I live quite far away from my family, which can make it pretty tricky when it comes to buying presents that I can send in the post for birthdays and special occasions.  So I am always on the lookout for websites that sell fun and interesting presents that I can order to be delivered straight to them.

I was intrigued then, when I came across bakerdays.  

They sell cakes that you can personalise and order online, to then be delivered straight to your loved one’s door.  Who wouldn’t be happy with a cake arriving at their front door!

There is a huge choice of cakes available on their website, for all occasions from birthdays and christenings to graduations and mother’s day.  The hardest part of ordering is chosing which design you would like.

Most of the cakes are sent by courier, but if you order one of the letter box cakes then it will be sent via Royal Mail because, surprise surprise, it fits through letter boxes.

I was recently asked if I would like to try one of these letter box cakes and I said yes please straight away.  Well, I do love a good piece of cake.

And I have to say, I’ve not been disappointed.

The cake arrived in a really sturdy cardboard box, that did indeed fit nicely through our letterbox.  I was really impressed with how well it was packaged, it felt very secure and the cake was kept in perfect condition.

When I opened the box I found a lovely little tin that was the perfect size to keep the cake from shifting around in transit.

And it’s really quite funky too, I know I’ll be using it to store bits and bobs in the house.

There are handy instructions for getting the cake out of the tin, so you don’t end up smooshing it in your eagerness to tuck in.

Once I’d got mine out of the tin and out of its wrapper I was able to really get a good look at it.  I’d chosen a cake just for me, a little early Mother’s day treat!  And I had it personalised with a photo of Rhys and Nerys.

I really like the way the cake looks.  The colours are lovely and bright and I think the photo I chose works really well with the design.  The photo itself is a bit blurry, but I’m not sure if that’s just the way it is with photo cakes.

As you can see from the photo above, the cake is pretty small.  I can just about hold it in one hand.  So bear that in mind when you’re ordering, if you want to send a cake that can be shared between several people then you might want to go a size up.  But this letter box cake is perfect as a little treat, and will be enough for me to share with my husband and children.

My cake came with a few extra bits that I wasn’t expecting – a party blower, 2 candles and 3 balloons.  I thought that was a nice little touch that adds a sense of celebration to the whole thing.

When you order a cake from bakerdays, first you chose the design you want and then you have to make the even trickier decision about what type of cake to send.

The options are: traditional sponge, rich chocolate chip, red velvet, gluten wheat free sponge, dairy free sponge and fruit cake.  There really is something for everyone.

I chose red velvet for my cake, because I can’t think that I’ve actually tried it before.

I was really impressed with the quality of the cake when I tried it.

I think I was maybe expecting it to be a bit dry, but it really wasn’t.  It was beautifully moist, with a good  balance of cake and icing.  I had a small piece while I was home alone, purely for the purpose of writing this of course!  And now I’m really looking forward to having another bit tomorrow with my family.

I would be so happy if someone sent me another of these cakes in the post, and it’s definitely something I’m keeping in mind next time I want to send a little treat in the post to someone.

Bakerdays have a huge range of cakes available, head over to their website and take a look – www.bakerdays.com

You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with their news.

Disclosure – I was sent my cake for the purpose of this review, but all words and opinions are my own.

Back in my twenties, before I got married and had my children, I used to go out to bars and clubs pretty much every weekend with my best friend.  I know, I can hardly imagine it now!  But we used to have such a good time together on these nights out.

Honestly though, quite often a lot of the fun was in the getting ready, and that always involved straightening our hair.

Now, my hair has always been pretty straight anyway, but I loved the sleekness you can only really get from using straighteners.  And there was just something about having shiny straight hair that made me feel ready for a night out!

Fast forward, ooh, about 13 years though, and those kinds of nights out just don’t really happen any more.  So I’ve not really done anything with my hair for a while.  Most of my ‘getting ready’ now is getting ready for the school run, and my hair is mainly, sadly, neglected in the rush to get out the front door.

The thing is though, lately I’ve been feeling like I want to make more of an effort.  I bought some new mascara recently and actually really like taking a few seconds in the morning to put it on, it makes me feel just that bit more together.  I’ve started fitting some exercise into my days, because I want to feel healthier and honestly, I want to lose a few pounds too.

So when I was offered the chance to review some new straighteners from Lee Stafford I jumped at the chance.  I really like the idea of taking just a little bit of time to ‘do’ my hair, rather than just letting it do its own thing every day!

After giving them a good try out, here are my thoughts on the Lee Stafford Academy straighteners.

I love how quickly they heat up.

Like I said, I don’t have much time to get ready in the mornings.  So the fact that these straighteners heat up, ready to use, in just 10 seconds is amazing.

There is a useful little guide in the box to help you choose what heat setting is best for your hair, from 80 degrees for thin, fine hair up to 230 degrees for really thick hair.  I’m somewhere in the middle so around 120 degrees is probably best for me.

Anyway, the fact that it heats up so quickly is a bit selling point to me.  No waiting around, you can just get straight on with it!

They look good.

Now, I know this shouldn’t really matter, but I’m trying to be honest here!  I really do like the way these straighteners look.

The box they come in is really nice in itself.  It’s lovely and sleek and black on the outside, and then you open it up and get this amazing bright pink on the inside.  There are little notes inside too, which add a bit of a personal touch, making them feel just a bit more special.

The straighteners inside are mainly black which is just classic and always a good look.  But they’re not just black, they’re matt black which really adds a little something.  And actually does make them easier to use, they’re a bit more grippy in your hand than ones I’ve used in the past.  And to add just a bit of fun to the design, there’s a little pop of that bright pink here and there too.

They don’t snag.

I’ve used straighteners in the past that have sort of snagged and pulled on my hair which is just really not pleasant.  These Lee Stafford Academy straighteners felt so smooth moving through my hair, thanks to the nano silver titanium plates.

They really do just glide through, with no catching or snagging, which makes using them a really quite pleasant experience.

They leave my hair really shiny!

I’ve always liked how my hair looks when it’s been straightened.  It’s always just looked and felt sleeker and shinier.  And these straighteners haven’t disappointed me on that front at all.  They generate negative ions, which apparently make your hair “frizz-free and manageable”.  I’m not sure on the science behind that, but it works for me!  My hair definitely looked really shiny after using them, and still feels smoother the next day.

The controls are on the inside.

Now, I had a bit of a baby brain moment when I first opened these.  I couldn’t find how to turn them on.  Then I took off the heat protection guard (which is fab, by the way) and opened the straighteners up.  Then I found the power button and the temperature controls.  They’re tucked away on the inside, so you can’t accidently whack the heat up as you’re using them.  Which, by the way, I used to do a lot with my old straighteners, it used to drive me mad!

There’s a 5 year warranty.

I didn’t realise this at first, but the Lee Stafford Academy straighteners come with a 5 year manufacturer’s warranty.  I don’t think you can complain about that!  That’s real peace of mind for me, to know that I’m covered if anything does go wrong with them in the next 5 years.

My overall thoughts.

Honestly, I’m really impressed with these.  They feel really lovely to use, heated up super fast which is important for me, and left my hair looking straight and shiny and feeling really nice to the touch too.

Here are my before and after photos.

There might not seem to be a huge difference between the two, mainly because my hair is really quite straight to start with.  But it is so much shinier after using the straighteners, and feels really lovely too, which you can’t really tell from a photo!

I will definitely be adding these to my routine, maybe not every day, but a few times a week, to start to feel a bit more polished and put together.  And I’m hoping to master curling my hair with them too, youtube here I come, bring me your best tutorials!

Competition

If you’d like to win a pair of Lee Stafford Academy straighteners of your own, then here’s your chance!  There are 11 different ways you can enter, so get clicking and good luck.  The competition closes on the 29th March so hurry!

Win Lee Stafford Academy Hair Straighteners #2

Disclosure – I was sent the straighteners for the purpose of this review, but all words and opinions are my own.