Tag: First Impressions

Protein Shakes: Her Free Soul

As part of my quest to try and be more healthy (and maybe loose weight in the process), I decided that being vegetarian reduced my protein intake. A lack of protein can effect an intake of B vitamins which help with cell metabolism. Simplistically B vitamins can help in the production of red blood cells and neurotransmitters. The benefits of having B vitamins can help with the reduction of anxiety, depression and improve energy. I have known for years I have lacked B vitamins being vegetarian and these past couple of weeks I have been tired and lethargic. I wanted to address that and thought I would introduce a protein shake into my diet.

I have and probably never will be a big breakfast fan so I figured instead of skipping breakfast I could introduce a protein shake into my diet. Similarly rather than reaching for that very tempting bag of chocolate of an evening I could instead supplement that with a protein shake. These are not intended to be a replacement meal with in my diet but more adding a meal I would rarely eat anyway and offering an alternative to an unhealthy (well at the levels I eat chocolate it is unhealthy, as I have no moderation when it comes to chocolate) snack in an evening.

I had been looking at meal replacement shakes and looking at different brands before Christmas before deciding that I did not think it was healthy for me to give up a relationship with food and replace it with shakes. Unfortunately I have not always had the best relationship with food. I am quite neophobic – I hate trying new foods and new meals. If I have it into my head that I will not like a food for possibly trying it when I was a child, to not liking the texture (for example, I could cook a load of vegetables and make a stew and eat it, but blending that into a soup…I won’t eat it). I still need to have a relationship with food and work on making it as positive as I can. So meal replacement was not an option, but adding something additional to my diet was.

I decided on trying Her Free Soul shakes. What drew me to them was the aim of their product which was to:

Help regulate female hormonal balance

Sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre

Improves energy, focus and athletic performance

Contribute to physical and mental well-being

Reduce tiredness

Improve mood and psychological function

Her Free Soul

This appealed for me so I decided to take a little more of a look around the website. They have a Whey powder which is vegetarian and a Vegan powder. I decided to take advantage of their New Year 20 percent discount code and ordered the Whey Protein Starter Pack. This pack included two bags of Whey Protein Shake, a tumbler drinks container and a bag. I would have opted for the Whey Protein Blend + Shaker or just the protein shakes on their own but with this discount it meant I wouldn’t have got free shipping with them and this allowed me to order both flavours (the Whey Powder only has two flavours, whilst the Vegan option has more).

I loved the slogan on the box the products were delivered in. My slogan now comes with bite mark customisation

Delivery was fast and I was able to get them within 48 hours.

My initial impressions of them are quite positive. I really like the taste of the vanilla one and that is my favourite of the two. The chocolate one I did not feel was very chocolatey, at first I thought this was because I added 400ml rather than the recommended 250-300ml of liquid. I followed the recommendations the second time and I still didn’t feel it was as chocolatey as I would like. Third time I added a teaspoon of Hot Chocolate powder to it, and the fourth time I added 2 teaspoons and the taste is more to my liking. It is chocolatey enough now that I consider it a treat shake and an equal replacement to giving up a bag of chocolate. For now I have only tried them with adding water (and the additional chocolate powder), but over the course of February I may experiment with adding different liquids or food items to the shakes. I might even experiment with baking with the powder. I did transfer the contents from their original packaging to a glass container so I could see how much powder I had left and I am not always the best at keeping the sealed packages closed.

I’ll check back in at the end of the month to give another review of how I feel about the shakes and whether I feel they have made an improvement to my diet.

Box was successfully upcycled into the Kitten’s playbox. Result.

The Ordinary

As detailed in my last post I made the decision to challenge myself in 2020 to look after my skin. Since the New Year I have started a ritual of looking after my skin. I am finding it great to have improved skin, that is brighter and shines (not from oil of the teen years). I feel more confident with my skin and I am enjoying taking the time to give myself a little bit of a pamper and to look after my skin.

Like for so many people, I am confused about skincare products. There are tons of products out there that all claim to offer you the world but you are not really sure if they will, or if they will work for you. I was watching a couple of YouTube videos on different people’s skincare regimes and I discovered a company that appealed to me. They are called The Ordinary and they claim to be an abnormal company, offering great skincare without the heavy price tag. I was intrigued and watched people’s skincare videos using The Ordinary. I decided to give them a try.

Now the website is a minefield of different products and I was left perplexed about what to get. So I searched their website and read some reviews and watched even more YouTube videos. I also looked at availability in the UK and where I could buy it. I discovered that the high street chain Boots offered it. Great. So I went to Boots and looked for it in store and could not find it. Not Great. Ordered online and picked it up the next day. Back to being great again. Boots were limited on what selection of products they carried but that was ideal for me as a beginner as I could narrow my search down and try a skincare regime.

I went for:

The Ordinary: The Daily Set.

  • Price: £15 for three Products:
  • Squalane Cleanser
  • Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5
  • Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

The Ordinary: Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2%

The Ordinary: Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

The Ordinary: Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%

The Ordinary: 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil

The first use was in the morning so I kept it simple and used the Squalane Cleanser, the Hyaluronic Acid and the Natural Moisturizing factors. My first impressions of the Squalane Cleanser were not great, I hadn’t seen anyone use it on YouTube video hunt and I expected it to do a foam cleanser. I expected some kind of bubbles. It’s a cream cleanser that goes on and you take off which warm water. I have always preferred soapy cleansers over cream. So I mixed it with water in the beginning expecting a reaction of soap that didn’t come. I was more impressed with the Hyaluronic Acid and I was intrigued by the gel like consistency. My skin instantly felt moisturised and hydrated and I really enjoyed it. Next I used the Niacinamide, this is supposed to be very good for those with acne prone skin. When i first applied it I got a tingling sensation. It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable, I could just feel it tingling on my skin. I let it soak in a little bit before moving onto the next step, which was the moisturiser. The Natural moisturizing factors was like standard moisturisers in consistency and it went on smoothly and absorbed well. I was impressed with the results of my first attempt, my skin felt clean, brighter and moisturised. However, I started to notice after a couple of minutes that product was rubbing off and going into little globs of product…is globs a word? It looked like my skin was flaking, it was not skin, it was product. So I took a towel and gentle exfoliated the excess product off. I eventually learnt I was using too much Hyaluronic Acid and have cut down and I don’t have this effect anymore.

Now before I continue. My first impressions of Squalane Cleanser were a disappointment but we have actually become good friends. I think I will be introducing a foam cleanser into my routine but will be doing a double cleanse, Squalane first, foam cleanser second.

For the evening routine, I must start by saying I watched a YouTube video in which someone showed their The Ordinary skincare routine for a month, and there was about 15 products, maybe more. She would put the lot on her face and her skin did look amazing. I did the first night and quickly decided for me, less would be more, so I use all the products, but not every night and I do alternate what I use.

For my first night routine, I cleansed with Squalane cleanser (this time I applied it correctly, not with water and not expeting it to foam) washed it off and then applied the Lactic Acid to my face. I did really want to try the Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution, but Boots did not have it. I also wanted to try the AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution. However, I had never used a chemical peel or a chemical exfoliate before. Advice from the Ordinary’s website was to start with a gentle chemical exfoliate and work up to the AHA peel. So I selected the Lactic Acid. I did get a burning sensation from it when I first used it. It wasn’t painful, but then having had a lot of kittens over my life, who love to use humans as a climbing frame I have a high awareness of pain and I have grown a tolerance to it (my current kitten used to like to eat on top of the work surface but couldn’t climb their herself, so up my leg, hip and waist she went). I didn’t find the sensation unbearable, I imagine those without the built up pain barrier would. I washed it off and applied the Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide then the moisturiser. That was pretty much the same as my morning routine with the introduction of the Lactic Acid. I then went on to add the Vitamin C Suspension. I was impressed with the silicone consistency, it was super smooth almost like primer. By then I was feeling very oiled up. I let that soak in and about 90 minutes later applied the Rose Hip Oil to my face. I then felt very oily but enjoyed massaging it in and taking the time to relax and enjoy the experience. I did however have flash backs to being a teenager and the horrible greased up skin feeling. It was too much for me and my skin and I do not think I’ll ever apply the whole lot at the same time again.

The only product out of the evening routine I do not particularly enjoy is the Vitamin C Suspension. I like the product, but I have used a Vitamin C cream in the past and what I do not enjoy it the smell when you have had it on your skin for a period of time. Especially when you wake up in the morning. My kitten also didn’t enjoy the smell so she avoided me for a little bit. I know use it during the day if I am not going out and I wash it off as soon as I start to notice the unpleasant to me smell.

The Rose Hip Oil I do enjoy but I was more interested in trying The Ordinary’s B Oil. I was placing an order for something else and picked up a new bottle of Hyaluronic Acid (I was using too much and thought I’d run out, cut back on it now so not using it up as much) and I ordered the B oil to try. I will went until I have used up the Rose Hip Oil.