A staple for your First Aid Kit - Vidisan Eye Drops (+ giveaway!)

What's in your first aid kit? Back when I was little, my parents' kit was filled with bandages, plasters, scissors, gauze, TCP and goodness knows what else! They were prepared for any eventuality. TCP alongside iodine, eye drops and daily doses of cod liver oil are items that would traditionally be packed into a first aid kit but these are starting to disappear from our family bathroom cabinet - I don't think I've ever bought TCP in my adult life!

New research by Vidisan, a natural eye drop to relieve sore and irritated eyes for the whole family, reveals that over a quarter (28%) of Brits no longer own any sort of first aid kit, even if it's just an assortment of products on a bathroom shelf. For those who do have one, only 25% keep eye drops as part of their equipment, despite eye irritation being a common and distressing complaint for both children and parents.

The research, conducted with 1,000 British respondents, shows that most just keep a bandage or plaster (84%) and a painkiller (76%) among their core healthcare products. A third (38.5%) kept a hay fever remedy, antihistamines or cream in their kit but they did forget to include eye drops, which are often needed in addition to antihistamines, especially in summer months.

Scarily, 14% of those with a first aid kit said they usually had a partly-used prescription medicine in it which was past its expiration date. 

When asked which items they thought were most important to keep in their first aid kit at all times, two-thirds (66%) said bandages and plasters; 59% said painkillers; 47% said antiseptic cream; and only 23% thought of eye wash and just 7% eye drops.

The lack of presence of eye drops in a first aid kit is surprising given that over a third of men in the research complained of foreign bodies entering their eyes whilst gardening, reporting discomfort (37%). A similar number of women also suffered from this - 30%.

Again, when playing sport, 30% of men said they had recently got something in their eye yet only 58% of them used an eye drop compared to 65% of women.

As well as outdoor hobbies, being on holiday also poses a risk to eye comfort. Nearly half (48%) of those questioned had experienced problems on the beach with the wind blowing sand in their eyes, and 70% of the group admitted to giving up and going home due to the problem. Going swimming can also be a problem. 45% said that they suffered eye irritation after swimming in chlorine filled waters.

For many people this eye irritation can mean burning, swollen, red, sore or even weeping eyes. By being prepared and having an eye drop means that this needn't ruin your whole day. Nowadays there are very effective eye drop solutions especially designed for such occasions.

Vidisan is an eye drop by leading eye care specialists Bausch + Lomb. Not only can it soothe and help relieve irritated eyes but it uniquely contains a special lubricant called Povidone and can be used at any age so it is suitable for the whole family. It is proven to calm irritated eyes from daily causes such as wind, dust, pollution, cold, cigarette smoke, chlorine and pollen. It's a year round solution.

As well as the Povidone, it also contains euphrasia. This combination is formulated to improve the stability of the tear film (the watery layer on the surface of the eye) and give immediate relief from stinging and burning after the first application.

Vidisan is available in a single 10ml dose bottle (£4.50) or 30, 0.6ml doses (£6.99). It can be used by contact lens wearers but the lenses must be removed first, then they can be replaced after 15 minutes. Once opened, the 10ml bottle should be discarded after 6 weeks.

Bausch + Lomb have offered my readers the chance to win some eye drops for their own first aid kit. All you have to do is fill in the Gleam widget below. Good luck! T&C's can be found in the widget.

 Vidisan eye drops giveaway

 

More competitions at ThePrizeFinder

Look in my Letterbox #46

This week has been so busy with post! I fell into a bit of a blogging slump around Christmas time so I stopped accepting review items but I'm back into the swing of things so I've lots of nice reviews coming soon. As ever, I'm linking up with Look in my Letterbox.

Wins:

Bibs

 I won these from Minene on Instagram back in December. They're super cute - I love bandana bibs. They look great with outfits and they're useful at the same time!

Drinks

 This was a win from Jools Drinks on Twitter. I love green tea so I'm sure they'll be a hit (they're still in my fridge unopened - I think I'll have one after I publish this post!)

Men's razor

I won this from Beauty at Tesco on Twitter. They had 100 to give away. Super handy for Chris.

 

Shaun the Sheep book & Icing 

This was a win from Renshaw Baking on Facebook. They were celebrating the release of the new Shaun the Sheep DVD. C loves Shaun so he's pleased!

Reviews:

Baker Ross Easter crafts

 I love receiving these craft bits from Baker Ross. This box is overly exciting because C is obsessed with eggs, something with stems from watching Kinder egg opening videos on YouTube. I know the Chick Eggs will be well received.

Bobux shoes

 Oh these are so beautiful! E has been walking for around 2 months now so I was delighted to get the opportunity to review for Bobux. 

Ella's Kitchen toddler snacks

 We've reviewed Ella's Kitchen in the past and the kids have loved the range. These are their new toddler and big kid snacks. We've tried a few already and they've been gobbled up in record time.

Naturelly Jelly Juice

 

We received a few flavours of the Naturelly Jelly to try plus a box of four for me to giveaway to one of my readers so keep an eye out for the review soon!

Blue Kangaroo book series 

Kids book reviews are my favourite posts to write. We're excited about introducing these at bedtime.

Purchases:

Bits & Bows bows

Bobbins bows 

I bought bows from both of the above shops in their Sale Nights on Instagram. I couldn't resist!

Other: 

Book

When I opened this I had no idea where it was from but I've since been informed that it was from a freebie form that I filled in. No recollection of it!

 

Eye drops 

 These are a giveaway prize that will be going up before the end of this weekend so check back!

Did you receive anything nice this week?

 

Baker Ross Spring Crafts

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about receiving a box of Valentine's and Spring themed craft items from Baker Ross. I reviewed the Valentine's items here and said I'd be doing the Spring ones in a separate post so, here we are!

The Spring items included in the box were:

 

Bug Fingerprint Decoration Kits (£3.49 per pack of 5)

Butterfly Ceramic Flowerpots (£3.96 per pack of 4) 

Tulip Pencil Pot Kits (£2.99 per pack of 4) 

Flower Stampers (£3.60 per pack of 10) 

Butterfly Magic Wand Kits (£3.49 per pack of 4) 

I also used the 4-Part Multi Paint Pad (£3.60)

We had to start off with C's favourite - stampers! I mentioned in my last post that C hadn't used a paint pad before but I think he actually enjoys it more than regular paints. He hates having paint on his hands for too long and loved how he could just open the pad up himself and work away. I love how easy the stampers are to clean. We've used them a few times now and the quality is still as great at the first time we tried them out. 

The Bug Fingerprint Decoration Kits were next. C had never done fingerprint painting before but he thought it was a lot of fun. You can choose to make either a Butterfly, Bee, Ladybird or Caterpillar and C chose the ladybird. The main base is foam then you just had to add the foam wings, red cheeks and antennae (these are already sticky, you just have to remove the backing) and put tie a piece of ribbon through the top so it hangs. There is also a small black paint pad so C could make the dots on the ladybirds wings. He was so excited and maybe even did a bit too many as he got carried away. Tons of fun!

The Butterfly Magic Wand Kits were a hit with both kids. Chris helped E do one and I helped C. There are four kits in different colours but including all the same pieces. You have the main foam butterfly, a smaller foam butterfly to stick on top, four glitter foam teardrop shapes to place on the wings, a glitter foam body, sequins, a stick and ribbon. C was able to stick all of the foam parts on himself whilst I put some PVA glue down to stick the sequins on. The main butterfly has a hole centre bottom so after putting a little glue on the tip of the stick, I was able to slot it in easily with no faff. The three bits of ribbon looked difficult in the picture but were really simple. I tied the first around the top of the stick, just below the butterfly, allowing it to flow down. I then tied the next ribbon in a bow with the stick in the centre then repeated the first ribbon with the next. The rest of the day, both kids were waving them around the house thinking they were great. I definitely think this is the best Baker Ross kit we've received!

The Baker Ross ceramic kits are ones that C doesn't seem that interested in but they are mine and Chris's favourites so we tend to take over them. We already own ceramic pens and the pots come all ready to go so all we have to do is colour them how we want. It's really therapeutic and I like coming up with different colour combinations. 

I loved doing the Tulip Pencil Pot craft with C. The set contains the cardboard tub, foam tulip, foam butterflies and ladybirds and foam leaves. Once you have the tub sitting upright, you need to add the tulip to the rim. The tulip has two little vertical slices already so you just need to put a little glue in the middle of these then push it against the inside of the tub. Glue will also be needed to add the leaves to the bottom of the tub. The foam insects are already sticky so it's a case of removing the backing and attaching them to the tulip then you're done! Super simple, C could do it all by himself. He looked pretty darn chuffed about it too! 

You can browse the full range at the Baker Ross website. You can also keep up to date with them on Facebook and Twitter. 

(We received these items as part of our role as Baker Ross Bloggers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

 

Cheese Posties - Review

A few weeks ago I received the oddest yet most brilliant review item in the post - a cheese toastie!

I know that sounds a bit odd but bear with me! I am a cheese fiend so when I discovered Cheese Posties I thought it was the best idea ever. Cheese Posties is a subscription service for cheese toasties. These aren't plain cheese toasties though. You have a choice of sweet or savoury and there are tons of "recipes" for each. You can also tailor it to your tastes so if you're allergic to nuts or vegetarian, they'll guarantee that you won't receive any of these toastie ingredients. They even cater for gluten intolerances with gluten free bread.

I was open to trying anything and received the Jaffa Cake cheese toastie. Inside my box was all of the ingredients to make the toastie myself plus the recipe card.

• Two slices of bread
• Toaster bag
• Mascarpone cheese
• Two squares of dark chocolate
• Orange marmalade
• Butter

The toastie is pretty simple to make. Assemble the filling inside the sandwich, butter the outside, pop the sandwich inside the toaster bag then place it in the toaster. Once you've received your box, you do need to eat it right away or refrigerate and consume within 24 hours.

I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about trying it as I'd never had a sweet toastie before - never mind one with chocolate and cheese but after gingerly biting one corner, oh my goodness, it was amazing. It was called Jaffa Cake because that's exactly what it tasted like.

I know some people will be reading this thinking "I could just buy the ingredients myself and make it" but where's the fun in that!? I will definitely make future purchases - I'm dying to try a savoury one next. The Pepperoni Pizza one sounds amazing! I love the fact that they deliver to Northern Ireland too, food places always tend to leave us out.

A standard weekly subscription to Cheese Posties costs £3.99 plus free delivery but if you want to save yourself a bit of money, you can choose the 4 week and 8 week options for £3.90 per week and £3.75 per week, respectively.

You can find out more at the Cheese Posties website or you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter. 

(Disclaimer: We received a Cheese Postie for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Colours Colours Everywhere - book review

Book reviews are my absolute favourite posts. My two kids (aged 3 and 1) have probably 100+ books between them. Reading was a big part of my life when I was little (and still is now!) and it is so important to read with your children from an early age. As soon as E was born, I introduced her to C's old baby books and we progressed from there. We recently received Colours Colours Everywhere to read with E.

E is such a little sponge. C didn't really speak much until he turned two but E picks up everything, probably from copying her big brother. I was excited to read this to her to introduce to different colours and maybe get her saying them.

Colours Colours Everywhere is a chunky, hardbacked book with cut outs on the front of some of the items inside. Each page contains the colour in huge lettering along with some items that are that colour. For example, on the red page there are items like a strawberry and ladybird and the black page has a cat, spider and lots of others. I mentioned that on the front cover. This is because on each page of the items is on raised cardboard so it pops through. At the end there is a massive rainbow finale that covers both pages.

I was totally right when I said that I was hoping it would encourage her to say colours but it brings so much more. She loves pointing at all the different pictures of animals and other items and likes to try repeating what I say. The addition of rhymes to do with the colours is a great idea and I think the more we read it, the more likely it is to stick in her head because of this. The cut outs on the front, alongside the raised cardboard pieces, encourage her to touch the pages and really get into it. I think it's a lovely little book, perfect for ages 0-3 to teach them about colours.

In April this year, they will also be releasing Numbers Numbers Everywhere. I will definitely have to pick up a copy judging by how much E has loved this one!

Colours Colours Everywhere is written and illustrated by Libby Walden and Samantha Meredith, respectively, and it is published by Little Tiger Press. You can purchase it from all good book retailers and it's currently available on Amazon for £6.94.

What I've Won: January 2016

Oops! We're almost finished February and I realised that I hadn't published my What I Won in January post! Better late than never, eh? January was a pretty good month for me, I can't complain too much.

Here's what I won:

1) Webbox dog treats (RRP £1.00) from Webbox

 

I won these directly from Webbox on Twitter. I don't have pets myself but Chris's mum and brother both have two dogs so I like to enter for them. A nice little treat!

2 & 3) Snoopy instant wins

I never do well with instant wins but I was pleased with these. C has recently discovered Snoopy and he loves having keyrings because he feels like a big boy with his own keys. I entered both times in the wee hours of the morning - it seems to have helped!
 

4) Wychwood t-shirt

I won this on the first day it opened. I was pretty excited as I knew Chris would love it, until I discovered that there was a glitch and everyone was getting winning notifications. Luckily Wychwood were lovely and honoured it anyway.
 

5) Easy Laces (RRP £4.99) from Easy Laces

This was a low entry competition on Twitter. I was really pleased because I knew my sister would love them for her Converse.
 

6) Clover the Lamb (RRP £10.99) from Lissi Lou

 I spotted this on Twitter and just had to enter. E loves her stuffed animals is constantly kissing and cuddling them. As soon as he arrived she fell in love with him.
 

7) 2 tickets to Soulfly (RRP £32.00) from Limelight
The Limelight do a competition every week to win yourself plus a guest to one of their gigs, you just have to let them know who you'd like to see. I chose Soulfly as Chris loves them and hasn't seen them in years just after I first spotted the comp and won!
 

8) Animal crayons (RRP £2.50) from Colourful Crayons by Jess

I've been a fan of this page and the gorgeous shaped crayons for a while so I was so chuffed to win one of their Freebie Friday competitions. I didn't know which animals we would receive but I knew the kids would love them. They are so easy for E to hold and they've lasted ages!
 

9) Fire Station Activity Kit (RRP £8.00) from Parragon Books

This prize was just perfect for C. He is obsessed with fire engines and he's at that age now where he likes to build things. He got really excited when I told him he could open the parcel and was even more excited when he saw what was inside.
 
10) Beauty goodies (RRP £125.14) from Life of a Glasgow Girl

My first blog competition win of the year. It's such an amazing bundle and the first thing that I had to try was the Lush teddy!
 

11) Hamster bags (RRP £24.99) from Noah & the Girls

I was over the moon with this win! Chris and I don't drive so when we go shopping we have to make do with the basket under E's pram and carry the rest. These are such a great invention!
 

12) Scrabble frame (RRP £6.00) from Little Treasures
I entered this with the intention of gifting to a friend if I won. I haven't yet given it to her and I know she reads my blog so sorry - no pics for now! I will update when I've given it to her.
 

13) My Little Pony dvd (RRP £10.99) from Yummy Mummy Flabby Tummy

The kids have recently discovered Tiny Pop after months of CBeebies. My Little Pony is one of their favourite shows so when I saw lots of blogs hosting this competition, I really wanted to win one for them. 
 

14) £50 rimmel goody bag from Elle

I was so shocked to see a WEM in my emails. Usually I'm not so lucky with web competitions, most of my wins come from blogs or social media. My sister has claimed all of it!
 

15) £50 Iceland voucher from Iceland

Iceland teamed up with Birds Eye recently and hosted daily competitions on Facebook where you had to take a #Freezie (freezer selfie) following the instructions on the post. I didn't see the competition until the penultimate day where the theme was something that the children love to eat. It was 3am and the competition ended at 9am. I knew I had some Potato Smiles in the freezer - C's favourite food at that time - and took a selfie with it. I didn't actually think I'd win!
 

16) Lego Minifigures (RRP £20.00) from Dennis & Gnasher Epic Magazine

This was a little surprise win that arrived in C's name. He was so excited - his first Lego! He's obsessed with all things spooky and Halloween so he was delighted.
 

17) Spider-Man talking figure (RRP £22.95) from Marvel Play Time magazine

I love entering the children's magazine competitions for C. He's quickly becoming a little mini comper. He loves Spider-Man and couldn't wait to get it open.
 

18) Crosse & Blackwell soup & microwavable cup

This was from the current competition that is being run by Tesco and Asda. I won in the Tesco one, again in the early hours of the morning.
 

19) Goodfellas gluten free pizza voucher (RRP £3.00) from Goodfellas
I won this thinking I could gift it to my friend as she has coeliac disease. When it arrived it said it is only redeemable in mainland UK, boo!
 

20) Go With Your Gut cookbook (RRP £11.99) from Kyle Books

I'm such a cookbook hoarder and when I saw this one I knew I had to win it. I need to start eating better and apparently the recipes in this are great to aid digestion.

January's prize total is 20 prizes worth £384.54!

Did you win anything nice in January?