Giveaway! Siri Uzuri Argan Oil

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Look, I’m no beauty blogger, but I’m very much into healthy living and looking after myself. I can’t tell you what the latest eyeliner trend is and a lot of the time I can’t tell you where my make-up bag is, but I can tell you how to get active and look after your own wellbeing. Today, I’m going to tell you about my experience with Argan Oil.

I gym/exercise in the mornings, which consists of high intensity training three times a week, a 5km run twice a week and hot yoga once a week. In the afternoons I ride my horse 4-5 times a week. This means that if I’m not sweating, I’ve probably just got out of the shower. I shower at least twice a day and wash my hair once a day.

Can you see where this is going? My hair needs some tender loving care! And it needs it in a way that fits into my busy schedule (between all that activity, I’m also running a social media business and am putting in the desk time).

Argan Oil

Enter Argan oil. This is one from Siri Uzuri that I was given to try out. It’s 100% pure, freshly pressed & certified organic Argan oil and available from Hello Pretty for R150.

For my hair, I used about 5 drops and rubbed that through my towel-dried hair. I then just did a quick blow-dry as usual (no straightening or anything like that) and it came out silky smooth and soft. (I wanted to call this post “The lazy girl’s guide to good hair” after that, actually!)

 

Argan Oil

But enough about me, let’s move on to you! I’m giving away one 25ml bottle of Siri Uzuri Argan oil to one lucky PopcornCandi subscriber. Here’s how to enter:

  • Make sure that you are subscribed to the blog. The competition is only open to subscribers. (You’ll see a “Sign me up” box on the right hand side – enter your details there if you’re not yet subscribed)
  • Make sure that you’ve liked my Facebook page and comment on the competition post there, telling me why your hair deserves to be silky smooth.

 

 

 

 

Ts and Cs:

  • Competition closes on Monday 12 September at 5pm.
  • Only subscribers to www.popcorncandi.com are eligible to win this prize.
  • Winner will be chosen by random draw.
  • Judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • Only South African residents may enter.
  • Prize will be couriered to the prize winner within 2 weeks of winner announcement.
  • Winner will be announce on the PopcornCandi Facebook page and will be sent an email to the email address on record in the PopcornCandi subscriber list. If the incorrect email address is provided, a new winner will be chosen and the original winner will forfeit their prize.
  • If the winner does not respond to the winning email within a week, the prize will be transferred to the next randomly drawn winner.

The Ultimate Spring Time High Tea Guide

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There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. – Henry James

A post in collaboration with Tea Eats, The Beautiful Blog and C’s Style Diary to give you the ultimate guide to hosting a Spring High Tea! Be sure to read through to the bottom where you will find free printables and links to the food, decor and fashion aspects of your high tea!

IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THE TEA

Good tea makes your tea party. Tea should take you on a journey, an adventure of sorts. This isn’t going to happen with a standard tea bag, that’s for sure!

LOOSE-LEAF TEA VS TEA BAGS

When you look at the detail, loose-leaf tea beats tea bags hands down. Here’s why…

Tea Bags

  • Are often broken ‘dregs’ of tea leaves. This compromises the quality of the leaves, losing a lot of the aroma and nutrients found in tea.
  • Lack “flow” in their material, resulting in the brew struggling to diffuse through the tea bag into the water.
  • May also carry their own flavour, which does not belong in your tea! The flavor should be all about the leaves, not the bag that they come in.

Loose-leaf tea

  • Doesn’t have the low-quality leaves, diffusion and flavour issues that come with tea bags.
  • Provides more flavour, aroma, antioxidants and all-round deliciousness.

You can find some beautiful tea diffusers, which will also double up as décor elements at your table.

CHOOSING YOUR TEA

When it comes to choosing your tea, consider your guests and their personalities and tastes.

  • For the normal, everyday tea drinker, Ceylon tea and herbal tea is your best bet.
  • For the more adventurous tea drinker, consider green teas (matcha is a hot option at the moment), spiced teas and buchu.

Here are my Top Three Favourites, all from Lady Bonin’s Tea:

Moulin-Rouge-Low-Res-e1436004277345Moulin Rouge (Rooibos, Vanilla, Rose Buds)

This herbal tea is smooth, sexy and soothing. With real rose buds in the mix, it’s one of my top favourites and oh-so-glamourous!

 

To serve:

As it is, without milk. A spot of honey if you need to sweeten it up.

Follow the steep instructions on the packaging and don’t over/under steep.

Benefits:

Antioxidant, caffeine-free, antibacterial and contains Vitamin C & B.

 

Rooibos-Spiced-Chai-e1436004420795Rooibos Chai

A beautiful twist on the standard Rooibos offering. It’s a gentle and playful mix for your guests to “ooooh” over.

 

To serve:

With or without milk. A spot of honey if you need to sweeten it up.

Follow the steep instructions on the packaging and don’t over/under steep.

Benefits:

Antioxidant, caffeine-free, anti-inflammatory, lowers blood pressure & cholesterol, improves digestion and lifts the mood.

CeylonCeylon

For the traditionalists, a good ol’ Ceylon tea is always a win.

*Warning: if you try this tea, you won’t go back to tea bags off the Spar shelf, sorry (not sorry).

To serve:

With or without milk. A spot of honey if you need to sweeten it up.

Follow the steep instructions on the packaging and don’t over/under steep. 

Benefits:

Rich in antioxidants, lowers blood pressure and boosts immunity

(Tea Photo Credits: Lady Bonin’s Tea)

FOR YOUR GUESTS TO TAKE HOME 

Tea Envelopes

 

Why not send your guests home with a little sample of their favourite tea leaves?

Here’s a handy printable mini-envelope template to use to create your own tea take-aways!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOUR FULL HIGH TEA EXPERIENCE

Now that you’ve got your tea sorted, let’s take a look at your food, decor and fashion:

Tea Eats for your food ideas

The Beautiful Blog for your decor

C’s Style Diary for your fashion.

Hint: There are some gorgeous and free printables for you there too… 

It’s a lot of information to remember, so we’ve gone ahead and created a checklist for you (thanks to Tea.Eats and Lin Lopes for the design):

Spring High Tea Checklist Image

 

Happy High Tea!

Cape Town Markets Guide

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One of the best parts about living in the Mother City is the abundance of beautiful Cape Town markets, each with their own charm and offering. It’s such an easy thing to do to get you out of the house and to explore a new area and I’m finding it quite fun.

So I have decided to put together a list of markets I visit and love so that you can visit and love them too. This is a working post and I’ll update it each time I visit a new one worth mentioning, so please make sure you’re following me on social media to be kept updated (links on the right hand panel of blog).

BAY HARBOUR MARKET, HOUT BAY

(My FAVOURITE local hangout in Hout Bay)

Where: 31 Harbour Road, Hout Bay (Next to Fish on the Rocks)

When: Fridays 5pm – 9pm, Saturdays & Sundays 9.30am – 4pm

Website

bay-harbour-market-hout-bay

bay-harbour-market-hout-bay-sea-bar

My Favourite part: They ALWAYS have live music and the bands they choose are great! Both local and international musicians take the stage. It’s an awesome vibe on a Friday night.

bay-harbour-market-hout-bay-2

SATURDAY MARKET AT VERGENOEGD, STELLENBOSCH

Where: Vergenoegd Wine Estate, Faure, Baden Powell Drive, Stellenbosch

When: Saturdays 9am – 2pm

Website

Vergenoegd2

Vergenoegd Market

My Favourite part: The cheese (and cured meats) section amongst the wine barrels.

Vergenoegd Cured Meats Cheese

MARKET AT THE PALMS, WOODSTOCK

Where: The Palms, 145 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock

When: Saturdays 9am – 2.30pm

Website

Sushi Palms Market

Palms Market

My favourite part: The fresh produce stall.

Fresh Produce Palms Market

 

ROOT44 MARKET, STELLENBOSCH

Where: Audacia Wines, Corner of R44 & Annandale Road, Stellenbosch,

When: Saturdays and Sundays, 10am – 4pm

Website

Root44 Oysters

Root44 Outside

Root44 Food Court

My favourite part: The oysters!

Root44 Oyster and Bubbly

 

LOURENSFORD MARKET, SOMERSET WEST

Address: Lourensford Wine Estate, Lourensford Road, Somerset West

Operating Hours: Every second Friday evening from 16h00 – 21h00 and every Sunday from 10h00 – 15h00 (Spring and Summer, from September)

Website

Lourensford Market

My favourite part: The long outdoor tables under the trees

 

CITY BOWL MARKET, HOPE STREET

Where: 14 Hope Street, Cape Town

When: Thursdays 4.30pm – 8.30pm

Website

City Bowl Market

My favourite part: It’s all about the food!

 

 

 

Olive-a-twist at Rhebokskraal Olive Estate

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Oh, you KNOW how much I love my weekend getaways! This time, the lucky recipient of our company (LOL) was Rhebokskraal Olive Estate in McGregor. We decided on a last-minute getaway (the best way to decide these things) and looked up farm stays within 2 hours of Cape Town. Rhebokskraal grabbed our attention immediately as they have private cottages (with indoor fireplaces) on a working olive farm in one of the prettiest towns in the Western Cape. We love olives, so this one was a no-brainer.

This was our little home for the weekend – “Volkshuisie”.

Volkshuisie

 

Volkshuisie Fireplace

The olive farm is active and family-run and comes with it’s own unique story that captures your free spirit immediately. This is the view from a short walking trail around the property, which we used as a slow jog route in the warm morning sunshine 🙂

Trail Rhebokskraal

What’s unique about this particular stay is that you have the option of a tour of the farm with the owner as she talks about the history of the farm, the curating processes, cultivars etc. (complete with her own songs too), ending off with an olive tasting and olive platter at the Village Farm Stall in the town.

Singing Rhebokskraal

Different

Olive Tasting

If you’re brave enough, you can even try olive hot chocolate…

Olive Hot Chocolate

Rhebokskraal Olive Estate have a winter special on at the moment for R500 per night for a minimum stay of 2 nights and the olive tour is R250 per person (including the olive platter meal). Please contact them to confirm prices and specials.

There’s no reason to be bored and cold, just because it’s winter 😉

 

How to Make a DIY Vertical Herb Planter – Perfect For Patio Herbs

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I recently found myself itching for a DIY project at the same time that my potted herbs on the patio were asking for a new home. *Challenge Accepted*. I found an interesting idea for a DIY vertical herb planter using an old pallet and it was a match made in heaven.

Here’s how you do it, step-by-step.

  1. Get hold of an old pallet or two. Remove three slats from a pallet and nail them to the bottom of what will be each planter level as below. A man was used in this step, but it wasn’t necessary 😉

DIY Herb Pallet Planter11

2. Be sure to leave a gap at the back of each planter level for drainage. I also lined each planter level with plastic with holes in and some small stones for drainage. The water will drip down onto each level if necessary. Remember to also elevate the planter so that it doesn’t sit in any excess water and that can drain too.

DIY Herb Pallet Planter

3. Sand the pallet to get rid of any knarly lumps and bumps and to get a smooth (ish) surface for painting. Don’t bother with anything other than an electric sander, it’s not worth it!

DIY Herb Pallet Planter9

4. Apply wood primer to the entire surface that you intend to paint. This will help the paint apply better and provides an extra layer of protection for the wood. Leave for about a day to dry.

DIY Herb Pallet Planter8

DIY Herb Pallet Planter7

5. Choose your final paint colour and apply. Check for any pink bits sticking out that you may have missed. Leave for another day to dry.

DIY Herb Pallet Planter6

DIY Herb Pallet Planter5

6. For an extra bit of quirk I painted the front of each planter level with chalkboard paint, not because I can’t tell which plants are which, but because it’s fun for writing messages 😉

DIY Herb Pallet Planter3

7. Plant your little herb babies and enjoy your new DIY vertical herb planter!

 

 

To do in and around Hermanus

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My fiancé and I took a spontaneous weekend getaway to Hermanus recently and with whale season coming up, perhaps you need to do the same 🙂

Here’s the easiest way to have the best weekend, do what we did!

We easily booked into a lovely self catering cottage at Anchor’s Rest and used this as our base for exploration.

Anchors Rest

Anchors Rest Driftwood

An adventure wouldn’t be an adventure if we didn’t start the day early and go for a long walk. There is a lovely cliff path starting in Walker Bay and is an easy and scenic 5km stroll/jog (with a slight detour along the road) to Voelklip, where you can reward yourself with breakfast and coffee.

Hermanus Sunrise

Hermanus Cliff Path

Daily Bread Voelklip

Naught faces…

Popcorncandi adventurers

Walker Bay Adventures offers daily sea kayaking trips from Walker Bay that I’d highly recommend. They’re easy kayaks and it is just another world once you get out there. Even if it’s not whale season, you’ll get to splash around with the penguins and seals and soak in your Vitamin Sea.

Walker Bay Adventures

Treat yourself to a good home cooked farm-style breakfast at Die Plaaskombuis!

Plaaskombuis Hermanus

A little way out of Hermanus is a very special gem: Mosaic Private Sanctuary. 

Mosaic

It’s well worth the visit, if only for this cheese platter from heaven (okay, it’s mostly cheeses from the local cheese farm, but that’s kind of the same thing!)

Cheese Platter Mosaic

And once you’re done eating all the cheese, head just a little further out of Hermanus into Gansbaai. Drive straight down to the beach and have coffee and a sarmie with a view to die for at Coffee on the Rocks. Soak in the view, the sun and the whales in season!

Coffee on the Rocks Gansbaai

You’re welcome 🙂

The Palms Market – A Winter Warming Must

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Cape Town’s market cup runneth over and it’s glorious! It’s always wonderful to explore a new market, especially when it’s one where you can feel its’ ‘heart’.

The Palms Market in Woodstock is a new addition to my favourites list of Cape Town market gems. With mostly food from local suppliers and held in The Palms Lifestyle and Decor Centre, it gives an old “Town Square” kind of feel and makes me want to bring my wicker basket to fill up with veggies. You know how I like the “old” stuff, so this one is right up my alley!

Think cheese, wine, olives, cakes, fresh produce, and sit down meals.

Cheese at Palms Market

Food Palms Market

Food Stall Palms Market

Fresh Produce Palms Market

Home Made Palms Market

Palms Market

Sushi Palms Market

Wine Tasting Palms Market

It’s a great option for Winter as it is indoors and there is underground parking for free. Every Saturday from 9am – 2.30pm.