S&B Foods & Hyper Japan Virtual Japanese Dinner Party Event

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I was invited to a virtual Dinner Party by the wonderful guys over at S&B Foods and Hyper Japan, so I thought that today, I would talk to you all about it. 

Since 1923, S&B Foods has been producing a marvellous mixture of food products including, curry sauce mixes and much more. You may know S&B for their gorgeous Golden Curry Mixes and their terrific Tube Wasabi products that have made the brilliant brand become world-wide. Personally, I believe that if it wasn't for S&B and their amazing products, the majority of the UK's population, would be scared and confused when it came to cooking Japanese food at home. 

Before the Virtual Dinner Party, Hyper Japan kindly sent me a box of the S&B Golden Curry Japanese Curry Mix In Block in Medium Hot to cook with to make my own personal Japanese Curry, so I had something to bring and talk about to the Dinner Party. I followed the recipe on the back of the box, which I will include below this paragraph, but I added a few extra things, including, Chilli Paste and some Garlic to garnish the dish with. 

Golden Curry Recipe: 

This recipe makes 5 servings, but you can always make more or less. 

Ingredients: 

Protein (This could be Beef (or Chicken, Tofu etc, chopped - 450 g

Medium Onions, minced - 1 3/4 (350 g)

Medium Carrot, chopped - 1/2 (100 g)

Potato, chopped - 1 (150 g)

Vegetable Oil - 1 Tbsp

Water - 540 ml

S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix - 1 pack

Directions:

Stir-fry meat and vegetables with oil in a large skillet on medium heat for approx. 5 min.

Add water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until ingredients are tender, approx. 15min.

Turn the heat off, break S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix into pieces and add them to the skillet. Stir until sauce mixes are completely melted. Simmer approx. 5 min., stirring constantly.

Serve hot over rice or noodles.

I cooked my food and waited for the Zoom call to start up. After a few minutes, we all joined and said hi. The Party was about to begin! We all talked about how we made our Curries and presented them to the camera. A fair few members of the group, said that the sauce itself needed a bit more heat for their liking, and, I agree. If you like your curries on the slightly mild sweet side then this block will definitely suit you. I love Japanese Curries, so this block was an easy way for me to get my fix, but I have started to like a touch of heat with my Curry which is why I added a touch of Chilli Paste to my dish. Other members of the party talked about using a Rice Cooker, I have been meaning to invest in one for a while and hearing how easy this appliance makes cooking for some of the members of the party has made me want one that little bit more! 

After we talked about how we had personalised our dishes, we were introduced to Avinash Shashidhara. They talked to us about three different recipes that can be made with the S&B Golden Curry Block. I loved this, as I never end up using a whole block in one go if I'm making a Japanese Curry just for myself. The dishes that he made with the block include, a Lentil and Vegetable Curry, Mixed Vegetable Puffs, and,  Monkfish Curry but other Fish or Seafood could be used. I thought that I would include the recipes below. I know that I will be making the Lentil and Vegetable Curry as it sounds amazing to have on those cold Autumn nights, or for me, after a virtual day at University. 

Lentil and Vegetable Curry: 

Pigeon Peas/Any Lentils - 150g

 Carrots (diced) - 2

 Potatoes (diced) - 2

 Tomatoes (diced) - 2

 Green beans - 100g

Turmeric - 0.5 tsp

S&B Golden curry mix - 0.5 block

Tamarind juice - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Tempering:

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaf - ripped up

Method: 

Wash the lentils.

In a heavy bottom pan, add the lentils (pigeon peas) and tomatoes. Cover with water about 1 inch above level. Add turmeric and start cooking over medium heat.

Cook until lentils are really soft (top up hot water if needed), keep stirring occasionally. This should take about 25-30 mins.

Once lentils are nearly ready, add the rest of the vegetables, tamarind juice and half a block of the curry mix. Cook until the vegetables are ready. Keep on low heat and get ready to temper.

For the tempering, heat oil in a small frying pan, add mustard seeds, once they crackle, add the curry leaves and dry red chilli and toss lightly. Once fried, add the tempering to the lentils, stir it in and turn heat off

Serve hot with steamed rice. 

Mixed Vegetable Puffs: 

Filling:

Cabbage - 0.25 chopped fine 

Onions - 1 finely chopped 

Green Chilli - 2 finely chopped 

Potatoes - 1 peeled and chopped 

Carrots - 1 peeled and chopped 

S&B Golden curry mix - 0.5 block 

Oil - 2 tsp 

Salt to taste

Pastry:

Ready to roll puff pastry sheet - 2

Egg - 1 for coating/wash 

Method: 

Prepare the filling by frying onions in the oil, followed by chilli, once fried, add the vegetables – potatoes and carrots first followed by cabbage. Season with salt and the S&B golden curry mix. Allow the vegetable to cook until soft and ensure the mix is dry. Allow this mix to cool. 

Prepare the pastry sheets by rolling them out on a dry and cool surface, divide each sheet into 6 rectangles.

Prepare a tray lined with greaseproof paper and lay one of the rectangles on it. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C for fan assisted)/425°F/Gas Mark 7). 

 

In each rectangle, add a tablespoonful of the cooled down mix on one half, leaving a little space on the sides to be able to fold over the second half and seal three sides. Use a bit of egg wash if needed to glue the two sides together.

Leave enough gaps between the puffs and prepare the trays. Brush the tops of the puffs with egg wash.

Place the trays in oven f and bake or approx. 12-15 minutes, or until the pastry is risen and golden brown.

Monkfish Curry: 

S&B Golden curry mix - 0.5 block 

Monkfish fillet(cut into cubes) - 1 fillet 

 Tomato ripe chopped - 3

Onion chopped - 1

Tamarind Paste - 2 tbsp 

Turmeric - 0.5 tsp 

Coconut milk - 250ml

Fish/shellfish - 500g 

Sunflower oil - 2 tbsp 

chopped ginger garlic - 2 tsp 

Method: 

Heat oil in a pan and add the onions, and ginger garlic and cook till light brown

Add the tomatoes and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes till it turns into a smooth sauce

Add the curry block and the tamarind paste and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes Add a tin of coconut milk and cook till the sauce thickens

After watching these recipes being made, we asked questions that we all had about the dishes that had been created. These questions included adjusting certain ingredients to adapt the dishes to our needs and dietary requirements. 

After this, we watched an amazing video about S&B and then we said our goodbyes. 

I had such a wonderful time, creating my Curry and hearing other peoples thoughts and ideas on how to make the dish that little bit more delicious for when I cook it again in the near future. 

What's your favourite Japanese dish? Have you cooked Japanese Curry before? Let me know down below!

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Hyper Japan, S&B and Avinash Shashidhara for inviting me to the Dinner Party and holding the event.  

Check out S&B Foods. 

Check out Hyper Japan. 

Check out Avinash Shashidhara. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x 

Thanks to S&B Foods and Hyper Japan for inviting me to this event. This post was created in exchange for an invitation to the event. All views and opinions are my own. 

Getting Down & Dirty With The Bartenders | Jake's Bar & Still Room

Hey everyone!

How are you? Are you enjoying the longer evenings? Let me know down below!

I kindly got invited to try out the new and marvellous menu at the wonder Jake's Bar & Still Room, so I thought that I would talk to you all about that today.

Jake’s Bar has long been renowned for the quality and selection of their cocktails and mixed drinks.
Jakes also have a renowned Still room which  create our own unique range of spirits and liqueurs: The Distilled Spirit of Leeds. A constantly changing selection of potent potables distilled and blended by Jakes talented in house team. The range is regularly changed to reflect the changing flora and flavours of the seasons.

I brought my friend, Ben, along to the launch. (If you want to find out more about Ben and his work with VOLATILITY then click here.) We walked down the grand staircase, and, entered the beautifully decorated bar. We chatted to a few of the staff and PR team who had invited us, and then was asked about our favourite liquors. Once we had mentioned our favourite spirits to drink, the bartender in question suggested a drink or two that they had created themselves, for myself and Ben to try.

The basis for Jake's new menu, is, to showcase the wonderful bartenders that work at Jake's Bar and Still Room, and their wonderful drink creating skills. Each Bartender has a section of the menu with a selection of their own drinks. Each section also comes with a little snippet about the bartender, so you can get to know them that little bit more.

Now sadly, I'm not fully sure of the spirits that are involved within the drink, so I'm going to go off on what I think is in there. If I can somehow get hold of what's in each drink, then, I will update the post.

I first tried the Rum Punch. This tasted amazing. Dark spicy Rum mixed with bright and refreshing Citrus fruits. I think rhat this will be an amazing drink for when the weather gets warmer. I always love anything with Rum so this went down a treat. Ben enjoyed a delicious Strawberry Daiquiri. He loved the sweetness of the Strawberries against the sourness of the Lime.

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After this, I tried a version of a Bloody Mary that was a little bit sweeter. It also came with a Pickle. I love Pickles. Honestly, I could have Pickles with anything. I honestly loved this. I sometimes find that the problem with Bloody Mary's are that they end up being so sour that you can't taste anything by the second gulp. This one was very different, it ensured that the Tomato came out with still a hint of sourness with the Vodka in there. Ben enjoyed a Rhubarb and Custard. He loved this drink. He liked that it all melded together, and, that the creaminess of the drink cut against the sourness. He was also intrigued on how the bartender had gotten the sweets to stick onto the glass.

We chatted for a while about all things weather and politics. After this, Ben sadly had to get home, so we said our thanks and headed off. I am definitely going back to try the rest of the menu when I can, and, hopefully get to chat to the other bartenders!

Have you been to Jakes Bar and Still Room before? Let me know down below! 

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post! I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!
g
Thanks for reading! 
Jamƒie x 

I received drinks in return for writing this post. All views, ramblings and opinions are completely my own. 

Flashing For The World To See | Jessops Leeds

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! Today, I'm talking to you all about an event that I was invited to a while ago. I've been busy for a plethora of reasons, but, still I thought that I'd tell you all about it.

Like every other post, if this post isn't what you're interested in, then please don't read it. There is nearly over 400 posts on Jamie Sowden, therefore, there is probably something that you will enjoy reading, even if you don't enjoy reading this post.

Jessops are a photography brand that specify in all things cameras and technology. They also have courses to help with things such as photography and technology.

I made my way down to the store (which is located on the Headrow which also contains stores like TK Maxx, Homesense, and, Argos), I instantly was shown around the amazing new store which mixed cool metals with bright colours. Everything was in sections which made it easy to locate what you needed. Lenses? Over there! Cameras? Over there! Drones? Over there!

When you walk in to the Leeds branch, you're met with screens which mean that you can sort out the photos that you want to print off. The amazing store staff even showed how simple it was to upload and print off photos. All you had to realy do was put in either an SD card or connect the bluettooth from your phone to the screen, select your photos, choose what sizze and in moments they would be able to be printed for you to keep forever.

I then got to have a go with an Instax Mini, which I had never tried before. I love the concept of a sort of smaller, on the go, Polaroid, that means that you can take pictures of memories that you will want to cherish forever and have physical copies to put into scrapbooks or whatnot, right there and then. I honestly thought that I would get an awful shot, as, I'm more used to a viewfinder on the back of my bulky Canon DSLR, or, the screen of my iPhone, but, I got quite an alright shot.

After this, I got to experiment with Jessops' new digital masterpiece, the Shuffle Print, you connect your phone to the printer via bluetooth, or, enter your SD card, select 13 photos and the machine puts them into a random order and then you can adjust them however you want. As it was my first time using it, I might have made a picture of myself from a photoshoot, have no head... Oops.. You also get to choose what colour frame it goes with to suit the room that you will be putting it in's, aesthetics.

Following on from this, I had one more good look at the store, printed off some photos, and, said my goodbyes.

Check out Jessops here.

Thanks for reading this post. I hope that you come back next time to read another post.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Do You Believe In Snow Fairies With Magic Wands? | Lush Leeds Spa Christmas Event

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new post! How's your week going so far? Sorting everything out for Christmas? Let me know down below! I thought that today, I would talk to you guys all about the Lush Christmas Event that I was invited to a good couple of weeks ago.

We entered the store and walked into a Winter Wonderland via Fairy Lights. The only problem with this was trying to guide Luke around them as trying to get a tall blind person ducking under fairy lights whilst there were bowls of water about was a bit tricky. It also kind of triggered my anxiety sadly because I kept thinking that either one of us would end up catching them then they'd fall into the water and the whole store would be evacuated... Just me, haha?

Anyways, we grabbed a drink each and went to go smell some of the amazing bath products from the Christmas range. I loved the smell of Christmas Sweater which contains Ginger & Mustard Powders and Clove Bud Oil which gives the bath a spicy but warming scent. These ingredients are all stimulating which is great for those cold nights. It also has a wonderfully festive reindeer design engraved itnto it.

Star Light Star Bright is back this Christmas! This Bath Melt holds a special place in my heart. It's one of the first bath products from Lush that I fell in love with. I'm not sure if its because of the wonderful butters that are in this product, the scent or the fact that its covered in sliver lustre but I just love it! The scent consists of Lime, Ginger and Almond Oil which gives the product a spicy but fresh scent which I love at this time of year!

Plum Snow was a new one that I was actually adoring. I've tried Plum Snow before via it's Shower Gel relative Plum Rain and I was a bit unsure with that but I think that this bubble bar is slightly more sweeter which makes me love it that little bit more. It's also quite a big size for a bubble bar! This product contains Osmanthus Absolute, Pettigrain Oil and Sicilian Mandarin Oil which gives this Bubble Bar a sweet yet zingy smell which is great for those long dark nights.

We then headed down to the Spa area with Jada to find out more about the Karma Spa Experience, If you want to find out more about the Karma Spa Experience then click here to read my post about the Karma Spa Event that happened at Lush Leeds Spa a while ago.

Mysef and Luke then talked to Katie and found out that we sadly had missed the chance to create two bath bombs so we decided to chat with Katie for a while and check out some of the new solid versions of products that are out for Christmas and the new Shower Gels.

The Solid version of Shower Gels and Shower/Body Conditioners are there for people that are on the go or for those who want to save some packaging. They are not a soap due to the ingredients that are packed in them but also because they actually lather up like a proper shower gel.

Due to moving into halls or the year, I have slowly being loving Shower Gels and Jellies from Lush more and more. Lush have released six shower gels this year which includes Bubbly, Snow Fairy, Rose Jam, Twilight, Santa's Christmas  and Berry Berry Christmas. I think that most Lush fans will hate me when I say I'm not the biggest fan of either Twilight or Snow Fairy. I can cope with Rose Jam every now and again but I normally forget to pick some up at Christmas due to the Rose Jam Bubbleroon and now the Body Spray. I love Santa's Christmas! If you like Santa Baby Lip Scrub or anything that smells of Cherry Cola then you will love this! I'm a bit confused as Berry Berry Christmas as I get Berries but I don't fully understand why this is under the Christmas range as it could be an all year round scent.

We said our goodbyes and left the event with Jada and Katie and walked towards the train station.

Have you tried any of the Lush Christmas range? Let me know down below! 

Click here to have a look at Lush and all of their products.

Thanks to the Lush PR staff for inviting myself and Luke to the event and for putting on this very fesive event.

I hope that you've enjoyed this post about Lush and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Going Loco For Coco | Coco's Beach Bar Trinity Leeds

Hey everyone!

Having a good day? Yes? No? Let me know down below! Today, I thought that I would talk to you all about an amazing event at a beautiful new bar that I went to a couple of weeks ago.

A dark pink cocktail with clear pieces of crushed ice in a large clear cylindrical glass in the middle of a light pink blow up Flamingo float on a light wooden table on a light background.

Coco's Beach Bar is the even more fruitier little sibling of Cabana (which if you haven't been to then click here and here to read my two posts about them) as the bar focuses more on tropical cocktails with a twist whereas Cabana focuses on giving amazing authentic Brazillian dishes and drinks. As you can tell by the name, the bar bases itself on a tropical beach. The best bit about Coco's is that all of the cocktails are £6, all of the shooters are £3 and most of the sharers are £10 from what I remember.

An overview of the bar including bright lights from above, rectnagular tables and light wooden chairs on a dark background. 

A long rectangular counter containing decorations including pink blow up flamingos with pictures of flamingos and green palm leaves danging off the side on a dark background. 

We walked through Trinity Leeds to find the beautiful beach which you can't miss as it has a bright white jetski outside it. Myself and Luke then entered the bar and sat down. After a couple of minutes, a bartender brought over Sprinkles Margaritas. I love Sprinkles and I love a good Margarita, every now and again, so I didn't see any downsides to enjoying this amazing drink. I mean I did instantly think of Ross Geller from Friends and the speech whilst everyone is drinking Margaritas whilst drinking them but ah well. This drink contains a normal Frozen Margarita with a rim of bright Sprinkles.

Two clear glasses filled with a clear frozen margarita with a rim of different coloured sprinkles with a black bowl of crackling in front on a light wooden table on a light background. 

A close up of a clear margarita in a clear glass with a rim of different coloured sprinkles with a black straw on a light background. 

When the Sprinkled Margarita's arrived, we also enjoyed some amazing Pork Scratchings. Yes, I know that Pork Scratchings aren't normally served on the beach but these were filled with spice and were super crispy so they went well with the coolness of the Margarita.

After the magical Margarita and nibbles, Cheeky Chilli Martini arrived at our table. This cocktail contains Gin, Grand Marnier, Apple Juice, Coconut Syrup and Chilli which is on the rim of the glass to look like devil horns. I'm not the biggest fan of Gin or Chilli so I wasn't that keen on the drink but I could see this being a favourite for someone who wants something different than a G&T this year but still wants to drink a little bit of Gin. I think that Gin and Apple Juice was quite a nice but different combination.

A bright orange cocktail in a clear glass with two slices of red chilli on the rim on a light wooden table on a light background. 

Carrying on from the 'Hot, Hot, Hot' theme, next up on the cocktail train was Flaming Passion. This cocktail contains Apple Juice, Vanilla Syrup, Lime Juice, Ginger, Mint, Vodka and Ginger Beer. I love anything that has Ginger Beer in so I was already sold on this but what I loved even more was the fact that it was topped off with half a Passion Fruit with a Brown Sugar Cube set on fire on top of it. I loved the fact that this drink was fresh from the Apple & Lime Juices but had a spicy kick to it due to the Ginger and Ginger Beer. Definitely one that I would drink again and again!

A tall hi-ball glass filled with a bright orange cocktail with a dark puple pasion fruit on top with a black straw next to a bowl of nachos in a bright silver metal bowl on a light wooden table on a light background. 

A close up of a bubbly cocktail with a purple skinned and orange interior passion fruit with a black straw in a tall clear glass on a light wooden table on a light background. 

We enjoyed this drink with some Nachos which I adored. I'm always a fan of Nachos as they're the perfect snack to pick apart with friends or family. I did take a few of the Jalapeno's off as I'm weird with spice but overall I loved these and they went well with the refreshing Flaming Passion drink.

Golden triangular Tortilla Chips with bright red Salsa, white Sour Cream and bright green Jalapenos in a silver metal bowl on a light brown table on a light background. 

Coconuts were the theme next/ We enjoyed the Bounty Hunter which if you love Bounty Chocolate Bars then you will definitely love this cocktail. It contains Vodka, Chocolate, Vanilla, Coconut and Cream. This drink is also served with a little Bounty Chocolate on the side of the drink which is served in a cute Coconut Cup. I love Coconut and Bounty's so this drink was definitely up my street. Even though the chocolate on the side would melt instantly, I'd definitely drink this at the beach on a holiday. I also think that this drink is great for the Christmas period as Bounty's are enjoyed at Christmas via the Celebrations Tub.

A creamy white cocktail with clear square pieces of ice with a black straw in a brown Coconut Shell inspired cup with a small Bounty Chocolate on the side of the cup on a light brown table on a light background. 

The next drink that we enjoyed was Pink Flamingo. The fun thing about Pink Flamingo is that it comes in a little Flamingo float which you expect on a beach and as Flamingos are such an Instagram trend, its a great drink to snap and share. This cocktail consists of Rum, Coconut Syrup and Orange Juice. This may sound simple but it is a delicious drink as the mix of Rum and Orange Juice creates a a slightly sour taste but then Coconut Syrup comes through and makes it a bit sweeter. We enjoyed Sweet Potato Fries with this drink and they were delicious. Honestly, I can eat Sweet Potato Fries all day!

A dark pink cocktail with clear pieces of crushed ice in a large clear cylindrical glass in the middle of a light pink blow up Flamingo float on a light wooden table on a light background.

Sadly, we were filled with enough drink and food to last a lifetime but myself and Michelle rceieved a voucher for an amazing cocktail from Coco's so we went the week after to enjoy it. We both had an Island Life. which contains Vodka, Agave Syrup, Apple Juice, Grenadine, Raspberry & Passion Fruit Puree's. I love anything Passion Fruit but also I thought adding Agave Syrup was an interesting thing to do as I know a lot of cocktails contain a general sugar syrup. Raspberries in a Cocktail are always a fab thing as you get to find and eat the Raspberry itself.

A dark red liquid containing red Raspberries and dark Purple Passion Fruit with a clear straw in a brown Coconut Shell inspired cup on a light wooden table on a light background. 

We were also given a free Caipirinha due ti the staff training to make them. This contain wonderful Cachaca and Lime to create a refreshing cocktail. I loved it as it was bright, zingy and something great to drink before some amazing food to eat with great friends.

A tall clear glass containing a clear cocktail with clear crushed ice and green bits of Lime Zest at the bottom on a wooden table on a light background. 

Have you checked out Coco's Beach Bar? Let me know down below! 

Click here to find out more about Coco's.

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Coco's for having us and the wonderful staff at Trinity Leeds for inviting myself and Luke to the launch event.

I hope that you come back next time for another interesting blog post.

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Playing For Peace All Around The World | The Body Shop Christmas Event

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! The wonderful guys over at The Body Shop invited me to their Christmas Preview Event at their Briggate Flagship Store and I thought that I would talk to you all about it today.

A mixture of red, yellow and purple circular tubs with different shaped gift sets at the side including a golden rectangular one and a green patterned box on a light wooden table on a light background. 

The night began via gathering at the front of the Briggate store and going to the back of the store as the event was held in the meeting rooms that are normally meant for employees and other private things.

We started the night off by learning about the concept of the gifts for this years Christmas range. If you buy any of The Body Shops Christmas gifts then you will not only get a great gift set filled with amazing products for the body, but it's also a makeshift game board. Some of the giftsets even come with spinners! We also found out about the amazing Play For Peace. The Gift Sets also help the Play For Peace campaign that The Body Shop are running during the festive holiday period. Every gift set that you buy helps children to play in a safe place for a year.

After this, myself, Luke and Katie decided to have a play with the ranges that are available in stores for the Christmas period. Frosted Plum, Frosted Berries and Vanilla Chai. Out of all three, I loved Frosted Berries as I am a big fan of anything that is Berry scented or flavoured! If you're more of a floral sort of person then you will love Frosted Plum as I think that Plum has that sort of lightly floral yet still sweet scent to it. If you're more a Vanilla person then I'm sure that you will love Vanilla Chai! Personally, I'm not a big fan of it as I'm very difficult when it comes to Vanilla scented things.

We then chatted for a while, then ate some of the wonderful Vegan food that was available at the event including the Sweetcorn based Fritters that were available at the event as I think I ate far too many of them. (All students take advantage of free food though, dont they?!) We then went to go get our pictures taken at the stand which was in a corner of the spacious room. There were props to help the photo. I chose the bunny ears and pretended that I was giving Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman realness... Well, I can pretend that I did, okay?!

We then slowly made our way back round to the Briggate store and chatted and wandered around. This what meant for bloggers to get a full play of the new products and to pick up anything that they wanted from The Body Shop. We talked to Katie and Lizi before deciding to go home.

We received a wonderful goodie bag which included some of the new products including the Frosted Berries Hand Cream which if you want to know more about then comment down below.

Have you checked out any of the Christmas products including the Frosted Plum/Berries/Vanilla Chai products? Let me know down below!

Click here if you want to find out more about The Body Shop.

Thanks to the wonderful guys over at The Body Shop for inviting me to the Christmas Preview Event and also thanks to the staff at the Briggate store for putting on an amazing event.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This blog post was in exchange of an invite to a bloggers preview event and was in exchange of products or services. All opinions and ramblings are my own. 

Karma, Karma Chameleon! | Karma Spa Treatment Launch at Lush Leeds Spa

Hey!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I was invited to the Lush Leeds Spa to their Karma Spa Bloggers Event and I thought that I wouFluld tell you all what happened within this blog post today.

Myself and Luke headed towards the beautiful building. We said our hellos to the other wonderful bloggers that came to the event such as Jess, Katie and everyone else. After this, we were told what the night was going to consist of and that tills were open for the entirety of the event so if you wanted to purchase anything in a quiet environment then that would be absolutely fine to do so.

We chatted for a tiny bit and had a look around before heading down to Lush Spa to experience the Karma Spa Treatment in its excellent entirety. We (myself and Luke) went down into the Spa with the wonderful Jess and her husband

When we arrived in the Kitchen which I normally refer to as the hub of the Spa due to it being the first thing you see as soon as you enter has interior inspired by the coasts of England and Poole which is the hometown of the beloved Lush company. The CEO of Lush wanted to create a British Spa to reflect the ethos of Lush but as Spas are normally more known in the forms of Turkish Spas and so forth so he wanted to promote that England can create something beautiful and peaceful.

We then moved into the first treatment room which consisted of someone being massaged all over via two different members of staff which made for a unique and harmioned experience. The massage also focused on the many tension points that run throughout the body, mind and spirit. We also tried out the Karma Massage Bar which has been on the Lush Kitchen in the past week or so. This Massage Bar contains Patchouli, Sweet Orange, Pine and Lemongrass Oils which give the product that spicy with a citrus hint scent thats infamous with Karma at Lush. The bar also contains Coconut Oil, Butter and Shea Butter to nourish the skin. The room was filled with the same scent which was provided via a solid oil product which dissolved in hot water and permeated the room. We were also treated to another limited edition Karma product that is only available to use via the treatment which was a Karma version of Ceridwen's Cauldron which is a big Bath Melt.

We then went into the next room where I was treated to an amazing head massage whilst we all talked about the new Gorilla Perfumes which I'll talk about later in the post and the Karma scent as a whole as I think that it's very much a love/hate scent mainly via the Patchouli.

Myself and Luke then went into the next room which was a meditation room where we were told to do certain things such as imagine that our worries were a ball of light and that we were letting it out into the centre of Leeds to float away and much more. After this, the patuent is treated to warm coconut water that is poured from a Shirodhara vessel over the third eye and hair to create a meditative state of mind.

We then had a wonderful hot Karma hand and arm massage which settled into a more citrus note due to the Lemongrass and Sweet Orange Oils. I loved it! The best thing about the massage was how soft my skin felt after it.

After this, we looked at the new Gorilla Perfume range. This range has five different scents. Cardamom Coffee which well contains Cardamom and Coffee. The background behind this is that when Simon (the CEO of Lush) was travelling in India, he was invited into certain houses and was given a cup of Cardamom Coffee to drink. This has a spicy but deep scent to it.

The next scent was I'm Home which reminded me of a deep baking cookies sort of scent This one contains Cocoa and Vanilla Absolute's which definitely give a deep sweet scent to this product. Again, the background of this scent comes from when Simon finally arrived home from his travels.

Number three out of five is Amelie Mae. If you're a big Lushie then you might know of Amelie Mae's big sister Imogen Rose. This scent is based around floral as it contains Rose Absolute and Ylang Ylang Oil. The background of this one is apparently that Amelie Mae was jealous that Imogen Rose had a perfume so she finally talked to Simon and they created this perfume!

Rentless' backstory is about a homeless man that Simon met on his travels who made shelter out of most things that he could from what I remember. The man always said that he wasn't homeless but instead was rentless because he was always moving and I believe that this stuck with Simon so he made something that everyone else would remember after it. Rentless contains Patchouli and Grapefruit Oils and Tonka Absolute which give the product a sort of deep fruity scent in a way.

Last but not least on the perfume list is What Would Love Do? I think the background of this one is al about the love that Simon saw whilst on his travels within the past year. This product contains Grapefruit, Tangerine and Lavender Oils which give this perfume a sort of soft citrus scent.

After smelling all of the new perfumes and washcards (which are only £2 which mean if you want to try the new scents but you don't want to fully commit to them then you can use this and see how you feel), we went on over to make a product, there was the choice of making a Butterbear Bath Ballistic and Creamy Candy Bubble Bar but as we went on over later in the event, there was only the mix for the Butterbear's left. We mde the wonderful bears by putting some of the light brown mix into the nose poart of the mould then we covered the rest of the mould in the Cocoa Butter based white mix and then ensured that it was compact enough to set. The only problem with making fresh Lush products is that you have to wait 24 hours for them to set before using them.

We then said our goodbyes and went off back home. Lush wonderfully provided us with a goodie bag each which I thought I would tell you about not to shove in your faces but to just in case you want to know what was in the bag. Myself and Luke got given a Karma Bubble Bar which contains a silver Bath Melt top on each Bubble Bar, a Marmalade Jelly Bomb which contains Grapefruit Oil and makes the skin incredibly soft! There was also a Karma Solid Oil Fizzer in each goodie bag which can be used to scent the room with the wonderful Karma scent.

What's your favourite Lush product? Let me know down below!

Check out Lush here for all of your face and skin needs. Don't forget to check out the Karma range and the new perfumes whilst you're on there!

Thanks to the wonderful Lush staff for inviting me to the Karma Spa Treatment Event and for putting on an amazing night and being wonderful at the event!

I hope that you've enjoyed this beauty based blog post and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This blog post was in return for goods/services. All views, opinions and rambings are my own. 

Travelling The Food World In One Single Step | Trinity Kitchen Supper Club

Hey!

Welcome to a brand new post! The wonderful guys over at Trinity Kitchen invited myself and Luke over to try out the new vendors that are serving delicious food within Trinity Kitchen at the moment and I thought that today I would tell you all about it!

(Sorry if the pictures aren't great. I did these on my phone due to the weather being difficult to understand like normal British weather, I decided not to bring my DSLR.) 

If you havent heard of Trinity Kitchen then let me tell you all about it. Trinity Kitchen is an open plan food court within Trinity Leeds that serves a plethora of food from different cultures such as Vietnamese food from Pho, Italian Pizza's from Pizza Luxe, Mexican food in the form of Tortilla and much more. Every so often, Trinity Kitchen like to bring in six different street food vendors to give variety but to also ensure that new businesses are getting exposure

The five new vendors that are within Trinity Kitchen at the moment are Baked In Bricks, Steak Out, Thai Khrim, Persian Kitchen, Sela Bar and Chowdown Streatery. All of these vendors are here for 8 weeks so do go and check them out if you can!

Baked In Bricks

Cooking out of a converted Mini Cooper, so for anyone who wanted a kitchen in their car, it is possible! Baked By Brick deliver the best BBQ Chicken Tikka Wraps and wood-fired Neapolitan style pizza!

 I had one of their Chicken Tikka Wraps which came with your choice of salad which includes vegetables such as Cucumber, Lemon Juice and a choice of either Mint, Chilli Sauce or both. I had it with all the salad and Mint Sauce as I wanted to taste the Chicken more than anything therefore I thought that more spice would take away from it. The Chicken was tender and tasted exactly like lovely Chicken Tikka should do. The Salad added a fresh note against the warm Chicken and that Lemon Juice just gave it such a kick! I loved the fact that it came in a sort of Chapatti style wrap. I think that a couple of these and a beer or two would make the ideal Lunch!

Steak Out 

Meat lovers will be pleased to hear Steak Out is at Trinity Kitchen. Marinated with unique flavours and served sizzling steakhouse style on toasted brioche rolls, options range from The Texan with BBQ sauce and smoked bacon to The Eiffel with garlic mayonnaise and crispy onions.

Sadly, I really wanted to try one of Steak Out's offerings but sadly there was nobody there when I went to the vendor. I'm not sure why but I will definitely try them out when I can!

Sela Bar 

The next place on Trinity Kitchen's guest list is Sela Bar.

Local favourite Sela Bar will also be serving up their famous grilled cheese sandwiches with a range of toppings that will satisfy even the fussiest cheese fans.

Sadly, Luke is weird with Grilled Cheese's for some reason so I thought that as we're sharing then it would be best to stay away from it but they did some amazing Grilled Cheeses including one called Blue Balls which contained Meatballs and Stilton! The name is an odd one but it sounds like a pretty good combination as Cheese and Meat is always good!

Persian Kitchen: 

Persian Kitchen are arriving in Trinity Kitchen for their first residency. Get those taste buds tingling with their delicious Middle Eastern cuisine.

Again, sadly I didn't try this one but I did love the sound of an amazing stews and Middle Eastern food. If you want something to warm your insides up then I would definitely try these guys out!

Chowdown Streatery: 

Chowdown Streatery will also be joining the line-up, offering American-style street food made with locally-sourced produce. Make sure you try out their popular chilli dog and The Chowdown Burger.

I had a wonderful little chat with the owners of this vendor. We talked about all things sustainable and everything about Wales. Chowdown base all their food on being able to get their meat fresh and local to ensure that you know exactly what is going into your mouth. They also do a meal deal at £10 which is good as you're paying for quality not quantity. You can also try their Chowdown Platter which contains a little bit of everything for £10. I tried one of their Boston Burgers and I absolutely loved it! The Burger was tender and delicious and everything that was within the burget made the whole thing sing in the mouth! They also made me a special little cake which was Apple, Cinnamon and Caramel, I believe, and it was delicious! The Apple gave it texture, the Cinnamon gave it warmth and the Caramel added sweetness. I love Cinnamon so I definitely loved this!

Thai Khrim: 

Last on the Trinity Kitchen train is Thai Khrim.

Back by popular demand is Thai Khrim, whose fresh, hand-crafted Thai ice cream served with a mountain of toppings has proved such a hit that they are staying at Trinity Kitchen for the next two change-overs!

The whole process of making Ice Cream Rolls were a completely new thing for me. I decided to watch it whilst it was being made and it honestly looks like it takes many years to perfect this craft! The process included chopping a filling into the ice cream and ensuring that it was flat so it could be rolled up which included cleavers to get it fine as possible. The clanging of the cleavers sent me straight to the streets of Thailand! I had an Oreo and Hersheys Chocolate Ice Cream Rolls with Whipped Cream and a Brownie on top. The Brownie was wonderful and so was the Whipped Cream. The Ice Cream was sweet and had texture due to the Oreos but I think that due to the rolling it had made the ice cream hard which meant it took longer to eat without making an absilute mess of it. It is wonderful though and I do recommend trying them out just to watch the process of making it!

Have you been to Trinity Kitchen lately? If so then let me know what you had to eat from there and your thoughts on Trinity Kitchen! 

Thank you to the amazing staff that invited me to the Trinity Kitchen Supper Club and the wonderful vendors that were amazing when I had a chat with them and for the others that I didn't get to see as they all put in so much hard work!

I hope that you've enjoyed this food based blog post and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

This post is in collaboration with Trinity Kitchen. All views, opinions and ramblings are my own. 

Metamorphosis - Changing From One To The Other | Lush York Revamp Event

Hey!

Welcome to anoWether post! Lush York invited me a couple of weeks ago to the pre-launch to their revamped store so I thought that today I would talk to you guys about what went on during the night of the event.

Metamorphosis Bath Bomb 

On the day of the event, I had an exam before finding Luke at the bus stop (finding because he's normally never at the same place due to wherever the bus decides to stop) therefore I had to run down the hill and find him as soon as my exam was over. We then got the train to Leeds then the first train possible to York. The train was absolutely packed which meant I found the first two seats and sat myself and Luke down on them for the duration of the train journey.

We arrived and weirdly I didn't struggle to get out of the station like I have done many times before. We then made our way to Lush which again, I actually knew where I was going which was oretty amazing as I haven't visited York in about 12 months before this event. We arrived a tad bit too early so we decided to wander on to Starbucks to kill some time so I mainly ended up charing my phone up to ensure that I could do some social media exposure of the event.

We wondered over to the store which was about a minute away from Starbucks and introduced ourselves to a couple of other bloggers who were very friendly. We were greeted by a member of staff and offered a glass of sparkling juice and to help ourselves with nibbles.

We then roamed around and had a little look at the general layout of the store. We were then brought to silence via the staff that were looking after us and was told that we would be shown demos and would have talks about some of the products that were new to Lush.

We were then shown a demonstration of the new bath ballistic at Lush which is called Yellow Submarine which is obviously a homage to the band The Beatles but also it has been available (I think) via the Hard Days Night Spa Treatment which is again based on The Beatles and is only available at the Liverpool Spa store (I think) but this ballistic is shaped like a little Yellow Submarine with a pink tail which whizzes through your bath. This contains Brazillian Orange, Coriander Seed and Lemongrass Oils which sounds like a weird mix but due to the Brazillian Orange and Lemongrass Oils it creates a tropical scent which reminds me of Pina Colada's somehow. £3.95.

After this we had a little look at the bath bombs as a whole and the hair section as Luke has wanted to get into the hair products that Lush have to offer as he hasn't really been encapsulated within it due to the solid concept od shampoos, conditioners and hot oil treatments that Lush sell.

Once we had a quick glance, we were then called over to have a demonstration of another bath ballistic which has just arrived to all Lush stores. This is called Metamorphosis. This is a grey ball with a quirky design on the top of it. When you drop it into the water, it turns the water a sort of black/grey colour but this bomb doesn't disappoint as the bath product has different colours within therefore making the water different bright colours such as yellow and pink... (I think that Lush are loving the Yellow and Pink combo at the moment.) This product has Black Pepper and Cinnamon Leaf Oils and Myrrh Resinoid which creates a Spicy scent but all of these three actually help to calm sore muscles. £4.25

We also had a demo of the new Gourmet Soaps which are different to the other Lush soaps for many reasons but the main two are the texture and the ingredients. The texture is more squidgy compared to say Honey I Washed The Kids Soap or Karma Soap and thats because of the Oil quantity within the product and the oil being from the Slush Fund which ensures the connection between the communties that provide the Fair Trade ingredients that go into the products at Lush, Ro's Argan Soap contains Slush Fund which cintains Moroccan Slush Funded Argan Oil, Lemon, Rose and Egyptian Geranium Oils, Rose Absolute, Red and Yellow Rose Petals. These soaps cut like butter. The other Gourmet Soap is Olive Tree which contains SLush Funded Olive Oil from Palestine. Green Olives, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Cypress, Pettigrain and Rose Oils. £9/120g.

Myself and Luke looked at the new Gorilla Perfume Wall which reminds me of a massive bookcase and I absolutely love it! It means that every different scent has a perfect little section such as Sun having its own section and Karma etc. My only problem is if more Gorllla Perfume Volumes come out with more scents then where will they go? I sprayed a bit of Sun and I remembered instantly why I love this citrus based scent., I also found Kerbside Violet for Luke but I'm sure Luke can tell you why he likes that particular scent.

We then had a demonstration of Scrubee which was a part of the Mothers Day 2017 collection which is a scrub on one side and a moisturiser on the other side but sadly it contains Honey so Vegans can't use it but honestly I'm not sure if Vegans would want to use something that looks like an animal as it slowly dies from you using it... This product contains Ground Almonds and Coconut Shells to exfoliate and Shea and Cocoa Butter to nourish the skin. £6.95.

After this demo, a staff member asked if I needed any help and as I use a lot of beauty products I wanted to ensure I was using the correct things for my skin so she talked to me about my skin and brought over a cleanser and a toner to try out, The cleanser is called Angels On Bare Skin and this cleanser is the best thing for all skin types and was one of the first beauty products that Lush released (I think.) This product contains Ground Almonds and Lavender Oil. The almonds help to exfoliate and Lavender Oil is known for balancing out the sebum oils within the skin which a lack of or an excess of can produce spots and can define whether you have dry, oily, normal or combination skin. It also contains lots of other goodies to help the skin out and Eau Roma Toner Water which helps the pores and contains Rose Water to calm down and soothe skin therefore this is perfect for post shaving or for sensitive skin.

The Lush staff then called us over to try out Sleepy Body Lotion which was a massive sell out at Christmas 2016. This shares the same scent as Twilight which contains Lavender and Tonka whcih helps you to drift off into a natural sleep. I like this due to the fact that it helps you drift off but I cant use this all the time as the scent is quite strong in my opinion.

Once the demonstrations were done with, we roamed around and decided to get a few little goodies. Luke browsed and decided on a couple of Violet based products and if you want to find out what those are then you can find out on his post. I browsed the store and decided to pick up an Intergalactic bath ballistic as I love the colours of the water with this product but at the same time I love the strong scent of Mint.

We also received a goody bag which contained a Metamorphosis and a Yellow Submarine to try, a sample of Sleepy Body Lotion to use and a bottle Pan Galactic Garge Blaster Solid Mouthwash Tabs

We said bye to the staff and made our way back up to the train station and headed home.

Check out all these products and more via checking out Lush's website here.

What's your favourite Lush product? Let me know down below! 

Thank you to the amazing staff at Lush York and the PR staff at Lush HQ for inviting me to the event and for putting on an amazing night and being stars throughout the night. I hope that you have enjoyed this post and that you come back for another blog post.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x