Dukan Diet... yet another diet to try!

Diets... I honestly can't tell you how many I have tried... too many.

Weight Watchers - I remember this from when I was a kid - it has changed so much with the points counting system.  I have been on and off this diet so many times, but for me my weight loss moves too slow.  And I know the slower you loose it, the longer it stays off!  

Also I think with weight watchers you can make this really unhealthy   I mean give me 5 Mars Bars to live off each day, that is my points gone, my sweet addiction taken care of, but not doing much for my health.

Slimming World - I done this so long ago.. with your red and green days.  Red days where meat/protein days and Green days where Pasta/Carb days.  I loved that I could eat as much as I liked on this diet.. but think I maybe took this to the extreme, as I never lost with it.

Slim Fast - Just can't stomach these shakes... replacing 2 meals a day with a shake or bar and a healthy meal at night.  I just don't like the products at all.

Cambridge Diet - This has to be the most unhealthy diet.. but was the most effective for me.  I lost just under 6 stone by replacing my meals with a shake or bar, sticking to protein and drinking 2 - 3 litres of water per day.  It completely and utterly mucks up your bowel movements (for want of a better expression), makes you feel fairly lousy in the first few weeks, but, surprisingly had loads of energy in the latter stages.  I have probably put back on around 1 1/2 stones... but my own doing, pure over indulgence. 

So this gets me to my "New Diet" well to be honest, I didn't want a diet, I wanted a lifestyle change.. so I done a lot of reading and came across the Dukan Diet.  You have 3 stages of this diet:

Attacked Phase - This last usually around 5 days and is the hardest part of the diet and very strict.  You are 5 days of pure protein and it is fairly hard to make meals especially breakfasts on this phase.  You can eat as much as you want.

Cruise Stage - This is basically what you stay on until you get to your ideal weight.  You have one protein day and one protein and veg day... it's a total lifestyle change which I need.  You can eat as much as you want.

Consolidation phase - So important you complete this stage or your weight will just go straight back on.  

There is more to this diet and certainly needs some reading to get to grips with it.  You can just buy the book and read it and follow it yourself.  Or you can go to the Offical Dukan Diet website and join which is fairly expensive - £65 x 3 months.  But, I need somebody telling me what to do - no self discipline!

You can join and read more about the Dukan Diet Here -  Dukan Diet  

Or you can buy the books here - Dukan Books 

I have just started the diet and will let you all know how my first week goes!!

Has anybody else tried the Dukan Diet?

Work At Home Jobs Aren't All Scams!

Work At Home Jobs Aren't All Scams!

So you make that decision that you want some extra money for whatever reasons.  But where do you start?

We have all seen them online:

"Earn £1000 per month no experience necessary , Sign up and get money in 60 seconds, It only costs you £60 to join, make it make within an hour"

There are certainly plenty of scams out there, and I always would advise if they ask you for a joining fee, then, do some research.  Not all companies are a scam just because they ask for a sign up fee, some of the more reputable companies ask for a joining fee.. but you really need to look into any company that promises you the world, as chances are it will end up costing you rather than you making money.

I have lost count on the amount of "work at home" jobs I have had over the years.  I left home and bought myself a little flat when I was 19.. Not long after fell pregnant.  Unfortunately my full salary went on childcare, leaving us to live on my other half's salary, which really didn't get us far.  So, I needed to bring in some extra money and look after a baby on my own as my hubby worked away!

So I found a fantastic job (as I thought) envelope stuffing!  Sounded boring and monotonous but it would give me a little bit more money.  So, I had to send them a cheque to start up and then they would send me out the work.  So when you don't have much, £20 is a lot of money, but I sent it off.. and surprise surprise that is the last I ever seen it and no, I didn't get any work - complete scam!

So there I learnt a valuable lesson - I suppose at 19 I was very naive on the way of the world, and really wasn't aware of Scams as such that were around, I was far too trusting, but was adamant I would never get "stung" again.

So I started again  on my search which seemed impossible for a job to fit around my full time job and a baby!

I tried so many... a few were:

Body Shop - I loved and still do love Body Shop products.  Again I did have to pay upfront, but thought it was a reputable company so I paid it.  This was for my stock and business bag etc...  now I really got into this.  You done "parties" for people to come and socialise and buy Body Shop Products.  My confidence soared after I done a few of these, as I was never a public speaker.  I bought myself the Body Shop clothes, done party games, raffles etc etc... thoroughly enjoyed it.  The money wasn't great, but it paid for little extras for the family.  But, I am and always will be very ambitious.  So you couldn't expand anywhere, it was just really parties.  So I wanted something more and a bit more money.

Kleeneze - This was good when I started this (can't remember if I had to pay any joining fee) but, I have to like a product that I am selling.. and because I found many of the products unusable/useless, I just didn't have any "passion" when selling these.. so I gave it up!

Virgin Vie - This didn't take off at all.. Now I am not blaming the products or the company.  I think maybe it was a combination at this point I had also started Uni as well as my job.. so studying, family and part time job where fairly difficult to juggle.  Also, the support from this company wasn't great, and I was pretty much left to my own devices, so this was an "epic fail"!

Text Services - This was dodgy from the beginning.  You where paid pennies for answering peoples text messages and socialising etc... and when the text messages coming through started getting well rather steamy, I thought no.. not for me.. but it lasted about a month.

Avon - This I done on and off for 8 years, again around work, family and uni commitments (I studied part time uni for about 10 years!) I paid a minimal amount to get started.. bought loads of catalogues and walked the streets.  I done really well and got some great customers.  But then I tried to advertise/sell online and I was constantly blocked as you have to be careful how you advertise online with Avon.  I then discovered that my regular customers were now getting another book from an Avon rep who shouldn't have been in my area (as you get assigned certain streets to sell in).  This was happening more and more regularly and because there where so many Avon reps in the area you couldn't expand your business as everyone knew an Avon rep somewhere.  Also the support from my then Manager was a disgrace, I only heard from her if something was wrong or if I hadn't sold much that month (that used to drive me nuts too if you didn't sell enough in a catalogue your phone never stopped wanting to know why!?)  So, again that ambitious part of me thought.. there has to be something out there for me!

Oriflame - Started 2012 and I am still here.. so they/me must be doing something right.  I hadn't really heard much about them... so I bought a few of their products first and loved them.  I never made any money the first few months I started as I bought for other people as it was around Christmas, but got 20% discount for being a consultant, so wasn't all bad!

Come the January I done the usual New Years resolution thing (which I don't think I have stuck to one I have ever made) and got my finger out.  Started selling around the doors, got my customers back!  I then opened a shop on eBay which is going very well.  I also delved into the world of website's, I created one, which seemed to take me for ever, but was really happy with it.  But, I don't know enough about HTML and Google rankings etc... so this is something that I am going to pick back up and get my website out there to be seen, but need to do a little more reading first.  I also opened a Facebook page which is not far off the 3000 mark and started seriously recruiting.   

So within 4 - 6 months, I have become one of the top Oriflame sellers (will make the top 3 at some point; is my goal) recruited a fantastic team of Consultants, won a handbag, beauty case, suitcase, ipod shuffle and £100 all with Oriflame because of my Sales and Recruitment achievements.  I also went from a Consultant to Elite Consultant and then onto Group Manager.

Not bad.. going.  So the positives of Oriflame are all there to see above.. as well as:

No catalogue targets to meet

Full support

Fantastic selling/recruitment incentives (as above)

You can sell Worldwide - no street allocations etc

You can sell online

You can recruit UK and ROI

Free to join - no financial outlay/sign up cost

No sign up times - if you join and Oriflame isn't for you,  then you can leave anytime.

negatives.. I made mistakes before I got here.. I'm not bias just honest. 

Google Oriflame you will see good and bad reports.. but I really question anybody who slates Oriflame about the amount of effort they actually put in.  

Oriflame is in its 46th year... and they know how to make products.  

Want to make a successful career, earn some extra money or a part time job?  Then join us - email me oriflamebyjulie@aol.com for further information.

And remember to join find me on Facebook here

Ribena Plus Review

I don't know who was more excited when we got asked to review the new Ribena Plus range by BzzAgent, me or my children, as we all love Ribena.

The parcel arrived on a sunny day so I knew they weren't going to last long.  The parcel contained 6 Ribena cartons and 3 flavours:

1. Apple & Peach
2. Raspberry & Apple
3. Summer Fruits

There was nobody better to test these out on then my youngest son Jack.

His favourite was by far the Apple & Peach.  He Loved the combination of the Apple & Peach flavour as it had a lovely sweet taste.  He wasn't keen on the initial smell but certainly was tasty.  This one he scored a fab 8/10

The next one to try was the Summer Fruits.  Again this was very sweet, which maybe not be to everybodies tastes, but Jack loves anything sweet.  He didn't like this one as much, because it had quite a bitter/sour taste. So unfortunately he only gave this one a 5/10

Out of the three of them, the once that he liked least of all was the Raspberry & Apple.  This had a very sour taste and left a horrible after taste, he wouldn't even finish the carton, so this only got a 3/10.

I suppose it is a matter of preference, but I do have to agree with Jack, as my favourite was also the Apple & Peach and we will definitley be buying some of these in our next shopping spree.

It would be nice to see these flavours as ice lollies as they would be very refreshing on a warm summer day.

Avon Lady Won't Be Calling In Ireland

Anybody who has followed me will know that I used to be an Avon Representative.  I done this on and off for 8 years.  It had it's pro's and Con's like most organisations, but all in all it gave me some extra money each month.  I didn't have a huge customer base or team but it fit around my current job at the time.

I left Avon as you were given specific areas that you were allowed to cover, but, I wanted to expand but couldn't as there were so many Avon reps around and no more area's to grow your customer base in.

I came across to Oriflame towards the end of last year.... no area restrictions, no targets to meet every month, I could sell worldwide if I wanted and recruit in UK and Ireland.  Ideal for me and worked around my family commitments.

I remember Avon from years ago when my mam done this.. she had loads of perfume samples which I used to love playing with when I was a kid.  Everybody knew who Avon were and there were always reps in your area.

Even though Avon is a competitor of Oriflame, I was saddened to hear that Avon had pulled out of Ireland leaving thousands of consultants without a job in April.  By the sound of things no Reps were given any notice and quite a few found out through word of mouth or social networks.

Now for some, this would have been just a little bit extra of "pocket money", but for others, this was their full time income.  So as a self employed rep.. you don't get any redundancy payouts etc.. your basically out of a job and with no income.

Avon have said this is a cost cutting exercise affecting Worldwide... but others have speculated this is more to do with bad management.

I personally think it is a bit of both and I would be amazed if this doesn't have repercussions within the UK market.  Avon have made it clear that they are struggling, so I do think we will see an impact in the United Kingdom.

I live quite near the town center and have to say that I can't remember the last time that I had an Avon book through my door; I think you are talking years.  

Oriflame have been around 46 years, and there has been a lot of speculation that Oriflame will cash in on Avon's departure, and I think they will.  Oriflame has expanded massively within the past 12 months and are looking to create an additional 2000 jobs over the next 2 years.  

If you are affected by Avon's departure and would be interested in joining Oriflame or are just interested in finding out more about us, then please do get in touch by emailing oriflamebyjulie@aol.com.

Come and join us on facebook too HERE.

So what are all your thoughts about Avon, good or bad let me know?

Veet Easy Wax Review

I was extremely happy to be able to review Veet Easy Wax with Bzz Agent UK.  I am always looking at new ways to be "Hair Free" and to be honest I get so fed up of Shaving and getting the constant ingrown hairs and rashes.


So when my pack turned up it contained: Veet Waxing Kit, Additional refill for smaller areas, i.e. bikini line, under arms etc, Wipes, wax strips and instructions.  

When I first saw it my initial reaction was it looked complicated, and I like things to be easy.. hate the thought of having to read instructions... but after about 5 minutes, it was really easy.

So rather than me having to wait until I "needed" to be waxed I thought who better to give this a try.. then my husband!  So after a little, well a lot of persuasion and a vodka and coke on the side for some dutch courage (ridiculous I know) he agreed.

It states that the Wax needs to be plugged in and heated for around 20 - 40 minutes, I actually left this for the full 40 minutes.


It is very easy to forget about this though.. so would be good if it had some sort of alarm of some description just to let you know 20 minutes or so is up.






So after having one very hairy leg ready (my husbands can I just remind you and not mine!) Time to start!

 The Wax glides on very easy, and you don't get the uncomfortable hair pulling when you are putting it on manually.  There is a roller on the wax kit which makes it very easy to apply.  

Wax Strip goes on... press down and quick pull (better pulling quick as you get a better result)













Excellent results, very smooth leg and no need to have to have to do a second application on that area. all the hairs came out very easy and with no redness at all.  The only criticism that I would say is that the wax cools down fairly quick.  Reheat after 15 minutes, but I would say that this is more like 5 minutes. 

Used the wipes to take off any excess wax, which worked great.

On a pain scale my hubby said it was about a 3, not painful at all!




I wanted to also use the wax in a more sensitive area to see if it caused much redness and see if it was as pain free.  So, the top of my hubbys neck is getting quite hairy.. and to be honest he wasn't happy when he seen how many hairs he was getting on the back of his neck.  He is concerned about turning into his dad!!







So again one hairy back ready to be waxed!

He was a little more skeptical about getting the back of his neck waxed.  Same process as before, wax goes on very easy, wax strip goes over the heated wax and quick pull...

The results this time weren't as good as on the leg.  The hairs didn't come out as good and as you can see did leave a fairly red back.  But I have to say that this did subside after a couple of hours, and 24 hours later there is no sign of a rash on either his back or leg.

On a pain scale, my hubby wasn't as impressed.  He did use a few choice words, so glad the kids weren't around!  This was more like an 8 out of 10 on a pain scale, so in his words "It Hurt"!



And I think that you can tell from his reaction he wasn't exactly happy about it!

All in all this was very easy to use, I think it didn't work as well the second time as I had let the wax cool too much.  So maybe in between waxing put the wax back into the holder so it is staying warm, but obviously don't let it get too hot.

I would definitely give this a Good 8 out of 10 and would certainly use this again

New Oriflame Products For Catalogue 6

Well, Oriflame's Catalogue 6 started last weekend, and I can't believe how many New products it has in, as well as loads of free gifts!!

The New Oasis Range are fantastic.  When I go on holiday I always take a perfume that reminds me of holidays; a one that has a nice fruity or exotic scent to it and Oasis certainly has this.  They have brought out perfume, shower gel, moisturiser and face mist, which is everything you need to pack into your holiday essentials......Click HERE to see the video lauch



Oriflame have released an amazing New Mascara called 2FX Over Black Mascara.  It not only lengthens your lashes, but it also adds volume.  Excellent substitute for those of you who don't like to wear false lashes.  It doesn't clump and separates your eye lashes rather than sticking them together, which I have found with some mascara's I have used in the past.

Great launch price too, usually retailing at £9.95 but they have it on SALE for £6.95, you can buy it HERE.

What really caught my eye in this catalogue, was the new eyeshadows.  I prefer to have small eyeshadows that I can pop into my bag on a night out, rather than the palettes, they are too bulky for me.  The Mono Eye shadow comes in 12 fantastic colours

There is a choice here for all tastes... my preference are the neutral brown as I have never been able to carry off the brighter colours 











They range from Matte to pearly effect, and at a great Launch price of £2.95 

You can buy them HERE


Always been a HUGE fan of the Optimals range.... and now even more excited that they have brought out the Cleanse & Tone range.

These are must have basics for perfectly cleansed skin!

It is so important to get the right cleanser for your skin type, this will avoid unnecessary breakouts or redness.

The Normal/Combination Skin cleanser comes in a great foaming cleanser, while the Oily skin cleanser comes in a gel form.

These on offer for a limited time - £5.20 each - You can save even more money by buying the cleanser and toner together for £9.90

Buy them HERE 

The one that I am using at the minute is the Dry/Sensitive skin... I am so prone to breakouts, but don't have particularly oily skin, so this works excellent for me.  The Cleanser comes as a soothing milk form, while the toner is not harsh on your skin and doesn't dry it out.

These are also on offer - £5.20 each or you can buy them both together at a discount price - £9.90

You can buy them HERE






Finally as I am not going away this year :(... there is only one thing for it... faking it!!  As I live in the wonderful sunny UK, where we only see our summer for about 1 week of the year.. and I am usually busy that week!!

I always worry that when I put on false tan I am going to wake up looking like I have been tangoed!!!  So I love using Oriflame gradual tanning lotion.  Not only does it moisturise my skin, but it also gradually builds a natural looking tan, and leaves a lovely shimmer on your skin.

But just remember to wash your hands, after you have used it.. nothing worse than having tanned palms!!

This is also new to Oriflame, and so pleased they brought this out, well worth the money - £6.95 for 200ml.

You can buy it HERE


So whether you are going on holiday or staying at home.. plenty of new products here to put a smile on your face.....  check out all our Oriflame Products HERE

Oriflame Products, Offers & Reviews

My Oriflame UK Journey

I have to say since coming across to Oriflame UK last November I have never looked back.  

When I first started I thought; "this is too much like hard work, I am never going to get anywhere with this"..... always looked at the success stories and thought," bet it took them years to get to that position, just thought it was impossible."

So November I plodded on, bought products for me, and completely over indulged.  December I bought Christmas presents for everybody else from the catalogue.  So by the time it got to January, it was time to stop spending on me and get my finger out.

I started selling on Ebay and opened a Facebook Page.  It started off slow, but now I have a very successful customer base and 1731 followers on Facebook... not bad in the short space of time that I achieved this.

Not satisfied with this, I decided I wanted to recruit a Team.  So up to now I have a fantastic team of around 70 consultants who work very hard, and are making some great money.

I was promoted to Group Manager last month, I have always been very ambitious, and made many mistakes along the way, but without making mistakes you don't learn, so onwards and upwards and hoping to achieve a lot more within the next 6 months.

So if you think you have what it takes to be an Oriflame Consultant, you can either email me for further information oriflamebyjulie@aol.com or sign up here.

Special Offers

As the new catalogue 6 will be starting on Saturday, I really have to share these amazing offers with you.  

Many cosmetic companies seem to have a limited amount of mens products, but I have to say Oriflame UK has a fantastic selection... a few of my favourites are:

Glacier Eau de Toilette

If you are a fan of Cool Water, then you will love this.  It's a lovely fruity smell that lasts for ages.  A really big seller amongst our customers.  RRP £14.95, our SALE Price - £9.95

 And for this catalogue only, they are offering a free matching Glacier Aftershave Balm worth £5.95 with every purchase of the Glacier Eau De Toilette... Buy it Here

Another Best Seller is:

Architect Eau De Toilette... this has a very aromatic smell to it and a great favourite with our customers.  Currently on sale RRP £22.95, our SALE Price - £16.95... Buy it here

Finally if you are a regular Oriflame UK customer, you will know how much of a fantastic range of makeup that they sell; cheap prices, great value.

They have a vast selection of foundations for all ages and skin types.  

Everlasting Foundation gives up to 10 hours of wear with flawless looking skin.  This has a medium to high coverage, so great for hiding any skin imperfections.  It blends really easily, leaving your skin with a silky smooth finish.  Comes in 6 shades to help get that perfect match.  RRP £11.45, our SALE Price - £7.95

See what our customers say:

Everlasting foundation

My skin is dry and I find difficult to find a foundation. Even after using the moisturiser most of foundations leave my T-area dry . Not Everlasting foundation. It stays on for long time and looks great on skin. I use it with GG Make-up base and can't say how much I love them :)

!!!!!!!!

5 STAR FOUNDATION!!!!!! the best foundation on the market and lasting power is amazing i recommend this product!!!!!!!!

So why not find out for yourself.  Buy all of your Oriflame products here at discounted prices from a trusted seller - Ebay Shop