When I first looked at Mega Fancy Dress‘ website, I was very impressed with the range of fancy dress available. I’m not sure how many hundreds of costumes you can buy but they are all neatly categorised along the left hand side of the site, making searching for the perfect costume extremely easy. They are listed in accordance to gender (mens, ladies, kids) then sub-classified into groups such as 1960′s, Halloween, Christmas and Disney. They really do have an inspiring range – whatever the theme you have plenty of choice and even supply outfits for hen and stag do’s and group outfits (e.g. scooby doo and shaggy). If you just want a wig or a pair of specs they can be found here too and the make-up to complete each look is available on the site too. They also stock XL and plus size costumes.

I wanted a Christmas outfit for my son so after careful consideration I settled on a snowman outfit. It arrived really quickly and contained the full costume – trousers, jacket, bet, scarf, hat and a carrot nose (I couldn’t get him to wear the nose!). It’s made from a lovely soft felt and he wore it all day with no discomfort (though the hat and scarf didn’t last long either but then he looked like a little judo student which was equally as sweet). I washed it after it had somehow got chocolate smeared all over it – the chocolate washed out easily and it dried in the tumble drier with no shrinkage. The only criticism I’d make is that the trousers are really really long – about twice as long as they need to be but I told myself that this was OK because I could dress him up, with a white jumper, as a snowman for many years to come. Or I may just shorten them myself before Christmas.

I’d recommend Mega Fancy Dress and will shop with them in anyone would like to invite me to a fancy dress party – I’ve got my eye on the Vodka Geisha Girl and the Burlesque Santa ones. Anyone?

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

Since rescuing my dog almost four years ago now, I have been at the mercy of the elements, twice a day every day. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dog and enjoy the exercise, but some mornings, when you have to leave a nice cosy duvet only to have your face and thighs lashed by the icy winds outside, the walk is not really the nicest thing in the world.  I have searched for and bought many coats but have never found the perfect coat that keeps me warm and dry and is easy to walk in. Until, that is, this week. When I searched the Lands End on-line catalogue for coats, what I first noticed was that they made it very easy to find what you are looking for. They have a set of options along the left hand side of the screen let you select regular, petite, tall or plus, so that you don’t have to find a coat then discover it’s not in your size, because that is always annoying. You can then select your fabric property, such as water resistant, waterproof and wind repellent. You can select the temperature rating (min warm, warm, warmer and warmest) and the length of coat (e.g. hip, below knee, knee length). I loved this feature because Lands End make so many coats that you could spend all day browsing them – I still managed to spend quite a bit of time deciding on the perfect one.

I wanted a coat that was warm as warm could be, that was very long so that none of my legs would be exposed and that would keep me dry too. I finally settled on the Down Long Chalet Coat (only currently available in petite and plus). It is filled with goose down which is supposed to be a really good insulator. It has a hood that is removable and when I sunk my hands into the pockets they were lined with the softest fleece ever, as were the cuffs. It came at an excellent time of year for bad weather and I have had the opportunity to test this coat in a wide variety of  conditions, from driving rain and wind to icy coldness and a milder damp day today. It has amazed me. On the rainy windy day I used the hood, and it managed to not only stay up for the duration of the walk with no adjustment or tugging (hoods often fall down when walking, I have found, or flop in your face, or generally don’t stay where they are supposed to) but it also comes far enough forward on your head to protect your glasses (if you wear them, which I do) from getting wet. The rain just seemed to roll off the coat in droplets and it dried quickly and easily. In icy conditions I felt snug and warm and the extra length of it protected my knees from the cold (you could even get away with walking the dog in your pyjamas and nobody would notice).

It is so light that you don’t feel restricted as you walk and even though it is advertised as water resistant not waterproof it kept me dry, including the areas that my baby backpack touched it, and I thought that having something touching the surface of the coat might let in water.  With two zip pockets on the outside and two zip and one Velcro pocket on the inside, there’s enough room for your doggy knick knacks.  It is machine washable at 40 degrees and tumble dry-able on a low heat with tennis balls, so if necessary you can wash it after the evening walk and it’s dry again for the morning. It still looks deep black and brand new as well, and I think it will wash well in the future.

As this seems like my dream coat, I though I’d suggest one or two modifications to turn this from the perfect winter coat into the perfect winter dog walking coat. The trespass coat that I was wearing before this came along had a zipped mobile phone pocket along the seam just near the zipper, sort of lower chest level. I miss this feature. A good addition for a dog walker would be a loop on the bottom of the outside pocket area that you could clip your poo bag dispenser onto. Plus, and this would probably be quite hard to do, but my super-ideal dog walkers coat would contain some high vis reflective strips on the front and back, maybe poppered or Velcro-ed on, so that they could be removed for everyday use, if for example, you wanted to wear it for the shops.

The only small downside is that Lands End promised me a two hour delivery slot, which I didn’t get – the delivery e-mail stated that it would be delivered between 08.00 and 18.00, which is a bit of a pain because you have to wait in all day. But their delivery company is not Yodel or HDNL, so at least you are kind of guaranteed that it will actually be delivered on the day that they say it will.

It’s an expensive coat, but worth it – you could pay a similar price for a high street coat that is nowhere near the quality of this. It is really warm, can battle through all weathers and I’d expect it to last a good decade or more. The fabric seems strong, you don’t have to dry clean it. I’d been envying my sons all in one snow-suit but now I am as warm as he is when we are out in the elements. An excellent buy and I would highly recommend it.

 Snug!

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

I first thought that this would be a nice novelty gift, maybe if you were playing secret santa or the like and you wanted a bit of a fun present for someone in the office who likes to travel. I unpacked the globe and followed the instructions to install the batteries (not included, not a great plus point in my opinion). The globe seemed terribly fragile, it was made up of interconnected bits of plastic but they felt very flimsy and I was worried about snapping them.

The idea of the gift is that it is a globe that sits on top of its base and when you put one of the magnetic vehicles onto it, it spins and plays a tune. I unwrapped a car and put it on the globe. The globe did not spin, but it started playing the most godawful tune and making a repetitive brumming noise. I tried the aeroplane and the boat on it to see whether it would spin as expected but nope, they just sat still and made loud annoying noises.

Bear in mind here I am the mother of an almost two year old and am used to plastic object making loud noises. I left him to play with it for a moment while I went out of the room and he came and fetched me and told me he wanted me to make it stop. This demonstrates the annoyance levels that the globes noises made – even a two year old couldn’t stand it.

It was given to me to review under the heading ‘inspiring stocking fillers’ by ideasbynet.com. If you are involved in an office secret santa and get to buy a present for someone you truly hate, then this is the gift for you. Otherwise, don’t buy it, or you may find it shoved somewhere on your body where the sun doesn’t shine by boxing day.

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

I was interested to try this new toothpaste – I have good strong teeth but as I get older my dentist has been telling me that my teeth are gettinga bit worn down. This new toothpaste not only promises fresher breath, which of course we all want, and also a less abrasive clean. The packet claims that it contains ‘clever chemistry’ that fights ‘bacteria and odour causing compounds’ the can hide all over your mouth. In fact it claims to destroy 99.9% of bacteria, which has to be a good thing, I think (with my complete lack of chemistry or dentistry knowledge).

It is a quite a different tooth brushing experience. It doesn’t contain any sodium lauryl sulphate, which is a common skin irritant and found in lots of bathroom products, as well as floor cleaners and engine degreasers, albeit in higher concentrations. I have a very sensitive skin and have recently been made aware that this substance could be irritating me – it makes your soaps and toothpastes foam up, and cuts through grease. Because this is SLS free, it doesn’t foam up the way that your usual toothpaste would and although this was a bit odd, I really do prefer not having a mouthful of minty foam. On the subject of mint, I am really not that keen on the flavour mint, but retarDEX is quite mild so this was another plus point.

I have used it for over two weeks now and I love the clean feeling that it gives my teeth – they really do seem cleaner and after brushing my mouth feels clean but not overpoweringly minty like some others. The clean feeling really does last all day, too. It claims to whiten teeth in two weeks but I can’t see any difference in mine but then I do drink a lot of tea, and I love my tea very strong. It is also not that clear why you would want a fluoride free toothpaste because I was under the impression fluoride was a good thing for teeth but I couldn’t find any information about this on their website.  They also do a version with flouride,as well  though.  The only downside is the price – a whopping £8.12 at boots, or £6.94 including delivery from the one click pharmacy online. I would probably not spend that much on a toothpaste myself, being on a very tight budget (but I will look out for it on offer), but if you are a bit more affluent and want to free your mouth from nasty chemicals whilst giving yourself a nice white smile and fresh breath, then I would thoroughly recommend this product

Disclaimer: The product was sent for free. I was not obliged to write this post and the opinions expressed are all my own.

**EXPIRED  2011**

As a special gift for you all I’ve teamed up with my friend Sandra at Thinking Slimmer to bring you a fabulous  ‘Keep The Pounds Off Over Xmas’ Slimpod download worth £29.99. It will mean you can eat, drink and be merry this Christmas without having to worry about your waistline.

Slimpods are special voice recordings which use a unique hypnosis method to retune the mind to eat less. You listen for just 10 minutes a day and don’t need to diet or count calories.

Sandra, a Harley Street hypnotherapist,  says: “You’ll still be able to enjoy yourself but the Slimpod will make you want smaller portions of everything. No matter what diet you’ve been on before Christmas, our Slimpod downloads will look after your waistline for you.

If you’ve been following this blog, or following me on twitter, you will have heard about how much weight I have lost this year, and how easy it has been thanks to Thinking Slimmer.  The only way I can describe Thinking Slimmer is ‘magic’, but don’t just take my word for it, go to the website and see what others have to say and download the free mp3 and try it for yourself.

“The great thing is there’s no willpower involved. You get on with enjoying Christmas while your mind gets on with controlling your weight.”

Mother of two Alison Segal, from Eastcote, Middlesex, used the Slimpod last year and lost 24lbs in three months.  “I’m really looking forward to Christmas and the party season again now that Slimpod has transformed my life,” she says.

“For the first time I don’t have any qualms about feeling hungry and eating Christmas pudding and mince pies. With a Slimpod I didn’t feel tempted at all last year and Christmas was brilliant.”

A Xmas Slimpod MP3 download can be yours instantly if go to the Thinking Slimmer Facebook page and click the Like button. You will be shown a special code which gives a 100% discount at the ThinkingSlimmer.com checkout on the ‘Keep The Pounds Off Over Xmas’ MP3 product.

You will also be entitled to free VIP membership of the Thinking Slimmer club, with no obligation to purchase anything, as well as full online access to over 450 pages of articles and videos on food, fashion and fitness. There’s also a recipe club with pages of healthy meal ideas.

UPDATE 18/12 – Sorry that some of you have had problems accessing your free slimpod – try this, which should work:

Go here: http://www.thinkingslimmer.com/Users/ecommerce/productlist.aspx?catid=4&searchString=

Click add to cart, you will then see two options, one for the cd (which is not free) and one for the freebie – put a number 1 in the box near the freebie and click add to cart, then follow the instructions to proceed to checkout.