The Big 5 0 - How I Decided On My 50th Birthday Plans

Today's post is a little different,  it's a more personal post, so get comfy, grab a drink and I'll start. 

This year is my 50th birthday year, my actual birthday was 14th February and for around 6 - 10 months previous to my birthday, a couple of questions I had rather a lot were "What are you doing for your 50th" or "What would you like to do for your 50th" or "what would you like for your 50th?" depending on who was asking, and the honest truth was, I didn't have a clue, because I hadn't really ever dared think about it. 

A Bit Of Background Information. 

If you've been reading my blog for a long time, you will know that I have health problems that impact my life massively, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I won't go into too much detail as I'm sure you don't want this to be extremely long, but some years ago after having some worrying complications, some really awful symptoms coupled with extreme pain for months and months, and being fobbed off by my GP, and him telling me "you nurses with your self diagnosis" I did explain that that wasn't the case and that I know my own body and was becoming increasingly worried and felt like there was something very wrong. 

I was finally able to see another GP who listened and sent me for some investigations, and after many investigations that finally resulted in abdominal surgery, and subsequently, major abdominal surgery, I was diagnosed with a very serious medical condition, and the condition had very serious side effects and a prognosis that wasn't good at all. I was told I was at extreme risk of my organs rupturing and me bleeding to death, at any time. 

I had had all the surgery and procedures I could have and every possible test had been done and every way of helping me had been explored, but there was nothing anyone could do, no cure, nothing,  I was diagnosed with a life limiting incurable medical condition.  

Deep breaths..... 

It was thought that I wouldn't make it to 40, a few years at best, it was horrendous, a feeling I will never be able to describe. I had 2 little girls, my partner Simon, and a job I loved and all of a sudden, it was like I'd been ripped out of my life and thrown into someone else's. I remember telling my parents and saying "At least it's me and not one of the girls" and my mum burst into tears and said "It is for me though, you're my little girl" It was awful, I felt awful, I felt angry, cheated, sad, frightened and so many other emotions. 

But this post isn't about my health so I don't want to dwell on that, plus I'll be here all year, but I can discuss that in detail in another post if you'd like me to, but for now, I'll keep it as to the point as I can.

My 50th Is Approaching.

When I turned 40, I had a party with all my friends and family, I'm not really a party in a room with a DJ kind of person but because it was such a big deal for me to make the milestone, I thought a party was in order and I'm glad I did it, it was so lovely and I had the best time, it was amazing to celebrate a milestone I didn't think I'd see.

So when my 50th was getting closer, I knew I didn't want a party like my 40th again, and because my birthday is in February, we couldn't have any celebrations at the house because it's too cold to have an outside seating area and there wouldn't be enough room indoors for everyone. 

I also didn't want a party like my 40th because lockdown really showed me who my true friends are. Now,  don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to be checking in daily with me, but you know, once in a while would be nice, especially when people I thought were close to me and cared, never checked in, and I realised it was me making the first contact every time, so a party was out of the equation. 

I wracked my brains and so did my girls and Simon, but we couldn't think what to do, we came up with some ideas but nothing felt right. It's a huge milestone for me and so I wanted to do something special. 

Then I had the idea...

My 50th Idea.

Since I didn't think I'd make it to my 40th birthday, I hadn't ever given my 50th birthday a thought, I suppose I just assumed that I wouldn't be here so I didn't really pay it any mind, and because of this, it gave me an idea, and I finally knew what I wanted to do for my 50th birthday. 

I chose the gift of time...

The Gift Of Time?

I decided I wanted to spend my 50th year with those I loved the most and those who loved me too, those true friends I spoke about up there ↑ and of course my family too. I thought since I was turning 50 and it's kind of a big deal, well it is if you didn't think you'd make it, I would have a 50th year, so from February 14th 2023 to February 14th 2024 I wanted to spend time with the special people in my life, it didn't have to be a huge deal, it could be as simple as someone popping in for a brew, but I decided I wanted to take lots of photos and document the whole year somehow. 

I wrote a post on Facebook, and I sent the same post in a whats app or text message to those who don't have Facebook, and the response I got was lovely, it made me feel very loved and I knew I'd chosen the perfect way to spend my 50th year. 

The Next Part?  

I've decided I'm going to save the next part for another post, so if you're interested in reading it, keep an eye on my social media accounts or my link tree which is here, this has all my social media links, plus any discount codes I have for you to use. 

What do you think of my idea for celebrating my 50th birthday? What would you do to celebrate a milestone birthday? Let me know in the comments section below.

Zoë 

Wild Deodorant - A Review And A Discount Code

AD - PR Gift 

Like many families, in our house, we have been making a conscious effort to reduce our use of plastic and be more sustainable, so we have made quite a few changes in the last few years, and as a family, we are always educating ourselves on more ways to keep doing so.

When I was asked if I would like to try the Wild deodorant I didn't need to be asked twice! I had seen Wild mentioned on Tik Tok quite a lot and after reading the press release,  I was really looking forward to it arriving. 

About Wild Deodorant.

Wild are a sustainable natural deodorant, delivered straight to your door, they are,

Effective:  They are rigorously tried, tested and customer approved.

No Waste:  Unique plastic-free compostable refills.

Naturally Vegan: Powered by plants, not parabens or aluminium. 

Convenient:  Delivered through your letterbox when needed. 

Wild offer a subscription service and by subscribing you will save some money. Subscriptions can be skipped, paused or cancelled at any time and if a subscription isn't for you, you can choose your products and buy as and when you like, there is also an option of buying bundles, which also comes with a saving too.

As well as the deodorant refills and cases, Wild also sell mini deodorants, shampoo bars and soap, the mini deodorants are brilliant if you want to "try before you buy" and try out the deodorant without signing up for a subscription or buying the case and refills. My other half gets really hot and was worried about changing from his regular deodorant, so buying a mini one is a great way for him to try it out and see what he thinks. The shampoo bars and soap sound lovely too and you'd be reducing your use of single use plastic by using them which is fantastic. 

As an added bonus, just for reading my blog post, you get a 20% discount on your orders by using the code MAMMAFULZO. 

What Makes Wild Plastic Free?

Wild says "Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Wild and we are on a mission to shake up the single-use culture of bathroom products. Our entire product is single-use plastic free. We have made our holders with durable aluminium along with post-consumer recycled plastic details and is designed to last a lifetime. Our refills are entirely plastic-free and are made using bamboo pulp which is 100% recyclable and home compostable. Basically, once you have your Wild case you won’t ever have to think about buying a plastic deodorant ever again!" 

How Will My Wild Deodorant Arrive? 

When the deodorant arrived, it came in a lovely pink box with Wild on the top, inside the box was the case, a refill and a leaflet sharing how to put the deodorant together, and a QR code taking you to a website with more information, I thought that was really helpful. The leaflet also included FAQs and 

some information about the product. 

The photo above shows the size of the refill and the ingredients of the Ocean Mist scent.

The Wild Kit I received came with a gorgeous aqua coloured case with a limited edition refill in the scent Ocean Mist. There is a range of different cases available, including some gorgeous colours, fancy mirrored cases and patterned ones and if you like, you can have your case engraved for an extra £5. The refills are available in lots of different scents and there is also a sensitive range too, so lots to choose from. 

How To Put The Wild Deodorant Together. 

And if my instructions don't make sense, you can watch a video here. 

Is Wild An Antiperspirant?

Wild isn’t antiperspirant as they don’t use aluminium salts in their deodorant. Sweating is a natural and important function, Wild deodorant absorbs your sweat by using ingredients such as tapioca starch which absorb moisture and keep you dry, rather than preventing you from sweating. The deodorant also tackles odours associated with sweating, so you’ll smell fresh all day long, the deodorant won't block your pores or affect your PH levels and after switching from antiperspirant to deodorant a number of people have found they sweat less in general, which I would say is a bonus. 

The deodorant refills are made from natural ingredients to combat the growth of bacteria that causes odour and keep you feeling fresh and moisturised. Wild doesn't contain aluminium salts, parabens or sulphates; all their formulas are certified vegan by the Vegan Society and are cruelty-free. 

Wild say they never test on animals, only smelly people! 

The photo above shows the size of Wild deodorant.

Wild Subscription Service & How To Use It.

There are just 3 steps to subscribing to the Wild subscription service it really is easy to do, you just choose your case, then your plan and then your scent. 

If you choose one of the limited edition cases there is an extra cost of £2,  and if you have your case engraved there is an extra cost of £5. 

You can then choose from 3 different plans, they are:

Subscribe & Save - You can skip, pause or cancel your subscription at any time, you will receive 33% off your 1st order and 15% off future orders. You will receive 3 refills every 2, 3 or 4 months which are £5 per refill instead of £6. 

Subscribe & save is £10 with a saving of £6. 

One Time Purchase - This is a one time purchase, you will receive 1 case (£10) and 3 refills (£18), without any commitments to a subscription. 

One Time Purchase is £25 with a saving of £3.

The Full Monty - This a bundle deal and again a one time purchase with no commitment to a subscription. You will receive 1 case (£10)  and 5 refills (£30).

The Full Monty is £32 with a saving of £8.

My discount code MAMMAFULZO also works on all the subscriptions which is a brilliant deal, and for example, it means if you used it for the Full Monty bundle it would cost £25.60 and without my discount, it would cost you £40.00, I think that's an absolutely brilliant saving. 

*Prices are correct at the time of posting.

Trying Wild Deodorant.

When the Wild deodorant arrived I was looking forward to trying it, but sadly I didn't think I would be able to do this blog post justice if I did because, although I do get hot due to being in a lot of pain, I wouldn't really be able to put the deodorant to the test as I am unable to exercise, am not very mobile, and for lots of other reasons, I decided it wouldn't be a true test of the product if I tried it, but I had an idea.  

If you're a long time reader of my blog, you'll know that I have guinea pigs who try products out for me every now and again,  when I am unable to try them for whatever reason. I trust these people with my life and so I know they'll give me their honest, and sometimes brutal opinions. 

Once I'd decided I wasn't really the right person to try the deodorant, I had a think and decided I knew the perfect person or guinea pig to try it for me. My friend Anna, Anna owns two businesses, she owns a dance and fitness business teaching Zumba and dance to both adults and children and has  "gold" classes for the older generation too. Anna also teaches dance in various schools as part of their PE lessons and teaches dance at some after school clubs. She also spends time on a voluntary basis choreographing school shows and special assemblies. 

As well as the dance business, Anna has a confectionary business, creating various different personalised gifts with or without balloons for all occasions. Add into the mix her two gorgeous boys Max and Jack, who are her doggies that she walks daily, and then the walking for around 5 miles per day that she does aside from the dog walks, and she's one busy lady and with all that, and other things she does, she is often meeting herself coming back. 

So I felt Anna would be perfect to try out the Wild deodorant, and when I asked her if she would like to, she immediately said yes, please.

Anna's Thoughts On Wild. 

Anna was impressed with Wild as soon as she started to use it, she said the deodorant was easy to put together and wind up, she had to wind it up a few times with the first use but she had expected that. Anna followed the instructions from Wild and applied two gentle swipes of the deodorant to clean dry armpits and waited for it to dry before dressing. Anna said she noticed the scent immediately and loved it, she said it smelled really clean and fresh.

On day one of trying Wild, Anna had a few classes and teaching classes, alongside the dog walks, and the exercise she did on that day was as follows:


Dog walk - 30 - 40 minutes

Zumba Gold class - 45 minutes

Teaching Dance In School - 2 hours

After School Dance Class - 1 hour

Dog Walk - 30 - 40 minutes

Street Dance Class - 1 hour

Walk around the reservoir - 2.5 hours


Add in travelling to and from workplaces, errands to the supermarket, picking up supplies for her business, checking in on her mum and popping in to see her partner, plus she had a few stressful phone calls to deal with too, so all in all it was a busy first day of using the Wild deodorant.

Anna rang me the morning after and her actual words were "I'm really impressed with that deodorant you know" I had explained to her before she started to use it that I'd read on the Wild website that there can be a transition period when switching to a natural deodorant and some people experienced a little more sweating and body odour than they were used to, but that it would settle down. Anna hadn't experienced that after day one, she said her first impressions were fantastic and she was really happy with it.

If you would like to read more about the transition period, there is an article on the Wild website here that explains it far better than I could.

Anna tried the Wild deodorant for 5 weeks before I asked her for her final opinions, and her opinions were all positive, with only one negative piece of feedback which was if she wound the deodorant up a little too much it would fall out, but it went back in easily and she soon realised what was happening and knew when to stop winding and it stopped falling out, so not a biggy at all.

Anna loved the scent, she said it is one of her favourite things about the deodorant, it is fresh smelling and perfect for the summer. Anna found the deodorant easy to apply, it dried well and kept her feeling fresh all day, she didn't experience the transition period and was fine from day one, but said it was good to know about it as she may have dismissed the deodorant had she not known and experienced odour and sweating.

The deodorant was really effective at keeping Anna feeling fresh all day, on her busiest day of the week she leaves the house at 7.30am and gets back home at 7.40pm, and she didn't smell at all or feel sweaty even after quite a few dance classes and a Zumba class plus dog walks especially when we'd had much warmer weather. The deodorant didn't leave any marks or residue on her clothes and she didn't experience any skin sensitivity to the product.

Anna liked the Wild deodorant so much she has purchased another case and some refills for herself and she bought a case and some refills as a gift for someone too, unfortunately, she forgot about my discount code and picked them up in-store, but said she won't make that mistake again after working out the saving she would have got had she remembered to use it.

Overall, Anna was very impressed with Wild, she loves the fact it is kind to the planet and feels she is doing more for the planet by using it. She was really impressed when checking out the website and realised how many cases and refills there are to choose from and found the subscriptions a great idea, especially with the added discount using my code. Anna likes that Wild is made from natural ingredients, and is better for her skin and she feels better now she isn't spraying deodorant around her doggies, she also said Jack the dog is impressed with Wild because he used to jump out of his skin every time she sprayed her deodorant and now she doesn't, so Wild gets a thumbs or should I say paws up from Jack too.     

Some Information You Might Find Useful.

Wild offer a 15% discount for students via Student Beans. 

Wild is available at over 2,500 stores in the UK, although you won't get my discount if you buy in-store. 

Wild offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee for all new customers, you can find more out by reading here.   

Wild offer a refer a friend discount, find out more here.

If you would like to know more about Wilds cancellation, refund or returns policies, you can find all the information here. 

And last but not least, don't forget to use my discount code MAMMAFULZO at the checkout for a 20% discount, this also works on subscriptions and bundle offers. 

I hope you found this review helpful, if you would like to purchase Wild deodorant or shampoo and soap bars, you can do so by clicking here but don't forget to use my code MAMMAFULZO to get your 20% discount added. 

Thank you to my lovely friend Anna for trying out the Wild deodorant for me. 

Have you tried Wild? If so let me know in the comments and if you have ways you have become more sustainable in your house, share them in the comments too, it's always nice to share ideas. 

Thank you for reading 

Zoë

The New OGX Colour Retention Collection : Review

Review of the New OGX Colour Retention Collection

OGX haircare brand has recently launched a new collection, the Colour Retention Collection, the products in this collection claim to leave your hair with that fresh from the salon feeling for even longer and extend the life of a salon or at home colour for up to 7 weeks (based on 3-4 washings per week using the OGX Colour Retention shampoo and conditioner) 

What OGX says about the collection:

"Brighten up with the new OGX Colour Care collection. This nourishing and protecting conditioner for coloured hair uses Colour Bond Plex technology proven to help extend your colour by up to 4 weeks.* A fortifying anti-fade formula shields from UVA & UVB rays whilst protecting your hair from future damage. You can expect super shiny smoothness and colour that will last the distance! There is a reason 9 out of 10 hairdressers recommend OGX haircare***, salon quality pH balanced tropical blends with precious oils leave hair looking healthy and feeling fantastic, whilst sulfate free surfactants gently cleanse whilst protecting your scalp and your colour. OGX puts the care into haircare, so you can do the wear & tear! *based on 3-4 washings per week when OGX Colour Retention Shampoo and Conditioner is used ** In lab tests, Johnson & Johnson. Data on File ***Tested by 113 UK hairdressers 2021"

AD PR Gifted

I have been using the products for the last few weeks, as have both of my daughters. We all have coloured hair, both myself and my youngest daughter have highlighted hair, and my eldest daughter has half and half, so half her hair is dark and the other half is bleached blonde. 

We have all used all the products, I have used the shampoo followed by conditioner, and once a week I have added the mask also. Most often I have used the shampoo and followed it using the mask instead of using conditioner. 

I was surprised how much of a lather the shampoo had considering it is sulphate free, sometimes shampoos without sulphates don't lather much, but this feels lovely and bubbly (is that even a word?) I always wash my hair twice, and this felt lovely to use, and I didn't need to use tons of it. As you can see from the photograph above, the consistency of the shampoo is quite thick, but it isn't too thick you can't squeeze it out of the bottle, and it rinses out with ease. 

Being someone who always had oily hair, especially at the roots, until a couple of years ago,  I still worry that using conditioner will leave my hair feeling and looking greasy almost immediately after having it washed. I used the conditioner on the mid lengths and ends of my hair avoiding my roots because of this. 

The mask is a nice creamy consistency and is not too thick, I used it on the mid lengths and ends of my hair, leaving it for a couple of minutes before rinsing. You can use the mask on dry hair for more intensity, but I didn't feel my hair needed it so I didn't try it. I didn't need to use much of the mask, although I do have very thin hair, I found a small amount was enough for my hair.  

My Thoughts:

Using The Products:

My first thought when using the OGX Colour Retention products was how lovely the scent was. They have a mild coconut scent with a touch of vanilla, a nice sweet scent that isn't overpowering. 

The first time I used the shampoo I thought it lathered really well for a sulphate free shampoo, as they don't usually lather too well, but it did and it rinsed out with ease and my hair felt lovely and clean after 2 washes. The shampoo and conditioner have quite a thick consistency, but not too thick that you can't squeeze it out of the bottle easily like some other brands I have tried. 

The conditioner left my hair feeling soft and tangle free, when my hair is wet it is very tangled, think bird's nest, so it was nice to be able to have my hair brushed through wet without feeling like I was being tortured. When I used the mask after shampooing instead of the conditioner, my hair felt so silky and smooth when wet, and was easy to get a brush through, so both the conditioner and the mask were great for my "bird's nest when wet hair" and after using both products, my hair brushed through without difficulty when it was wet, which is unheard of for me. 

After Using The Products:

My daughter washes and dries my hair for me as I struggle due to health issues, she uses a Wet Brush Flex Dry brush to brush my hair through when it's wet, this brush is amazing, I bought mine from Just My Look and it was around half the price of every other website I have seen it, if you want to try it, you can buy it here. 

When my hair is brushed through, my daughter rough dries my hair using her Dyson Airwrap and then she goes over it with the smoothing brush attachment which leaves my hair looking nice and tidy without having to have it straightened. 

I was so impressed the first time my hair was washed with the OGX products, the difference in my wet hair was amazing, it wasn't like a bird's nest and brushed through much easier than usual. Once dry, my hair looked smooth and shiny and felt so soft and silky, I couldn't stop touching it!

Having blonde hair, it doesn't really look shiny so I was pleasantly surprised to see the shine, it also smelt lovely too, I was really impressed with the look and feel of my hair and both my daughters said their hair looked and felt lovely and smooth too, my eldest daughter said the darker half of her hair hasn't faded as much as it previously has since using the products too which is a brilliant result. 

Overall:

I have been really impressed with all 3 of the OGX products and will definitely buy them in the future. They are all great products and left my hair feeling and looking lovely. Personally, I like to use the shampoo and then the mask in place of conditioner, but all 3 products are nice. My daughters have quite dry hair and they both like to use all 3 products when washing their hair, we have all been impressed with the way our hair looks and feels after using the products and my eldest daughter is really happy her darker colour hasn't faded as much since using them. 

The products would be ideal to take when travelling as the sun, sea and swimming pool water can leave the hair really dry and the sun fades the colour if you have coloured hair, and since the products have an anti fade formula to shield from UVA and UVB rays, it would be perfect for popping in your suitcase to take on holiday.

Overall I am really happy with all 3 products in the range and definitely recommend them, hopefully, I have covered any questions you may have, but if not, pop them in the comments and I'll be sure to get back to you. 

If you would like to try the OGX Colour Retention collection products, the best price I found was on Amazon, the shampoo is available here for £3.99, the conditioner here for £4.42 and the hair mask here for £5.33 which are all brilliant prices compared to other online sites I checked out, I will share the other prices I found and links below. 

I found the shampoo and conditioner on the  Superdrug website here retailing at £3.99 each, which is the most affordable price I found, but unfortunately, the mask wasn't available to purchase online. The most expensive price I found for the shampoo and conditioner was on the Boots website here retailing £7.99 each, the mask wasn't available to purchase online. 

Have you tried any of the OGX Colour Retention products? If so what are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below, and if you haven't tried the products, do you think you'll pick them up to try? 

Thank you for reading 

Zoë x

 

It's Been A While - An Update

 

Where to start?

I feel like I have done this a few times in recent times, I have had to have a break from blogging due to health issues and then when I feel like I can come back to it slowly and in my own time, something else happens, I become sicker or life happens and before I know it, months have passed. 

My health hasn't been great in recent months, I have had numerous kidney infections, Strep A, then secondary Strep A, Strep IGAS, quite a few chest infections, plus yet more diagnoses, so it's been a lot. But surprisingly that hasn't been the worst of things, which might give you an insight into just how awful things have been. 

I am not going to go into huge detail today, as this is very private and very personal but for the last few months, well, almost a year, things have not been good, I haven't been good, and my whole family haven't been good. We've been dealing with what I can only describe as the most horrific time of my life, and my family's life too, dealing with something I never considered we would ever have to deal with, and I am so sorry if this is cryptic, but I literally cannot talk about it in detail, I possibly will be able to go into more detail one day, but at the moment I can't. 

I didn't really realise how much things have affected me until I realised I have become someone I don't really recognise. I'm not me, I don't want to do anything or go anywhere. I haven't written my blog or made videos for my Instagram account for such a long time either, something I enjoy doing when I am able to. I haven't done a lot of things, I have been quite insular and quiet, not really speaking to anyone, and not making plans, and I feel so bad for that, I didn't realise I was doing it, maybe I was just too consumed by other things, other really horrendous things. 

Moving forward...

One thing I do like doing is, writing my blog, I like to create the videos I share on Instagram and I really want to get back into doing both of those things.   There are some nice things I want to share with you, nice news, some new products I have been trying out and some things I have bought recently too. So I suppose that's a start to writing my blog again, baby steps so they say. 

Apologies...

I am sorry to those of you who actually do like reading my blog or enjoy my video's on Instagram, and I hope now I can get back into things at my own pace, my health and mental health have taken a battering and it's not going to be easy, but when I feel I can chat to my laptop like I'm doing now, I shall do. If you're not following my Instagram account, you can do so by clicking this link.

To my friends who may read this, I am so sorry if I have neglected you at times, I appreciate you more than you know and love you so much, you know who you are. 

Thank you for reading, I'll see you soon...

Zoë