{REVIEW} Biopha Nature Range

I've been greatly surprised by the large range of organic produce on offer in the supermarkets, out here in France.  Not only do they now provide a huge variety of organic food, but they are also now stretching out into the toiletries aisle too.

Taking a peruse in SuperU, I came across Biopha Nature & decided to give some of their products a try.

After my disastrous experience with Dr Organic, I thought I would try out a new shampoo & conditioner.  I picked a shampoo for dry hair, as my locks are lacking all kinds of lustre at present.  Unfortunately, as seems to be the case in France, there was only one option of conditioner, which was a Shea butter one, for all hair types.

I quite liked the shampoo, it had a lovely smell & it left my hair feeling squeaky clean, the conditioner on the other hand...You see, I have very difficult hair, it's fine, but there's a lot of it & it tangles ridiculously easily!  Such a pain!  I find the best solution, is to brush it with a tangle teaser when it's smothered in conditioner, then rinse it out & leave it the hell alone.  Unfortunately, this conditioner, which lacks any real scent, doesn't spread throughout my hair very easily & simply isn't rich enough, leaving it impossible to get my brush through it!  Resulting in tangle central!

I have to admit, I have a lifelong love affair with Palmer's Cocoa Butter.  It's thick, creamy & keeps my skin smooth, toned & happy.  Unfortunately, it's not the most natural of products & so, I have been attempting to find an alternative, since my 400ml bottle ran out.  This body milk by Biopha isn't bad, but I'm not quite used to using a milk, instead of a thick butter.  It goes on nicely & has a really pleasant smell, but I don't find my skin as hydrated as with a butter.  I think I'll carry on my search.

Now, these eye wipes, which I have been using to take all my makeup off with, are my new favourites!  Firstly, they smell like almond macaroons!  So sweet & delicious, I have to stop myself from nibbling on them.  Most importantly, they remove all my face paint & don't leave my skin dried out & blotchy.  Hoorah!  Biopha Nature have succeeded in getting something right!

All in all, not a bad range, especially for something available in the supermarché!

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{Insightful Sunday} Learning to let go.

Inspired by my bestest, Charlotte, doing Motivational March, over on her wonderful blog, The Tea Drinking English Rose, I have decided to start Insightful Sundays!

Although I am entirely out of the working loop, what with having resigned last May & essentially living as a vagabond ever since, I can't say that I get the gloom wash over me on a Sunday evening, in preparation for the Monday morning return to work.  However, I know that for a large percentage of people, this is the case & so, rather than end the week on a glum note, I wish to end on something positive & insightful.

Through a combination of words & inspiration from my Pinterest boards, I shall attempt to lift your spirits, so that you may start your working week on a happier, more enlightened note!  Enjoy!

At the beginning of the week, I had the great honour of guest posting on Charlotte's blog.  The post was to coincide with her Motivational March & offer a positive message, about how we can choose to overcome our adversities to triumph & fulfil our dreams.  At least, that was what I was attempting to convey.

Mère brought me up believing that you can't plan life, because ultimately, things will simply unravel as they will, whether you try to control them or not.  For someone who likes to be in control, such as myself, I found this quite exasperating.  However, over the years, I've learnt that she's actually quite right (not that I'm thrilled to admit it).

If I think of all the times I've tried to force a situation & it's fallen spectacularly apart, or how I've clung so fiercely to routines & plans, only for boulders to come rolling in & everything to crumble around me.  The thing is, when you actually start to let go & just accept these changes, you start to see that everything kind of happens for a reason & ultimately, things tend to work out far better than you originally planned.  Take my life right now as a prime example!

Whilst I still struggle to entirely 'free flow', I do at least relax a little more about things now.  When something seemingly negative arises, I take a step back, accept that it's most likely occurred for a reason & try to find something positive in it.  If nothing else, it stops me screwing up into a ball of negativity & most of the time, things generally do turn out for the better.

Plus, if I have learnt nothing else in this life, it's that shit happens (I now have this tattooed on me to remind me of this fact).  You've just got to keep positive!  I know it's not always easy, but sometimes the rockiest roads take us to the best destinations.

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{RECIPE} The Ultimate Vegan Scones

I don't think there's anything more quintessentially British, than the great scone.  For me, they remind me of childhood days out with mère, to the little village of Alfriston, where we would feed the ducks, down by the lake & go for a cream tea afterwards.

Now, ideally, any decent scone should be buttery, a little bit crumbly & adorned with an oversized dollop of clotted cream & strawberry jam.  However, returning to my vegan ways, this setup isn't quite feasible & so, I have had to do some experimenting & have come up with...

The Ultimate Vegan Scones

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

50g vegetable margarine

25g golden caster sugar

125ml soya yoghurt

4 tablespoons of milk (rice, soya, or whatever you prefer)

You can also throw in some currants, for a fruity version.

 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7/fan 200C.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl & add in the salt.

Pop in the margarine & rub it into the flour, until it becomes a crumb like consistency.

Now add in the sugar.

If you fancy a fruity version, now's the time to throw in any currents.

Make a well in the middle & pour in the yoghurt & the milk.

 Time to get your hands dirty!

Work the mixture, until it starts to form a sticky dough.  Be careful not to overwork!

Knead the dough 3-4 times on a lightly floured surface, working out the cracks.

Roll out the dough, until it's about 2cm thick.

Then, using a 5.5cm round fluted cutter, cut out the scones.

You should get about twelve out of this amount of mixture.

Pop them on a sheet of baking parchment on a baking tray, in the middle of the oven & bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.

Then devour them with margarine & lashings of jam.

Parfait!

I'd quite like to try making them with coconut butter, instead of margarine, for a healthier, slightly less processed version

How do you like your scones?

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