28 March 2019

A Brighter Smile with The White House Teeth Whitening Specialists

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Have you ever thought of having a whiter smile? It’s something I tend to think about quite a bit. I drink a lot of tea and I’m always conscious that it seems to stain my teeth a bit so having whiter cleaner teeth is something I’ve always wanted to do. It just always makes me feel better when my teeth look better as it’s one of the first things people notice about you. So when the lovely people from The White House invited me along to their Edinburgh clinic for a treatment I couldn’t have agreed fast enough.


My procedure of choice was to be the advanced in-clinic dental whitening treatment performed by the lovely Kerri-Lee. It’s always worth doing your homework when it comes to any treatment on your body but I’m glad to say that Dr Kerri-Lee Clark is a fully qualified dental surgeon who has undergone further training at the London School of Facial Aesthetics in both Beginner and Advanced courses in the use of Botulinum Toxin. So she definitely knows her stuff.


The White House is located on West Annandale Street, which is a very short walk from Edinburgh Playhouse. Upon my arrival Dr Kerri-Lee was super friendly and very helpful in explaining what would happen. I also noticed how nice and clean the whole place was. I signed the consent form and was taken through to the dental chair. Kerri-Lee then talked me through the whole procedure from what shade my teeth currently were to how they would hopefully look. How the gel would feel when applied to my teeth, what the light would feel like and what it actually does, the time taken for the whole treatment etc. It was very reassuring and no question was unanswered. Dr Kerri-Lee was more than happy to help in any way she could.


Once settled in the chair with my mouth guard in, gel applied to my teeth and the light switched on, I got to sit back and relax and watch Friends on the TV. They have Netflix so can change it to any channel you want. It definitely makes time go by so quickly when you’re watching a good show. I sat in the chair for around 45 minutes. This was broken down into 15 minutes blocks with the gel applied 3 times and Kerri-Lee coming back and forth to check on me and make sure everything was ok. I feel like I have quite sensitive teeth however I felt no pain what so ever having this whitening treatment. The gel was cool to go on but quickly warmed up and the light was warm but in a nice way. I’d honestly go back and do it all again tomorrow.


When your treatment is finished you get shown how much your teeth colour has improved. I went from a shade 3 to a 1, which is the highest you can get, and was very pleased with the results. My teeth looked so much fresher, even my other half noticed an instant difference. Dr Kerri-Lee also explained the after care I needed to follow having only a white diet for 24hrs after to help maintain that brighter smile. So no curry, tea, coffee, tomato based foods, red wine or even coloured dental products. Milk, water, rice, chicken, fish, cream soups or pasta are all ok. It’s really easy to follow for only 24hrs. If you want to aid your continued teeth whitening then there are specialist toothpastes which you can buy in the clinic. I’d definitely recommend doing this as now your teeth are whiter it’ll be easier to maintain straight away.


The advanced in-clinic dental whitening treatment is currently on offer at £169 (saving you £121 off the normal price). If you’ve ever thought about having your teeth whitened then this really is the perfect time. It’s a reasonable price, the clinic is lovely and so are the staff. I really was pleased with my results and will definitely go back for top ups in future. If you do book a treatment please do tell them you found them through The Breastest News. Thank you.

This is a collaborative post. All opinions are my own.

26 March 2019

Review: The Unicorn Creativity Book & The Spectacular Journey into Space

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Children's books are forever changing and adapting to the imaginations of their young audience and it always makes me smile. I feel the more colourful and unusual a book is the more chance of a child picking it up to investigate. My kids were luckily enough to receive some beautiful new titles from Carltons Books and they really do stand out from the crowd.

First up is Logan's book - The Spectacular Journey into Space! Logan is currently studying space at school, which he loves, so this book definitely jumped out at him. It has a gorgeously finished cover with a textured feel, this appeals to Logan's sensory needs, and has lots of images depicting space. The book promises to turn into an "out-of-this-world work of art" and as you can imagine this had Logan desperate to explore the possibilities held within each page.


This book has 64 pages crammed full of spacetastic facts and retails for £12.99. I was intrigued to discover what would make it a work of art but it turns out that the images on each page have press-out sections which is rather cool. It means each picture pops out at you and looks so much more interesting, especially for kids. Logan really enjoyed doing this and now happily flips through the book searching for his favourite facts and pictures.


There's so much to learn about space from this book. Did you know that Russian astronauts are actually called cosmonauts? Me neither, but now you do. There are also dwarf planets called Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumae. It's all very interesting and a lot of it I didn't even know! I'll be stealing this book for a good read when Logan's finished with it. He does like to re-read his books a lot so might take a while.


Logan was also very kindly sent two other books for his collection. The Dino Record Breakers and What Are You Looking At? Both books are again packed full of facts and are more sort of ring bound flip style books. Logan loved them so I'd highly recommend.


Next up is Harlow's book - The Unicorn Creativity Book. As you can imagine it encompasses all things unicorn and is filled with boredom busting activities including; colouring, drawing, puzzles, fill-in stories, games and much more. There's opportunities to make your own unicorn mask, read some unicorn jokes and there's even a beautiful fold out sticker scene at the back of the book which can be filled with mythical creatures. There's 150 reusable stickers so plenty to keep little ones busy.


This book has 80 unicorn themed pages and retails for £9.99. It's the perfect book for taking on your family travels. It's not heavy so totally portable and would fit into a back pack no bother. It's the sort of book I like to take with us on a long plane journey to keep miss madam chops quiet and entertained. It really is a fabulous book and would make a great little gift as well.


Harlow is a massive fan of unicorns so completely adores this book. It's got so many activities that she hasn't managed to do them all yet. We're keeping the rest for our next holiday. It'll be something nice to do together which will keep her busy.

I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

19 March 2019

Winter Sun in Cyprus for Families

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I don’t know about you but I was getting so fed up of the cold and dark at the start of this year that I desperately wanted some Winter sun to escape to. I trawled tons of travel agents pages on Facebook and of course the big name travel companies online, desperately searching for somewhere to visit that would provide even a little heat and sunshine. I thought about Tenerife but it just seemed so expensive, then I came across a super cheap deal for Cyprus. The family and I had never been to Cyprus before and it looked like the hottest it would reach would be around 20c but that was good enough for me so I booked it up. I used a local travel agents, Moorelands Travel in Cowdenbeath, and they were fab. They didn’t mind me harassing them with tons of questions and were really helpful during the booking process.

The hotel I picked was in the Paphos area of Cyprus and was slap bang in the centre with a 2 minute walk to the sea front and right next to the little bus depot which was super handy. It was rated as a 3 star so it felt like a bit of a gamble but actually we were lucky and our room was fine. It wasn’t the cleanest it could have been and you did get a lot of tiny ants but staff seemed friendly enough and the two times that we did eat in the restaurant the food was tasty but there wasn’t a big choice. If I ever chose to go back I’d pick a different hotel though.

Before heading to Cyprus I did a quick internet search of recommended places to visit and discovered that the island was steeped in history. There are tons of beautiful historic sites and places to visit as well as some lovely things to do with the kids so I’m going to share a few here for you.

Paphos Harbour Castle
Coming from Scotland we have a fond love of Castles so felt we had to give this one a visit. It’s 2.50 euros for adults and kids are free which is reasonable (as are most historic sites in Paphos). The castle is very very small with no furnishings at all but the kids loved running round it and exploring. You will be round the castle in minutes however take your time to read all the info and enjoy the views from the roof top. They really are beautiful and make for some excellent photos.


Church of Agia Kyriaki and post St. Paul
This little beauty was right at the back of our hotel and we had lovely views from our balcony. It has a raised walk way so you can wonder around and look at all the beautiful pillars as well as having a peak inside the church. It’s also free so you can visit as many times as you like. If you’re into history this is one of the oldest churches in the world and according to tradition, Saint Paul was punished and sentenced to thirty nine lashes for evangelizing Christianity in Paphos. He was tied on a column and whipped with a special whip. My son loved reading about this and viewing the supposed whipping pillar! Well worth a wonder round.


Pafos Zoo
A small but interesting zoo for the kids. Pafos Zoo was originally a bird park but has developed to include other animals such as lions, tigers and elephants. I highly recommend the bird show as it’s well done and you get to meet and feed a baby tiger afterwards for 20 euros. All money goes straight back into their conservation work which is lovely. You can also feed other animals around the park if there’s a keeper next to their enclosure but you have to pay extra for this. I really enjoyed the reptile room and so did the kids as it was full of venomous snakes that made for interesting reading.


Coral Bay
There isn’t any decent beaches in Paphos but the nearest one is Coral Bay in Peyia which is a short bus ride away. It’s 1.50 euro for an adult to ride the bus and 0.75 euro for kids. Really cheap and the buses are very similar to ours here in Scotland. The bus maps are also really easy to read and if all else fails the drivers are lovely. We took the bus from the depot straight to Coral Bay which was the last stop anyway. It’s a small beach but perfect for the kids to make sand castles and paddle in the water.


Tomb of the Kings
Basically this place is what it says on the tin. A large UNESCO world heritage site full of amazing tombs where bodies once lay. It’s a large site so make sure you have decent shoes as you can walk down into quite a few tombs. It’s a beautiful place and I’d highly recommend a visit. There’s lots to see so you could spend hours here exploring. Again you can get the local bus here. There’s a McDonald’s 5 minutes walk away so we got lunch and let the kids play (there’s a play frame upstairs) then walked to the tombs. It was a lovely afternoon out and kept the kids busy.


Cosmic World
Sometimes Winter in Cyprus can be a bit rainy and it did rain a couple of days whilst we were there but it didn’t spoil our fun. We just found other things to do like Cosmic World, a.k.a Cosmic Bowling, it’s a large indoor bowling alley with a huge soft play and tons of arcade/ride on machines for the kids. Definitely worth a visit as the kids will love it. You buy a wrist band for like 7 euro and the kids can play as long as they want. It’s also very clean which I loved!


Kings Avenue Mall
If you fancy a bit of shopping or if the weather’s poor then pop along to the Kings Avenue Mall. It’s a short walk away from Paphos Harbour but you can of course get the local bus if you want to. We walked up and had a nosey around. It’s basically like a big shopping mall in the UK with lots of familiar stores, restaurants plus a cinema if you fancy seeing a movie. There’s a huge store at the back called Jumbo which is a must visit. It’s on 3 different floors with one way in and one way out but it has everything you could ever think of. Best of all it’s super cheap!!


Paphos Archaeological Park
This massive historic site has it’s entrance right next to the harbour Castle and is again only 2.50 euros to enter. Also known as the Kato Pafos Archaeological Park it contains the major part of the important ancient Greek and Roman City. The site is still under excavation so who knows what else will be uncovered. Again wear good shoes as you’ll be doing a lot of walking but it really is worth seeing. The site is so big we never managed to get round it all with the kids so we’ll have to go back and visit another time.


So as you can see there’s tons of things to see and do in Cyprus that’ll keep the whole family happy. The sun was shining most of the time and if it did rain there was always somewhere to go. I’d say Cyprus is a little bit more expensive for eating out thanks to the euro but there’s a few gems out there worth visiting.

If you have any tips for exploring Cyprus then please do share in the comments. Thank you.


13 March 2019

Fabulous Gift Ideas for Mum This Mother's Day

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Another year and another Mother's Day draws ever closer. I'm not quite as prepared this year as I'd like to be so I'm getting my butt in gear and pulling some ideas together for my lovely Mum and mother-in-law. I also have ideas of what I would love as a gift myself. I honestly don't need anything but just in case someone fancies popping a wee present my way *hint hint* then here's what I would love to receive.
























Miss Needle Family Portrait
I love adorning the walls of my family home with photos of our adventures and the odd piece of beautiful art and prints. It just makes a house a home and definitely more personal to the owner. That's why these beautiful family portraits from Miss Needle are truly amazing. They're loving handmade to order and she even does baby scans!!! How beautiful.

Personalised Bracelet from Born Gifted
From previous posts you'll probably have guessed I love a little personalised item and this gorgeous personalised bracelet from Born Gifted is right up my street. They range from 1 heart to 3 hearts which can be personalised front and back if you so wish. I really like it because even the links are shaped like love hearts. So cute.

Hotel Chocolate Gift Set
Who doesn't love a bit of chocolate! I know I do and so does my Mum. She'd love this gorgeous gift set from Hotel Chocolat and so would I. It even has a little bottle of fizz to crack open and enjoy with the scrumptious treats. Delicious.

McLay & McLay Candle Co.
I've recently discovered these lovely candles from McLay & McLay. They smell amazing and they burn for ages. They have lovely reed diffusers as well which I've got my eye on so hopefully I'll get my hands on one of those in the near future. It would be perfect to freshen up the downstairs WC.

Mother’s Day High Tea at Loch Leven’s Larder
It wouldn't be Mother's Day without a little afternoon tea or a bite to eat and the local farm shop, Loch Leven's Larder, has a high tea on offer for all of us hard working Mums. So if you fancy popping along be sure to book your table as it's always a popular event. I'm sure I took my Mum along last year in fact.
 

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