Homemade Real Vitamin Water!

Hey!

I love making vitamin water at home, and especially now that I am back in Greece and bought some amazing fresh fruit and herbs! I want to share the recipe with you, I'm sure you will love it!

Today I decided to do an All Citrus water with spearmint, but you can use your imagination and have fun creating different flavours and using the flavours you like.

Here is what you will need:

1 lemon

1 pink grapefruit

1 lime

1 orange

2-3 spearmint leaves

Water, ice and a glass jar

First, wash the fruit and herb leaves very very well, use a sponge to remove all the dirt from the peel.

Cut all the fruit in very thin slices and slightly smash them with a wooden spoon, just enough to release some of the juices.

Fill half the jar with water and add the fruit and herbs.

Finally, add the ice and allow to infuse in the fridge for three to four hours or even better, overnight.

Some more tips...

You can refill the jar as you drink the water. Sometimes I also like to add some liquid or powdered vitamin C, which you can find in a pharmacy or health food stores. If you like your water sweet, just add some Truvia!
The vitamin water will last in the fridge for a about three days, it gets betters the longer it sits.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I will keep you posted with some new vitamin water recipes!

Have a beautiful day!

Lots of love

Nathalia
xxx

Nails of the Week - Essie

Hey!

Here are some Essie nail colours I'm loving this week!

  

Bobbing for Baubles

Angora Cardi

Angora Cardi

A deep, dusty magenta rose (a bit of purple and brown), easy to apply, not too watery, two thin coats will match the color in the bottle.

Bobbing for Baubles

A bit hard to describe the colour, a lot of people ask me if it is black, but it is a dark indigo-navy blue-sapphire-petrol!It slightly changes depending on the light, very rich so one thick coat is enough. 

Essie                 http://www.essie.com/
Essie UK         http://www.nailsbymail.co.uk/store/essie
Essie Greece  http://www.essienail.gr/

Thank you for reading!

Have an amazing week!

Lots of Love

Nathalia
xxx

The Healthiest Eating Place in London!

Hey!
Good Morning!

When I get really bored of eating the same sandwiches at the office every day Tossed is a great change! I go to the one in Mortimer street which is closer to me, but there are stores in many other areas in London. 

This place is great and they have so many amazing healthy options!Tossed is all about salads, it is healthy but definitely not boring at all. For lunch I like eating something warm, otherwise I fell I didn't eat proper lunch : ) so I have also tried a few of their homemade soups and wraps with chicken. Although I love this place, I eat only 2 or 3 of their ready made wraps, because most of them have coriander, which I totally hate!

They have a CYO (create your own) salad bar, the ingredients are very fresh, you can choose toppings for your salad like cous cous, noodles, brown basmati rice etc. (they charge extra for the toppings) and then your dressing.

They also make smoothies and breakfast pots. My favorites are the berry punch smoothie with yogurt and the granola pot with yogurt, berry compote and bananas.  

But the best of the best award goes for the pot with custard and bananas!!It is so creamy and tasty, it has only 167 calories and it is my no1 choice when I want something sweet and healthy.

During lunch time it can get a bit busy, but the queue moves really quickly so it doesn't take too long to order. The decoration of the place is so cool, bright and happy and there is also a small area if you want to hang around with your friends for a quick lunch. Overall it is an affordable healthy place to eat, the wraps cost £3.95, the salads around £6 and the smoothies £2.95.   

Here is their website if you want to check their store locations, menus and they also do office deliveries!
Their website is super cute with cows on flying balloons and bunnies : )

http://www.tosseduk.com/index.php

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Have an amazing day!

Lots of Love

Nathalia
xxx

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Brush

Hey!

I got the No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Brush a couple of weeks ago. I was so excited, because I always wanted to try Clarisonic but it is quite expensive and I was not sure if it would work for me, so when I found the No7 brush for £15 I could not NOT try it!!No 7 cleansing brush's box is very simple and it comes with two AA batteries. 

The brush description says:

'This clever cleansing brush gently exfoliates and deeply cleanses the skin, removing more dirt, oil and make-up than manual cleansing alone. Easy and quick to use, discover super clean, soft, radiant and healthier looking skin in less than 60 seconds'. 

 How to use it

• The brush is easy to use, very light and has two speeds. For speed 1 you press the button once, for speed 2  you press the button twice. 

• First, remove any eye makeup thoroughly and apply your cleanser on your face and neck as normal . Wet only the brush head (the handle is not waterproof), press the button for the speed you would prefer, and very gently massage it onto neck, forehead, nose and cheeks for at least 30 seconds. 

• I noticed that my skin was very shiny and soft after I used it. My skin is slightly peeling, due to the Airol cream treatment I am doing and is a bit flaky, but the brush deeply exfoliated my skin and it felt very smooth even the next day. 

• Personally I think that the only big problem with this brush is that it turns all the way around to one direction (it fully oscillates), it does not go from right to left, and this makes it a bit annoying when using it, I could not control it very well when massaging my face, but I got used to it. The secret is not to press it very hard on the face, otherwise the skin will get sore and red.  

Pros

• I like the fact that the brush is battery operated, because I have so many chargers at home but I always lose them and can never find them when I need them..ggrrr! Also, it is easier to pack when travelling. 
• Compact, light.
• Easy to use.
• Two speed settings. 
• The bristles are very soft and have the perfect length to use all over the face.
• Gentle on the skin.
• 2 years guarantee.
• Brush head is removable, however the replacement brushes are not launched yet.

Cons

• Doesn't come with a bag to store it or a cap for the brush
• Its battery operated, which means that the handle is not waterproof.
• Because the  brush fully oscillates, it can be rough on sensitive skin
• Although the brush is quite soft, don't press it too hard or massage the same areas for too long and definitely don't use it if you have very sensitive skin or acne

Some extra notes and thoughts...

If the brush is very harsh on you face, dont worry because it works great as a body exfoliator!
It is very important to always wash your brush with a good antibacterial brush cleanser and be careful not to wet the brush handle as it is not waterproof (batteries).

Here is the link where you can buy the No 7 Electric Brush: 

http://www.boots.com/en/No7-Beautiful-Skin-Cleansing-Brush_1304042/

Thank you for reading!

Let me know if you have used this brush or a similar one and what you think!

Lots of Love

Nathalia
xxx.

Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blushes

Hey!

These Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blushes were first released with the summer '12 collection, but now they are part of the permanent Revlon range.

I usually prefer cream blushes, especially for summer, as they look much more natural than the powder ones, and I am a huge fan of Revlon products, so I decided to give them a try. Also, all Revlon products were 3 for 2 at Boots (£7,99 each)!


There are three colours to choose from, Coral Reef (bright, vibrant coral), Flushed (cool pink) and Pinched (natural peach).

Coral Reef, Flushed and Pinched

First of all, the packaging is simple and pretty neat. The blushes come in a small, plastic, light container that do not take too much space, so they are perfect to carry  in your bag or even a clutch. It would be nice though if it had a mirror, maybe built into the cap.

Pros

• The texture of the blush is very smooth and it easy to apply with your fingers or with a brush without messing up
• The blush is a firm cream, it is not sticky or greasy at all and when you apply it it gets a powdery texture. 
• It blends easily, has sheer pigmentation and it is buildable
• It leaves a silk soft on the skin
• Very natural look

 Cons

• Does not stay for too long (especially if you tend to get a bit oily during the day)
• If using fingers, they must be very clean, we don't want any bacteria on our makeup or face : )

Coral Reef

Swatches of  Coral Reef

Flushed

Swatches of Flushed

Pinched

Swatches of  Pinched 

Here are the links where you can get Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blushes.

http://www.boots.com/en/Revlon-PhotoReady-Cream-Blush_1262949/

http://www.revlon.co.uk/Revlon-Home/Products/Face/Blush/Revlon-PhotoReady-Cream-Blush.aspx#

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!

Lots of Love

Nathalia

xxx

Making Kale Chips!

Hey!

It's finally Friday!

Its cold outside, the perfect weather to stay in with a nice movie...but the thing is that when watching a movie I always need something to nibble on! So I decided to make some kale chips!

They are addictive, but healthy so no worries if you eat the whole bowl.




Here's how to make some healthy nibbles : )

You will need:

- bunch of kale

- olive oil

- salt and pepper

- cayenne pepper or paprika

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees C.

Wash the kale leaves and dry them very,very well.

Cut them in bite size pieces and remove the thick stems or any brown bits on the leaves.

Drizzle them with a little bit (very little so that they don't become soggy) of olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper if you like spicy chips or some paprika.

Actually you can use any seasoning you like, curry powder also works great.

Spread them in a cookie sheet and bake them for about 10-15 minutes, until the edges are brown.
But be very careful because they can burn very easily.

They will be super crispy!

Enjoy the chips and the movie!

Thank you for reading!

Have an amazing weekend!

Lots of Love

Nathalia

xxx



Homemade Chai Coconut Latte

Hey!

I love tea and I love chai latte!

 

I have been spending so much money on chai lattes lately (around £70 per month-crazy), that I decided to do my chai latte at home!

 

It is very simple and easy to make as you can buy instant chai tea and you can control the seasoning.

 

 Here is what you are going to need:

• 1-2 Chai tea bags
• sugar 
• coconut milk
• coconut cream
• mixed spice
• whipped cream (optional)

Most of the times, when making chai latte I use soya milk (I avoid cow's milk I don't digest it well), but when I want I special treat I use coconut milk!Also, to prepare the milk I use the Nespresso Aeroccino machine, which makes perfect milk froth, but it can also be made in a small pan.

How to prepare it

• Prepare the tea with boiling water and steep for 3-5 minutes. If you want a stronger taste add two tea bags.

• In  a small pan heat some of the coconut milk and a bit of coconut cream and bring to a boil, remove from heat and add some sugar to taste. I use Marks & Spencer Vanilla sugar, but you can also use brown sugar.

                                                                                                           

• Add half a teaspoon of the mixed spice to the tea for extra taste and then the coconut milk.

 

• You can add some whipped cream on top, sprinkle it with some cinnamon and add a cinnamon stick for decoration

• Enjoy!

                                                        

Here are the links where you can find everything you need!

http://shop.twinings.co.uk/shop/chai.html

http://www.nespresso.com/uk/en/product/aeroccino-3-black

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272375018

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272374929

http://www.marksandspencer.com/

(the vanilla sugar cannot be bought online, but you can find it in any M&S foodhall)

Thank you for reading!
Goodnight and sweet dreams!

Lots of Love

Nathalia

xxx

 

PS: Sorry for the quality of the photos, the lighting in my kitchen is not very good!  

Bubbleology - Bubble Tea

 



Hey!

Bubble Tea is the new craze in London...I suppose it has been for a while now, but I only found out about it last week accidentally on my way to Chinatown.

 

The Bubbleology shop in Soho is small, but cute and they have an amazing decoration. Bubble Tea originates from Taiwan and it is a flavoured tea, milk or fruit based, with some chewy tapioca pearls that sink on the bottom of the glass. 

 



Bubbleology shop in Notting Hill

  



When I entered the shop, the first thing that impressed me was the amazing smell...it smelled like candies and fruit. And the staff was very helpful and friendly.

 

Bubbleologists preparing the drinks

 

Window Decoration Notting Hill shop  

Cool carry bag

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

There are so many different tastes to try! And you can mix the flavours and customize it to your liking!



I have only tried the cold version, but I am sure the hot ones would be nice too. My favorites are Mango & Passion Fruit, Coconut Perl Tea and Taro Pearl Tea with milk.
 



Mango and Passion Fruit Bubble Tea


                                     

                                            Coconut Pearl Tea



Strawberry and White Peach Bubble Tea




Taro Pearl Tea

You can find Bubbleology stores in Soho, Knightsbridge at Harvey Nichols and they just opened a new one Notting Hill. Or just visit their website...they also do home deliveries to some London areas.

http://www.bubbleology.co.uk/find-us.php

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Lots of Love

Nathalia
xxx