Beauty News

Feed your Skin

Feed your skin the good stuff with TULA, the clinically effective skincare range powered by probiotic extracts and superfoods, that aim to restore natural skin balance through science-backed formulas that hydrate, nourish, soothe and balance skin. Products include Face Cleanser, Hydrating Night & Day Cream, Triple Vitamin C Serum, Cooling & Brightening Eye Balm and Overnight Repair Treatment. Prices start from £28 and are available from

www.tulaskincare.co.uk Pumpkin Spice

Get ready for all things cosy and pumpkin smelling with the new nail polish shades from Barry M, Power Purple, Chaotic Cream, Red Race and Pink Pace all available from www.barrym.co.uk.

The Greenhouse Collection

Luxury fine fragrance bath and body brand, Noble Isle, takes you on a botanical journey through a Sussex country garden with its indulgent new Greenhouse Collection; a fragrance steeped in core midsummer memories. From Cucumber and Mint to Citrus and Melon and the earthy, bittersweet fragrance of vine-ripened Sungold Tomatoes along with notes of bergamot, jasmine, honeysuckle and patchouli. The collection includes; Single Wick Candle (£42), Bath & Shower Gel (£22), Body Lotion (£26), Hand Wash (£20) and Hand Lotion (£22), all available from www.nobleisle.com

Healthy Hair Hero

Meet the next generation of healthy hair - Living Proof Triple Bond Complex (£42, www.livingproof.co.uk) is clinically proven to restore hair beyond virgin-like state and make hair 8x stronger after just one use. This weekly silicone-free, leave-in treatment uses a breakthrough patentpending molecule that actually penetrates hair and creates new bonds that deliver long-lasting results that don’t wash away with shampoo.

Expert Tricks to Make your Food Last Longer

Are your vegetables going off after just a few days? Throwing away fresh food before you’ve had a chance to eat it?

The average UK household throws away £800’s worth of food each year*, that equates to roughly £66 a month.

For many, knowing how to make fresh food last longer has become essential, and with less food waste there is ultimately less cost.

Add salt to your milk once opened

Depending on the type of milk you use, once opened it can last anywhere from four to ten days if kept in the fridge.

However you can stretch that timeframe a bit further by adding a pinch of salt to the carton immediately after opening, this is as salt is a preservative and so deters bacteria from growing. But do make sure to give the carton a good shake and place it into the fridge as soon as possible.

Store your milk in the coolest part of the fridge

It is also best to avoid storing your milk in the fridge door. The door is in fact the warmest part of the fridge as it is furthest away from the cooling system. So instead keep your milk at the back of the middle or higher shelves for maximum cool to lengthen the shelf life.

Wrap hard cheese in parchment paper

Ditch the plastic packaging and instead wrap hard cheese in parchment or baking paper, this allows the cheese to breathe to avoid drying out but also prevents any extra moisture and therefore mould from growing. Hard cheese can usually last anywhere up to four weeks when stored correctly in the fridge.

Vinegar bath your veggies

A great way to disinfect all of your fruits and veggies is to give them a vinegar bath. The vinegar solution should be a 1:3 ratio of vinegar to water in either a bowl or your clean sink. Empty your produce into the solution and let sit for 15 minutes. Once done you can rinse and thoroughly dry your produce before moving them into their respective storage containers.

The vinegar solution disinfects, cleans and removes any bacteria from the produce that might break down the food quicker. The solution should not be strong enough that you can taste it on the produce afterwards and enables your veggies to last for up to two weeks.

Store berries with a paper towel Once dried, berries should be stored in airtight glass containers with a dry paper towel. The paper towel absorbs any excess moisture which will prevent mould from growing. Changing the paper towel every other day will allow for maximum freshness and a shelf life of up to three weeks.

Keep your bananas separate from other fruits All fruits produce a certain level of a gas known as ‘ethylene’, fruits such as bananas produce a higher concentration when they are ready to ripen as it speeds up the ripening process. Other fruits that fall into the high Keeping the ethylene producing fruits, specifically bananas, away from your ethylene sensitive fruits will prevent excessive exposure to the gas, allowing the fruit to ripen naturally and therefore lasting longer. Depending on the fruit itself they can last anywhere from three to five days to a few weeks at room temperature.

To slow the ripening process for bananas you can also wrap the stem in cling film or the slightly more eco friendly aluminium foil. Wrapping as a bunch or individually will add a day or two on to the ripening process which usually lasts between three to five days (at room temperature).

Treat your fresh herbs like flowers For those who prefer fresh herbs over dried, a top tip is to treat them like flowers. Add water to a jar and place the herbs inside with a plastic bag over the top. The water helps to keep the herbs fresh whilst the bag acts as a barrier against any excess moisture.

If your fridge doesn’t accommodate upright jars you can also store your fresh herbs in an airtight glass container (or plastic bag if you prefer) with a damp paper towel, this again helps the herbs to retain their moisture so they don’t dry out too quickly and wilt.

Both of these methods can aid your fresh herbs into lasting up to three weeks

Freeze your fresh herbs

If you prefer fresh herbs but find you don’t use them up quickly enough, you can also freeze them. You can store fresh cut herbs in olive oil in ice cube trays and freeze them for perfect portions. Alternatively water can also be used in place of oil.

With water this method can also be used for fresh garlic and ginger.

Ice your bread

If you find that your bread has become stale, grab an ice cube and run it over the loaf before popping into the oven for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can also douse the loaf in water. This adds moisture back into the bread and allows it to become edible once more. The bread should then be used within the day.

A freshly made loaf of bread can last up to four days whereas a store bought loaf will last up to one week.

Freeze your nuts

Most nuts and seeds have a shelf life of three to six months. In order to extend their lifespan they are best stored in cool, dark spaces; although the back of the cupboard is suitable, storing them in the fridge can help them to stay fresher for longer. If you find that six months is not enough time to nibble your way through your nuts, then you’ll be pleased to hear that they can be frozen – which extends their shelf life to one year.

Midlife Madness

Having recently had various guests staying with us I find that I am totally bemused by the time it takes some people to get ready. Now I’m saying this as a mother of three who lived with them through teenage years when getting ready for an evening out, especially but not exclusively for the female variety was a project that could take hours!

Many of these guests were in fact people who were retired but had held down jobs with responsibility, outside the home, so I’m assuming they either got up in the middle of the night, never actually made it to work on time at all or retirement has changed them.

So, what happens when we retire, because if these friends and family are anything to go by I will keep working as long as I possibly can simply so I can keep on leaving the house without it feeling like a lengthy military operation. The causes of the delays are various. For some it is very complex ‘food’ regimes, breakfasts that involve a heady mix of grains, cereals and seeds, special milks, so that the prep time is significant. I mean it takes me 3 mins to ‘make’ myself some cereal (pour it into bowl, add milk) or toast some bread and add cheese, jam or marmalade or even – only on high days and holidays mind you, an egg (about 4 minutes if boiled, fried or scrambled slightly longer if poached) but I am talking here about an hour for breakfast prep!

Then there are the tablets well actually supplements, one relative arrived with a very natty (bought from fishing tackle shop) pill box with about 10 tablets for each day –I enquired what they all were and it turned out only was actually prescribed by the doctor, the rest were supplements, to keep joints healthy, bones healthy, eyes healthy, skin young (more on that) hair lustrous etc etc. In essence a concerted attempt to stave off the impact of ageing – which I get and I have to say said relative is looking pretty good for her years, but they all need taking in a precise order some before food, some with food and some after food! Add this into breakfast prep time and you can see how morning routines get lengthy!

Then there are the skin care routines, for me it’s a quick cleanse and moisturise, I didn’t actually see what happened but all I can say is it must have involved a serious number of extra steps because it took a seriously long time. Then add in for these health and beauty conscious older folk a morning exercise routine which you apparently can’t leave the house without doing – and getting off to go anywhere or do anything somehow only happened as it got to be nearly lunchtime.

But of course, I’m actually a little jealous. I love that they can be so single minded, indeed that they follow these set routines and are well and truly invested in maintaining health and wellbeing. I profess to wanting to be well and maintain my health (and obvious good looks!) long into my dotage but really – the effort involved is more than I can manage!

So, mornings for when older guests of this variety are staying, involves relaxing and drinking lots of coffee (maybe not the best plan for my health) while we wait. But then actually I have the last laugh!

You see, I can be ready, absolutely entirely ready but just as we are about to head out I realise I need just one extra toilet visit, oh and although I had my phone and glasses with me while waiting I often can’t lay my eyes on them (looking for glasses when you can’t find glasses is a particular trial) when everyone else is ready to go. Then just as we head to the car I am almost bound to remember some important item and have to run back to the housewhich I’m sure is massively irritating a sort of ‘touche’.