Grabbing The Roots Of Great Food | The Potting Shed Winter Menu Tasting

Hey!

Christmas is all about Christmas jumpers, alcohol and food so when The Potting Shed in Bingley invited me to come and try out their new Winter menu, I shouted yes and hopped on the next train from Bradford to Bingley to visit The Potting Shed.

The Potting Shed are a restaurant that are influenced by all things garden-esque with their own gardens. It is the perfect place to be watered and fed in style especially with a homegrown menu that is made fresh on the day via local ingredients. The Potting Shed have a fabulous range of real ales, wines, cool creative cocktails and much more. The excellent establishment has two branches, One in Bingley and one in Beverley which you should go and check out if you can!

Myself and Luke entered Bingley and after some wandering, we found the lovely restaurant, We stepped inside and got to chat to the manager Benji who told us about everything and anything to do with The Potting Shed including their Winter Wonderland which is upstairs. The Winter Wonderland has been transformed into a lovely ski chalet inspired room and is the epitome of magnificent Christmas scenery. He then told us what was on the new menu. I ended up ordering six dishes but in my defense I was sharing them with Luke and I needed to order six to get a taste of what TPS have to offer!

We first ordered a Long Island Iced Tea as Luke wanted to try this cocktail for the first time ever and because LIIT contains a lot of alcohol and boy do I like some alcohol in a cocktail! This cocktail contains Vodka, Rum, Gin, Cointreau, Coke, Sugar and Lemon/ All of the alcohol together with the Coke worked really well together. I loved the mix of Lemon and Orange together. It was super refreshing.

The first starter was Ham Hock Dough Balls. (£4,95) This dish contained Ham, Stuffing and Mozzarella in well dough balls.I love me a good doughy ball. I love how the Ham and Stuffing was against the melting good Mozzarella and Dough ball. The Paprika Aioli that was served with it was amazing! Warming but not pretentious like some dips served with starters can be.

The second starter was Duck & Noodle Spring Roll. (£5.95) This contained Slow cooked Duck and Noddles in a Spring roll casing with salad and a hoi sin dip. I love Duck, I loved Spring Rolls. I liked the addition of noodles in the roll and I adore hoi sin dip! This and the dough balls were excellent starters to have with drinks to catch with some old friends or something like that.

Time for mains!

The first delicious main that we shared was Confit Of Duck. (£12.95) Slow cooked Duck with Sweet Potato Mash, Braised Leeks and a Redcurrant sauce. I loved the Duck but as it is a Confit there were a few bones which I had to awkwardly find a place to put them on the plate. I love Sweet Potatoes but I have never had them in mash form but I loved it! The leeks added a bit of texture and the redcurrant sauce gave it all a luxurious depth.

The Yorkshire Burrito (£10.95) This isn't any ordinary burrito, this is the Yorkshire Burrito and it contained Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Cranberry wrapped in a Yorkshire Pudding with Parsnip Fries and Salad. I love Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry and Yorkshire Puddings so merging them all together into one is an amazing idea in my opinion, It also makes it a signature dish to TPS as I have never had this at any other restaurant before. I loved the Parsnip Fries as they gave a lovely sort of Wintry twist on fries!

Now onto pizzas! Who doesn't love a perfect pizza?!

The Ham Hock Pizza (£9.95.) Slow cooked Ham Hock, Caramelised Red Onions and Goats Cheese. I loved the contrast between the slightly sweet red onions and the tart goats cheese and then with the texture of the succulent pork. Mmm, so good! I've never had Goats Cheese before trying this pizza so I wasn't sure what to expect but I quite liked it,

The Festive Pizza (£9.95.) Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Mozzarella, Brie and herbs. I love Turkey and Stuffing on a pizza, This is actually what I have on Boxing Day. Myself and Luke aren't massive fans of Brie so we asked for it without which I loved. (Sorry, Brie.)

To go along with the pizza's, I had a Honey and Mint Julep which contains Jack Daniels Honey, Mint and Sugar. I have not had Jack Daniels Honey before but I absolutely loved it. Sweet but refreshing. I could've drunk a lot more of these! Sadly. myself and Luke didn't finish our pizzas but the lovely staff member Naomi boxed them up for us which is lovely. Thank you Naomi!

So, there you go, thats most of the Winter Menu from The Potting Shed. There is a few other dishes but I was already very full from the dishes that I ordered so I don't think I would have been able to handle any more fabulous food. Do go check them out!

Do you like the sound of any of the dishes or drinks that have been mentioned above? Let me know down below!

Thanks to The Potting Shed staff for having me and Luke come and review the Bingley restaurant. Amazing staff!

I hope that you have enjoyed the content and photography within this post and I hope that you come back and read the next post.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This review was paid for via the PR. All views and opinions are my own.

Giving For Christmas | Men Rocks For My Beardy Beloved Giveaway

Hi!

This is going to be a short post! I hope that your first day of December is going well and that you have opened your advent calendars whether they are beautiy based, chocolate based or filled with anything else that is amazing.

Whilst I was sorting out things for all three of my gift guides which has taken a while, I was kindly sent a gift set from Men Rock. I always try to include brands that I love the sound of or already love within my blog posts so I also asked if it was possible to do a giveaway as I think that it is great if you get the chance to get something from a gift guide,

Today, I am giving away an For My Beardy Beloved Gift Set (worth £30!) This beautifully boxed beard kit contains everything a beard enthusiast needs to keep his beard in tip-top shape. The kit includes both a Men Rock Awakening Beard Soap a lovely Men Rock Awakening Beard Balm and some gorgeous Men Rock Awakening Moustache Styling Wax. It's everything you need for perfect whisker formation and comes gift boxed.

All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this page to have a chance of winning! 

The T&C's include following both my Twitter account & Men Rock's account and tweeting that you have entered the giveaway are mandatory. All other forms of entering via the Rafflecopter form are optional but they give you a better chance of winning, You also have to live within the UK. The giveaway will finish on 1st of January 2017 at 00:00. If you do not fulfill any of these T&C''s then the prize will go to someone else. As this competition prize is being sent via Men Rock's PR, it is their responsibility to send it to you and not mine. 

This gift set is an amazing gift for any guy that loves his beard this Christmas or a great gift for yourself if you want to keep your beard in beautiful shape. 

I hope that you enter this giveaway and good luck! 

Thanks for reading this little post and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading! 

Happy 1st of December!

Jamie x

Puckering Up For Gift Gifting | Beauty Christmas Gift Guide 2016

Hey!

I know that I have left my gift guides to a bit of a last minute this year but I thought that I would still release them in case you're still looking for some presents to purchase and give to people. I am going to be releasing three of these guides. Beauty, for men and for women just because I think that covers most things in my opinions. I obviously don't have children so I'm not sure what I'd suggest to buy for children. I'll stop with the rambling and get on with it.

I'm going to start off with something that has been booming within the last month or so. The DHC Beauty Bento Box has been flying off the shelves and if you can get your hands on it then I would definitely sugget snapping it up for someone who loves their skincare!

The set contains 2 sets of DHC Revitalizing Moisture Strips for Eyes which does a plethora of things such as cooling and soothening the area that it is applied to. The beautiful box also contains DHC Deep Cleansing Oil which gets rid of every trace of makeup without making the skin feel greasy and an array of other products perfect for the beauty lover within your life.

A beauty gift guide by Jamie wouldn't be a beauty gift guide at all without a little mention of Lush. I thought that I would mention a few things that would be superb for a Secret Santa or for that Lushie in your life.

Christingle Body Conditioner is perfect for someone who loves Mint/Mint scented products. This conditioner has two types of Mint Oil's so it is definitely strong on the Mint but also contains Jojoba Oil and Shea Butter which ensures that it is nourishing for the body. Christingle works via being smothered on the body then left on so it can stimulate the body which works via making the body slightly 'tingle' then it can be rinsed off. Once you have done this, you will be left with soft skin!

If you know something that loves all things colourful then I have the perfect suggestion for you. Northern Lights Bath Ballistic. This product contains Ylang Ylang and Jasmine which creates a sweet floral scent when it is dispersed into the bath. At the same time, this ballistic unravels and bursts out sparks of yellow, blue and purple which dance around the tub. The other product that I would pair with this is Shooting Stars soap which as you can tell from the name looks like a shooting stars with many different colours merging into each other. This has the scent of Lemon and Limes which smells so good when the rich sickly scents become a bit too much in the Festive season.

The next pairing is for those who are addicted to Snow Fairy. If you don't know what the infamous shower product smells of then the best way to sum it up is a cross between candy floss and pear drops. This year, Lush have decided to stock 1kg bottles of this product in all stores so you can either just buy the Shower Gel or you can team it up with something like the Snow Fairy Conditioner which works in the same way as Christingle except it doesn't tingle. Doing this would mean that you get double of Snow Fairy!

The last pairing of lovely Lush products are Bubbly and Golden Wonder. Bubbly is a thick shower gel which smells like a Bucks Fizz via containing White Grape, Orange and Lime. It is a wonderful product to use first thing in the morning. Golden Wonder is a product that shares the same scent but is for the bath. It takes 7 days to make a full Golden Wonder due to the layers and turns the water a brilliant blue colour.

Continuing on from Lush, I will mention The Body Shop (if you want to know my detailed opinions of the Festive range then click here.) The Body Shop do some amazing gift sets which contain things such as their new Superfood Face Masks, Oils Of Life range and much more. If you live near Leeds or London (I think) then you can go into store and create a personalised body butter for someone that loves body moisturisers. I think that this is perfect for Christmas as no one else can get this!

The next thing that I am going to suggest is mainly one for the guys that adore their facial hair. Men Rock stock some amazong products for keeping facial heair intact and I think that this For My Beardy Beloved Gift Set is an amazing present for beard aficionados. This set contains some beautiful Awakening Beard Balm, magnificent Awakening Moustache Styling Wax and and some amazing Awakening Beard Soap.

(I didn't get a picture for this). If you are shopping for someone who likes to shave then I would suggest Cornerstone. Cornerstone create razors that have whoever it is being given to's initials engraved into it which makes for an excellent gift. You can also get things such as facial wash, shaving gel, post shave balm and much more at Cornerstone. It's such a personal gift to give even if it's to yourself!

If you want to treat yourself or know someone who loves a good fragrance then I would urge you to get a fragrance from The Library Of Fragrance. They stock every sort of scent such as Pizza, Sex On The Beach, Pumpkin Pie, Rain, Grass, Jasmine and much more. If you want to have a sniff of some before you purchase them then you can do so by going to your nearest Boots store.

The last thing that I am going to talk about sadly doesn't contain images. It's time to talk about makeup!

The first thing that I am going to talk about is Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner which is now available in the UK via Debenhams! Foundation is the base of facial makeup so I think giving someone who loves makeup a good foundation can make them so happy. I would suggest Estee Lauder - Double Wear Stay-In-Place Foundation SPF 10. If you want to get someone a good eyeshadow palette that will make them feel festive but can also be worn during anytime of the year then I would recommend getting them Urban Decay's Moondust palette as it is so sparkly and can add some glitter/glamour to any look. If you want to go all out with the lips then I would suggest getting some goodies from NYX which you can get via Boots such as NYX Professional Makeup Cosmic Metals Lip Cream. I especially love Electomagnetic & Ultraviolet.

Will you be purchasing any of the products mentioned above? Will you be sharing this post to any of your friends or family so they get the hint and get you something for Christmas? Please do let me know down below via commenting.

That's my beauty gift guide done for this year. I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I hope that you come back to read the rest of the gift guides! I hope that your Christmas shopping is going well!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This gift guide was in collaboration with brands & PR companies. All opinions and ramblings are my own.

How Much Do Celebrities Get Paid For Reality Shows?

Hi!

Today, I'm talking about how much celebrities get paid when it comes to reality shows which you probably guessed from the title. I thought that it would be a good time to talk about this kind of thing due to I'm A Celeb and Strictly being on and then once these shows finish, Celebrity Big Brother will be back...

I think the best way to do this post is to talk about the statsics which have been brought by Conversations By Her and Cash Lady. If I have the time then I will embed them at the bottom of the post. The three shows that I will talk about are I'm A Celeb, CBB and Strictly Come Dancing.

I'm A Celeb: 

Spencer Matthews (known for his roles of himself in Made In Chelsea & The Bachelor.) ended up controversially being in the media during his time on the reality TV show due to taking steriods and not informing the producers of his intake beforehand. Spencer earnt a whopping amount of over £300,000. Susannah Constantine (known for being a fashion journalist, a designer and for her role of herself in her many ITV shows with costar Trinny Woodall) made a total amount of over £200,000 and the nations favourite Lady Colin Campbell (known for being a writer and socialist) earnt around £70,000.

Celebrity Big Brother: 

Christopher Biggins (who is known for being an actor/a presenter) earnt £150,000 for his short time due to a controversjal conversation earnt £150,000 for appearing on the show. Samantha Fox (former glamour model, singer and actress) earnt an amount of £110,000 for appearing on CBB and made her voice heard on the show and the winner Stephen Bear (known for appearing on Shipwrecked & Ex On The Beach) earnt £12,000!

Strictly Come Dancing:

Favourite to win and Olympian Claudia Fragapane made a successful amount of £100,000 for appearing on Strictly Leslie Joseph (star of ITV's Birds Of A Feather) earnt £25,000 and Will Young earnt the least amount of money on the show due to quitting. He earnt £5,000!

If you want to catch up on I'm A Celeb then watch it on ITV Hub or catch up on Strictly over on iPlayer. I hope that you have enjoyed finding out about how much celebrities earn from reality shows. I hope that you come back for more entertaining posts!

Thanks!
Jamie x

This is a collaborative post.

Sniffing The Scent Of Baking | Library Of Fragrance Review

Hey!

Welcome to another blog post! The Library Of Fragrance kindly sent me some fragrances to sniff and try out so I thought that I would tell you what I thought of them.

The Library Of Fragrance originate from New York City and started out as a company within 1995. Tje company first released the scents Dirt, Grass and Tomato which are still enjoyed today by customers. They then released fragrances such as Gin and Tonic, Sex On The Beach and Paperback. They are sold via their website which you can check out via clicking here or Boots (within the UK) so if you want to check out some of the scents then I urge you to go to your local Boots!

The team from The Library Of Fragrance sent me three lovely scents to review, The fragrances that I got sent were Pina Colada, Pumpkin Pie and Cinnamon Bun.

Pina Colada

Do you like Pina Coladas? Do you like getting caught in the rain? This fragrance is the epitome of the song and definitely smells of Pina Colada! This fragrance contains Pineapple Juice, Coconut Cream and Light Rum which makes an amazing cocktail for the skin. It is a very strong fragrance but I would prefer a strong fragrance that you only need to spray twice instead of a weak fragrance that you'd have to spray 5 times to get the same strength as the 2. It's a great scent to wear within Summer or for when you going out for drinks. The only problem with this scent is that it makes you want a Pina Colada quite badly! I would give this a 9.5/10 but if you don't like Pineapple or Coconut then it might not be for you!

Pumpkin Pie

This is such an Autumnal scent. If you love Pumpkin Spice Latte's or Pumpkin Pie then you will definitely love this scent! This fragrance mainly consists of Pumpkin, Sugar, Cinnamon, Ginger and Cloves, I love all things Pumpkin and spice so this fragrance is a winner in my eyes, This would be a great fragrance to wear on a coffee date and as Thanksgiving is on Thursday, its a great time to buy it! I would give this a 9.5/10 again but if you're not a big fan of Pumpkin Spiced things then it's definitely not for you but there is many other fragrances on tbeir website so have a look and hopefully you'll find something that you love!

Cinnamon Bun

If you love baking then you will love this scent! This fragrance is sweet which evokes the smell of baking but is spicy from the Cinnamon which I think is such a good combination. I love anything Cinnamon so this fragrance is a winner in my opinion. It's just so nice! I think that this would be the ultimate fragrance to wear on Christmas Day! I would give this a 9.6/10 but if you hate Cinnamon then this isn't the fragrance for you.

There's my thoughts on the three scents that I was sent, What do you think of them? Have you ever tried any Library Of Fragrance scents? Let me know down below.

I hope that you have enkoyed this beauty based blogger. Don't forget to go and give them a whiff when you're next in Boots.Come back next time for another post!

Thanks!
Jamie x

A Platter On A Plate | Food Roundup

Hey! I love food and thanks to blogging, I get to review and talk about some amazing places that serve delicious food so I thought that today I would group them all together and tell you about three amazing food establishments. The first one is Friends Of Ham. Friends Of Ham opened up on New Station Street which is inbetween the Train Station and Trinity Leeds in July 2012. FOH started out as a tiny ground floor bar with a 'secret' basement which grew in 2014 as they bought next door and made the establishment bigger to serve more customers. FOH are based on serving you good meat,cheese, beer and wine to the people of Leeds. We were invited to an event that celebrated Leeds International Beer Festival which meant that we got to try some amazing beers that complimented dishes such as Marcella with Paprika Potatoes and a fried Quails Egg and Chocolate and Raspberry Brownie with Chantilly Cream which was delicious! Myself, Luke and Michelle had a blast of time enjoying the different drinks and food and I think that Friends Of Ham is a great place to go when you want somewhere to meet up with friends or for when you want to go on a casual date with someone! Definitely take someone there if they love cheese, meat, beer or wine! Michelle took the pictures for this event. Click on her name to go to her website to check out her other photos.

Chocolate & Raspberry Brownie with Chantilly Cream

 

 

A lot of beer. 

The second place isEpicure. Epicure is a bar near the University Of Huddersfield and serves dishes that contain local things such as Cheeses or Meat and are well known for their selections of Gin. They are also known for their quirky meal names and is definitely worth a visit if you live or visit Huddersfield regularly. I dragged myself and Luke there and sampled some of the food, I had a Grumpy Goat Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and Luke had a different burger with a similar quirky name. I loved the contrast of spice and sweet within the burger and I loved how crispy the Sweet Potato Fries were. We were going to get dessert but we were stuffed and we had to get the taxi to the station and then the train home but I would definitely take a good couple of friends there for a delicious dinner and a good natter.

Last stop on the food train is MOD Pizza. MOD Pizza is an American based company that set up in shop in England earlier this year. They are slowly creating more stores within England such as one within London. They create great tasting pizza's that you can create/customise to your liking. They also create amazing thick creamy milkshakes with mix ins such as Oreo'and Mint Choc Chip. This week, Mod are are celebrating Spreading MOD which is where they will be donating £1 from every pizza sold and giving it to charity which is an amazing concept in my opinion as it's nice to see brands giving back! The Leeds store are donating their funds to Cash For Kids so if you're from near Leeds then I urge you to go to MOD Pizza to try out their food and to help a good cause! Have you checked out these places? Let me know down below! I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you have drooled over some of the food photos in this post. Come back next time for another blog post about some amazing things! Thanks! Jamie x

Buon Appetito! | Gusto Cookridge Menu Tasting

Hey!

I was invited to try out Gusto's new menu a while ago and I thought that I would finally talk to you guys about it.

Before visiting Gusto Cookridge, I had never visited a Gusto before which meant that I wasn't fully sure on what to expect when entering the establishment. Myself and Luke finally got to the building after an entertaining Uber ride and entered Gusto Cookridge in a rushed haze to find out that we were the first ones there... (Ah well!)

We were offered a drink and I went yes straight away as I drink like a fish. The wonderful staff at Gusto Cookridge served myself and Luke a Peach and Passion Fruit Daiquiri which contained Bacardi, Peach Liqueur, Fresh Passion Fruit, Lime Juice and Gomme. I loved it. I love Passion Fruit and things like that and it just screamed Summer on a Winter's night!

Peach & Passion Fruit Daiquiri

The starters then arrived. There were things like a meat and cheeseboard and other things but the favourite starter for myself was the Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad. It was different but so delicious. I know that people think that salads are either just a side dish or are meant for Summer but they can be so versatile and can be carried on into the Winter months using seasonal produce.

The next round of food was all about Pizza and Pasta as Gusto's main influence is Italian food. I loved all of the dishes but if I had to choose a favourite Pasta and Pizza then I would choose the Seafood Linguine and the Florentina Pizza. I love anything that has seafood in and I love pasta so a Seafood Tagliatelie is an amazing dish in my eyes. The Florentina Pizza tasted delicious. It had an egg baked into the middle of it which sounds weird but it was so good and I will have to devour a Florentina Pizza again within the future.

Florentina Pizza

Mains time! I loved all of them! The fish dish which was a Fillet of Cod was lovely. It has so much texture going on just from the fish. I loved it but I think my favourite main would have to be the Fillet of Pork Saltimbocca. It was served with Sage and Tuscan Ham with some marvellous mash and Marsala sauce. I loved the soft texture of the Pork against the slightly thicker texture of the Tuscan Ham. The mash was smooth and delicious.

I then ordered another drink. This time it was a Raspberry and Rosemary Sling. This contained Monkey Shoulder Whisky, Disaronno, Chambord, Rosemary, Apple Juice and Lemon Juice, It was so refreshing but the Rosemary gave it a bit of depth.

Last but not least, it was time for desserts. Basil and Mint Pannacotta with a Plum Compote & Vanilla Cheesecake with Cherries. I'm not the biggest fan of pannacottas due to the texture of them but the Plum compote was so Autumnal and warm. The cheesecake was delicious and the Cherries cut through the richness of it.

That was everything. It was time to go so we said our goodbyes and ordered an Uber back to the train station.

Have you ever been to Gusto? Let me know down below.

Did you enjoy this post about Gusto Cookridge? I hope that you come back next time for another post.

Thanks!
Jamie x

5 Tips On How To Tackle Winter Skin

Hey,

The weathers getting colder by the minute as you can tell from the random hit of snow that has occurred within Britain yesterday. This made me think about doing a post about tackling winter skin because although we wrap up to ensure that we stay warm, we normally forget to ensure that our skin is healthy and protected at the same time.

A stock image of the snowy outside. I got a stock image as I live on a main road so to get a picture of a stationary car on a raod is hard.

1: Water

I know this sounds like a stupid suggestion but drink plenty of water! We are meant to be drinking lots of water everyday however that is not the case! We forget to drink water normally due to the taste so instead we will drink things like fizzy drinks and coffee instead but we need to drink water to ensure that our body which includes our skin is being hydrated everyday which needs to happen in this cold weather!

2: Moisturise Regulary

This also sounds quite stupid but moisturise regularly as if you leave it quite a while then your skin  may become slightly chapped or sore and nobody wants that! Also, purchase a good overnight moisruriser to ensure that your skin is not becoming dry via the coldness of your room at night.

3: Moisturiser

This time of year calls for a heavier moisturiser. Something that will sort your skin out and keep it looking radiant. Something that is thick in consistency and says to help all skin types would be a safe option. I think that a good moisturiser would keep a nice barrier between your skin and the freezing weather. I would also choose a body moisturiser/butter that contains a good variety of oils/butters within it.

4: Exfoliate

Yes, this is another beauty tip! Guess what, this is a post about skin so there should be a good few beauty based tips. This one is about exfoliating as exfoliating helps to get rid of dead skin cells. This means that skin cells have regenerate which helps to protect the skin. I use Ocean Salt from Lush but any exfoliator is good! I also think things like lip and hand scrubs are needed throughout the Winter period!

5: Use Protection!

I obviously don't mean use condoms and such on your skin! What I mean is that you shouldn't forget things like hats, gloves, scarves and other winter essential accessories which will cover you up and keep your skin from drying out quickly! I love massive scarves and beanies!

Do you have any good winter skin tips? Let me know down below!

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you are coping well with this cold weather. If anyone needs me then I'll be hibernating!

Thanks!
Jamie x

The Body Shop Briggate Store Revamp Preview At Lamberts Yard

Hey!

I got invited to an event that was all about the relaunch of The Body Shop Leeds Briggate store which will be open by the time this post goes up so I do urge you to go and have a look if/when you are next within Leeds.

It started off with myself and Luke heading off to Lamberts Yard, a venue that I had never ventured to before, but once we arrived there we couldn't exactly figure out why the doors were not opening so after a good five minutes hmming and a swift tweet from the tap of my fingers we were in.

We walked up the festive inspired staircase's which led to the event space. Once we had entered the event space, myself and Luke were greeted by Annika and Lisa and was told about what was going to happen throughout the event which I will go through with you in a bit more detail throughout the post.

The first thing that I dragged Luke to was the 'watering hole' because I am an animal and I needed a drink due to humidity of the day. At the watering home, there were two drinks on offer. The first one was a Vodka and Raspberry Cocktail which was loosely based on the new Frosted Berries range and a non-alcoholic Apple Sling for the drivers of the night. This drink was based on the new Spiced Apple range that is also a part of the Christmas range at The Body Shop.

Come to watering hole, its where all the animals go to cool down!

We then chatted to a couple of bloggers including Lizi and Lucy. Myself and Luke then crawled like a lion over to the beauty bar where there were demonstrations, expert advice and hand and arm massages going on. I watched the lovely woman apply products to Lucy's arm. These products were to help Lucy's skin out for the cold weather. Whilst that was going on, I had a little play of the face masks that The Body Shop have on offer. (These include a Charcoal mask, a British Rose one, an Acai one, a Honey one and a Ginseng based one. They're all priced at £15 per mask.)

A mixtyre of The Body Shop products, 

Lucy's arm. 

I then grabbed another drink for myself and left Luke where he was stood as a presentation about all of the wonderful things that The Body Shop have to offer was abou to start. It started off with an animalistic version of Jingle Bells which was dubbed Jungle Bells. After this, the presentation was about the details of the new Leeds Briggate store which includes a personalise your own body butter bar, an events space, a complete new layout and a community wall for Leeds.

Body butters that are all about Leeds! Cute panda! 

After this, I found a little stand which had most of the Christmas range on so I decided to use Snapchat to promote the new range, The Christmas range consists of three scents. Frosted Berries, Spiced Apple and Vanilla Chai. These scents cater to everyone as you have a fruity scent, a clean scent and a creamy scent. I tried some of the products including tthe beautiful body butters, the new body gel lotions, the shimmer mists and lip balms.

Let's get wild! 

Frosted Berries contains juicy berries, white flowers, praline and fresh vanilla which creates a sort of fruity pastry tart fragrance, I was a bit hesitant on this as I loved the Frosted Cranberry range last year but I had one whiff of this range and instantly fell in love with it, It's like the Cranberry range but a tad bit sweeter.

Spiced Apple consists of crisp apples, cinnamon, orange and white flowers. This scent reminds me of the Glade Apple fragrance that comes out at Christmas as it's Apple & Cinnamon based. I'm not the biggest fan of Apple scents but I do love Cinnamon and as Orange gives it a slightly festive yet citrus hint, it means that I love this scent! It's just so warming!

Vanilla Chai consists of Madagascan Vanilla, Milk, warm spices and brown sugar. I'm not the biggest fan of anything with a scent of milk and honestly I wished that there was more spices in this for myself as I love anything thats Chai but it is a scent that is sweet and comforting! It kind of reminds me of the scent of Cocoa Butter in a weird way!

We also had some amazing food during the night which included Goats Cheese & Red Onion Chutney Panini's, Salmon and Guacamole, Cheesecake and Brownies. I was a bit hesitant when it came to trying Smoked Salmon and Guacamole together but it really worked! The cheesecake was a bit messy to weird to eat due to it being on a big tablespoon but I still devoured it anyway and the brownie was gorgeous especially with the garnish of cream and strawberry on top of the dense yet decadent treat.

Some of the make up that is at The Body Shop. 

Myself and Luke had a wander around and then said our goodbyes. When we said our goodbyes, the superb staff handed myself and Luke a goodie bag which contained an advent calendar which I'm going to refrain from opening until December and then throughout December I shall be opening the doors of the calendar via my Snapchat (which is thejamiesowden if you want to add it.)

If you live anywhere within Leeds or in the surrounding areas then I urge you to go and check out the new concept store at The Body Shop which is located on Briggate in Leeds opposite Harvey Nichols and Victoria Quarter.

Look at the cute panda! 

Have you tried any of the new Christmas ranges from The Body Shop? Let me know down below!

Personally, I had an amazing time at the event and would like to thank the PR team and everyone that was at the event via The Body Shop for putting on an amazing event! I can't thank them enough for gifting me an amazing advent calendar.

Thanks for reading this blog post! I hope that it has entertained you and hopefully it has persuaded you to have a look at the new ranges!

Thanks!
Jamie x

Fun With Festive Food | Browns Christmas Showcase With Michelle

Hey!

A while ago, Browns Leeds invited me to come along to their Christmas Showcase and find out all about what they can do to help your festivities go off with a bang. I dragged Michelle along which is why this blog post is going up later than expected as Michelle's had to juggle university and editing a lot of photos.

There are so many brilliant places within Leeds such as West Yorkshire Playhouse, the venues that are on Call Lane, Leeds Corn Exchange, The Key Club, Trinity Leeds, Victoria Quarter, the new Victoria Gate and much more but the one place that a lot of people miss is the Browns restaurant that is within The Light Leeds. Amazing architecture, decadent decor and delicious food makes Browns Leeds a great place to visit!

Myself and Luke met Michelle in Leeds Train Station, we decided to do the general sweep of Leeds which includes Lush, Hotel Chocolat, Lindt and other places. We both decided that we were going to wear Christmas themed outfits around Leeds and also to the event to ensure that everyone knew that we were in the festive spirit even though it was September at the time.

We wandered on up to The Light Leeds and we made our way to the majestic Browns restaurant and found the awesome Kellie and chatted about anything and everything for a while. A marvelous member of staff asked me if I wanted a glass of Prosecco which I obviously said yes to and found a place for myself, Luke and Michelle to sit down.

The first canape that was served to us was Turkey and Cranberry Brioche Rolls. This canape basically consisted of a soft opened brioche roll with succulent turkey and slightly tart cranberry sauce. As I said, the Turkey was extremely succulent which I loved as Turkey is great if it's moist and not stereotypically dry. I also loved the softness of the brioche.

Next on the list was Goats Cheese and Sundried Tomato Crostini. Crostini means little crusts which explans exactly what it was. I loved the smooth topping against the slightly coarse crispy bread that it was laying on. I know that lactose is a bad thing for me but I loved the Cheese! It added some depth to the canape.

We then ate Honey Glazed Pigs In Blankets. I love Pigs In Blankets! The fact that they are small means that you can eat more than you should and not feel guilty about it afterwards. Making them Honey glazed also means that they have that sort of sweet/savoury moreish taste. I just loved these and could eat a full plate of them!

Next on the food train was Turkey Sandwiches and they were Gluten Free! I liked these quite a bit and to be really honest I couldn't tell that they were gluten free. I think that these would be really well for like a sort of Christmassy sort of day picnic with fairy lights everywhere and Eggnog and something citrusy served drink wise to go with it.

Then there was Cumberland Sausage & Ginger Cake Stuffing. I love stuffing! I love all stuffing. Say the word stuffing and I will probably love you for it. Stuffing is so good! I loved how the Ginger Cake gave it a little subtle hit of warmth but the Sausage gave it lots of flavour. Again, I could eat these for days!

Now comes the desserts! Who doesn't love a dessert?

There was three in total. The first one was a Brownie and I love Brownies! I seriously love brownies to the moon and back, I love how dense and chocolatey they are. This one was firm but crispy and easy to pop in the mouth. It was delicious!

The second one was White Chocolate Mousse. I'm not the biggest fan of Mousse's or White Chocolate but weirdly I loved this. I don't know if it was because it was in a small portion or if it was the contrast between the white chocolate and the raspberry or something else but it was wonderful. Gorgeous and sweet with the right amount of cream in it.

The last one was a Lemon Tart which is also known to the public as a Tarte Au Citron. It was the right amount of sweet and tart. The lemon against the sweetness of the base was simply divine. I also love the Blackberry and Mint garnish as it gave it an elegant feel. I also love anything Lemon-y or anything with Lemon Curd in it.

There were also two other drinks on offer to consume throughout the night which were Aperol Spritz and Mulled Wine which I absolutely loved due to the spices that were used to mull the wine in. It was my first time drinking it but it definitely will not be my last time drinking it.

If you want to check out Browns Leeds to peruse their other menus such as their normal drinks menu or to have a Christmas party at Browns Leeds then click here.

Have you gotten into the festive mood yet? Do you love the sound of any of the above? Let me know down below.

Thanks to the PR team for inviting myself, Luke and Michelle and the staff at Browns Leeds for hosting the extravagant yet amazing event! I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I hope that you come back to read the next post or some of my previous posts!

Thanks!
Jamie x