This December I’m Loving …

Asda Chosen By You 100% Pure Pressed Fruit Juices, they have the appearance and taste of much dearer brands, but are just £1.20 each. I particularly love the pineapple and mango & apple varieties.

The fun selection of ecards at www.katiescards.com featuring a great range of cards for all occasions. At just £7.50 for 12 months membership, you can send as many cards from the collection as you want for a year, putting a smile on the recipients face whilst dispensing with rising postage costs.

My lovely new, snugly, dark pink (also available in black) padded coat, with fake fur trimmed hood, catalogue number 28 2CK12 from K&Co. It’s certainly keeping me warm now the weather’s getting chillier.

But I'm not loving the cold, frost and snow

The great ideas in the current (dated January 2013) issue of Prima Magazine. I particularly love the pompom draught excluder, which is easy to make and uses up all those odd bits of wool that you tend to stuff at the back of the cupboard, sorry, keep carefully for future use.

Tesco Goodness (for kids) Cereal Bars with strawberry pieces, 64p for six, at just 80 calories per bar with no artificial preservatives, colours or hydrogenated fat, they make tasty lunch box fillers for kids of all ages.

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Winter Outings Part 3 – Journey Back In Time

Continuing my look at visitor attractions that remain open for the winter season, today I’m looking at taking a trip back in time.

Yesterday’s World, Battle, East Sussex, is a great place to visit even on the chilliest of days, adults £7.25, children £5.25. Browse the recreations of time gone by including the wartime kitchen, Victorian playroom, shops of the past and the Royalty room. To allow the kids to let off a bit of steam, pop into the garden where they can explore the charming play village – a group of miniature buildings for them to play inside

Its sister attraction, Yesterdays’ World, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, is sadly not open for the winter (except for the tea room), but it is well worth pencilling this in your 2013 diary for when it reopens in spring.

However an attraction that you can visit at this time of year in Great Yarmouth is the Time & Tide Museum, excellent value at £4.90 for adults (£4.10 if part of family group) and £3.60 for young persons (4-16). There are some fantastic exhibits including a recreation of the Yarmouth Row Houses, and seaside memorabilia, but kids will love the many games and activities that they encounter en route. Situated in the atmospheric setting of an original herring curing works, there is a great emphasis on the local herring fishing trade, portrayed through clever displays and activities. We loved our visit here.

I really love places that offer a ‘young person’s’ ticket, which goes up to the age of 16, as opposed to places that only offer ‘child’ tickets, with child often only meaning up to age 12, it's something more attractions should consider.

Let me know your favourite winter outings, comments@shoppersjoy.co.uk

Christmas Gifts Episode V – Stocking Filler Heroes

Gone are the days when an apple, an orange and a sugar mouse constituted the contents of a Christmas stocking.

Whether you’re literally filling stockings or goody bags, or just looking for small gifts to tuck in with a larger present, these great little ideas are all £3 or less – they could be just what you’re looking for.

Sweet Treats

You can buy all kinds of novelty chocolate items this time of year, but I particularly love Sainsbury’s Chocolate Tool Set and Chocolate Make-Up Set at just £3 each. Other great buys are the Decorate Yourself White Chocolate Snowman, £3 at Morrisons, and small Mini Smarties Penguin (69p at Morrisons). For a slightly different sweet treat, check out Marks and Spencers Jazzie Trousers Mini Gingerbread Men, £2 for a pack of 10.

Grooming Gifts

A traditional but handy gift is a manicure set and you can’t go far wrong with the Woodland Escape manicure set just £1 from Wilkinsons. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive hand treatment, then the Skin Therapy Nail Gift Tin complete with hand cream is ideal, previously £4, now £3 at Wilkinsons. For a hand treatment that sounds good enough to eat, Sweet Snuggles Chocolate and Vanilla Hand Cream (boxed), 99p from Superdrug, is a great stocking filler.

There are some fantastic budget make-up and perfume sets around too. I recommend Woodland Escape Lip & Eye Set (£3, Wilkinson) and So Perfume/Body Spray Duos (also £3, Wilkinson). The W7 Brow Bar Stencil Set will also make a handy stocking filler at just £2.99 at Savers.

For the Guys, how about the Gillette Arctic Ice 3 Piece Gift Set, £2.99 at Savers.

Toys For The Boys

If the man in your life likes gadgets why not get him the 9in1 Multitool (£3, Wilkinson) or the LED torch (£2, Wilkinson). Or why not treat him to a special Christmas beer, Morrisons has a selection of 500ml bottles for £1.50 each, including Rudolph the Red Nosed White Horse Beer.

Kids Treats

There are so many well-priced stocking fillers available for children including Pirate Stationery Set £1.30 at Wilkinsons, Cra-Z-Art Glitter Poster Set £1.50 at Tesco and Tesco Go Create craft boxes including Keyring & Badge and Doorhanger & Bookmark kits, £2.95 each. Or if you’re after a cheaper version of Lego, Wilko Blox, £2 each or two for £3 at Wilkinson, make up great little vehicles (larger, higher priced sets also available).

Odd Fillers

For something a bit different try Christmas Scentos, colourful character scented marker pens (peppermint, chocolate and pine) £1.47 at Tesco. Or a good all-rounder is a pair of magic gloves, which expand to the required size, only 59p at Savers.

It’s getting nearer …

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The Eyes Have It

I’m one of the ‘less is more’ camp when it comes to eye make-up, and like products that enhance my eyes rather than make me look like a startled panda. Easy-to-use cosmetics giving natural results are what I choose.

Before applying eye shadow, I always use No7 Stay Perfect Smoothing and Brightening Eye Base (£7 at Boots) as it gives a lovely even-toned surface to apply the colour. Then I use Avon True Colour Eye Shadow, currently the 6-in-1 palette in Neutral Eyes (though this option does not appear to be on their website at present) or Chic Glamour, £11 each. This is a great little kit as it comes with two decent sized applicators and a mirror in the lid, and the toning shades just glide on. Also available in the range are handy True Colour duos and quads, for a splash of colour I like the Retro Glamour Duo (£6).

For eyelashes I use a brown/black shade of mascara, either Avon SuperExtend Extreme Mascara (£10 but on offer for £3.99 in Brochure 01 2013) or Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara (£9.99 at Boots) to define the lashes without clogging. To correct any mistakes along the way, I love Marks and Spencer Mascara Correction Buds (£3), little cotton buds filled with eye make-up remover, which target the mishaps without ruining the rest of the look.

To groom eyebrows the handiest little kit I’ve found is the MUA Pro Brow Ultimate Eyebrow kit, which holds everything you need in one handy little compact, including tweezers and taming gel, £3.50 at Superdrug.

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Saying Sorry

We all make mistakes and are hopefully big enough to admit to them, apologise and correct them if we can. I sometimes think that we do this better as individuals than as companies. Too many businesses and organisations fob off customers with poor excuses or denials in response to stories of bad service or faulty goods, but fortunately some are still prepared to come clean.

I remember having trouble with British Gas in the past and ringing them to query errors with my bill. How refreshing it was when the voice the other end said, “Oops, we really messed up this time didn’t we? Yes, it’s our fault, we apologise!” This admission of guilt was followed up by promptly rectifying the problem, which made me respect the company much more than if they’d tried to pretend they were not at fault. Companies everywhere could learn from that – deny your mistakes and customers will go elsewhere, face up to them and put them right and you earn a customer’s loyalty and respect.

We should all put up our hands and admit mistakes

More recently, a local coffee shop was in the doghouse for poor treatment of a breast-feeding mum, reportedly requesting that she used the toilets as a place to feed her baby. Following public outrage, the Rochester Coffee Company in Kent issued an apology and took it one step further by pledging to donate 50p from every coffee sold during the course of a week to a breast cancer charity. A marketing ploy? Possibly an element of that, but I hope it was offered and will be carried out with suitable remorse and understanding. Hopefully, the coffee shop will have learnt from this episode and be more amenable to breast-feeding mums in the future.

So we should all remember, the issue is not whether we make the mistakes in the first place; it’s the way in which we apologise and correct our errors that really counts. As for businesses, don’t try and deny that things go wrong or shift the blame, honesty and courtesy is what keeps customers loyal.

Do businesses do enough to apologise? Contact comments@shoppersjoy.co.uk

Women and Chocolate Update

Back in October I blogged that Cadbury were introducing a new supposedly lower calorie chocolate bar aimed predominantly at women, called Crispello. I have now been to the shop, paid my 50p and tried one – in the name of research of course!

The chocolate consists of three individual pieces (55 calories each) in what is supposed to be resealable packaging, though not sure mine opened the way it was supposed to, as it only partly resealed, the other part of it flapped open. As if I eat just one piece of chocolate at a time anyway!

The chocolate is of average taste really, nothing special to rave about, not particularly original, and certainly not really lower calorie. Described as ‘Thin crispy shells with a creamy chocolate filling’ I would say Crispello reminds me of Ferrero Rocher without the nuts, so not as interesting really.

For the calorie count I would rather have a Jaffa Cake, which at 45 calories is less than one piece of Crispello, a fun size bag of Maltesers, at 99 calories less than two pieces or a Galaxy Ripple at 174 calories not much more than eating all three pieces! Even comparing Crispello to another Cadbury product doesn't help - a flake from a multipack is just 135 calories.

Verdict: Not for me, sorry Cadbury.

Let me know what you think, email comments@shoppersjoy.co.uk

This December Why Not…?

Remember Charities

When doing your Christmas shopping, endeavour to include a charitable donation or two during your gift buying. Consider using charity gift catalogues or websites to buy novelty gifts, which help to support worthwhile causes, or buy Christmas cards that include a small donation in their cost.

Look out for collections of toys or food items that are then distributed to deserving individuals or organisations. For information on food collection schemes visit www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects or www.fareshare.org.uk and look out for local festive collections.

Go Ice Skating

During November many outdoor ice rinks have been put in place and are now open until early January. Old London favourites include The Natural History Museum (adults from £11.50, children from £8) and Somerset House (tickets from £7.50 until 7^th December, then from £12.50 starting 8^th December) are now booking, but do look out for other local, less expensive venues. Regional favourites include The Ice Factor at York Designer Outlet (£9.75 adults, £8.75 children, family £33), Winchester Cathedral (adults from £7.60, children from £4/£6 depending on age, with slight reductions on internet booking) and Calverley Grounds Tunbridge Wells (adults from £9.50, children from £7.50).

Take Up A Craft

Long, dark evenings make you want to curl up and stay indoors, but why not make use of the time by taking up a new craft or hobby? If you’ve never got on with knitting, try a spot of crochet instead: so many items can be made by joining together simple ‘granny’ squares. For those of you who have never really got on with general sewing (me included) try a bit of cross-stitch or tapestry, I find these much more enjoyable with some great end results. For supplies check out local craft/wool shops (I find Hobbycraft too expensive) or look online. Or to get you started look out for magazines that include mini kits or materials, such as Cross Stitcher, £3.99, or Let's Get Crafting Knit and Crochet Magazine, £7.99.

Buy A Turkey Crown

I stopped buying a whole turkey long ago, as it seemed to result in a fair bit of waste. Instead I can strongly recommend Morrisons Turkey Crowns, which I have bought for years and have always found good quality and value. Buy fresh now and pop in the freezer, a cheaper and easier option than ordering one from M&S or Sainsburys to pick up amidst the panic of the final few shopping days before Christmas.

When it comes to cooking the crown, wrap it in foil surrounded by quartered apples and onions and cook slowly. This helps to keep the meat moist, adds flavour and the resulting juices make a great flavoursome stock to use in turkey gravy.

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