Liverpool One Shopping Haul!

I was amazingly lucky to win a trip to Liverpool from the Liverpool ONE shopping centre website! Included in this prize was a £250 shopping voucher to spend in the centre!

I used it as an unusual excuse for me to go on a shopping spree! As a rule, I usually scout the sales or go out and grab the one or two items that I need at that time.. So this prize felt amazing to me for that reason alone!

What did I buy?

H&M

ZARA

PULL AND BEAR

MANGO

DISNEY STORE

ARGOS

MR SIMMS SWEET SHOPPE

Degustabox August 2015

I was super excited to sign up to Degustabox for the first time a few weeks back and had been waiting impatiently for the time to come when i'd be receiving it! The package arrived whilst I was away on Wednesday so when I got back last night I couldn't wait to see what was inside!!

So what was in the box?..

1. Dr Oetker - Mug Cakes

"Perfect for creating an indulgent sweet treat in under 2 minutes. Simply add milk and microwave for 1 minute 10 seconds and enjoy your tasty mug cake! Range includes; Rich Chocolate, Chocolate Chip and Lemon"

2. Life Tonics - Orange Drink

"Hydration PLUS - keep hydrated with coconut water, natural fruit extracts, 5 vitamins and 4 minerals. Contains No refined sugars or artificial sweeteners - Available from WH Smith Travel outlets and Waitrose Supermarkets in Coconut & Mint, Dalandan Orange and Elderberry & Juniper"

3. Ryvita Crispbread  - Cracked Black Pepper & Sesame

"Baked with Wholegrain Rye, Ryvita crispbread is the perfect crunchy canvas for a delicious and healthy lunch"

4. Bahlsen - New Pick Up! Dark Chocolate
"Pick Up! Dark Chocolate compromises of two light, crispy butter biscuits sandwiching a heart of deliciously rich thick dark chocolate. Perfectly indulgent for an afternoon snack - Available exclusively at selected ASDA stores"
Choco Leibniz White
"Delicious creamy white chocolate wrapped around a crisp cocoa biscuit. The flavours work in perfect harmony for a truly luxurious treat. Available from Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado"


PRODUCT OF THE MONTH:

5. Barilla - Penne Rigate Pasta
"Made in Italy with carefully selected durum wheat and an unmatched passion for eating well. This pasta in inspired by the shape of an old style pen, with angles ends and ridges on the surface, they are praised for their ability to hold the sauce"
Barilla - Arrabbiata Tomato & Chilli Sauce
"A delicious blend of spicy chillies and 100% authentic Italian tomatoes. With no added preservatives, the sauce is cooked slowly to give a thicker and richer texture, that clings perfectly to your favourite Barilla pasta"

6. Walkers - Biscuit Selection:
Pure Butter Shortbread, Oat 'n' Honey biscuits, Fruit & Lemon biscuits and Chocolate Chip Shortbread
"In 1898 our great grandfather, Joseph Walker started out with the mission to bake... The World's Finest Shortbread. To this day we carry forward the tradition of baking the finest Scottish shortbreads, biscuits, cakes and oatcakes, using our founder's original recipes"


DB'S DISCOVERIES:

7. Primal Pantry - Raw Paleo Bars
"Founded by nutritionist Suzie Walker, The Primal Pantry's mission is to make great tasting paleo and primal foods easily accessible for everyone. Made with the best real food ingredients and free of any junk! All our bars are raw and cold-pressed, handmade in the UK, naturally gluten free and dairy free"

8. Scheckters - Organic Energy Lite Drink
"The only 100% natural, organic and Informed Sport approved energy drink available in the UK. It's simply sparkling spring water with organic pomegranate, elderberry and lemon juice. The energy comes from a blend of raw green coffee beans, green tea, guarana and ginseng, giving you a sustained mental and physical energy boost in a great tasting drink"


BONUS ITEMS:

Kallo Rice Cake Thins - Belgian Milk Chocolate with Caramel Pieces

Fru Snax - Peach Slices with Vanilla Yogurt Melts

_______________________________________________________________________

I PAID: £12.99
CONTENTS TOTAL WORTH: £25.14

All in all, I love Everything inside my Degustabox! The items are all things that I would eat and drink and my bonus items are also fantastic! I will definitely recommending this to everyone and it really is a bargain price!

*I was not asked to review this product and all views are completely honest and my own

Candy Kittens Gourmet Sweet Box Review

Candy Kittens are a brand that I have been aware of for a while.

I found these on Amazon UK and was super excited! I have seen this brand at various blog events as well as at The Clothes Show last year but unfortunately, I had never had the opportunity to try any of their products! These were on sale for £6 for the gift box containing all 4 varieties so I thought it would be the perfect time to buy and try!

 

1. Eton Mess

These had a beautifully light, sweet flavour with a delicious aftertaste! They definitely tasted gourmet and had a lovely natural taste perfect for adults to enjoy! The strawberry flavour came through with a sweet creamy taste near the end! These were the boyfriend's favourite too!

2. Peaches and Cream

These were actually delicious! I had heard very mixed reviews but I loved the natural fresh peach flavour! It didn't taste artificial at all and the gummy texture made them moreish! Maybe a lot of people were thinking it may be more of a sweet artificial general 'sweetie taste'..?

 

3. Apple and Elderflower
These were my Absolute Favourite!! I love natural and organic flavours such as elderflower and these reminded me of an Elderflower drink I used to buy. The flavour is very light and tingly instead of the usual full blast that you'd usually get, yet I enjoyed having to slightly concentrate and indulge more in the flavour. The apple sends a lovely balance of sweetness through it making it the perfect grown-up treat!
4. Sour Watermelon
These are slightly different than the others as they have a coating of sugar on for extra effect! This really does them justice as I feel that the coating gives the flavour more'oomph!'. The watermelon does come through sour but not like you;d imagine, it's more of a sugary kick followed by a flavour of fresh watermelon which makes them super moreish!

Overall I loved all of the flavours and would definitely consider getting them for adult get-together's and office meetings but am unsure that children would like them as much. I really enjoyed trying a gourmet version of something I love and they are a brilliant addition to any shop shelf! Not that I'll stop buying Jelly Tots and Haribo of course!

This Gourmet Sweet Box is available to buy now from Amazon for £10

Valor Crocan American Brownie Chocolate review

I discovered this bar of deliciousness when travelling abroad for a day trip to Germany with my parents. The packaging really stood out to me, I love the chocolate explosion and the American stars & stripes - let me say it definitely didn't disappoint!

The bar is in squares like shown on the packaging but larger ones than a normal chocolate bar, i'd say each square was about half a Freddo bar! The chocolate is smooth and has a more earthy flavour than i'd say a Dairy Milk has, it is dense yet light enough to indulge in a few squares! I love that the squares have a crater'like look to them with thick edges that make it look moreish and indulgent!

I love how the bar has a deluxe feel when you open it, the crisp silver foil has the brand name printed onto it..

You can see the brownie chunks in the bar from the picture above. You can really taste them too! 

They taste like actual cake! Not some nasty processed bits, it literally tastes like someone has crumbled a brownie into melted chocolate and then set it into a bar! I will definitely get another bar next time I visit Germany - unfortunately I cannot find it located anywhere online although it has been featured in a previous Degustabox.

For this beauty too, I only paid £1!  The love I have for the exchange yet and the yummy treats our European neighbours provide!

Honeycomb Toffee Crisp review

I stumbled across this completely by accident when out the other day at my local Costcutter store - but I am so glad that I did! I have to admit, I half expected it to be a tiny smidgen of honeycomb that didn't taste of much, as it's a shame that usually the addition of a new ingredient in a widely-known chocolate bar has no extra affect.

This however was filled with sweet and crunchy honeycomb flavour with a supreme texture and a crunch that flowed through the entire bar! You really could taste the chunks of honeycomb embedded in the chocolate and it melts in your mouth with a swirl of sweetness! My only slight criticism is that as usual, the bar is a few cm shorter than a usual Toffee Crisp.

If you're a honeycomb lover than I definitely recommend trying this!

Buy from: Costcutter

Lipton Ice Tea Raspberry review

I am a big lover of Lipton Ice Tea so when I heard on the internet that a new flavour was being released I couldn't wait to try it!

I've been looking for it for around 2 months now and then I finally found it in my local Costcutter store!! It only cost 99p so that was even better!

It smelled incredible when I removed the lid..

Unfortunately, I was let down by the taste which I was quite disappointed by. It tasted a little like watered down fruit tea, the raspberry gave quite a strong yet sour aftertaste which wasn't overly nice but I would say it is definitely a natural flavour. I can't help but think that Strawberry may have worked better as it has a sweeter natural taste and the same berry goodness

I wouldn't buy it again but am still glad I managed to try it for myself and will remain loyal to the brand in the future, hoping any new flavour combinations will be a little better than this one.