HealGel Intensive Skin Rescue Gel Review

Sometimes just the right thing comes along at just the right time. I was asked if I was interested in trying HealGel Intensive Skin Rescue Gel when I was 4 days into wearing a full leg splint 24 hours a day.

To hold my broken leg straight I'm currently in a full leg splint. While it's actually really soft and comfortable it slips down when you've walked any distance and rubs against the top of your knee. I have no other option but to do at least 1 school run a day, which is a mile there and back. That 15 minute round trip is 40 minutes in the splint and I get slower as I go on. It can get a bit hot if you've been active and the sweat and friction generally makes your skin more sensitive. There's also that thing when you get a hair or a speck of dust caught inside it and it irritates until you can find it and get it out.

 I was delighted to be able to try HealGel. On paper it looked like exactly the thing I might need and I really was full of anticipation waiting for it to arrive. 

HealGel Intensive is an "advanced skin rescue formula" that is suitable for all skin types. They describe it themselves as follows -

HealGel Intensive is a multi-active gel that helps speed up recovery and resolve a wide range of skin problems.

Originally developed to improve the appearance of scars and relieve bruising and swelling, diminish redness and irritation, HealGel Intensive addresses and resolves a whole host of common skin complaints, such as rosacea, acne, eczema, psoriasis, sensitive skin and sunburn too. It’s also a great emergency repair for stressed skin or when you feel your complexion needs a little extra loving care to restore its radiant glow.

HealGel Intensive is a non-greasy colourless gel containing Arnica and Madecassoside amongst other things. It is naturally cooling and forms a protective barrier on the skin while the active ingredients get to work speeding skin recovery and repair, and soothing tired and sore skin.

HealGel does not contain animal products, nor was it tested on animals. Testing is carried out by independent dermatologists on human volunteers.

I first applied the cream one evening, and the next morning I noticed a real difference when I came to put on my second application. It didn't feel so awful to put the splint back on. My skin was generally less sensitive and not at all sore. The top of my knee wasn't even slightly pink. I wouldn't say it was a miracle, but I definitely felt I'd been able to let my skin rest and recover lying down overnight despite still wearing the splint.

You really do only need a tiny amount because the gel spreads really well. It sinks into the skin almost straightaway, and doesn't leave any stickiness, so I can put my splint straight back on. It has a slightly medicinal smell, but that may well be the Arnica, and it isn't at all unpleasant, it's really quite sweet smelling.

I've used it morning and evening most days for the last 14 days and I'm really pleased with the results. My skin isn't sore at all and even though it's been rubbed smooth and shiny in places it doesn't feel overly sensitive. My bone is broken at the very top next to my kneecap and I've damaged ligaments and possibly cartilage, and although this cream can't fix any of that, it's definitely soothed my skin and stopped me having to suffer another symptom. I think by now without the HealGel Intensive I'd absolutely detest my splint.

I'm really impressed with HealGel Intensive. It isn't suitable for broken skin, but in my case that's irrelevant. I genuinely believe it would be great for any dry or sensitive skin. I've used it on my face after I've been out in the wind, and it's really stopped any redness or dryness. As an added bonus my hands are also benefitting from me using the gel. Usually they're sore and peeling because of the amount of time they spend in water and although I haven't purposefully used it as a hand cream - they're smoother and more moisturised than they've been in years!

HealGel retails at £37.50 for 30ml. Although that isn't cheap, a little goes a very long way indeed and for me at least it has lived up to every single promise. I've barely made a dint in the bottle I've been using for the last 2 weeks, it'll last for ages and I'd very happily pay that money for the relief I've experienced so far. As an excellent quality face cream it's very reasonable.

HealGel have a range of 3 products for skin, face and eyes. I've recently reviewed the Eye Gel

Please don't use any products on any injuries without checking with a Doctor or qualified person first. HealGel is not to be used on broken skin.

When the bowling alley closes down just before the birthday party.....

It's true. It really happened. This time last week I was still trying to contact the bowling alley to give them the expected numbers for my son's 5th birthday party that I booked in July. I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone, it was the day before the party and online only gave the same phone number, so at 6pm I sent my partner off to drive over to the bowling alley and check nothing was wrong.

It was very wrong. It was very closed.

Too late to tell anyone at school, and only 3 of the 6 children invited had replied (why do parents do that? Why not say 'sorry, no' if you can't come?). Most importantly I had a 5 year old boy who was absolutely buzzing with excitement and there was no party.

In a panic I rang the next closest branch of 1st Bowl. I don't know what I was expecting. She was polite and clearly expecting calls and had only a postal address she could give me for the company. What the hell was I meant to do with that?

Realising I was not going to get any joy out of them and at this point just wanting to save something I rang the booking line for AMF Bowling who have a branch in town. The woman I spoke to was mortified on my behalf. She was so lovely and desperate to help, but told me there was a 2 week booking period. She put me on hold for 5 minutes and then came back with the best thing she could ever have said. 

"I've spoken to the manager at your local branch and he wants to help. He doesn't have many parties booked tomorrow, so he can fit you in, but only at 11am or 1pm"

Seeing as the original party was booked for 12 noon, 1pm was just perfect. I said 'thank you' many times, cried a bit, paid my deposit and then rang the 3 parents I had numbers for. Talk about a stressful hour!

So on Saturday (via the original alley just in case anyone had turned up) we took our 6 youngest children and 3 friends and gave boy no.3 the best birthday party any 5 year old could ever have. And it really was brilliant. The staff couldn't have been more attentive, we were given loads of time and allowed to finish our game even though it ran over. No-one cared that the little kids spent half the time running around the seats in circles laughing rather than sitting waiting for their turn. There were balloons and singing and cake, and it was perfect.

The teenagers were competitive - the little ones didn't even get it that there was a score!

Even the coloring sheets while we waited to eat were popular!

The food was lovely!

 It doesn't end there though. I hadn't paid for my party myself, I'd won it. I posted on Facebook about the disaster I was having on the Friday night, and this is what happened....

So I wasn't even left out of pocket.

I can't be thankful enough to AMF Bowling for fitting us in and having such an amazingly lovely bunch of people on staff, and to Bury Family Life for covering the bill even though it really wasn't their fault at all.

......And thank you too to the 3 sets of parents who brought their children to the rearranged bowling and didn't mind me posting pictures of their young men on my blog.

No thanks to the national chain 1st Bowl, which didn't bother to let me or anyone else (children in party clothes were turning up for other parties carrying presents when we went past on the Saturday) know that they had closed down that branch, despite having my phone number and email.

Not Going To See The Pixies at the O2 Arena

The Pixies are playing at the Manchester O2 Apollo Arena in November and I'm not going. It's even a week after my birthday, so I'd have the perfect excuse to work out logistics of getting someone to babysit, and go out on our 2nd date in 6 years. I can't really say that there's any other reason for me not attempting to get tickets other than sheer apathy. I'm quite disappointed with myself.

To be honest I didn't even pay attention to the date when tickets were released, and they sold out in 3 minutes, so I probably wouldn't have got a ticket anyway, and that whole panicky 5 minutes is something I've been through several times and it's rarely any fun. It used to be so much better in the olden days when I could walk down to Way Ahead and buy a ticket and the bloke behind the counter would rip it out of a book. It's the same for everyone though, it doesn't matter if you're going to see the Pixies or Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour.

It would have been super-cool to go and see them again though. The first time I saw The Pixies was in October 1990 in Sheffield, long before the O2 existed. I was a wide-eyed 18 year old just embarking on my first serious relationship. I put my hair in bunches and thought I looked really great.

We were up on the balcony and had a fantastic view. The sound really rumbled around the building too. I have those memories instead of making new ones. There are photo's somewhere, but I have no idea where and I can't really remember any of them, it's all just in my head. I think my version is probably in brighter colours and on a grander scale than the photo's would be too...

If you're going to see the Pixies, or any other gig/concert/band then enjoy yourself,  and spare a thought for us because in November, instead of seeing the Pixies, one of us has to chaperone 3 teenage girls to You Me At Six and 30 Seconds To Mars (no, I've not really heard of them either... it was so much easier when they wanted to see Rizzlekicks or One Direction...).

I received a voucher in return for posting a link in this text

Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids: Nuclear Wart DVD Giveaway

I'm delighted to have 3 copies of Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids: Nuclear Wart from Abbey Home Media to give away. 

We think it's a great DVD, it's always good to see people get what they deserve when they behave abominably - especially if it's in a humorous way. Our full review is in this post.

The DVD has a total running time of over 2 hours and contains 11 episodes -

Nuclear Wart
The Ugly Prince
Cat's Eyes
Message In A Bottle
The Dragon Moth
The Long Face
The Kingdom Of Wax
The Spelling Bee
The Flat Pack Kid
The Blood Doctor
The Apostrophic Expositor


Entry is by Rafflecopter below....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids: Nuclear Wart Review

 This new release from Abbey Home Media contains the tagline 'Cautionary Tales for Lovers Of Squeam' and that really does sum it up.

The DVD contains 11 episodes and has an epic total running time of approximately 121 minutes. The stories are taken from a range of modern day tales by Jamie Rix, animated for DVD and narrated by Nigel Planer. Each tale has a warning for children who break the rules or are rude or selfish, or in some other way act anti-socially and then receive their comeuppance!

The illustrations and animation are colourful and modern, and the people are really expressive, pulling great faces and having real character. 

The DVD contains 11 episodes -
Nuclear Wart
The Ugly Prince
Cat's Eyes
Message In A Bottle
The Dragon Moth
The Long Face
The Kingdom Of Wax
The Spelling Bee
The Flat Pack Kid
The Blood Doctor
The Apostrophic Expositor

One of my favourite episodes is The Dragon Moth, this tells us about a boy who never follows the instructions on signs and labels. At one point this has him with his finger stuck up his nose because he picked it after using superglue. It is really funny, and all of the tales are very light-hearted in spite of some of the 'terrible' fates the children face.

I love Brothers' Grimm stories and have read them to all of my children, and this is in a very similar vein, but the modern aspect makes it more accessible for youngsters today. We've really enjoyed this DVD, we really like the Gruesome Tales anyway, so we've watched this through a few times in the past few days.

Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids: Nuclear Wart has a suggested age range of 3-6, but I really think that's too limited because I enjoy them and so do our teenagers. It is released on 7th October with an RRP of £7.99, and is currently available from Amazon for £6.99.

I'm delighted to have 3 copies to give away just in time for Halloween. Entry is by Rafflecopter on this page...

We received a copy of this DVD for review

Crosse and Blackwell Monsters University Jelly Pots

Crosse and Blackwell have teamed up with Disney Pixar's Monsters University and created these lovely new jelly pots.

My boys are excited by Monsters University, and they love a 'treat' for dessert, so these were just the thing to make them feel special.

The jelly pots each come with their own fold out spoon and don't need to be refrigerated, so they're ideal for lunchboxes and picnics or travelling. They are made with real fruit, so they are lovely and tasty, and they have no artificial colours or preservatives, which gives the blackcurrant jellies a really interesting colour, but has no effect on the flavour.

 The Blackcurrant Jelly Pots have no added sugars or artificial sweeteners and are vegetarian, which is really impressive and incredibly rare. All the taste and sweetness comes from the fruit. I tried Blackcurrant myself and it was lovely, not tart at all and plenty sweet enough. We simply don't need artificial sweeteners in everything. The apple however do contain Sorbitol.

The jelly pots taste lovely, really refreshing and cleansing for the palate, an excellent end to a meal.

My 3 and 5 year olds thought these were brilliant, they were incredibly excited by them and ate them in moments. I think we'd definitely buy these again as part of a picnic meal or for when we were out for the day.

Crosse & Blackwell 4 Kids Monsters University Jelly Pots are available in ASDA and are priced at 59p per 120g pot.

I was sent 4 jelly pots to review

Why is my blog full of reviews?

I've hardly had chance to make any personal posts recently. I don't have very much time, but more importantly I don't want to turn into a one-trick depressive 'woe is me' pony (here follows a post about how ill we all are). 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not after sympathy, we're coping and everyone's going to school in clean clothes and we're all still eating mainly sensible meals. It's inescapable though that having a broken leg and a partner who's still recovering from Meningitis is all-consuming. It takes over every aspect of our family and personal life. We can't go places, we can't do things. We're terminally frustrated.

Cooking tea used to take me an hour or 2, now it's taking 3. Sorting the washing used to be a 5 minute job, now it takes me that to get up the stairs and fling the wash basket down, then come down myself. The school run is so epic that I'm spending an hour and a half of my day on it, despite my partner spending his lunch break driving back and doing the nursery pick up for me.

My partner's Mother had a stroke last week, and although she's doing fine, it'd be lovely for my partner especially to go and see her. At 200 miles drive each way it's just not possible for him to drive that far, and I can't drive at all while I'm still in a leg splint.

There are, believe it or not, good points to all of this. Our teenagers are having to take on more responsibility for household jobs that they probably should have been doing anyway really. They're all learning exactly how the washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher work. They're becoming used to having to do chores each day, and taking a responsibility for tidying and cleaning. They're all learning about the importance of doing a 'proper job' because I'm not there finishing off after them.

We've all learnt a lot about mortality, and taking our health for granted. I think that's a troublesome lesson to learn, but one that we all have to face at some point. 2013 has certainly shown us that your physical well-being can be altered in an instant. You can't prepare for it or see it coming, but it throws into stark relief all that drivel you used to think was important.

I promise I'll work harder on the content posts, aside from my 3 month Meningitis update I'll try and avoid mentioning aliments for a while, and I'll make more time to stop and look around me and enjoy what I see. And trust me, I am still smiling....mainly....

Angry Birds Ca-Cool Masks! Book Review

We've been sent Angry Birds Ca-Cool Masks by Top That Publishing and as soon as they saw it my young boys were excited!

As far as I know they've never played Angry Birds, but they certainly know what it is! The book has pages with loads of information about the different characters and my boys soaked it up! We read it at bedtime one day, and made the masks after tea the next, and they knew everyone's name and what skills they had - if only children could learn everything so easily...

The masks are incredibly easy to put together. Each part is labelled with letters, put the letters together or 'through' the right slit and in 2 minutes you have a mask. There are extra instructions to follow to get some of the trickier aspects right. I was also impressed with how well the mask parts came out of the book. We didn't rip anything!

The masks are great quality and really well designed. Loads of the paper fastening flaps 'lock', so the mask is really quite stable and unlikely to fall apart. 

Plenty of elastic is included, plus loads of little cushioned pads which you can use inside the masks to make them more comfortable around your nose. The masks are designed for children, so not very big, and the eye holes can be a bit off, but they look brilliant and are a real fun novelty.

We love this book and I think it is really good value for money. It's a book and 8 masks in one. It has an RRP of £5.99 and is currently available from Top That Publishing for £5.39.

Chewits Cool Crazy Carnival ~ A review by the teenagers

My teenagers were given the task to review a new computer app. the Chewits Cool Crazy Carnival for age 13+ and they've been sent an amazing box full of Chewits sweets to try while they do so! 

The very very best thing about all of these Chewits sweets, aside from the taste, and the chewiness obviously, is that they're ALL vegetarian, which means for just about the first time ever, all of my children can have equal share and no-one has to 'make do' or find something else.

My teenagers were a bit put off by the 'Carnival' initially as they didn't know what was going to happen and they had to either fill in the form, or connect to Facebook. They're dubious of 'spamming' and didn't want to post loads of Facebook status they had no control over, alternatively the form option asks for your school name, which in our house they're banned from sharing. I told them they could just put 'school' and after that initial hiccup, they were off.

The app only works on a computer, it isn't able to work on a mobile yet, which meant they ended up taking turns.

My 13 year old girl played with the 'Carnival' for longest and she really enjoyed taking the faces of her 2 best friends and installing them onto cartoon bodies so that they could visit the carnival with her.

I tried the app myself and connected via Facebook, choosing to share 'only me'. The app did share 5 stills from the Carnival, which is a little excessive, but they had the faces of my 2 chosen friends on cartoon bodies, so they were quite amusing. Because I'd connected to Facebook my latest status update, birthday and school name also appeared in the carnival, as well as bits of other information which were quite funny - I especially liked the 'I love Euan' on the back of my character's bag, as that's my partner!

There is all sorts of information about Chewits here, photo's from 'Treat Truck' travels, information about sports courses and plenty of space for you to have your say. There are 5 games to play too -  Mystic Chewie, The Claw, Castle Adventure, Spaceship Adventure and Taste Adventure.

Mystic Chewie is an animated fortune teller. You choose a subject and are given a one sentence fortune in return.  For example choose 'Flavour' and you might get this is reply - "Chewie sees your favourite flavour to be Fruit Salad because you are so fruity and fun!"

The 3 Adventures games are 'point and click' puzzles. These puzzles are okay, some of it is very logical (e.g. try the key in the lock) but some is a bit random and very much open to chance and searching around the page for clickable items.

The Chewits Claw is the big game. You can actually compete to win prizes including an iPod Touch. It's based on the claw machines where you grab at toys and try to lift them up and you have to be very precise with where you place your claw or you score!

Points are gained by collecting Chewits. You can get extra points by filling up the bars on the right and collecting specific amounts of particular Chewits when asked.

It's very simple and addictive in the same way as Tetris, but actually a bit more frustrating because once you get tired you simply can't get a good score at all and you need to walk away! My best score so far is a disappointing 18400, sadly massively beaten by my teenagers!

So what did they think of the Chewits Cool Crazy Carnival? 

13 yo -

• I like the heads, they're funny.
• I don't understand why I had to put all that information in?
• The carnival is good, but I don't see where it goes because you can't choose the rides there
• No Claw score given

 14yo

• The Claw is a bit hard to get in the right place. 
• If it was a phone app I would probably get it because I'm competitive
• No Claw score given

15yo

• Carnival set up was longish and led to very little apart from a link, and the data wasn't even included when playing the games
• The Claw is very addictive
• It would be better on phones
• Best Score 52500

15yo (Winner of the most thorough review ever by a teenager)

Fairground

• No pause button =(
• Asks personal questions
• Can't save photo's

Castle

• Kind of frustrating
• Simple point and click
• Puzzle solving fun

Aliens

• Yay!

Mystic Chewie

• Highly amusing - not gamey

The Claw

• I don't like 'invite your friends' feature
• Super addictive
• Makes me want Chewits
• Not Chew Bad (Gr9* pun)
• Best score 28900

*Gr9 is like gr8, but one better....

Overall it got the 'thumbs up' from my lot. They all messed around with it a bit and completed at least one of the 'Adventures', and at least 2 have returned to try and better their best scores.

The website can be a bit glitchy and asks for upgrades to Flash that aren't helpful sometimes when you play 'The Claw' or 'Mystic Chewie', but these games can be played directly through Facebook from the Chewits page with no issue anyway.

Plenty of good harmless fun!

We were sent a box of Chewits and will be given a Theme Park ticket for the teenagers in return for reviewing this app.

Sky Ride with Jaffa Fruit ~ Cycling Kit Giveaway

Jaffa is currently an official sponsor of Sky Ride events, which aim to encourage cycling for people of all ages and abilities.

Sky Ride Big Rides are huge events which take place in towns and cities the length and breadth of the UK and include all kinds of entertainment for children and freebies for cyclists. They close whole streets an areas to cars and let cyclists rule the roads and enjoy cycling safely.

Sky Ride Local Rides are led by British Cycling Ride Leaders. They follow planned routes through scenic areas and are available for all different abilities including routes suitable for adaptive bikes. All rides are free of charge.

Sky Ride also facilitates Social Cycling Groups and 'Buddy' link ups everywhere, so that anyone can find someone else to cycle with.

Jaffa have given me the opportunity to give away a fantastic cycling kit worth £50. It includes a Halfords bike pump, water bottle, bike lights, t-shirt and Tesco money-off vouchers as well as Jaffa fruit shaped bike reflectors.

Especially at this time of year when the nights are drawing in, it's an excellent time to ensure your lights and reflectors are clean and working as they should be, and replace them if necessary.

For your chance to win the Jaffa Cycling Kit please enter using the Rafflecopter form below...

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