Favourites For Now: Stuff I quite liked during July
Can you believe we're well into August?! Here's a bunch of odds and sods I liked during July that you might like during any month of the year.
Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush Range
I went into Kit Cosmetics hoping to re-stock on the ever-popular Breakfast Scrub by Soap & Glory that I wrote about in this post on Wellness WA. Basically, it smells like warm French toast that has been drizzled with oodles of maple syrup. So I went to grab my scrub when I saw Soap & Glory's newest range, Sugar Crush. Soap & Glory is a master brand when it comes to fun packaging and crazy good fragrance at a reasonable cost (it's not supermarket pricing, but relative to other products in the "nice, smelly things" market, it's very reasonable).
I took one smell of the Sugar Crush body scrub and I was sold. Three words: key lime pie.
It's a gentle scrub with sugar and salt that doesn't irritate my sensitive skin or leave it dry. Not that you wouldn't want any excuse to smother yourself with the Sugar Crush Body Buttercream (which has the same sweet citrus fragrance). There's also a body wash in the line, which I purchased along with the Buttercream not two days after my first experience with the scrub, and it lathers nicely so you actually get quite a few showers out of it. Seriously guys, this is the real deal.
Zucchini
Definitely my favourite vegetable at the moment. I'm putting it in EVERYTHING. Popped it in my Not-So-Vanilla Pancakes with Jaffa Ganache, made a healthy zucchini slice, Meatza Subs, roasted them, steamed them, turned them into chips.... It's such a versatile veg! Let me know if you have any awesome zucchini recipes that I should try!
Fitness Blender
I recently had to wipe my laptop and couldn't back anything up (long story...) and I lost all my totally legal Insanity workouts. I haven't gotten around to totally legally downloading the videos again but have been using Fitness Blender for when I don't have much time but want to squeeze in a HIIT workout. They've also got a YouTube account with a bunch of different videos from HIIT (high intensity interval training) and "fat burning cardio" to strength training and pilates. What I like about these videos is that there are lots of different programs to choose from (I made a playlist of HIIT videos and have 40 to choose from!) and they vary in length from quick 8-minute bursts to full on 80+ minute workouts that supposedly burn about 1000 calories. Very well instructed, full length so you just follow along, and aren't cheesy like a lot of workout videos (...this, and this). They also don't have any music so you can play your own sweet tunes!
Ethical Nutrients Mega Magnesium Powder
Magnesium is a great supplement to take if you suffer from any kind of muscle cramping (...ladies, good for when Aunt Flo is on her way over) because it relaxes your muscles. That means it'll also help you recover faster if you pull up a bit sore after a workout, AND it's great to have before bed for a deep sleep. It's one supplement that I honestly think does make a difference. I take the powder because I feel like it's absorbed better than pill-form magnesium (which I've taken before and did see benefits of using still). I chose the Ethical Nutrients brand because it's a decent blend and in the middle of the pack when it comes to pricing. Plus it's got a nice flavour which a lot of brands don't do! This particular powder is magnesium chelate, which is the most easily absorbed by your body. Another common type is magnesium citrate, which is usually a bit cheaper but still effective. Careful with any brand that has a majority of its magnesium as magnesium oxide - it's the least absorbable form and taking too much can result in "very loose bowel movements". I take one scoop daily, just before bed.
All Favourites For Now posts are 100% my opinion and are in no way sponsored unless indicated.