Now we do know that Tea can’t solve all of life’s troubles, but teapigs have some great products which will help brighten up these cold dark days of winter and give you that much needed boost.

Set up in the UK in 2006 by Nick and Louise who are on a mission to get the nation drinking real tea. The result is a range of the very best quality teas you’ll find. teapigs only use whole leaf teas; whole berries; and whole herbs and flowers. They come encased in plastic-free tea “temples” – roomy mesh bags which give the leaves lots of room to infuse.

From cold brew and feel-good teas, to a matcha masterclass and more – teapigs have something for everyone!

Caffeine Free Tea

Trying to cut down on the caffeine this year? Well, you’re in luck! teapigs have a range of tasty, naturally caffeine-free teas. From invigorating peppermint, calming chamomile, and indulgent (but guilt free) chocolate & mint and more, there really is something for everyone.

Available at teapigs.co.uk | RRP £3.99 for a pack of 15 tea temples, £11.45 for a pack of 50 tea temples

Feel Good Range – Teas With Benefits

Consumer demand for drinks with specific health benefits is growing year on year. The teapigs organic ‘feel good’ tea range not only tastes great, but each is blended with a functional ingredient which supports your wellbeing. For example, calm contains valerian which helps maintain a natural sleep and good cognitive function, the lavender in snooze aids sleep, and the hibiscus in up beet supports metabolism and gastrointestinal health. Just like the rest of the teapigs range, these blends only contain real, whole ingredients.

Available at teapigs.co.uk | RRP £3.99 for a pack of 15 tea temples

Matcha

Matcha is a super hero amongst teas. teapigs matcha is premium grade, and uses 100% green tea leaves from Japan. Matcha has a wealth of benefits, for one, drinking matcha can be like drinking 10 cups of regular green tea for its nutrient value! It also contains L-theanine and natural caffeine which helps keep you alert and focused, as well as antioxidants to help maintain healthy skin and supports metabolism.

Available at teapigs.co.uk | RRP £15 for a 30g tin (30 servings)

Cold Brew Tea

We all know just how important it is to drink water, but sometimes it can…get a little bit boring. That’s where cold brew swoops in to the rescue! Specially designed to brew quickly in cold water, teapigs cold brew is an all-natural way to pep up your water and make glugging your way through 2 litres a day a breeze. Naturally caffeine-free and available in three refreshing flavours; lychee & rose, cucumber & apple and peach & mango, simply pop one in your water bottle or glass and, well, that’s it! The teapigs cold brew starter kit includes a Joseph Joseph ‘dot’ bottle to track your water intake, as well as a sample of each cold brew flavour.

Available at teapigs.co.uk | RRP £3.99 for a pack of 10 tea temples. Bottle kit £12 and also available on Amazon

This time of year we are all thinking about what to get our loved ones for Christmas. Well Daytox has released some new addition just in time and you are going to love them!

Get ready to kickstart the new year by detoxing with WOW one of the best detox drinks on the market right now.

I was given the opportunity to try out Easy Detox 7 day plan i accepted as I was curious as I had never done anything like that before. When i told my friends and colleagues I was doing a 7-day detox most of them remarked ‘are you crazy?’, ‘You don’t need to lose weight’, ‘why?’ ‘Don’t you eat healthily anyway?’ and more.

Although i do eat healthily and don’t have ‘I can’t live without’ foods it was the thought of giving up the few foods I like to eat on a weekly basis, that was a struggle in my mind.

The process for the detox was to take 1 sachet of powder 3 times a day, morning afternoon and evening with coconut water, smoothies or sugar free juice. Depending on what you are trying to achieve you can stick to just that or find light healthy balanced meals on the Easy Detox website. I had read in some previous reviews that people had lost weight in 3 days, sounds amazing but I was not looking to lose weight, just to cleanse my body of any toxins and see what difference it made.

Foods I had to avoid

Salt, sugar, sweeteners, meat, dairy, gluten, alcohol, caffeine, fried foods

The Detox

Day 1 - I mixed up the powder as suggested and ate a mainly bean or salad diet which I will give you at the end and drank lots and lots of water and exercise which is recommended.

Day 2 – I repeated the process with a similar diet with lots and lots of water and exercise and again no noticeable change.

Day 3 - I repeated the process and noticed my stomach was beginning to bloat and i was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

Day 4 - I repeated the process, my stomach was still bloated bloat even more and that uncomfortable feeling was getting worse.

At this stage i was wondering if I should stop as knowing my body well I know that it reacts in a negative way to any change slight change in diet or environment. So, i deliberated whether i should continue or not and how long would the bloating last and could i cope with this feeling any longer. However, i’m not a quitter so I decided to continue.

Day 5 – My body was beginning to get used to the change in diet and the detox but i was not feeling good at all and although the bloating was going down it was not as quickly as I had hoped but as i only had 2 days to go i struggled on.

Day 6 - by day 6  was feeling a little better and quite happy as i knew i only had one day to go.

Day 7 – To be honest this day could not have come quick enough for me. I was quite happy knowing I would not have to repeat the process again.

The Diet

It can be difficult to know what to eat but on th esite their are recipies to help create some healthy alternative meals. I decided to opt for a variety of Beans, pulses, vegetables, roasted veg, salad, potatoes, quorn, natural yogurt, smoothies (as most fruit in its natural state makes me feel sick), coconut water, water.

Pros: no obvious side effect from cutting out things in my diet and this was because of the natural ingredients included in the detox to counteract that. The detox was pleasant. My water intake increased and i am still drinking lots of it.

Two week on, my skin is not as dry and flaky as it is normally and feels quite smooth.

Cons: uncomfortable bloated stomach, unable to go to the toilet regularly and bouts of nausea which lasted another week, after i had finished the detox.

Would I do another detox like this? NO! I decided that although the detox was tasty and there were some noticeable it was not for me. I am a fairly healthy person, i exercise as and when i need to and have no excessive eating habits or addictions to caffeine, sugar or other so that may be the reason it did not work for me and i did not see much change.

For anyone wanting to try this and who is a newbie to detoxes and diets like me I would suggest maybe the three day detox first to see how your body reacts.

Thank you Easy Detox for the experience. 

By Deborah St. Louis - Fashions Finest (CEO)

With summer approaching I was happy to try out NutriPlan Teatox Teabags.

It is time to update your morning beauty routine for winter

The last thing we want to be thinking about is winter with its dark and gloomy day’s But with the change in outside temperatures and the use of indoor heating can leave our skin feeling dull and dry.

We might not be supper excited about winter, but just as we start the “summer skin” prep early we can start making small changes now to prep our skin for winter.

Start the day with a glass of water

Hydrate and moisturise from the inside out, is an important part of your beauty routine for winter.

Starting your day with a tall glass of lukewarm water, with lemon juice and cayenne pepper will not only hydrate but also flush out toxins and give you an energy boost.

Start your day with exercise and an ‘instant facial’ instead of coffee

Now I know that coffee is the number one kick start to any ones day. But your coffee might give you a morning energy boost but it can dehydrate and age your skin and with the change in temperatures and in door heating already dehydrating you skin why add to it. So switch up your morning coffee with green tea. A cup of green tea before your morning exercise will also boost your metabolism.

Kick it up a notch and get your blood flowing in the morning with gentle exercise, like yoga. For the “instant facial” dunk your face in cold water which will instantly energize you and leave your skin brighter and tighter.

Switch to a Gentle Cleanser and continue to exfoliate

Steer clear of store bought shops with all it skin drying chemicals and diy your own.

Why not try; Oil cleanse

Olive oil is packed with nutrients that will hydrate dry skin and boost skins moisturizing levels. Also the best make up remover.

All you will need is;
• extra virgin olive oil
• wash cloth
Massage the cleanser into your skin, and then soak a wash cloth in warm water to remove.
A good scrub does wonders to increase the absorption of skin moisturisers. Try this homemade clove and sugar body scrub
Mix;
1/2 cup brown sugar
3-4 drops clove essential oil
1/2 cup jojoba, almond or olive oil
Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Store in a covered jar to use all over your body for extra exfoliation, concentrate on all those rough patches like your knees and elbows.

Use a richer moisturizer

Cooler temperatures means doubling up on moisture for skin so you will need to start using richer moisturises for face and body. Make sure that your lotions for face and body is fragrance free because artificial fragrances may be irritating to your skin. Remember that moisturizers are best applied to wet, slightly towel pat dry skin as the moisture from the water will help to absorb lotion faster into skin and keep it moisturised all day long.

Stay protected

You might not see it but the sun is still out in winter so you should always apply a sunscreen after your moisturizer to shield your skin from harmful UV rays.

Enjoy a good portion of beauty foods

The red, orange and yellow shades of many autumn foods are high in concentrations of antioxidants especially vitamin A and vitamin C and beta carotene, which is great for glowing, clear skin that’s protected from free radicals.

I am obsessed with tea, most of the women in my family are. It seems to keep me warm in the winter yet keep me cool in the summer. There is virtually nothing that having a cup of tea will not solve or at least I like to think there isn’t. I imagine that with every sip my problem gets that little bit smaller. So when I was given the opportunity to review Quinteassential’s award winning White Elixir tea I jumped at the chance. The tea is said to promote a smooth complexion and inner glow. It is a white tea infused with Jasmine flowers, gingko leaves and spirulina algae. The Jasmine and gingko complement each other exceedingly well and it contains the perfect amount of Jasmine.

When made the tea has a wonderful aroma and it tastes amazing when you have it both hot and cold. I suggest that when you buy it, you try it both ways. White Elixir tea is what I would use to impress a lunch date or my Mother on the morning of her birthday. This tea is bound to brighten up anyone’s day and comes well presented in a posh colourful box that is suitable to give as a gift to even your fussiest of friends. It really is the perfect tea for all tea lovers.

How to make White Elixir tea:

1. Boil Kettle
2. Scoop one teaspoon of loose tea and place in one of the tea bags
3. Close teabag with one of the sticks provided
4. Pour boiled water over teabag and leave to brew for two minutes
5. Sip tea and relax

www.quinteassential.co.uk

Written by Hayley Sweeney

The first day of the New Year we all make the resolution to stay fit. We do all the healthy eating and drinking for the first few months then we get bored off it. Come spring and we start to peel of the layers of winter and the looming of summer and that beach holiday, it becomes crunch time. With the bikini beach body becoming our goal so we try and fit in as much exercise and healthy eating as we can.

Some of my own favourite beach body workouts are from the Popsugar fitness channel on youtube www.youtube.com I love the high intensity 10 minute workouts that you can fit in any time of the day. Workout ranges from yoga, boot-camp workouts and HIIT workouts. You can easily fit these workouts in anytime of the day especially if you are on crunch time. I like to switch things up so I do not get bored so I focus on just arms for one week and then switch over to just legs and then a whole week of full body workouts and then adding in yoga for strength and stretching.

Get your bikini body on in Active wear from Forever 21, at least you will look good while building up a sweat

Another of my picks for post workout is Cleanse water

Benefits of Cleanse Water

• Lemon juice and cayenne pepper are both immune boosters and natural detoxifiers

• Lemons aid digestion, help fight hunger cravings, and help stimulate the liver to remove toxins

• Cayenne pepper helps the body sweat out toxins while improving blood and lymphatic circulation so your cells get more nutrients

I always start my workout with a cup (not a full cup as it can be a bit hot) of cayenne pepper on hot water then enjoy the lemon, ginger, cayenne pepper and honey mix throughout the day.

With summer just a few weeks away, here are some helpful tips for eating healthy at the office.

1. Go for water rather than coffee Swap H20 for Coffee, I suggest taking with you to work the cayenne pepper, honey and ginger water or make your own fruit infused water.

2. It is often just easier to eat at your desk when you are supper busy but never eat at your desk. You can never really enjoy your food and do not feel like you are eating so later on you reward yourself with something sweet and nice. Go sit in the office eating space or go out to the park that way you are adding some exercise by walking.

3. It's okay to have just that one sweet treat, because telling yourself that you cannot have it will just make you crave it more and its then that we overindulge. So have the one but only the one.

4. Pack your own lunch it will not just safe you money but as you are on crunch time you will make sure that it is healthy.

5. Snack on nuts like Pistachios as they will keep you full until home time.

Good luck ladies!! Crunch time is not what I would recommend for a fit and healthy summer body but every little helps. What is best, is just to stick to that New Year's resolution, keep fit and healthy throughout the year for a killer summer body.

After seeing pictures of Your Tea pop up on Instagram for the 50th time I decided that I had to see what the fuss was all about. I had to know whether this was just another detox phase people were going through or if it was the real deal. I was kindly gifted some Tiny Tea, Skin Tea and Tea Face, now it was time to start my teatox.

Tiny Tea is a 14 day teatox, which does not contain laxatives and is supposed to help your body by clearing your skin and reducing body fat. If this was all true then it would be just what I, and millions of other women were looking for.

When I opened the super cute packaging to begin my teatox and added water to teabag in my mug, I was afraid of what it would taste like. Would I really be able to stick to it for 14 days if the taste was awful? After making the tea (30 minutes before a meal) I drummed up the courage to have my first sip. To my absolute delight it barely had any taste to it. For the rest of the teatox I added a slice of lemon or a spoon of honey to add to the taste.

Only days after starting the teatox I started to notice my body changing. My skin was indeed clearer, my stomach was now flat and my energy levels were through the roof. I was uncertain of why I had so much energy, was it the sheer excitement of having a flat stomach at long last? Either way Tiny Tea was the reason I was feeling so good.

You can see online that Your Tea has a 14 day eating plan for you stick to while on your teatox. I must admit that I did not stick to the menus everyday but I still look and feel fantastic. Your Tea has various other teas that I’m eager to try. Have a look online and see what teas they have to help you. After I have tried the Skin Tea and the Tea Face which is a scrub made from tea granules and is said to heal scars and even skin tone, I’ll be back to tell you all about it.

www.yourtea.com

Written by Hayley Sweeney