Madame Fromage

Hey All

When L and I went to the Miss Patisserie Spring Event (you can read about it here) and couldn't resist buying half the shop we decided lunch was needed (okay it was half 11 but we'd both drunk the night before and needed food!) and finally remembered we hadn't been to Madame Fromage - how we haven't been before is still a mystery to us.

Madame Fromage is in the Castle Arcade and is a deli and restaurant serving up a variety of food including cheese and tapas platters, fresh salads, tarts, welsh cawl etc. The whole menu looks amazing and is reasonably priced. The deli selection has a very impressive cheese and antipasti selection as well an amazing cake fridge that we were very dissapointed we couldn't fit in. We were very tempted to get cake to take away but as both of us our trying to loose weight we decided to skip it!

As you walk into the main restaurant you are straight away greeted with the amazing cheese selection - there is more seating across the road and outside. We both couldn't wait to get in and decide what we wanted. As standard we both had tea and water and decided on the cheese platter and mini meat selection (really just the cheese would have been enough to share) They suggest their cheese or tapas boards serve two and at £14.99 each are very reasonable. (I've taken my parents recently and sample the tapas and cheese boards with them. I don't think I could choose between them as the selection on the tapas was amazing but I do love the extra cheese on the cheese board!)

The bread selection that comes with the boards are amazing both times I've been I've had raison and walnut, one with sundried tomato, french stick type and others. The bread is all fresh and a generous portion.

Onto the star of the show!!!! Look at all that cheese. There was a great selection of soft cheese, mild, mature etc something for every taste and it was nice to try some I'd never tried before as well as seeing some classics. It also come with a lovely fresh salad! Something else I loved was that when I went back with my parents it was a different variety of cheeses so you always get to try something new. 

The mini meat was something we didn't need as we were totally stuffed but it was a delicous treat, nice chunky slices of ham, parma ham, chorizo and salami as well as more amazing bread. This was a nice addition to the cheese board and would be great if three of you were sharing it.

We can't recommend Madame Fromage enough, great service amazing food and I've already been back since L and I went together, definitely get there early we arrived at 11.30ish or late afternoon if you're visiting on a Saturday as it gets very busy!

Love L and M

xxx

Barry M Sunset Gel Daylight Curing Range: Do it Like a Nude

Morning!

Any one else absolutely love Barry M? Always a fail safe purchase for me and I love being able to go to a shop, pick up some new nail colours and still have some pennies left over.

I'm a bit later to the party with their Sunset Daylight Curing polishes, I picked up two nude-ish colours and the first one I've used is 'Do It Like a Nude' - cannot stop singing Jessie J whenever I see this!

You use these nail polishes just the same as any other, however the top coat has to be the Sunset Daylight Curing TopCoat. Don't make the same mistake as me and forget to pick this up...oops!

I used my normal Essie base coat and then applied two coats of Do It Like a Nude, before applying the topcoat.
The coats of the nail varnish need to be thin, I kind of ignored this but it is definitely worth noting. The first time I used these polishes I was in a rush so was a little heavy handed - I got it half on my fingers and half on the nail, that's the kind of rush!

Second time round I did use thinner coats and it was much better. I would say that they weren't 100% opaque so you could see some brush strokes and nail colour underneath but they weren't too bad and were only noticeable if you looked closely, maybe three thing coats would be required if you want full opacity.

I was pretty impressed with how long they lasted, my nails chip easily at work and these did last the week very well.
I'm planning on using this on the hen weekend I'm currently on because I don't have the time nor the baggage allowance to take any with me, it will have to last the four days so fingers crossed it will!

These polishes come in at a bargain £4.99 and can usually be found on offer in Boots or Superdrug which is very handy!

There are 16 colours in all and I'm a big fan of the nudes so far, perhaps I will have to pick up some pinks, oranges and red too!

Have you tried the Sunset Gel range before? What's your favourite colours??

L xxx

Cliff Bar Energy Bar

Hey All

A few weeks ago L and I were contacted to see if we wanted to try out some Cliff Bars as they'd also launched a new flavour for spring Coconut Chocolate Chip. As we both love these type of bars as a treat or pre/post gym snack we couldn't wait to try them. I was especially excited as I've currently got a thing for coconut. 

These are different from the normal bars we have like trek and bounce balls as the texture was more cakey due to them being made out of rolled oats. We both love porridge in the mornings so really enjoyed this texture. It also makes it feel more like a cake treat which is always a bonus. 

Cliff bars are great for workouts as they are packed with protein (10 grams in the coconut one) and carbohydrates to help sustain energy during long extensive work outs or they're great for pre workout boost. I know L has especially liked having them in between work and the gym. They're also packed with vitamins that contribute to the release of energy in the body.

We were sent a selection to try pit and none of them disappointed. I'm especially a fan of the chocolate coconut flavour and it's also made using dairy free chocolate! I've mainly enjoyed having half a bar as a snack in the day to fill me up when I'm feeling especially peckish!!

Clif bars are available from lots of places on the highstreet now including boots (it's a snack in the meal deal as well), asda and tesco and they retail for £1.60 each. I've been and grabbed extras since as I need to try the white chocolate macadamia one.

Do you have energy bars as snacks or pre gym workouts?

Love M

xxx

Miss Patisserie Mineral Mud Mask

Hello there!

Hooray it is almost the weekend! I will be away from this evening on a hen weekend and I'm rather excited. I will hopefully get some time to do some sightseeing whilst at the city as I've never been there before - all will be revealed in another post I'm sure!

In the meantime today's post is about another mask from Miss Patisserie, this is the Mineral Mud Mask.

The Mineral Mud mask is for drawing out impurities from skin and dealing with excessive oil, so is perfect for those of us with that oily T-zone.

Key ingredients include dead sea clay, kaolin clay and red clay, all of which are well known for helping with oily skin. It also contain Spearmint oil and Mandarin orange oil so you just know it smells good!

All you need to do is use around half to a full tablespoon of the product and mix it with water to create the mask. I've seen lots of ideas of mixing them with other things such as lemon juice or milk depending on your skin type which is a good idea, but not one that I have yet tried so can't comment on it. Lemon juice is supposed to be amazing for brightening though so that would be a great addition to this mask for a double whammy!

You simply make the paste and leave it on for 20 minutes, easy peasy!

So what does it look like on, and how does it feel?

You can see the image below for how it looks, it does dry on your skin so it can feel your skin tighten with it on so that's one thing to note if you're not a fan of that.

I don't mind it as long as I don't use them all the time, and just find that I need a really thick moisturiser or oil to rehydrate my skin afterwards.

It washes off really easily and my skin is definitely less oily afterwards. I don't suffer with spots like I used to, probably due to a more extensive skincare routine and also I'm getting old!
My skin needs hydration a hell of a lot more than before but still gets oily, using this once or twice a week has helped a lot and in between I pile on the serums, oils and moisturiser to solve all my skin issues.

I've previously written about the Walnut Stone Face Mask (link here) which you can read if you like, and I wrote that it was difficult to use the powder to form the paste with my hands. I also purchased the bamboo spoon this time and can say it is definitely worth the £1.75 it costs for a perfect 0.5 tablespoon measure without making a mess! I'd recommend getting this too.

The Mineral Mud Mask costs £7.70, and the Bamboo Spoon £1.75. Have you tried any of Miss Patisserie's masks before? Do you have any other favourite products from her?

I'm a huge fan, slowly but surely buying my way around the store! I'd love the try the Facial Oils next, I've heard great things!


L xxx