Mags this month

Everyone has their weaknesses. Some can't say no to cheese, others find gadgets irresistible. As some of you might know, my Achilles heel is magazines (amongst other things like desserts, books and earrings). This month the I managed quite a selection already.




Ofcourse I couldn't leave the second edition of Jamie behind on the shelves. It's packed with recipes and food related stories, but then what do you expect from Jamie Oliver. It is quite a blokey magazine, with robust recipes and chunky styling. As an import Brit (I'm Dutch/Italian) the recipe I really want to make is: Kick-arse chicken & leek pie. In short a great mag to buy your boyfriend if he's into cooking. BTW I still think that his best series EVER was Jamie at Home. It's just the honesty of food, growing your own veg, cooking with spirit.

I got Easy Living Magazine, mainly because of the gorgeous free Graham and Green bag. It's not big, but it's so pretty.The mag is quick cool actually, it's not as silly as most woman magazines where fashion and sex tips are the be all and end all. I'm glad there are some magazines for woman that have a bit more to them. It's not in depth but it's a good all rounder: home decor, food, health, beauty, etc. I liked the 'Look great in Jeans' idea's page (especially the bright yellow cardy with belt on a dark blue bootcut). The article about mums waiting and waiting for their grown up busy bee daughters to include them in their lives. It was send in by a reader and I think it was well cool of Easy Living to print it.



As a knitter I'm always on the outlook for knitting magazines. I have quite a few now and more patterns I want to make than time to make them. Still the second edition of Debbie Bliss magazine was a no brainer after such lovely yarniness in the first. Again there are plenty of patterns I would love to make, a beautiful orange pleated top is high on the list. White chunky pillows are also very lovely. I got it from Yarnbox where they also have a Zakka crochet book called Kyuuto! translated into English, which I also promptly bought.

Next I got Web Designer a mag that is full with tutorials. I've not been writing on my blog of late as I'm busy building a website for a company. It's a lot of work, cool work, but a lot of it. They want their news section working on WordPress which is the main theme of this months Web Designer. Pretty cool stuff. Who knows, I might switch :O



Then, yes we are not finished yet, I couldn't resist my first ever purchase of Food and Travel. This I flipped through in a supermarket check out line and didn't buy straight away, but I was well impressed and was incapable of not buying it later. Oh I'm so weak. Anyway it has great recipes and reports. Top notch: Lebanese cuisine, use of new herbs (well new to me, example: hot grilled avocado with brown shrimp and chervil butter), a great report of Parma (the place from the ham) and food foraging.

And last, but not least my monthly staple: Martha Stewart's Living. I can only get it at a few places here in the UK, nearby shopping centre Bluewater being the closest. This mag always delivers: recipies, gardening, tips, tricks, flowers, crafts... all the things I like. Martha is still the godess of homemaking. This month there is an article about a wine tasting evening, something I would love to try with a few friends. Great idea!

I'm well happy buying magazines. It's my little treat. Others buy their double mokka chokka bladibla from Starbucks... I buy mags. So many topics and idea's it's like a creative bomb in a few pages. Feel free to comment and let us know your favourite mags.

Protect and Perfect, review 2

In October 2007 I too became a victim of the No7 Protect & Perfect Serum hype. As you can read in my second blog post on the subject, Protect and Perfect, review 1, it did do a good job, an extremely good job considering the reactions. Now I've been using the whole line and I thought an update is in order. If you don't know what all the fuss is about read the other two post first (post 1, post 2)



The Serum
I'd like to start with the star product: The Serum. I give this product an 8.5 out of 10. As we all know it really works (as science has proven). It is a very nice product to use. When you apply it on your skin it makes it soooo smooth. I feel the difference straight away. I do wish it would work all day until crashing into bed at night, but this is not the case. If you have a dinner or go out for the night you might want to use it again. For this reason I substracted half a point. The only issue I have with this product is... sadly enough with the packaging. I've have bought the product three times now and it was packaged differently each time. First I got a tube with a flat top. This was great because by standing it on it's head the product was always ready to use. The second version had a pointy screw top and thus as I used more it was exactly like waiting for the ketchup to decide to come out of the bottle. They tried to sell me this second version again, but thank god they had a glass bottle with a pump. Quite posh the glass and it did work find, but I like the precise controle you get with the tube. You can decide exactly how much to squeeze out. So the first packaging was the best. For all this I substract another whole point. Sooooo if Boots go back to the first packaging they gain a whole point bringing the total score to 9.5... Boots get going!!



Day Cream
A very good overal product. I give this a 8 out of 10, but with a note that it's extremely good value. As far as day creams go this is a good deal. For less than 20 pounds you get quite a good day cream. Yes premium brands are 'only' about 10 pound more expensive, but this No7 P&P cream seems to last and last and last. I can't believe I'm still using a pot I bought months ago. The cream has a good thickness to it and you only need a little to cover face, neck and décolleté. It tends to lay on my skin (combo normal/greasy with sensitve area's too) for a while after applying it. This is not a problem for me as I apply my make-up later. But not convinent. So 1 minus point for this. The when it sinks into the skin it is very good however. The last point to be substacted is (again) because of the packaging. The glass jar is very nice, but the shape is all wrong. Pleasant for the eye, but annoying to use. I believe usablitly should come before looks if you use it every single day.



Night cream
Also a good overal product with a score of 9 out of 10. Almost the same points as the day cream. Only difference is that the night cream doesn't get a point substacted for laying on the skin a little longer. This is because this is a good thing for night creams. They need to be a little rich and be taken up slow. This so the skin can relax and recover from the day. The skins own abillity to recover is phenomonal and a good night cream will help it a great deal. The design of the jar is the only bad point, but if that gets sorted it get 10 of 10, not bad for a night cream costing less than 20 pounds.



Eye cream
Nice, but not spectacular: 7 out of 10. I think I have issues with eye creams... they never really deliver. I tried all sorts. So I can honestly say that this No7 P&P eyecream is half decent. The price, just over 15 pounds, ain't bad. The feel of the cream is good: light and airy. It gets half a point taken off because I like it go sink into the skin a little quicker. And it also gets half a point taken away because of the horrible colour. It's a murky beige. I have no idea why but twice a day I think it weird. That leaves another 2 points that have been taken away and it is AGAIN because of the packaging. And it's 2 points this time because.. well quite frankly the designer of this package should be shot (figuratively speaking ofcourse). They should not be working EVER in design again. Does it suck that much you wonder?!! YES it does. It's the same shape as the big jars, but because it's not big you can't get your finger in properly. So from the very start it's hard to reach the cream. I got fed up with this very quickly so now I use a little flat plastic nutella spread stick. It's one of those plastic sticks you use as a spoon with the individual packs of Nutella you can take away on picnicks etc. Now I ask you how silly is it that I need to use a Nutella stick to get to my eye cream??? Exactly -2 and be glad I didn't take away more points.

Conclusion
Overal I'm very happy with the products. It's very good value for money as the quality is pretty high. The thing that really lets the line down is it's packaging, which looks fine, but annoys every time you use a product. Because it's used twice a day this counts for quite a bit of agravation. Once they sort this out it is as close as you can get to a-brands like Clinique and Lancôme.

Links:
First Protect & Perfect Post
Protect and Perfect, review 1
Boots: No7 Protect & Perfect

Knitting books & magazines

*note: most links are to Ravelry, you can't see page: become a member... Where have you been!! Ravelry is a must!

I've had such a good December, also knitting wise. From mom and dad I got One Skein (finaly) and it's great. At the moment of writing I've got the Petal Bib from the book on the needles. So far I'm really enjoying the project. In the Ravelry que you will also find the bath mat from this book. I spotted this version from eudaemonist on Rav and love the colour. Perfect!


Finally on the bookshelf

In the January sales I picked up 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere, which I made into a lovely soft hat (a post on that project soon!). I also bought the book Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere (as it was less than £4). And I used the Ribbed Beanie pattern as inspiration for my hat. There are many patterns I like in this book. The Moss Stitch Beanie is high on my list as is the lacy scarf.


Soooo luxurious... cashmere! Mmmmmm

I also ordered two magazines from Fibrecrafts (very good service!) and got them just before christmas. First of I couldn't resist the 2007 summer edition of Interweave Knits. The jumper on the cover, the Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke alone makes it worth the money. Also there is a toe up sock pattern, On-Your-Toes socks, I wouldn't mind trying. There is a hat for men (boys) by Kate Gilbert that is very nice, called Syncopated Caps. Very cool looking Spiral Boot Socks, Lacy Yoga Bags and a very pretty Oriel Lace Blouse. In short a lot to knit!


Where to begin...

The second magazine I ordered from Fibrecraft is Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007. This was very lucky as the magazine was sold out everywhere I looked. So having got my hands on this nice mag my to do list could only grow.
My eye first fell on the gorgeous Sugarplum Shrug and Sweetheart socks. Super high on my to do is the Koolhaas hat and the Little Gem Mitts. Gosh and Citrine Socklets and cute Garter Mug Cozies...

All I need now is a bucket load of money for all the materials and even more important: TIME!


Hard to get edition

The Secret & The Law of Attraction

If you haven't heard about The Secret they you've either been living in a cave or been in outer space. It was all the buzz in 2007. However if you don't KNOW what The Secret is, then I can't blame you. It's all a bit vague and unless you actually see the DVD or read the book (listen to the audiobook) it must be foggy as to what this 'secret' actually is. So I've decided to shed some light on the subject and take it out of the ridiculous that it has positioned itself into and into the realm of usefullness. Let me explain.

There once was a woman called Ronda Bryne who was well miserable. Then all of a sudden she wasn't anymore. In fact she got everything she could ever wish for. This was because she found an old book that told of the secret. So she decided to make a dvd and write a book about this secret, sharing it with all the world (well if you pay that is) and make lots of money. Her wish became true because lots of people can't resist a secret.


The Secret...

So what is The Secret. Well, the basic concept is that you get what you ask for. From the Universe that is. So if you are a negative thinker then you get negativity and if you are a positive thinker you get whatever you desire. This is a law, some call it The Law of Attraction (more about this below). You attract things all the time and that is the secret. Now all you have to do is think about what you DO want and you get it... get it?

So I just explained the concept to you in a paragraph, so what else is in this book, 90 min DVD you say? Well not that much. You see the concept is explained again and again and again by various people with example etc. I saw the DVD in September at a friends house. And I came to the conclusion that A. it was a lot of bullocks and B. it wasn't! What I mean is that the general concept was good, but the presentation very American. It reminded me of old fashion shop tv where they used to smile their whiter than white smiles and proclaim: "It's an AMAZIN' DISCOVERY". The Secret falls in the same category. The over the top positiveness makes you gag. See the announcement trailer via iTunes and decide for yourself!

If you follow the instructions of Ronda you will basicly end up like a loony. You have to act as if you already have what you are asking for. This can have pretty funny results... And it might work and you might 'have whatever you want', but another matter of huge proportions will pop up: will you be able to live with yourself? Not many intelligent people like to 'pretend' to be a complete idiot. Please read Emily Yoffe's article "I've Got The Secret". She tried it for two months and used this as a subtitle: "Human guinea pig: Humiliating myself for fun and profit". It's quite funny to read about her experience and informs you a bit more about what The Secret is all about. You can also listen to it.

The BIG problem I found with The Secret is that it's a lot of noise and very little information. And this is where we step away from the hype and approach the very usable basic concept to our own advantage. I got my hands on an audiobook of The Law of Attraction by Michael Losier. Which is also available in print. Where Ronda makes a hype, Michael just simply hands you tools to put in practise this Law (aka the secret).


The good stuff...

In the Law of Attraction Losier describes the concept in a more intellectual way than Ronda. He then proceeds with a four step plan. First you write down what you don't want. This is usually far easier then dicovering what you do want. With the 'don't want' list, you can now easily construct a 'do want' list, which is step 2. Then you use the 'do want' list and start formulating sentences in such a way that it's positive for you.

Example:
step 2: I want to have a healthy body (see blog post Healthy Living, update 1)
step 3a: I have a healthy body
step 3b: I am in the process having a healthy body

3a is negative, as I'm not yet healthy, even though I'm eating right and going to the gym... I've got a long way to go and so this feels like a lie to me, which is negative. 3b is a better way to say it. It is true, I'm working hard on it and so it's positive and inspiring. Next, step 4, is allowing. You will be surpised how hard it is to allow yourself to get what you really want. One example he mentioned struck home with me!

I am Dutch and in The Netherlands people are a bit funny when it comes to money. They can be really tight and really generous. Independence from others is a must and therefor I always felt odd if someone gave me something. Lets say someone wants to buy me lunch. Well I can pay for my own and then there is the feeling of being in depth to this person for such a kind gesture, etc etc. Must better and easier to just say no! Right? Well no wrong. You see if I can't even except lunch from a good friend, how am I going to 'attract greater wealth' (in whatever form: monetairy, health, friendships, etc is all wealth). Two days later my colleague bought me lunch and man did I enjoy it :D


A compilation about Losier and his work.

In The Law of Attraction Losier explains each step in detail and takes the whole concept of The Secret from the ridiculous into the realm of usefull tools. You can even download the worksheets from Losier's website. I'm still working on my 'healthy body' desire statement, but it will soon be complete and I will post it on my blog.

I hope that you now will be able to use 'The Secret' for your own benefit and not miss Bryne's bank account. Don't misunderstand I think The Secret is not bad, just a bit useless... If you want to spend some money invest in the book by Losier. Far more useful. And if you are broke, visit thepiratebay.org for a torrent (only plays in itunes, use searchterm: losier), but buy his book or additional material when you got money from using his advice. It's only fair.

Also see:
Kim Vallee's blog post on The Secret.
See The Secret visualisation film via iTunes
Micheal Losier interviewed by Oprah (radio), a good interview that explains his concepts very well.

Protect and Perfect, review 1

Does it really work?

A while back I purchased Boots' No.7 Protect and Perfect serum for the first time. And as I promised (see old P&P blog post) here is the review. The tiny tube is almost finished and I'm very unsure what to make of it. Let me explain...

I don't see any difference whatsoever. None at all. But seeing myself in the mirror every day might change my objectivity. Maybe I look like a baby but because the change was gratual I don't see it. Seriously I think I look pretty much the same. And this review would have conclude here where it not for an incedent that I must mention.

The Friday after Christmas I was off work, but my boyfriend had to go in and earn a living (as they say). So I walked down to the town center to meet him for lunch. At the end of our rendez-vous we popped into the supermarket to pick up some last minute things, amongst them a bottle of french brandy for the christmas pudding. We wanted to light it up that evening to celebrate new year. As his lunchbreak was nearly over he rushed off back to work and I queued up to pay. And then it happend. The boy behind the till subtely signalled a senior cashier. She came over and asked, very politely and understated, for some id. I grabbed my drivers license mumbling that I was 29 years old! She checked (I pointed out my year of birth 1978 and saw her make the mental calculation) and sold me the brandy. I mumbeled something like 'I guess it's a compliment!' and walked home. Stunned all the way. I was told that Waitrose, the supermarket in question, doesn't sell alcohol to under 21's. So that's a nine years difference. Still it's quite a gap and this hasn't happend to me for ages.

Another event now springs to mind. A new colleague thought I was younger too! She mentioned 25. Again that hasn't happend since I probably was 25. The question now arises... is it the Protect and Perfect serum or just plain stupid luck. I don't think I look younger than 29. Four years off is understandable though, but nine?!


New P&P products...

On the basis of these events I've decided to continue the use of the product and when my old creams are finished to try the new Protect and Perfect Day and Night creams too! Who knows I might end up looking 18 again!

Search for Protect and Perfect product on the Boots.com website to find the new products.