Bioglan Skinny Greens* - Review and Results

I have mentioned in a previous blog post that I am a Holland and Barrett Good Life Insider which means I sometimes get the opportunity to sample products which is great. I received this selection of Bioglan Skinny Green’s, available at Holland and Barrett and I couldn’t wait to try and review them after seeing Lucy Watson from Made in Chelsea post a photo of them on her Instagram.

Week 1 began with the Bioglan Skinny Greens Superfood 7 Day Cleanse RRP:£17.99. This is the smallest pot and contains 70g of the powder and a scoop to measure your 10g daily portion. The Skinny Greens aim to help you achieve the shape you want in a natural way. I have tried shakes and things before and to me it’s just empty or wasted calories so it’s great to hear that these aren’t a replacement, they are an addition to your lifestyle and this one contains only 25 calories a serving. This is step one in the three step regime and has been formulated with milk thistle and dandelion to naturally detox and cleanse your system over 7 days and prepare yourself for step 2.

The instructions advise to mix one scoop of the powder with 200ml of water and mix until dissolved. For best results it is advised to consume once a day before breakfast for 7 days. I mixed my first portion and was surprised at the bright green colour. I’ll be honest I really didn’t like the taste of it. It was sickly sweet with an odd aftertaste but I held my nose and gulped this down.  As this was before breakfast I was rather hungry and drinking this on an empty stomach made me feel a bit sick. I genuinely wondered if this was going to be worth it! By day 3 I was used to the taste and could down this in one without holding my nose or gagging. By the end week one, I hadn’t actually lost any weight but I did notice I had less bloating.

Week 2 began with the Bioglan Skinny Greens 14 Day Superfood Thermo Burn RRP:£24.99. As this was a 14 day cleanse I really hoped it tasted nicer than the last one! The flavour is described as citrus and aims to raise your bodies temperature and stimulate metabolism. I definitely noticed I was warmer, it was a welcomed change – I normally freeze in the office. The taste on the other hand was not pleasant. At least with step 1 I was able to down this, but due to the cayenne in this one I couldn’t drink it fast as it was rather spicy. It had a distinct orange taste but I could also taste cocoa. Once again this was to be taken before breakfast or before exercise for 2 weeks. I had a couple of nasty side effects with very little time to get to the toilet. I was at work, my stomach made the loudest rumble ever and I had to rush to the toilet when I exploded. This happened twice, around 4 hours after taking the drink. After about 4 days it was a lot more manageable and I thankfully had no more bad side effects but it did keep me regular, that’s all I’ll say! After 2 weeks on this shake I lost 1.5lbs. I was very happy with that because I ate so much in these 2 weeks due to having a hectic and busy social life with meals out and birthdays. Normally I would have gained weight but to lose made me feel chuffed.

I was told by other people using this that during step 2 you can incorporate some of the skinny greens for step 3 but one was enough! I decided to save step 3 for when it was time. When I got to week 4, it was time to move onto step 3 of the cleanse which lasts another 2 weeks. This is where I drank the Bioglan Skinny Greens 14 Day Superfood Replenish Shake Vanilla RRP £24.99 or the Bioglan Skinny Greens 14 Day Superfood Replenish Shake Mixed Berry RRP:£24.99 instead of a snack each day. The Vanilla flavoured shake smelled and tasted like Playdough. It was far too sweet for me and made me gag drinking it. With all of the drinks after a few days I got used to them but it wasn’t something I looked forward to. I will be honest I couldn’t finish it, the taste was just too much.

Overall at the end of the 6 weeks I had lost weight (around 5lbs) and inches despite eating loads as I had a hectic social schedule. I did continue to exercise throughout the 6 weeks. Usually I would have gained or maintained my weight eating this way but I was impressed that I still managed to lose throughout taking the Skinny Greens.  I imagine if taken with a healthy diet then this would product fantastic results but for me I just couldn’t stomach the taste and would definitely look to other ways if I wanted to lose weight.

Would you ever try Skinny Greens?

*I received these items from Holland and Barrett free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Ren Skincare Review

On Sunday I was advised by my good friend Kelly that Ren Clean Skincare had a good offer on their website, and I can't resist an offer. They were offering a 10% off your first order, 4 free samples with every order and by entering a code I would also get '6 of the best' products worth £20.

I thought seeing as I had a day off work I would try all of the products out and write up a review.

Ren products are completely clean and free from any synthetic products, fragrances and any pore blocking products, which sounded perfect to me as I hate putting heavy products on my face so my skin can't breath.

With my initial purchase, I bought the Pro-Vitamin Conditioner, mainly because it was the cheapest product and I wanted the freebies, but also because I have long thick hair I could always use a conditioner.

Upon first impressions I wasn't a huge fan of the smell. It smells of citrus and lavender, which reminds me of citronella that you attract flies with, but that's just my opinion. This conditioner comes in a small 100ml bottle however it is very concentrated and you don't need much. This left my hair feeling smooth, shiny, easy to brush and most importantly clean. I love it! The Sample products I chose were the Photoactive Sun Veil SPF15, Invisible Pores Detox Mask, T-Zone Balancing Day Fluid and the Hydra-Calm Cleansing Gel.

The Photo-Active Sun Veil protects your skin from the sun and helps to give your complexion a radiant finish. Smells just like suncream, is non greasy and leaves no white residue on your face. It's not exactly sunny at the moment so I haven't worn it outside but I will be using this on holiday.

The Invisible Pores Detox Mask was probably my favourite thing out of the samples I received. Initially I wasn't a huge fan of the smell, but the texture of this mask was really nice and thick almost like clay. After using this my skin felt amazingly soft and CLEAN, these products really do make you feel fully refreshed. I am tempted to buy the full size version of this.
The T-Zone Balancing Day Fluid claims to leave skin clear and healthy and this is the exact reaction I had. Less is more with this product, as the first time I used it my skin felt a little oily, but if you use a really small amount it works wonders. Only downside is that it smells a bit citronella-y.

The Hydra-Calm Cleansing Gel is great to quickly pop on before a shower then rinse off after a few minutes. It's very lightweight and removes all the dirt from the skin. I think I will use this up very quickly.

I was then lucky enough to receive the '6 of the best' products in a little box which says this is a weeks supply. I haven't used any of these because I want to spend some time using them all, unfortunately one of the products (The Mayblossom Balancing Cleansing Gel) came with the top of the tube broken and it had all spilled out so I may not be able to try that one out.

EDIT: Ren have since sent me a replacement pack for the above - fantastic customer service! Thanks Ren!

Look out for a future review on these 6 products, and in the meantime, please check out Ren Skincare for yourself :)