle So I booked - it was actually cheaper than the other dock hotels

We arrived before the first performance of the show and I popped into reception about parking, the staff were lovely and friendly and gave me a card to the car park which was amazing. Hopey was made up because the horse show had built the temporary stabling for all the horses right across the road so we were really in the middle of the action ! When we came back we stocked up a few essentials In the little onsite shop.. There wasn’t a massive choice left but Hopey was Adament she wanted to eat in the room so we made the best of what there was. Our room was on the fifth floor and the view, as you can see from the pictures was stunning ! It was right opposite the arena and the wheel - couldn’t have asked for a better view .

The room Itself exceeded all expectations .. It had a fully equipped kitchen area, a great big comfy king size bed, sofa, wardrobes and a big shower room with a plentiful supply of toiletries and towels . There was a telly, which to be honest we didn’t watch, free wifi (hopeys had to post all her horsey pics on Instagram!) and also a belting hairdryer.

The bed was super comfy and we slept like a dream.. In fact we got up for breakfast (thanks to the fire alarm going off due to someone burning toast!), went to breakfast then Hopey came back and crashed back to sleep on the bed .. So I took advantage of the late checkout offer and let their snooze !

breakfast is held downstairs and is breakfast style and free! There is a great choice of hot food (buffet style), cereals, juices, pastries the lot.. All of brilliant quality .. There is also a lounge area with an open fire where you can just go and chill and mingle if your wish? there is a washing room with washers and dryers, that we didn’t make use of and also a gym. The appeal of these apartments are Immense and I genuinely cannot believe I have not stumbled over them before , I get the impression that they are used by businessmen, flight crew etc as a home from home during the week and then more leisure users over the weekends. We genuinely didn’t want to go home! The staff were fantastic, the apartment was spacious fantastically equipped (I could stay there weeks on end to be honest!) and it’s location fantastic ! There are a few other Staybridge Suite around the uk (they are owned by Holiday Inn)! And there is another one planned for Manchester this year ! They will most definately be our first port of call when staying away gone - faultless ! . Further details can be found at http://www.ihg.com/staybridge/hotels/gb/en/liverpool/lplkw/hoteldetail

Lovely hair-raising experience with GNS Hair products

As you know I am a mad mad beauty addict and adore trying out new things. I have past shoulder length hair that is very straight, very fine and highlighted .. Finding the right range to suit my hair and give it volume and gloss is my equivalent of finding the Holy grail!

So I was delighted to win this range of GNS Hair products in there Christmas competition . The name for the range GNS is an abbreviation of Good Natural Science and there are three products in the range . The ultra moisturising shampoo, The deep moisturising conditioner and the GNS Moisturising Protein spray . The range was developed in 2014 by a lady Called Sandy Gordon who as a frequent wearer of hair extensions struggled to find the right products to suit so developed this range . Saying the range is suitable for non extended hair and extended equally. mine is free of extensions as you can probably guess. All the products are paraban and sulphate free and say they promote hair growth and repair thin and damaged hair. This means it’s safe for the girls too and Evie being s typical teen has tried it already and is in raptures over it on her waist length hair

The packaging of the products is very sleek and perfect for the modern bathroom shelf. The products contain Argan oil and macadamia oil and first thing I notice when I pour some shampoo in my hand is the smell! It’s like Nutella in a. Bottle - totally divine ! The shampoo is a nice thick consistency and lathers well. I do two shampoos and then put on the conditioner on damp hair and combed it through to the the ends with a wide comb. I rinsed and towel dried the hair and squirted on the Protein spray , combed through with a comb then rough dried with the hairdryer and quickly styled with my @hairphilosophers 3 styler (best brush ever as you know if you read my earlier review!).

So the results ! .. The products were great ! Usually with moisturising products it weighs my fine hair down and makes it flat, not the case with this range .. As the day went on my hair didn’t drop or go flat like it normally did, it stayed full of volume and shame throughout the day .. And even after sleeping on it (usually the pillow head kills of decent hair!) it’s still great ! These are products that live up to their promises … Great hair, no nasties and not a bad price …the products cost £14.50 for the spray and £14.95 for the shampoo and conditioner or you can buy all three for £34.95. To find out more go to their website Www.gnshair.com or follow the, on Twitter @gnshair_uk

What a weekend Hopey and I had - the #Liverpool international #horse show.

Hopey, as you may have gathered, is slightly horse obsessed ! So for part of her Christmas present I got tickets for the two of us to go the Liverpool International Horse show which was being held for the first time at the echo arena in Liverpool . I’ve been to the Echo loads of times to see pop concerts and was interested to see how they could hold a horse show in the same arena - I can’t say I was filled with enthusiasm for what lay ahead but boy talk about a u turn !

The three day event ran from the afternoon of January 1st to Sunday 3rd January.There were 6 sessions in total and we were lucky enough to attend 3 of them - the Saturday afternoon and evening session and the Sunday evening (which was a delightful and unexpected bonus as I actually won that set !) The format of each session was much the same.. An official show opening including songs from the “Bootleg Beatles” , a show jumping class, a demonstration by Clemence Faivre a French stunt rider which was beautiful, (the Shetland pony grand national (brilliant and Hopeys favourite part!) interval , The Horseman team which is a basically a troupe of thee French men jumping Grand Prix-height jumps in their underpants (sounds random but you couldn’t help but be amazed show they hurdled over jumps of 1.70m!) then another Show jumping class then the finale .

Next to the arena, the convention centre had been turned into a shopping village and there was also the warm up arena where you got to see the horses and riders in close quarters - Hope loved this part - identifying all the riders and admiring the beautiful animals as they warmed up for action. The shopping village had a good range of stalls, mostly equestrian related and Hopey managed to pick up a range of goodies including a blingy sparkly whip, bargain riding boots, discounted jodhpurs, a fly veil and treats for her horse Daisy and off course the massive stuffed Liverpool Horse Show horse which almost needed a stall of his own!

The organisation at the event was a masterclass of how an event should be run! Everything was clearly marked and exceptionally well organised and the Echo arena staff friendly and helpful as usual.

The show jumping classes were brilliant . The ones before the interval seemed to have a more “fun vibe” to them .. On the Saturday evening it was the mini major fancy dress relay which was brilliant - young riders being teamed up with world class riders racing around the arena in fancy dress - not sure who took it more seriously to be honest .. The children or the professionals 😂. the Sunday evening it was the professionals competing against other in pairs in the knockout - brilliant and nail biting stuff ! The standard of the showjumping in the Abbey road speed stakes and the Grand Prix were amazing - the course designs were fantastic - all amazing to look at and testing for the riders and the horses. The whole events just “flowed” and massive credit has to be given to the people down on the arena who so efficiently changed the course and kept things flowing . massive massive credit to Geoff Billington and his team for the informative and humorous commentary through out - they kept the crowd entertained and and even explained things in easy terms to those of not au fait with show jumping ,

We loved being able to wander round the arena, to see the horses and riders at close quarters to feel the vibe, to feel the tension and competitiveness of the competition. It was a fun, entertaining and awe inspiring couple of days and even for (previously) none horse addicted people like me there was something for everyone .. The only slight criticism was the lack of food outlets - they could do with something in the actual shopping village where you can eat as you wander as there is so much to do! It was a brilliant weekend, I’m desperately hoping it becomes a yearly event - we will certainly be coming back and are now booking for the sister event at Bolesworth in June .

For more info go to www.liverpoolhorseshow.com

Come to Moma! Great way to start the day !

So, today is a miserable cold day up north … First day back at school and the gym beckons tonight! From my previous blog posts you will know that I love, breakfast and adore cereal .. If it was down to me I’d eat nothing else ! So it’s handy that when I was in Waitrose yesterday I picked up a box of Moma porridge . I’ve seen this porridge on social media but never actually tried it ! it comes in several varieties , normal, golden syrup, no added sugar, super seeds and the one I bought Raisin and Cranberry .

Moma was founded around 10 years ago by Tom Mercer and started off selling muesli . It originally sold in a Walkway between Waterloo and Waterloo east stations after having been thrown out of Charing station for “loitering” whilst doing their research and counting footfall 😂😂 In 2011 they progressed into supermarkets havingpicked up their first airline list in with virgin Atlantic in 2009. In April 2012 Moma branched out into porridge !

So enough of the history lesson (I just like to know the background of what I’m eating! ) I get the milk out and get ready to make.. Read the instructions and see all you have to do is add hot water as in the sachet is skimmed milk powder all ready mixed in with the oats. Instantly visions of wallpaper paste sprung to mind but decided to give it a whirl - glad I did ! You just empty the sachet into a mug or bowl , add around 140ml of hot water, stir and leave for 5 minutes. I put in slightly more than the 140ml as I like my porridge quite runny. So I stirred and I waited …. The raisins plumped up a treat and in fairness there seemed to be more raisins than cranberries . After the five minutes was up I bunged it in the microwave for 30 secs to heat it up as like Goldilocks .. I like it “just right”

So the important bit !!! The taste … I expected the porridge to taste a bit bland and watery - how wrong was I ! This delicious porridge packs a punch .. It’s rich and creamy and the fruit doesn’t have any of the artificial over sweet taste dried fruit in cereal sometimes have, the raisins taste like .. Well raisins ! The serving size is bob on . Just enough and nearly four hours later I’m still full . The porridge is gluten free too which is brilliant - no bloating at all .

Unlike some other porridge sachets there are no artificial sweeteners, colourings or preservatives .. It’s sweetened with natural raw cane sugar . Each sachet has 46.1g in it and a good muscle building 10.3g of protein in (nearly as much as 2 eggs ) And 0.7g of fat which saturates . It also contains 1.8g of beta glucan which Has been shown to lower cholesterol . It’s a brilliant healthy start to the day and perfect fuel for the gym later ! As well as handy pre measured sachets it also comes in pots so it ideal for grabbing on the way to work . I was actually kind and let the kids taste some … Both declare they want it for breakfast tomorrow ! … Have a feeling this box isn’t going to last very long and will definitely be trying out the other flavours ! The price of the porridge is £2.99 for 7 sachets so just under 43p a delicious bowl ! It’s quick to prepare, delicious to eat and good for you !

Why getting your ass kicked is sometimes a good thing.. Occasionally !

Today I was feeling grey .. In fact black ! We all have those days when we want to just hide under the duvet away from the world. 90% of the time I’m a happy go lucky, smiley person who’s rushing around all the time trying to make everyone happy - usually I do a very good job of it but at what cost ! Sometimes I feel it’s one way traffic - I give all the time and get nothing in return . I spend my life working, juggling and it’s too much effort for anyone to make me a cup of tea … You get my drift ? It was a poor me day . Instead of the “dream” of happy smiling, clean Boden dressed children in our immaculate playing board games with us all happy and smiling - it was more me pulling my hair out in pyjamas and playing referee to the lasted argument that had started between the girls ! Bedlam

So I was moaning to my very best friend in the world this morning , saying how I felt put on and downtrodden, basically the modern day equivalent of an unpaid house keeper . The response. That’s what being a mother it all about , it was your choice to sign up for it ! So much for tea and sympathy ! And then it continued ! If you don’t like it .. Change it ! Their observation - Your mind is cleared, you aren’t thinking straight .. Do something about it .. Get out of bed and walk to work and do it now - the lack of exercise is killing you , just do it . I threw the phone across the bed and sulked (never a good quality) then went back to the conversation. Walk to walk and I’ll meet you halfway with a Starbucks - sounding tempting.! I made a half hearted promises to walk to work then bedlam resumed. Evie has being have friendship issues and I thought it would be good for her to take some exercise and see if we could clear her heads. So we blew the dust off the fitbits trainers on and off we went in the freezing cold feeling like we were heading out to the Artic … But do you know what? Within ten minutes we were both laughing and joking and happy - and walking ! We did the work bits, went for coffee and felt great - those exercise endorphins kicked in. We turned our smiles upside down ! And both of us feel in a more positive place . I feel ready to kick ass again! And evie talked about her problems as we walked

we ended up doing 9k - yes I'm stiff, my back has a heat pad on and my legs are aching but one thing I'm not is a quitter !