Best Healthy Shop Bought Snacks

Personally, I love making my own snacks as I know the ingredients that go into them are pure and healthy. However, making snacks can often be time consuming and sometimes when I am feeling lazy I can't be bothered! So recently I have been searching the shops and thought I would let you guys know my favourite snacks.

Graze Box

I have been ordering a graze box to my house every two weeks for over three years now and I absolutely love them! Especially as I don't even have to leave my house! You simply put in your preferences online and they will send you a box catered to your liking. The main thing that I love about this is that you get a variety of snacks that are all equally tasty and nutritious, and now they sell individual graze box pots in loads of shops too!  Here is a codes that will allow you to get your 1st, 5th and 10th boxes free: VF35XY7YB

Nakd. Bars

I have always seen these around but never really looked into them. But then one day I bought the chocolate orange one from Tescos for lunch and discovered how much I love them! The best thing about them is that they are tasty whilst being gluten, wheat, and dairy free with no added sugar or syrups. On each bar the ingredient list is literally three or four items long. For example on the Cashew Cookie bar the ingredients are 51% Cashews and 49% Dates! The bars I have tried are Cashew Cookie, Peanut Delight, Cocoa Delight, Cocoa Orange and they have all been really nice (especially with a cup of green tea ).

Deliciously Ella Energy Balls

These energy balls are some of the nicest that I have ever had. The two flavours I have tried are cacao and almond which tastes like brownies, and hazelnut and almond which equally tastes like chocolate too! Therefore, these are really a great alternative if you are trying to get away from processed foods as they are all natural. The cacao and almond flavour is made of: almonds, almond butter, dates, coconut oil, cacao powder and a pinch of salt. Although, these are a bit expensive so if you have time I would recommend making them yourself! The places I have seen them being sold are Waitrose, WHSmith and Starbucks!

Eat Natural Bars

The only flavour I have tried of these is almond and apricot with a yogurt coating but it was so nice. The only disappointing thing about them is there small size when compared to the Nakd. bars but they are cheaper. Also the ingredients are not as raw as some of the other snacks as in the apricot bar they are: Yoghurt flavour coating 30% (palm kernel oil, sugar,  whey, dried yoghurt, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin), dried apricots 14%, shredded coconut 14%, glucose syrup, crisped rice (rice, sugar), chicory root (inulin)7%, honey, chia seeds 2%, 2%, rapeseed oil. Native chicory inulin - 7g per 100g (3g per bar). Although this is still a lot healthier then any processed snack.

I hope the helped you on your hunt to healthier snacks!

Please leave any questions below and let me know if there are any healthy snacks that you love!

Thanks,

Hannah x

Skin Care Advice

From a relatively young age I have always had troublesome skin. Over the years I have tried nearly absolutely everything but unfortunately my skin still isn't completely clear, but it is a lot better then it has been in the past. Its combination skin so I struggle finding something that suits it well.  I've tried most brands of face wash such as Origins, Simple, Lush, Neutrogena, Clinique, Liz Earle... I could go on! But over the last few months I've found a face wash I really like. My previous face wash had been the Clinique blemish solutions and it worked at first but after a few months my skin started to get really bad, and when I washed my face I just didn't feel clean.

So one of my friends recommended to me the Body Shops' Tea Tree range, and I absolutely love it. What I love the most about all of the products is the smell. As you probably guessed it smells of tea tree oil but I find it smells so herbal that I feel clean whilst using it. 

I wet my face then I use the Skin clearing facial wash with the pump first. I love the pump as it means that I don't pour too much out which has been a nightmare with some brands in the past! Plus, it is foam which it easier to massage into my skin. Then I gently pat my face with a towel and use the toner. I apply it to a cotton wool pad then gently rub it onto my face. After this I use the Matifying Lotion to moisturise my skin. 

I used to use a face cloth to apply the face wash as when I used Liz Earle's Hot Cloth Cleanser I really liked doing this, but recently I stopped using it and I found that my skin has cleared up a bit. I think it must of been quite unhygienic even though I washed it regularly. However, without using the cloth to exfoliate I have found that my skin has been very dry and flakey. But a combination of exfoliating my skin once a week with the Tea Tree Squeaky Clean Scrub and moisturising every night with a Waitress branded sensitive skin moisturiser has really helped this.

Top Tips for Clearer Skin:

• Drinks LOTS of water! Aim for 8 glasses a day. This will really help to detoxify your body and your skin.
• Always make sure your hands are clean and try not to touch your face. This passes germs to your skin which can lead to spots.
• If you suffer from oily skin try to use blotting pads or tissues to remove any excess oil. This will also make you feel cleaner.
• Try to have a healthy diet. The more unhealthy sugary food you eat the more likely it is that you will get spots. So if you eat clean it may help your skin. (This doesn't always affect everyone) Plus some people have allergies that they don't realise which cause spots, such as lactose. So try and cut something out of your diet for a month and see if it helps.
• ALWAYS moisturise even if you have greasy skin, as if your skin is too dry your body will produce more oils which will make your skin greasier.
• Try not to wear heavy makeup on your skin. Concealers and foundation blocks your pours making more spots. Even though it can be hard try to wear no makeup and you will see the benefits.
• BE CONFIDENT! Even if your having a 'bad' skin day be proud of how you look and don't be embarrassed. Most of the time you may get paranoid that people are looking at your skin, but they probably don't even notice all of the things you do. And if you radiate confidence that it what people will see. You are not defined by how many spots you have on your face. You are defined by the choices you make and the joy you bring to other people's lives.

Overall, I really like the range and hope to try out more of the products in the future. I hope this helped if you struggle with finding a face routine that works. If you have any tips or love a specific product please let me know!

Thanks,

Hannah x

Why You Should Go To Shoreditch

Until recently I had never really heard much about Shoreditch, all that I knew was that it was typically known as a 'hipster' area, which intrigued me. So I decided to go there yesterday with some friends, and it was amazing! It was fairly easy to travel there as from London Bridge Station you simply had to get the Jubilee line to Canada Water and then the overground to Shoreditch High Street.

First of all, coming out of the station there was street art everywhere! And it didn't stop there, throughout our walk we saw graffiti at every turn. It wasn't horrible pointless scribbles either, it was elaborate, beautiful designs that really made you stop and appreciate your surroundings. I went to Berlin last year and it was exactly the same. I love this because I think that the art adds more culture and atmosphere to an area. Even though I am an Art student so you may think that I would have more appreciation then most people, even my friends who don't do Art loved it! There are also lots of free galleries there that I didn't get to go to but definitely will in the future.
We wondered up and down brick lane into all the charity shops and markets, which was really nice, since a lot of the stuff was being sold quite cheaply compared to an average highstreet store. Plus, there were some really unique clothes that you wouldn't be able to get elsewhere. Its nice sometimes to just wonder round shops with friends and browse through the strange clothing and assorted objects that they are selling.

One of the best things was the food. There were loads of cute cafe's selling drinks and cakes. Plus a doughnut shop called Crosstown were I bought a peanut butter and jam donut that was lush, and there were tonnes of different flavours there from cinnamon bun to matcha green tea. My friend also got some frozen yogurt from a shop opposite called The Sloane Bros, where you got quite a large tub of either original, chocolate or peanut butter frozen yogurt and then could put any desired topping on top. Also there were several bakeries one of which sold rainbow bagels for just 50p! Unfortunately, they were out of them until the next day so I couldn't get one! But at least that gives me an excuse to go back. There was also a box park by the station there. If you don't know what that is its basically lots of pop up restaurants in cargo craters with all types of food! I ended up having sushi (which was actually quite cheap as it was £7 and I got a massive box!) and a warm milk coconut bubble tea with tapioca pearl and popping passion fruit pearls, and my friend had a pulled pork burger with chips! This really shows you the contrast in cuisines that are sold there. Moreover, underneath the Box Park were lots of cute independent shops.

Overall, going to Shoreditch was lots of fun and made quite a relaxing and chilled out day, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wanted a day out in London.

I hope you enjoyed this post, please leave any comments below.

Thanks,

Hannah x