REVIEW: Rock of Feather

Rock of Feather are a new jewellery brand helping to put the ‘Yum’ back into Mum!  Their aim appeal is that their lovely looking pieces are 100% safe for babies and toddler to pull, chew and drool over but at the same time they are imaginative and stylish to help us Mama’s maintain, and potentially, boost our sense of style.

Just because we have children, doesn’t mean that we should sacrifice our fashion sense.

The range provides a variety of options for you to choose from.  They include unique options that include the natural and chic Kittiwake necklace, the sultry NightJar necklace and the small but perfectly formed Hummingbird bracelet. I love the range of bright colours that the Mockingbird necklace comes in.

We were lucky enough to be asked if we’d like to review a piece for them and I jumped at the chance. I don’t consider myself very fashion forward or actually even slightly fashionable so I was incredibly interested in the options and decided upon the long length NightJar necklace.

I know it’s the little things in life that make me happy but I thought that when the necklace arrived, the packaging was just gorgeous! It really would make you feel a little bit special when it comes through the post, and what Mama doesn’t deserve that!?

  

The design is lovely, and I thought it was a great touch that the diamond on their logo is included in the beads. All of the beads are 100% silicone and tested to EU safety standards and are PVC, BPA, lead and phthalate free.

Now, the important stuff… how does Sprog feel about it?! Well, other than wearing it himself quite a lot, he seems to really like it.  The texture of the beads is something a bit different and has made him very inquisitive about it.  He’s also had a chew on the beads (almost like a teething comforter) and they are very well secured and fastened with no risk of them falling off.  Capturing this experience on camera has not been an easy task as anyone with a toddler will attest, they move pretty damn quickly!

I can imagine that for a little babe these necklaces are absolutely perfect.  As you feed, the NightJar in particular, is a great length for them to fiddle with if they like to keep their hands busy.  It something that would be handy for the teething tot too as the beads are very chewable… I may or may not have given them a go myself! And at the same time, it doesn’t feel like you are wearing ‘mumsy’ jewellery but actually something which is fashionable and versatile.

*I was sent a NightJar necklace from Rock of Feather.  All opinions are my own*

You can have a look at the full range of products at Rock of Feather

 

No plastic bags with My Buddy-Box

I like to think of myself reasonably environmentally friendly, no doubt I could a lot to improve though. We do recycle a lot of our household waste and we use some cloth nappies, although not full time. We don’t throw away much food at all and we are pretty good with putting more jumpers on before using the heating. Although we did recently find out that we’d had the emersion heater on for the entire 5 years since we moved into our house!! Who knew?!

When I offered the chance to work with MyBuddy-Box I was extremely intrigued by the product. These boxes provide an improved, permanent and reliable way of transporting groceries but it is much better value for money than any bag for life, hessian bag out there. These boxes not only have thousands of uses but will last for decades with constant use.

So who better to put this to use than a family with a toddler?! Toddlers are great as a way of testing out the durability of products. So whilst we were making dinner one evening, I let him loose on it! And Sprog’s verdict is that it works extremely well as a toy car. He also loved carrying it around in what I’ve been calling ‘briefcase mode’!

It was after this however, that I realised that the box has sections which slide over the edges to strengthen the places where it folds down and that did please me. I had been worried about it would maintain a strong shape whilst loading it at the checkout but it turns out that I hadn’t looked carefully enough.

Here’s a few of the practical uses that I have found for MyBuddy-Box. I used it, rather successfully, to bring all 60 of the exercise books home that need marking over half term, plus some assessments too. I really like that the handles have a bit of padding on the top so that as I’m carrying the box it isn’t cutting into my hands too badly.

 

I also tried it out at the supermarket and found it great for picking up a few bits and pieces. It was so easy to put everything into the box, Sprog is particularly keen to help with this, empty the box onto the checkout, reload the box and put in the car. All whilst feeling a little smug that I had not used a single plastic bag! I’m not sure on the practicalities of using it to do a weekly shop though as I’m not sure how well they would stack up in the trolley after checkout.  They do have handy corner tabs to hold down to help with that so it should work well.

  

I also love a company with a good ethical purpose and these guys are definitely on the right track with this. In October the plastic bag tax comes into force and they want to support us as consumers, and environmentalists, to be able to tackle that in the most sensible ways.

I was disappointed to hear from them that the supermarkets that they had approached were not interested in the product at this time. I can’t really understand this. I’m rubbish with plastic bags and bags for life. This we offers me a much stronger solution, particularly when buying bottles of squash, cartons of milk and the gallons of wine (ahem, only in my dreams) from the supermarket to the car.

I think my only criticisms of the product are that when it initially arrived, I saw the design and aesthetically it’s really not very me. But a quick stop at the website later, and I realised that there are many more designs including one which looks like a wicker basket (much more me!) so I was completely reassured by that. I also worry a little about the £14.99 purchase price of it as I do wonder if busy mum’s and dad’s will be able to justify that amount of money. However, we must remember that this product will last for years, it is hard wearing and incredibly practical so without my cheapo head on, it is a very sensible investment.  They do also offer plain black or blue boxes at a cheaper price of £9.99 and for everyone who uses the code BURGESS at the checkout, you can have free P&P on us!

*I was sent a My Buddy-Box for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own*

Sparkling gnashers!

“Your teeth are looking very white and sparkly today Miss” No way?!?! What are the chances of this.  I giggled and exclaimed that I had recently been sent some whitening toothpaste to review. This was how a conversation with one of my more observant colleagues the other day – it took the rest of them 3 days to realise that I’d had a fairly large amount of hair cut off at the weekend so you’ll understand why someone noticing my teeth is a big deal!

I had been using White Glo for about a week when my sparkling gnashers were noted. It is an extra strength whitening toothpaste which includes mouthwash.  An odd concept to me as I thought that mouthwash was meant to swirl and twirl in all of the places that a brush wouldn’t reach.  I was also suspicious of the taste.  I don’t really like any flavour or brand of mouthwash so was a little apprehensive.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. After the initial shock from my taste buds that I would dare to use something that didn’t pack an almighty minty punch, the taste is rather tame and that feels ok. The obvious thing that you want from a whitening product is for you and for others to notice that your smile now has a winning flash to it.  My teeth were not particularly discoloured to begin with so for someone to actually note a change, it must be doing something well.  My only compliant with this product is that sometimes I wake in the morning with a very dry mouth as I think the mouthwash element zaps the moisture from my mouth overnight.  A relatively small issue when you could have people actually noticing that you have whiter teeth!

I was sent White Glo to review for OneChicMom.com and you can find more about the products on their website.