• Organic Ingredients
• Vegan Ingredients
• Community Fairtrade
• Not Tested on Animals
• Defend Human Rights
• Natural Ingredients
• Seaweed
• Body Wash
• Body
• Suitable for Vegetarians
• Apple & Bears
• Grapefruit
• Body Silk
• Made in UK

This is going to be a little more complex than normal as I've asked my friend G. to try these products as well as me so this blog will be a combination of both of our views! Let's start with the products themselves.

Introducing Apple & Bears Grapefruit & Seaweed Body Wash 

Key benefits: • Formulated for men and women • Suitable for all skin types • Suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians • Paraben, SLS and Phthalates free • Gluten free • Available in 300ml / 10.1 fl oz & 500ml / 16.9 fl oz

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Sodium Chloride, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Distilled, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Ascophyllum Nodosum Extract*, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract*, Laminaria Digitata Extract*, Elettaria Cardamomum Seed Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary) Flower Oil, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Oil, Myristica Fragrans Fruit Oil (Nutmeg), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Oil, Tocopherol, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Limonene, Linalool. *Ingredients from Organic Farming. Natural and Organic cosmetic certified by Ecocert Greenlife according to Ecocert standard available at http://cosmetics.ecocert.com. 99% of the total ingredients are from natural origin 12% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming.

The sniff test on this is interesting as it's very nice, very fresh but not really a grapefruit smell (or even a seaweed one). It's more like watermelon to me but let's see what G. makes of it.

Introducing Apple & Bears Grapefruit & Seaweed Body Silk

Key benefits: • Formulated for women • Suitable for all skin types • Natural & Organic Ecocert Greenlife certified • Extracts from real fruit and flowers • 100% Natural fragrance • Gluten free • Suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians • Natural active skin firming ingredients • 100% FREE from animal testing • No Parabens or Phthalates • Available in 250ml /8.5 fl Oz

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Sodium Chloride, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Oil Distilled, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Ascophyllum Nodosum Extract*, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract*, Laminaria Digitata Extract*, Elettaria Cardamomum Seed Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary) Flower Oil, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Oil, Myristica Fragrans Fruit Oil (Nutmeg), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Oil, Tocopherol, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Limonene, Linalool. *Ingredients from Organic Farming. Natural and Organic cosmetic certified by Ecocert Greenlife according to Ecocert standard available at http://cosmetics.ecocert.com.

A little something about Apple & Bears themselves

To have a look at the Apple & Bears website go here. There are few retail options to purchase their products at the moment but you can look on their website for online options. Having a look on the Big Green Smile website the prices for these products are:

• Apple & Bears Grapefruit & Seaweed Body Wash - 300ml - £18.00
• Apple & Bears Grapefruit & Seaweed Body Silk - 250ml - £22.00
• Apple & Bears Luxury Body Care Gift Set - Grapefruit & Seaweed - £34.95 (this is the one I actually tested)

What are G findings after a 2-week trial?

So on to the blog! Let's see what the two of us think :). Sorry for the (slight) delay: Christmas! G has been using the products for a couple of weeks and this is what she thought.

Note: Since we started trying the product Kay, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Apple & Bears, has provided some extra information regarding the fragrances of their products. For this one "...the main ingredients leading to the fragrance is the Bergamot Leaf Oil and Cirtus Aurantifolia (Lime) peel with additional scents combined which gives it a distinctive citrus fragrance as there is no known grapefruit fragrance." The Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil and the Fucus Vesiculosus Extract (seaweed) ingredients give rise to the name rather than the fragrance. 

G provided this picture of the Body Silk not absorbing into her skin

What would be G overall recommendations?

My intensive testing of the products during 10 days

Okay so not so great from G. On to me.

• Day 1: Okay so they came with me to the gym. Not the first choice for location I admit but it's what I do so it's what they do. The body wash can be used on your hair which is great for me at the gym. I mentioned that I like the scent which is fresh and very nice. The texture is... gloopy. I really rather liked it but it is a little unexpected. G mentions that it doesn't lather up and that's true but again I quite liked it. It's very gentle but cleanses well. There is however no scent in use or scent transfer which disappointed me.

On my hair (and as ever this is different for me as my hair is very very short) the body wash worked fine and I was happy enough with it.

I liked the body silk. It's light and easy to use. For me the silk did absorb into my skin and did transfer the scent. The absorpsion is likely to be because I have much much older skin than G and frankly I need the extra moisture.

So day one for me was fine. I liked both products and they worked well. Let's see what day 2 brings!

• Day 2: (well sort of!) G took the products back to take the picture above so I didn't actually use them yesterday but... I did get to let others try sniff tests. Everyone who tried really liked the smell and the packaging. They all had the familiar scent confusion as per above but no one was bothered and everyone liked it either way.
• Day 3: Took them to the gym again and liked them again! I really don't have the issue that G does with the Body Silk. It absorbs easily and works well for me. G and I compared notes and as you can see from the picture it really doesn't absorb into her skin. She tried it with a few colleagues and they liked it and it absorbed well. I suspect amount and need are entering the picture!
•  Day 4: Another gym day and everything was fine. As I've already said I like the gloopy texture of the body wash and also the low lathering (probably not a word!). I am though tending more towards G as regards the moisturiser. You have to hit a sweet spot to get the absorption. Too much and I struggle but too little feels, well to little! 
• Day 5: In France! Yes the blog never sleeps so the two bottles have traveled to a French ski resort. They were packed in the hold given there size but didn't suffer from explosive opening after there flight. It interesting but here the scent seems stronger which I think is the less rushed nature of using them in a hotel rather than at the gym. The body wash is still nice but the silk is struggling more which given my general level of dehydration seems odd. 
• Day 6: The second day of skiing is over! I've been using the silk as a general moisturiser before skiing and to be fair it's choping fine. As ever the amount has to be carefully judged but... The scent is definitely more obvious but it almost makes it worse as it fades so quickly. Anyway they're making a nice alternative to the hotel products.
• Days 7 to 10: No daily updates as I've been focused on the skiing! But I have been trying to find the right amount of body silk to use. Basically a full pump is too much and a quarter one about right. There will be a photo when I get back to show what I mean so hopefully it'l make sense then!

On another note, I'm not seeing any firming despite using the silk everyday. Oh well, on to tomorrow.

Okay so it's hard to see but this is the body wash. As you can see (hopefully) the liquid is quite stiff but that's fine by me as it's much easier to use in the shower.

The left blob is the full pump and the right the quarter pump. That's the one that works for me as it's enough to moisturise for me.

What would be my recommendations?

This has been an interesting experiment with both G and I reviewing the products which gives a very different perspective. G really didn't get on with them and I had an initially good experience but gradually found them less satisfying. Overall I liked the body wash but wouldn't choose to buy it and whilst I could use silk again I wouldn't choose to. I liked the quality and the ethos of the products but not the price. Great products but in the end not ones for me.

After my last trial of fragrances I've been having a think about which one to try next and so after much testing I selected Chanel Allure Homme Sport.

This from the Chanel website: "Jacques Polge has created ALLURE HOMME SPORT around the 4 facets - fresh, sensual, woody and spicy - that compose ALLURE HOMME. In this creation, the fresh facet deliberately takes precedence over the other facets and embraces a new sensuality.

A silver lacquered glass bottle, a black rubber cap encircled by a steel ring, and fine black lettering with a touch of red...

Jacques Helleu's design is subtly inspired by the codes of sport. Combined with the unique luxury and elegance of CHANEL, they make this packaging an original and resolutely masculine creation.

Sparkling and invigorating freshness, a natural and radiant sensuality, heightening the scent of a breeze against bare skin... to create an infinitely seductive allure."

So let's see what how sparkling and invigorated I feel using this fragrance!

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 So I've done a couple of weeks and how are things going? Very well :) Allure Homme Sport is slightly stronger than Allure and definitely has staying power. Still early days but generally I like this one.

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Sorry this blogg got away from me because of work/Christmas... stuff like that! But now I can finish it and tell you what happened next!

... it ran out! I was so surprised as I hadn't realised that I was either using so much or that the Chanel just wasn't lasting well but one day I went to use it and the bottle was empty.

This was a great pitty as I was getting a lot of interest in it and I'd even been asked what it was that I was wearing as people were getting wafts of something nice! Overall I really liked Allure Homme Sport. A practicle bottle (well at least in terms of looks and application but clearly not in terms of making sure you know how much you have) a very pleaseant scent without being overly agressive, masculine but notoverly so and it even lasts.

I very nearly bought some more rather than to try another one but it's time to move one and find another scent to test. Loved this one and I would buy it again - admitedly it was a bit cheaper for me as I bought it whilst on holiday in an airport but even so).

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• Organic Ingredients
• Not Tested on Animals
• Hand Care
• Opulentia Organics
• Soil Association
• Balm
• Nails
• Sally Hansen
• Cuticles

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I tried the Sally Hansen Healthy Cuticles Now back in July 2012 and I found that it was very effective but pricy (interestingly it's exactly the same price two years later!). The 100 ml price would be £51.74. Now the Opulentia Organics Super Nail Nourisher costs nearly twice as much (£99.90) so how would it compare.

 

Okay so how to test them: the left hand will get the Opulentia and the right will get the Sally Hansen. Which will be worth the price? (or will both be considered too expensive!).

You can find details of the Opulentia here:

and the Sally Hansen here:

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Week 1

Okay so other than commenting one my photographic skills (you try taking pictures of your own hands!) you really can't see any difference between my left thumb - Opulentia - and my right thumb - Sally Hansen - and that's exactly what happened after one week.

I like both of them which surprised me slightly as at first glance I wasn't taken by the Opulentia as it seemed too thick to me. Now it has been about 30 degrees inside where I am at the moment so maybe this melted the Super Nail Nourisher because it was nearly liquid when I applied it. It smells very nice (basically a light lemon scent) and it isn't greasy which is what I thought it would be. The Healthy Cuticles Now I've used before and again it was probably effected by the heat but even in normal conditions it's a light cream texture rather than waxy. It also has a nice scent but it's much lighter and less distinct.

Both seems to work well enough but so far my nails still seem dry but I do think both my nails and nail beds will improve over the month.

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Onto week 2 and, hopefully, visible improvement or at least better pictures!

 Week two and the basic result is that I still can't take a decent photo on my own fingers!

To be fair I think you can see that despite the ridges in my nails (no longer do I buff them out as it makes the nail too fragile) both of them are a bit better but I would say that the Sally Hansen right nail is edging ahead. 

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Week 3 and I finally manged to take a picture of both at the same time!

Okay I think I can see some differences this week; the Opulentia left nail seems to be better than the Sally Hansen right one to me. When I study them closely I think that the cuticle is better on the left which is a change to last week.

 The Opulentia will probably only last for one more week so that'll be the send of this blog and in all honestly I already know that how ever good it is the Opulentia is just too pricey for the impact.

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Week 4

As the temperature lowers I'm beginning to discover the gritty texture that they warn you about int the Opulentia. It's certainly off putting but as they say it doesn't actually change anything.

Okay this is another of my not too in focus pictures but overall you really can't see much difference this week between the two. I really can't see anything when I look and after four weeks I'm willing to say that overall they two are as good as each other. I basically prefer the Sally Hansen because it seems to help me with my dry cuticles more than the Opulentia but in reality they're both very good but both a bit pricy.

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So which do I recommend? Either is good if you want to pay for them but for me I'd go for the Sally Hansen: it's a bit cheaper and is better for my very dry nails.

 

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A departure from my normal blogs, this is one from my other area of interest: fitness. Wearable technology, very "in" at the moment but really do you need to wear something all of the time to help you with your fitness and health and even if you do, would you?

You can look at Amazon's wearable technology page here and the Polar Loop is here on Amazon. Just to show you how wide this type of product has spread you can buy these things at Tesco and many other high street shops (the Argos page is here). There are many different ones and I'm not going to go into the diferences here (maybe I'll do another blog to look at that later). This time I'm concentrating on the Loop because I've been wearing mine 24 hours a day for three months.

First things first, what is it and what's it for. You can look at Polar's pages covering the Loop here and the website you use to get going with it here.

This is what it looks like but normally the screen (made up of little red LEDs) is off. It has one button which is the symbol you can see in the picture just below the K of WALK.  This lets you access the time (no date even though the Loop knows what the date is), a display to tell you how close you are to your daily goal and what you need to do to achieve this. How many calories you've used today and how many steps you've taken. There are other items on the menu but these only appear if you have the accessory heart rate monitor.

You wear the loop all day including when you're asleep as it monitors and it records your activity and sleep patterns and through either an app or on a website, you can see how active you've been, how much sleep you've had (and how deep your sleep was). It also shows you patterns of inactivity!

I find the loop attractive and easy to wear but it is quite large (I'll take some pictures of it on my wrist another time) and I'm not sure how well it would sit on a slimmer wrist than mine.

So what have I found out, how well does it work and would I recommend one? Well I'll be updating this blog soon(ish) with those answers.

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First things first, what do you get in the box and what do you do first? You get the Loop itself and a slightly strange looking USB charging cable. No micro USB's here, this is a special one that magnetically clips to the bottom of the Loop. This is both how you charge it and one of the ways you connect it to download the data (the other way is Bluetooth).

 

 The connector on the Loop is on the left and the USB connector cable whihc magnetically connects to the Loop is shown on the right.

 And here you can see the two connected together.

Other than that you get some paper and tool. Here is the first tricky bit; you have to adjust the Loop to fit your wrist and the way you do that is to cut the strap after measuring it with the wrist ruler that included. This is actually a paper guide and I found it pretty inaccurate. Basically be careful and cut the strap on both sides for less than you think you need (based on the ruler) and then you use the tool to put the pins that hold the clasp onto the strap in (you also use it to remove them). It's no harder than adjusting a watch strap (which is basically what you're doing) but because you have to cut the strap you need to be cautious and work your way slowly to the right size.

You fit the loop the use on one wrist as you need to tell the software which one you're wearing it on. I have mine a little loose purely for my comfort but obviously it has to be comforatble and stay on you wrist. Once all this faffing is done you need to charge the Loop and then connect it to internet by downloading and installing various bits and pieces. It's all easy enough to do and the guide takes you through it but it does mean that you need to take your time.

Okay once all this is done you can start monitoring your activities. If you read some of the reviews you'll see that some people don't like the Loop because it doesn't accurately record your activity if you're exercising. This is because to get the most out of the Loop you need the optional Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Sensor. This measures your heart rate and transfers it to the Loop. This costs 60 odd quid and clearly this is one of the issues you need to decide before you start. I use Polar heart rate monitors whilst I exercise, ski and bike ride and so having the H7 makes sense as it works with other devices but you need to decide if you really want to spend the extra.

The software and the Apps

Polar have a website called Polar Flow that takes the data recorded by there various devices (including the Loop) and allows you to log your own activities and see what other users are up to. To do this you use the connector and your laptop. If you want to do the same but using your iPhone or iPod Touch you can use the Polar Flow app but... you need one of the newer ones. Android users are even more limited because most don't have a recent enough version of Bluetooth. It isn't a huge problem as you can always use the website but it is nice to be able to see what your stats are and the easiest way of doing that is through the app.

Some screen shots from the website:

These are the basic screens. The first one shows the intensity of my activity throughout the day. The section that's hashed between two and three show when the device was being charged. The heart symbol shows a gym session when I was recording my heart rate (see later). The second image shows the same information but now you see see the total length of the intensity sessions rather than the time I did them. As it was a working day you can see that basically I was only active for 4 hours and thirty seven minutes :(

This is the same day but now you can see that I burned 2,673 calories, walked for 10,475 steps BUT I only got three hours and two minutes of sleep (of which forty four minutes were restless!). This was a bad one to pick as work was causing me a stressful night but...

This shows my heart rate over the hous and a half at the gym.

This is the whole month or records. Whenever you see the orange triangle that means that the Loop was reminding me that I needed to be more active during the day.

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 Okay what does it look like on my wrist:

As you can see it's well up my arm because I've not adjusted it to be too tight on my arm.

The clasp looks like this and open the whole things hangs well off your wrist.

You can see (if only just given that the picture is out of focus!) the pin of the clasp and my inaccurate cutting of the band. I used scissors but maybe a craft knife would be a better choice.

This shows the time display. This gets less readible as the battery gets low but it's become my favourite wasy of checking the time. To be honest it's a little too easy to accidentally press the button (for example sometimes I do it when resting my hand on my wrist) but overall I do like the simplicity of the one control.

Here is the activity display (distressingly I'm no way near hitting my target for today!). If you fill the bar then you've got there :)

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So now that I've been using the Loop for three months would I recommend it? Basically yes. It's not too expensive and I like the way it works and especially the way it can record your heart rather (remember you need the accessory heart rate belt to use this function which is a seperate purchase - and nearly as expensive as the Loop). The app works well as does the website but I must admit I don't make the most of either. It looks nice on the wrist (though I suspect that it would be large on smaller wrists) and there are now three colours available rather than my slightly dull black one.

I'd like to try some of the other fitness bands (particularly the one from Sony) but I would miss the time display!