Holiday essentials with Chemist Direct

Every summer when my parents used to take me on holiday I always ended up being ill or having lots of bruises nothing changed since then. During my last 'single' holiday in Crete I had a cold for the most of our stay no matter how warm the weather was I couldn't shake it off for a long time. 
This year we re going on our first holiday abroad as a family of 3 and thanks to Chemist Direct we are prepared for cuts, sore throats, headaches and even mosquito bites.

"ChemistDirect.co.uk is the UK's number 1 online retailer* of pharmacy medications, specialist skincare products, everyday essential toiletries, vitamins, supplements and we even stock a dedicated range of products to keep your pets happy and healthy. By shopping with us you can browse a larger range than your average High Street pharmacy whilst still being able to fulfill prescriptions via our team of GPhC registered pharmacists and all from the convenience of your own home". 

Chemist Direct is an easy to navigate website:

- if you are looking for specific medicines you can find a type of problem or concern under that section and view all creams and tablets (e.g. hayfever or fungal infection)

alternatively

- you can search the website by brand, product or condition

- you can also purchase vitamins, toiletries, treatments for pets, healthy lifestyle solution and baby related products.

As I wanted to have something bigger than an ordinary First Aid bag I have opted for:

Savlon First Aid Wash 100ml

Calpol Infant Sugar Free Colour Free Oral Suspension

Imperial Leather Ocean Fresh Shower Gel

Hydrocortisone Bite And Sting Cream

Lockets Honey & Lemon

Mepore Self-Adhesive Dressing 7x8cm

Beechams Cold & Flu Honey & Lemon

Healthaid Mosquito & Insect Repellent

Hydrogen Peroxide Solution 3% 10 vols

Nelsons Teetha Teething Granules

Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream

Paracetamol 500mg Tablets

Halls Original Sugar Free

Carex Moisture Plus Anti-Bacterial Handwash

Snufflebabe Vapour Rub

Colgate Advanced Whitening Toothpaste

Anadin Paracetamol Tablets

Diarrohoea Relief - Loperamide Capsules

Bepanthen Baby Suncream 50+

Baby Dream Baby Wipes Sensitive 72's

Tixylix Baby Syrup

Sterimar Baby Nasal Hygiene Spray 0-3 Years

A & E Washproof Plaster Dressing

A & E Rainbow Coloured Plasters

Oral-B Classic 123 Twin Toothbrushes

Prior to paying for the items I was asked few questions regarding the medicines that needed doctor's approval in order to proceed with the purchase e.g. will I be the only person taking the tablets, do I take any other medications. As you can see from the list above we are covered almost from everything. It can look like a long list but all of these products can fit in a medium size make up bag and are worth £50.15, not bad, eh?

The order arrived within 5 working days with glass bottles and sprays wrapped up in bubble wrap for extra security. 

We will be sure to use them on our up and coming holiday abroad, thank you, Chemist Direct!

Disclamer: Chemist Direct have provided £50 towards my order and I had to pay remaining £0.15 for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Review: Penwizard personalised book

It was quite interesting to watch L develop her love for books. When she was 6 months she preferred to chew on books rather than to look through them. Few months later when my mum brought more colourful books L would sit still for a while to look through the book with me normally this would only happen if she watches In The Night Garden show.

When I have looked through the book range at the Penwizard website I didn't know at first which book I should choose. My first initial reaction would be to pick something I like, but as L's first birthday was fast approaching I thought that she would love her own book with In The Night Garden characters for her 1st birthday (£14.99).

"Penwizard Personalised Books produce a range of unique customised books where you can star in the pictures and words of your own story alongside your favourite TV characters including Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, In the Night Garden and The Snwoman and the Snowdog.

From fairytale princess adventures to a spellbinding tale of wizardry to even scoring the winning goal for your favourite football team you're sure to find the perfect gift".

You can personalise the book by picking the gender of the character and his or hers looks

(hair style and colour, eye colour and eye wear and skin tone and

lastly you can add you own personalised message.

The process is very simple and will take only few minutes of your time. I wasn't able to see the whole book preview online but I was sure that the book will be lovely.

The book arrived within 3-5 working days from the moment I ordered in a cardboard packaging. 

In The Night Garden is a hardback book which tells you a story how your beloved child has invited ITNG characters to celebrate his/hers birthday party, isn't that a peep?!

Characters look exactly the same as in the show itself, which means L can not only enjoy watching the show but also read, look through the book with her favourite Igle Piggle and Tombliboos.

Even though it's a short story it's a perfect present for your little one on their special day!

Disclaimer: I was sent the item mentioned above for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How to stay stress free when booking a holiday

For the past few months my husband and I are trying to find the best deal for our first holiday abroad as a family of 3. We have picked hotel and destination then changed our mind due to latest events in Tunisia which means we need to start searching again. 

It seems stressful as it's time consuming to find cheap family-friendly hotel but I guess not as stressful the day of the flight when you need to make sure that everything is packed, all documents are sorted, money exchanged and everyone is up and ready to go.

"Insight shows that though we greatly anticipate our holidays, the stress of organising the trip means that families or couples often start bickering before the trip has even begun. With this in mind, travel expert Purple Parking are running a campaign to help families avoid the pressure points that spark those bickering moments".

I came up with few recommendations which hopefully will help you to be more organised and less stressed:

- what's your budget? Lots of travel website or even local travel agents have different prices for the same hotel knowing what is your budget will give you and a travel agent a better idea of what sort of holiday they can offer or you should be looking out for.

- don't put too much stress on yourself. If you are planning to travel with family or friends, ask them to get involved. It's so much easier when someone else is involved. For instance they can find holiday destination and you can look for a hotel reviews or if the person picked the hotel you can search for the better deal.

- try not to leave booking the holiday till last. My husband thinks that we might get better deal 3 days prior to the flight I would agree with that if we didn't have limited budget and a child.

- look for deals online or speak directly to the agent via online chat, sometimes they can offer better prices or

- split the costs

- buy an insurance for your little ones and yourselves and don't forget to check if you need to do vaccinations prior to your trip

- and relax!

Purple Parking have also created a handy travel advice section on their website. "Once you've decided where and when you need airport parking you can take advantage of our how-to guides on everything from golf baggage allowances to how to entertain the kids during your journey".


Disclamer: I was offered a John Lewis voucher as a thank you for sharing my tips.