Light Lunch: The Classic Greek Salad

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healthy lunch recipes

Not really a recipe, more an idea. A passing thought. Namely: how amazing is a Greek salad when you haven’t had one in a while? I get sick of feta cheese very easily, especially when I go to Greece on holiday and have it for virtually every meal, but after a bit of a feta hiatus I do enjoy getting reacquainted with it, and I revel in its saltiness against a heap of juicy tomatoes and bitter olives. It’s such an easy, fresh and summery salad and it requires very little in the way of advance thought; packs of feta cheese last for months in the fridge and the rest of the ingredients are pretty run-of-the-mill.

Here I’ve simply halved a pack of feta and broken it with my hands over a salad of leaves, cherry tomatoes, black olives and finely sliced red onion. For me, the red onion is non-negotiable; it adds the bite and excitement that the salad otherwise cries out for. I soak the fine onion slices for a while in some lemon juice, if I remember, which makes them a bit less acidic and burny on the old gullet. Cucumber? I can take it or leave it – usually I leave it. Unless I remember, at the same time that I do the onions, to slice the cucumber lengthways, remove the watery seedy bit and then salt the pieces. Not too much salt, mind – the feta is a salt-fest enough on its own!

medicinal chef

The dressing here was a quick mixture of red wine vinegar and very good olive oil, some might prefer lemon juice and olive oil – I’ve had loads of variations, both in Greece and elsewhere. I sprinkle a little dried oregano over the feta, just to give things a more authentic touch, and I like to season with a few grinds of black pepper.

Note: go for a quality feta, not those weird cubes-in-oil that are of dubious origin! And if you seriously like feta then there are loads of feta-worshipping recipes in the Medicinal Chef cookbook that I keep banging on about. It really is a good one – you can find it here. If you hate feta (Mr AMR isn’t too keen) then you could swap for goat’s cheese, but I’d personally also alter the dressing and mix the olive oil with balsamic vinegar rather than red wine. It’s no longer anything like a “Greek Salad” but it’s very tasty.

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At Last a Face Oil for Acne Prone Complexions

 
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Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil Review

Did I initially dabble with Sunday Riley products because of the Sunday moniker? Most definitely but after a few applications of certain key products, I quickly became hooked and the seemingly novel-to-me name factor, was no longer a selling point. As much as shilling over close to a hundred pounds for one skincare product leaves me feeling cold, I’d only be lying to myself and you, if I didn’t confess that in certain instances it has been worth it. If you have acne prone skin like myself, you know that finding products that deliver without further irritation is an endless battle, so when one comes along, you do tend to be loyal. Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil makes my skin rejoice and my bank balance weep but despite the mixed emotions, it is something I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone suffering from problematic skin.

I love face oils and have for a long time but I know some fellow oily/blemish prone readers, occasionally avoid such medium through fear of blocked pores and of course further pimples. If this is in any way a concern for you, then Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil may be the product you’ve been crying out for. It has been formulated with problem complexions firmly in mind and is of course non-comedogenic (basically it won’t clog your pores), all the while being an all singing and dancing skincare solution.

Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil Review

Typically, most face oils main purpose and propriety claim are to nourish and moisturise the skin; Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil of course does just this, relying on gentle milk thistle and cucumber seed. Great but like I said not entirely out the norm, what sets Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil aside is that it fully caters to blemish prone complexions: it soothes and calms inflamed and irritated skin (chamomile and liquorice extract to the rescue in this instance), using salicylic acid it gently, clears exfoliates and re-balances, and to heal and prevent both future and existing breakouts there is of course a dash of the natural antiseptic tea tree oil in the mix too. If that is not enough with continued use it can help to soften the appearance of fine lines – a wonder oil if ever there was one.

When I first received my bottle of Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil, I was a little apprehensive at first, it did seem to offer too much of a good thing but I was happily proven wrong. As someone with oily skin, my complexion is easily overwhelmed and sometimes standard oils -and moisturisers for that matter – don’t fully absorb, leading the way to blocked pores and break outs; I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly my skin laps this green concoction up and truly, how instantaneous the results were. I can’t say that I have found Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil to be all that wondrous at preventing breakouts but then again my skin is not exactly predictable, however I have found that when a blemish rears its ugly head it quickly disappears (scar free may I add) after a few uses of the U.F.O oil. In the last few months (I began reaching for this around mid-April), my complexion is more balanced and not at the mercy of excessive sebum – even in the most humid of conditions, which is nothing short of miraculous.

Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil Review

I’ve openly stated before I’m not the best at exfoliating and as such my skin can often look dull; the introduction of Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil to my routine has quickly resolved this issue as it gently (and regularly), removes dead skin cells thanks to the presence of salicylic acid.
Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil is a treatment product and as such not something that requires you to apply it daily or even weekly, which sure takes the sting out of the price. The idea is that you only apply if and when needed, at to prevent skin purging you shouldn’t apply anymore than three times a week when first trailing the oil. I have found that if I use the U.F.O as and when needed (but always at least once a week), in conjunction with the Sunday Riley Martian Melting Toner daily (full review here), my skin is at its best without the need of medical intervention which is all I have ever really wanted.
Sunday Riley U.F.O Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil £68 via Space.NK – link.

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How do you define beauty?

 
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Beauty is a word which can conjure a clean and definitive image in our mind every time we hear it. Whether it’s a Victoria’s Secret model strutting down the catwalk, or a bunch of freshly cut long stemmed roses… beauty is a word which can mean many things, to many people.

I’ve had a love hate relationship with ‘beauty’ my entire life and today I wanted to share my continuing journey with what ‘beauty’ means to me, and hopefully hear your thoughts too.

From the age of around 9 years, there was only really one image in my mind of what a beautiful woman looked like. She was a young sophisticated woman, tall, slim, with long blonde hair and a beautiful face. You could say the epitome of beauty in my childish eyes equaled a cross between a real life barbie doll, and the woman I was reluctantly about to welcome into my family as a ‘step-mother’.

As I grew older, my sense of what ‘beauty’ meant to me changed. I had an accident as a 10 year old child which led to me having my forehead scar, which meant that I would no longer fit into my own ideals of what a beautiful woman looked like, or would grow up to look like. Thus meaning, I’d have to work extra hard to become ‘beautiful’.

As a preteen and teenager, I rebelled against the rules of society and along with that, the rules of ‘beauty’. I was what you’d call misunderstood, and looking back, in bad need of reassurance, therapy and to be quite honest – likely just a hug from my parents.

Fast forward a few years and after cutting my long thick brown hair into a jaw length bob, plastering my eyelids in eyeliner and dressing head to toe in black, I did my best to fight against the very essence of my beauty ideology. I skateboarded, sang in a hardcore punk band and thew a few moves in a ‘mosh pit’ which in itself is a slightly beautiful rebellion in a sort of cliche poetic way.

However, it was pretty much the internet which dragged my sorry sullen ass out of beauty black hole, and helped me become confident in my skin. Continue reading →

This Month’s Preoccupation…

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house renovations

This month’s preoccupation is “interior design”. Despite the fact that my house currently has no interior walls and only half of the outside ones (and groundworks on the new part of the house have yet to even begin), I am sat (often for great lengths of time) studying wallpaper samples and dreaming about the day I’ll be able to move back in. I’ll admit that I’m starting to feel a little bit angsty about the whole thing; the timing is, to put things mildly, unfortunate. It’s debatable whether we’ll be back in the house for my baby due date and so I’ve been Googling the birth centres that are near to my parents’ house in Worcestershire, just in case we end up having to relocate! (We get kicked out of our lovely temporary barn accommodation in mid-May and there is nothing – nothing, I tell you – available for short-let.)

house renovations

So. Not ideal. And I’m taking my mind off it all by putting carpet samples on the floor and testing the softness (!) and looking at ridiculously-priced wallpaper. (élitis, anyone? Dear God. Extra mortgage.) I will be back to full-throttle beauty testing and makeup-filming next week, once I’ve purged myself of the whole Interior Design Bug. I keep meaning to do a little video about my house project, but so far every time I’ve been back the builders have been there and I am not parading about talking to a camera like a complete tool.

Oh, by the way; the paint swatches on the wall in the top photograph are from 1969 when the house was built. Look at those amazing colours! No “Magnolia” or “Mole’s Whisper” for those crazy sixties kids!

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Christmas SOS: Gifts for Men

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present ideas for men

I felt quite bad about leaving you all in the lurch when it came to ideas for men’s Christmas presents; I said in my previous gift guides that I found shopping for men really dull and frustrating and that I wouldn’t be going there this year. But then I sat and thought about it, and realised that if I find shopping for men’s stuff dull, and I’m a shopaholic, what must it be like for people who hate shopping? It dawned on me that actually, the men’s part of the gift guide is possibly the most useful and most-needed section. So here we are – a few ideas. Gifts for men. I’ve tried to straddle (oooh!) a number of different price ranges so there should be something for everyone – and if all else fails, you simply can’t go wrong with a Storm Trooper lego clock. Enjoy – you’re in good time to order most of these things and get them for early next week.

storm trooper lego clock

1) Yes, it’s an alarm clock and yes, it’s a “lego” Storm Trooper. But Mr AMR gave it a thumbs up and so in it went to the photoshoot. I bought this for my nephew, who is six, but it has met with grunts of approval from a whole bunch of different adult men and so it’s a bit of a crowd-pleaser, if only a novelty one. It’s £17.99 from Amazon.co.uk

dior homme face

2) If you have to buy him skincare then make it something that at least looks the part. Dior’s Homme Dermo System looks half-retro, half-space-age and is suitably posh if you have a discerning gentleman to buy for. Mr AMR assures me that this is a really nice moisturiser – “very light and makes your skin feel silky. It slides on easily and doesn’t leave any weird residue.” (And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the most feedback I have ever been able to squeeze out of Mr AMR!) Dior’s Repairing Moisturizing Emulsion is £37 with delivery from FeelUnique.com

3) Just peeking out cheekily in the background is Atkinson’s brilliant Oud Save The Queen aftershave. It comes in a gold bottle shaped a little like a hipflask (the pictures further up show the whole thing) and the scent is woody and manly without being too obvious. It’s a great one if you want something a little more quirky and different. It’s £140 at Selfridges.com

rose shaving cream

4) I now buy my Dad a pot of Rose Shaving Cream every Christmas – he loves it. It’s a proper treat and makes for a professional, smooth shave and it smells gorgeous too. Taylors of Old Bond Street do a number of different scents, Sandalwood is also beautiful. I get mine from FeelUnique.com – it’s £8.95, which, when you think about it, isn’t too much more than some of those awful ones you get in the tacky gift sets!

fornasetti camdle

5) These are no ordinary candles: Fornasetti (shown front) and Cire Trudon (peeking in at the back there) make some of the finest candles in the world. And the reason I’ve featured them here is not that they look particularly “masculine” but because the fragrances are always so dark and sexy and spicy. Men, in my experience, don’t tend to comment on candles but whenever I have one from either of these brands burning in my house it always draws a little compliment… The Fornasetti Malachite candle is exclusive to Selfridges.com and costs £110 but is a bit of a showpiece in terms of the packaging and presentation – Cire Trudon’s Gabriel is the most beautiful, woody, musky candle and costs £65 at Net-a-Porter.com. The annual candle video will be up early next week, but if you want something really special to kick off your festivities then grab a Cire Trudon, I promise you won’t regret it!

l'occitane cade shaving

6) l’Occitane have a lovely and very smart shaving range. I like the Cade shaving cream which is rich and sumptuous and the Plisson shaving brush, which comes boxed and looking nice and classy. You can find the whole range online here.

tom ford oud wood

7) Sorry, back to the pricier stuff, but this is a bit of a winner. Tom Ford’s Oud Wood has earned itself a bit of a cult status and its spiciness and woodiness is quite universally appealing. Though it is expensive, so always good to try and get a sniff in before you buy! If you feel like a bit of a risk then you can order online at House of Fraser – it’s £142 for 50ml.

sonicare toothbrush

8) The absolute King of Toothbrushes – if ever a toothbrush could be sexy, then this is it. It also happens to be incredibly good. It comes with a glass mug that charges the unit, a carry case and spare head and also (if I remember rightly?) some kind of USB charging cable. Mr AMR literally raves about this and I think that it’s a top gadget recommendation. It used to be about £250, but it seems to be a lot more affordable this year. I’ve found it at John Lewis for £99.99 and on Amazon it is £94.99 with free delivery here.

miller harris wood

9) Finally, a very sweet little collection of three scents from Miller Harris called Wood. A nice way to try some new fragrances and I like each and every one of these – really quite delicate for men’s scents and unusual enough to keep you coming back for more. If you’re trying to steer clear of the “mainstream” aftershaves then – again – these are something just a bit interesting and quirky. The set costs £60 – I bought mine from FeelUnique.com and have yet to decide who the lucky recipient will be…

Hope that helped – do take a look at the other Gift Guides for more inspiration!

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