Looking for my Inner Me...

No this is not a deep discussion about who I am and my place here in this expanse of universe, it's about the new supplements Inner Me! Have you heard of them? I hadn't. I first heard about these supplements in a Holland and Barrett mail and thought I just have to try these... I promise it wasn't just because I really like the artwork on the packaging! I am a serious supplement fiend and always looking for something new to try to try and perfect my body inside and out.

I was heading into my local H&B, for some nuts and seeds, yes I am that exciting (my boss calls it my rabbit food) any way, I suddenly remembered that I had seen the mail about Inner Me and after making my mum search the shelves like pirates after gold, I decided to ask for some help. One warning I would like to emphasises here, if you ask for assistance, make sure that you speak really slowly while asking "excuse me do you have any Inner Me please" I was met with a face of bewilderment and confusion, suffice it to say it took 5, yes 5 attempts to get this across, the poor man looked terrified. After rummaging around the back room somewhere he produced the two supplements I wanted to try, phew!

 I opted to use 'beautify me' which is for your skin and 'lustrous locks' for hair. Supplements I think are a pretty tricky thing to review as the effect builds so slowly throughout the process that you don't notice so much the overall effect. I bought the two boxes (which contain a 2 week supply each) because they were on a '2for' offer so I figured why not... 

What is Inner Me?

You can see meow about them on their website:http://www.innerme.co.uk

Inner Me supplements combine the best ingredients possible to make them of the finest quality. This is simply our commitment to you, your health and wellbeing. They are presented in nice clear packaging and also labelled inside to make taking them easy and straightforward. 

The science bit..

The 'beautify supplements are a combination of Vitamin C, MSM, Silica, Marine Collagen, Biotin, Zinc, Selenium, Copper & Iodine. Protecting your skin against free radicals that damage the collagen in our skin, reducing its elasticity and firmness leading to ageing and wrinkling. Biotin and Selenium contribute to the health of normal hair, skin and nails by promoting cell growth, so taken all together, Beautify Me Pro Skin is a little helping hand for your complexion.

The 'lustrous locks' supplements combines MSM (methyl-sulphonyl-methane), Vitamin C, Silica, the super antioxidant N-Acetyl Cysteine, Biotin, Zinc, Selenium, Iron and Copper. MSM is a nutritional form of sulphur, an essential component in the formation of collagen, elastin, cartilage and keratin, perfect for producing mineral-rich hair. Silica proactively repairs not just hair but tissue, bone and skin too, helping maintain a youthful vigour.

The inner me ranges launched in 2012, and after being turned down by the dragons and developing a new website 2014 has proved to be a big year for Inner Me with a new stockist in the form of Holland and Barrett, which is why I'm here writing this... 

My results: 

Using them was really easy you take two a day with or directly after eating - I had mine with breakfast as this is the easiest time I find to remember these things. The packaging is lovely they are in quite slim boxes that are pretty discreet and each of the pills was labelled with a day of the week - which made taking them even easier. 

Overall I'm not sure they had the life changing effects that I was hoping for (my skin particularly is breaking out so badly at the moment) however I do feel that they made a small change especially the one for hair - my hair is quite fine and breaks a lot with many many many knots but I noticed that it felt stronger and was not getting as knotty which was a big bonus for me I can tell you. The 'beautify me' had a less noticeable effect. However I was focused on the skin on my face which honestly is going through some kind or rebellion at the moment and cannot be dealt so now I'm playing the ignore it and it will go away game... That said I have had my sister comment that my skin (on my arms) was very soft so not sure if perhaps this was in part down to the supplement (I do have quite soft skin, my friends as school said it was because I was made of pasta, when it's cooked and soft obviously not the dried stuff, that would just be weird!  I have seen that they have some other supplement packages which I may try out soon. 

In conclusion:

It's very hard to say but I think I would definitely try the one for hair again perhaps not the skin one as I did not feel it made a difference in the way I wanted it to. Also I feel I must mention that both the supplements smelt a little funky... Which was slightly off putting, you know when you smell something but then you can almost taste it because it's so strong? Well it was a little like that, not the most pleasant of experiences but one, for the sake of healthier hair I would go through again. 

I hope you enjoyed this, as always please join me on youtube, facebook and twitter and I'll catch you here soon!  

Lotsa luv, 

Vikki

Source:  http://www.innerme.co.uk/why-choose-inner-me.htm

Disclaimer - this is not an endorsed post it is all my own thoughts and opinions. 

Super Smoothie / Juicing Sunday

On Sunday you may have seen my social media was plastered with pictures of some juices I've made. 

I bought a juicer a while ago from amazon in an effort to make more juices at home rather than spend money on the ready-to-drink ones, plus I prefer knowing exactly what has gone into my food, well as much as I can. Please see this link to the juicer I have - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-20360-Desire-Juicer/dp/B00D3K79N0

Honestly though, this is the first time I've plucked up the courage to use it. When I first put a piece of orange into the tube and pushed it down the almighty crushing sound that resonated through the room scared me, I'm not going to lie I thought the end was nigh! But once I got used to the noise it was actually quite fun and the juice I saw pouring out of the spout and into the jug was super satisfying. And I know everyone complains about cleaning but I actually didn't find it to laborious. In fact my juicer comes apart quite easily which really helped when it came to cleaning. I also couldn't believe the amount of pulp left over and now our tomatoes in the garden have some tasty food. 

I decided to start with some easier recipes that I knew were flavours I liked already. First I made an orange juice. 

Ingredients for orange juice (for me this made 5 servings): 

 4 oranges, 

10 carrots (some were quite small so this is a little bit of your judgement also)

 and I used about an inch of ginger (this is actually quite hot so again make this to your taste and judgement you can always add more but your can't take it out) I'd say half an inch would be fine. 

This is so simple as you just push these through your juicer one after the other until you've juiced it all!  (please make sure you have the container you are using to collect your juice in the right place as I learnt it can miss and spill - as we know I'm a bit of a clutz so this comes as no surprise- trust me though you'll only miss once, no one wants to waste any of the great fresh flavour.) 

This orange, carrot and ginger juice has 2 main benefits that make it a great part of a balanced diet. 

Firstly it supports the immune system due to its supply of vitamin A and C. Vit A particularly is good for bone marrow and stem cells supporting the white blood cells (the chaps who fight disease!).  

Secondly this juice is also great for healthy skin! Yes indeed, the vitamin C helps support collagen production which keeps your skin strong and supports wound healing. It also serves as a source of vitamin E an antioxidant that provides natural protection from the suns harmful rays (but you should still wear your SPF!)  please note excessive consumption could leave you glowing like a carrot, however if you are drinking this as part of a balanced and varied diet you should not turn orange! 

The other drink I made is a super healthy green smoothie (ok I know this is not technically a juice and no I did not make this with the juicer I used a blender but that is because this contains banana which is not recommended for use with juicers) I will be making a variation soon with the juicer. 

Ingredients for this green smoothie are: 

2 handfuls of spinach leaves 

1 & 1/2 bananas 

Half a tin of chopped pineapple this is about a cup (fresh is better but does require a lot of preparation so I use tinned) 

1 cup chopped cucumber 

2 large stalks celery 

2 teaspoons of wheatgrass powder

Coconut water to loosen the consistency (your judgement) 

1 cm ginger 

Please note this makes (3 large servings or 5 small servings) feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your needs: 

The benefits of this juice are incredibly varied due to a range of ingredients. This is loaded with energy plus potassium boosting bananas, which are needed for hormone secretion (eg it gets rid of stress yay!) and iron packed spinach which supports your blood cells.  In addition the wheatgrass is very high in chlorophyll - essential for eliminating toxins, increasing bodies production of red blood cells, helps the body use and transport oxygen effectively. Cucumber, celery and spinach also contain chlorophyll. 

The pineapple sweetens it slightly so it tastes less like green and is easier on the palate.   

I have been drinking the green smoothie for breakfast and sipping the ginger, orange and carrot juice throughout the day. I hope you enjoyed this and if you would like to see more recipes for juices that I am making please leave me a comment below. 

Lots luv, 

Vikki 

Source www.livestrong.com/article/255587-benefits-of-fresh-ginger-carrot-juice/