I recently got a pair of Reebok Womens Easytone Reeinspire 2 trainers from M&M Direct as I’ve been desperate to try these shoes for ages. Loads of people have raved about how well they have worked, and just as many people have said they are a marketing scam. So which is it?

Honestly, after wearing the Reebok Easytone trainers for the past three weeks I don’t care. They are so comfortable. They are like memory foam pillows for feet. They are both soft and firm, sturdy and supportive and utterly and completely, well, comfortable.

On my first wearing, the shoes did leave my big toes feeling a little odd, almost as if they had pins and needles. It was an odd sensation but didn’t last beyond the first few days of wearing the shoes in. These shoes are built to help you get a better butt and legs and for every day walking and use.

The Reebok Easytone trainers are also very subtle in their colouring. Instead of the pink looking as vivid and startling as it does in this picture, it actually is rather easy on the eye. These shoes match pretty much every walking outfit I have and the various features built in – like the anti bacterial and fungal growth material – make them very lush to own. Every had a pair of cheap and nasty trainers start smelling? Yeah, these won’t.

One other thing worth noting about the Reebok Easytone Trainers is that the laces are good quality and don’t undo after every step. Add to this the comfort and the lovely low price at M&M Direct (they have it on offer for £39.99 instead of £74.99 so you save about £35) and you have a pair of very nice trainers in your cupboard.

Do they make your bum and legs thin and sexy? I honestly couldn’t see anything dramatic but they are worth the price for the comfort and style alone.

My daughter has become well and truly hooked by the Moshi Monsters madness out there and her dad, firmly wound around her baby finger, recently bought her the Moshi Monsters Mash Up Series 2 starter kit as a present.

The kit includes a binder to store the cards, ten packets of cards, a game mat, a game guide, a Super Moshi Mask and one Mash Up packet. It’s only £5 in stores but extremely expensive online, so watch out for that. I have to say that I thought the binder included in the set was really a bit pants.

Remember the days when you used to collect things like this? I remember having a really funky binder that had a story with it, and clever slots for storing your cards. This is just like a giant plastic card holder with zero branding on it and no character. It is actually a bit rubbish.

For a little bit more dosh, you can rather get the Moshi Monsters Mash Up tin that includes plenty of bonus cards, bandages, stickers, badges and an exclusive card to boot. It costs around £9.99 on Amazon but shopping around can get you some decent bargains. The tin is beautifully branded and really lovely, it’s something you would buy for the look and you still get loads of extras.

The cards you get to boost your collection cost around 75p per packet in stores, or you can nab some bulk buy sales that happen from time to time on sites like Amazon. I find these cards very expensive as you only get six cards per packet and one of them is a picture card with a special code. This code will nab you free in-game items or Rox.

Overall, I have to say that the series is great, the cards well made and good quality, but the price is high. The Moshi Monsters Mash Up Series 2 is an expensive investment that kids adore but parental wallets detest.

There are a lot of toys, stickers, cards and books that have the Moshi Monsters label on them and they are proving as popular as the original website that spawned them. But we haven’t done a review of the website itself, and here it is.

I found the Moshi Monsters site purely by accident last year and thought that the idea behind it was perfect for my daughter. She was four at the time, and still learning to read, write and handle basic maths. The site captured her attention immediately but, at first, needed my constant participation as she struggled with mouse control and, obviously, reading the various instructions on the site.

One thing I realised early on was that the site was pretty empty without the paid-for subscription. I looked into the prices and realised that it was worth trying out for at least a month. You pay £4.95 for one month, £23.95 for six months, and £29.95 for 12 months. The latter is, obviously, the best deal and one that I have now opted for.

The reason I now have a yearly Moshi Monster membership is because the site works. I allow my daughter a maximum of an hour a day on the website and she has learned how to: handle a mouse and keyboard deftly, basic general knowledge that even I don’t know, spelling, reading, maths and problem solving. I can honestly say that the Moshi Monsters website and its Super Moshi missions have gone a long way towards encouraging my daughter to learn.

I think one of the reasons she is so good at reading now, six months later age 5, is because she was sick and tired of waiting on me in order to do her various games on the site! Great value for money, well designed, extremely funny for adults as well (Simon Growl anyone?), and has educational merit.

I recently took advantage of the Polly Pocket Super Fashion Collection deal that is running at Argos right now. The entire box of Polly Pocket goodies has been reduced from £43.98 to £16.49 which is substantially less than half price. My daughter begged me to take her to buy this with her pocket money and now, five days later, I can tell you what the pack is like.

First off I have to say that there is no way on this Earth that I would spend nearly £50 on this kit. At the reduced price it is just about value for money. The Polly Pocket kit comes with five dolls and loads of accessories and within 24 hours one of the head connectors had broken as had the strap of one of the dresses. That is ONE DAY later!

The concept is genius, I will grant you that, and the texture of the plastic outfits is awesome. You can slide them on and off, enjoy changing outfits for ages, and really get into the whole thing. Even I enjoyed playing with them and my daughter! It brought out my inner child.

The dolls are ace but can’t sit down or stay standing and some of the outfits are fiendishly difficult to put on – especially for a six year old. However, my daughter absolutely loves these Polly Pockets and their fashion accessories. She plays with them constantly and for that alone I have to give them a final positive result.

I think that if you can get Polly Pocket sets on sale, then they are worth the spend as they offer fun and imaginative play. I wouldn’t advise spending £40+ on the bigger kits though, rather wait until they are on sale and grab them then.

Being a photographer, on the odd occasion,  in my offline line, I LOVE to see people actually do things with their photographs.  Far too often they just sit in the 'My Pictures' folder on their computer and rarely see the light of day.

You could buy a photo album, buy some photo paper, stock up on printer ink (which is dead expensive and often costs more to replace than the printer cost to buy - what is WITH that?!) then print your photos, cut them out and stick them in.

But WHAT a faff!  It will also, most probably, cost more than creating a personalised photo book with BonusPrint and won't look anywhere near as good. I know this because BonusPrint asked me to go through their 'create a personalised photo book' process and let you know how I got on.

It is hard to review chocolate because everybody is different. Some think that anything less than 70% cocoa is not chocolate, others believe that it can only be made in Belgium, and others think it is not allowed to be flavoured. I believe that if it tastes nice, then I love it.

When I decided to review the Thorntons Easter Range I got one very unusual Easter egg that has actually taken over this review. It was the Lemon Meringue Pie egg. Yes, you read that right. This chocolate egg is part of their Great British Puds range, it costs £14.99 and you can also choose Eton Mess Egg or Banoffee Pie Egg if you prefer.

The Lemon Meringue Egg had this sort of ruffled up area in the front that had us poking it nervously, sadly the post had killed it a bit and it looked nothing like the photo anymore. None of us wanted to be the first to eat it. I bravely stepped in and took a chunk and OH EM G it was GOOD. The entire egg – all 425g of it – was gone in two hours. We all hoovered it down and could not stop. The end of the night saw us all lying on sofas and groaning.

This egg was an unexpected treat. It tasted very creamy and light, and yet it still managed to throw a little lemon meringue in there without being overly sweet and icky. The chocolate was smooth and that special kind of white chocolate silky I love, and the funny bit in the front was this utterly divine chewy lemon curd style decoration that we actually fought over.

While the Lemon Meringue Pie Egg is not online at the moment, it may be sold out, you can get the other two flavours that I am willing to bet taste just as good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is a Banoffee Pie Egg with my name on it…

I'll be honest, I'm not a Hello Kitty fan and was a bit nonplussed when I saw my name scheduled for this Angel Cat Sugar review.

Angel Cat Sugar is a new cat phenomenon with an ever-increasing celebrity following - Fearne Cotton, Pixie Lott, Claudia Schiffer, Dannii Minogue, Tess Daly and Alexander Burke, to name a few (I kid you not!) - designed by the creator of the insanely popular Hello Kitty, Yuko Shimizu

I duly popped over to angelcatsugar.com to find out what all the fuss was about and fell in LOVE!  Not necessarily with all the products but with the story of how Angel Cat Sugar came into being and what she's 'about' - she's  a white cat who has angel wings and lives to spread love and happiness throughout the world.

The inspiration behind Angel Cat Sugar is explained by Yuko Shimizu, on the Angel Cat Sugar website, and it's a beautiful story...

So, last week I bravely confessed to having lost my waist measurements and so could not properly asses exactly how many inches I had lost (if any) after a week of religiously using the Slendertone Abs kit. This week I can confirm that I have had some results.

I have been following their “passive” programme to the letter with a 25-30 minute session every day. I have to say that I do love these products. I do “normal” exercise for about an hour every day but these are so relaxing that it is hard to believe I am getting a workout at the same time. You can also do their Active Programme which is when you wear the belt while simultaneously doing crunches and other such stomach exercises.

The first time you use the Slendertone Abs belt the programme is set to level 1 which is about 20mins of exercise at 14 micro-coulombs. This is very mild and you adjust the intensity manually – you keep going up until you feel your muscles contract. Start off easy though, it can hurt if you go too far.

The included manual also has stomach exercise guidelines and advice so if you are new to exercising your abs and are not sure where to start, then this will help you get the basics down pat. I also recommend looking at YouTube videos as there are plenty of pros offering you advice out there.

I lost half an inch in the past week and used the Slendertone Abs belt every day barring Saturday and Sunday. I ignored the advice to have a day’s break as I do my exercise routines the same way – 5 days on, two days off – as it fits in with my schedule. This isn’t exactly a huge loss but I am really pleased with the results. I’ll let you know how it goes next week!

I love tech', I love anything 'i' (you will rarely see me without my iPhone) and I love board games, so you can imagine my delight when I was assigned these Jumbo Games iPieces for the iPad to review!

I also happen to have a youngest son who is a HUGE iPad fan - he's totally marketing, to his dad, the notion of upgrading to an iPad2 when the 3 comes out, "...because then they'll be cheaper, dad, and I can have this iPad can't I!  That's a good idea isn't it!" He's only five-and-a-half, I really don't know where he gets it from.

Anyway, last Friday we threw ourselves into reviewing the Jumbo iPieces Game of Goose and Jumbo iPieces Snakes and Ladders.

Jumbo iPieces Game of Goose

Neither me, Edward or his dad had ever heard of, or played, Game of Goose before so we decided to play this first.  The Jumbo iPieces Game of Goose comes in a small hard-shell plastic box containing the pieces, called 'iPawns', instructions on how best to hold and store your iPawns, along with where to find and download the free Game of Goose app.

There are six iPawn pieces, which are very loosely goose-shaped, and each one has a different coloured tummy; I had orange, Edward had red and his dad had purple.

Whilst the Game of Goose app took less than three minutes to download, this was too long for Edward - he wanted to get playing straight away and recommends you download the app first, before you tell your child you have an iPieces game for them to play (he'll ask me if I've told you his little tip!).

With the app duly downloaded, it was time to read the on-screen game instructions. The object of the game is simple - you roll the dice and have to be the first player to get your iPawn iPieces goose to the end.

There were other rules to take note of too - if you landed on the geese follow them to the square they take you to, if you land on a well you miss a turn, if you land on this then this happens etc.  By the time we got to the end of the instructions and had tried to remember everything we figured we'd just play and figure out the rest as we went along!

When you put your iPawns on the board it comes to life - geese fly across in the background, frogs are jumping around, there's quacking, birds chirping and frogs croaking; all in all it's very 'cute'.

The board looks very old fashioned so I'm assuming Game of Goose is an old board game from yesteryear (I'm really guessing here, I don't know) and the fact it could be considered quite girly, with the old-fashioned looking girl in the middle, didn't even seem to register in Edward's boy brain; I was quite surprised.

The die is on the screen and you have to 'flick' it to make it roll - can I just say, I. LOVE. THIS!  Never again will you be searching for the die that comes with this game; I long for the day when all games have dice you don't have to scrabble under the table, sofa or TV for it when kids get carried away with rolling them.

So you flick the die and move your iPawn the corresponding number of spaces on the board, if you land on a space where there is an action or consequence (like missing a turn or going back/forward a number of spaces) then the board will spring to life and tell you, so you don't have to remember all those instructions at the beginning.

However, you do need to be holding your iPawn properly - on either side of its head, between your thumb and forefinger -  and have it flat on the board for this to happen.

Total game play for the three of us around seven minutes and most pleasant and gentile, it made a nice change not to have to fight any bad guys or shoot anything!

Jumbo iPieces Snakes and Ladders

After the success and enjoyment of the Jumbo iPieces Game of Goose, we were all looking forward to seeing what Snakes and Ladders was like.  We downloaded the app, took out the iPawns, two metal bridges - we were intrigued by these! - and were ready to play.

By all accounts you can use the bridges to ladder up to squares that don't have a ladder finish, as long as you are on a ladder square.  I know that doesn't make much sense, it didn't to us either.

We weren't able to find out whether the metal bridge to ladder squares made more sense during game play because whilst we could tap and access all the instruction and option screens, every time we hit 'Play' the app crashed and closed down.

We tried it in all languages - Edward now knows 'play' in French, German and Dutch - we closed down all other applications running in the background.  We uninstalled and reinstalled too, but nothing made any difference.

So your guess is still as good as ours as to whether Jumbo iPieces Snakes and Ladders is fun to play and what on earth those metal ladders are really for!

And finally...

The Jumbo iPieces games retail for £9.99 and are available from WHSmith Travel, The Entertainer and online at Amazon, Firebox and Play.com.

Edward has subsequently played Game of Goose with some of his little friends - the parents joined in too, as you can play with up to six players - and Edward's dad sent me these additional thoughts this morning.

"Having to throw again, if your original throw would mean landing on an occupied square, is cumbersome when you're playing with the maximum six people and game play gets predictable rather quickly, as the same squares simply repeat the same 'go back four spaces' or 'move forward three spaces' - I feel this could be mixed up and extended."

The name iPawn also raised a few amused eyebrows among the parents and most agreed they would probably buy the Jumbo iPieces games for travelling and when away on holiday, but not for general use at home.

There are two other iPieces games currently available too: Air Hockey and Fishing, which looks rather fun!

Pros, Cons and Final Score

I can't rate Snakes and Ladders, but if I'd paid £9.99 for it and discovered the app didn't work I'd have been very unhappy and would have had my money back by now.  So this is purely for Game of Goose...

Pros: you'll never lose the die! Quick game play which is great for younger ones with shorter attention spans. A great travel game and for taking away on holiday; gentle, innocent game without bad guys, guns or shooting - hurrah!

Cons: The iPawn geese are only compatible with the Game of Goose (you can't use the same iPawns for different games), short game play which is not so good for older children who can get their teeth into longer games, gets a bit cumbersome with the maximum number of players.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

(You can find out about iPad 3 rumours here on our sister site, Mobot.net.)

We received something rather unusual and unique to review for you this week: 3D BreakThrough Puzzles.

Now, we all know what puzzles are, and what a good experience sitting together building a puzzle can be. There’s always such a sense of excitement as the final pieces start coming together, and such a sense of achievement when the last piece slots in. And then… well, that’s the question. What then? Do you break it up piece by piece? Do you break it up in sections for when you ‘one day’ decide what to do with it? Do you frame it?

My dad took my mum’s two favourite round puzzles and actually made coffee tables for her out of wood, then framed them into the tables. They were gorgeous and are still used as coffee tables in their house – but there are only so many coffee tables you can make.

Then came along 3D BreakThrough Puzzles, definitely the next generation of puzzles, bringing your 2D puzzles to life.

I'll start this Daisy Tabletop Wooden Kitchen review off with a  little anecdote. A few months ago, I set an upside-down pot on the kitchen floor and gave my (then 14 month old) daughter a wooden spoon. Instead of banging it with the gusto only a toddler can muster, she turned the pot over and started to stir the invisible contents. Dear daughter had of course seen me do this many times, while she was in my arms and I was busily prepping dinner at the cooker.

My daughter is now about 17 months old and is really starting to understand the role-play style of learning through play. We were at her playgroup and I saw her playing with the teapot and cups, so I resolved to get her some kitchen items of her very own. I received this cute Daisy Tabletop Wooden Kitchen by Tidlo of John Crane which is about £35 at Dillons Toy Box.

Firstly, a word about the quality of this kitchen: When I took this little tabletop kitchen out of the box, I was a little disappointed when one of the wooden parts seemed to be detached from the toy. I don't think that it was supposed to come apart, but I was able to slot it back into place with ease. Following on from the disappointment in the unboxing, it was all uphill from there.

The actual Daisy Tabletop Wooden Kitchen set is really pretty, lovely colours and cute designs on both the kitchen itself, and on the extra implements. It comes with 3 spoon / spatulas, 2 pots with one lid, salt and pepper shakers, and a fried egg! It also folds up so you can store it away when not in use, which is pretty handy if you don't have much space to spare.

To be honest, I was quite surprised how much my little daughter likes this Daisy Tabletop Wooden Kitchen. It's sitting on the living room floor, and she keeps going back to it to play. She's constantly stirring the invisible beouf bourguignon in the little pots, and carrying them round the house with her. I sometimes find the spoons in various places round my home too; down the back of the sofa, under the kitchen table, in the bath... they get about!

When I was small, I never had a play kitchen and was always supremely jealous of the rich kids in my class with their amazing deluxe play kitchens at home. If you want a little kitchen for your child but haven't got that much spare space or cash, then the Daisy Tabletop Wooden Kitchen could be a good fit for you.

We recently reviewed two different scooters from Micro Scooter and they got rave reviews. Sadly this is not the case with the Micro Scooter lock. This extremely expensive piece of kit is a complete waste of your money and here’s why…

To start with you will pay around £15.95 for the Micro Scooter lock if you go via some of the affiliated stores, or around £10.95 from a store called Hop. The lock is the original manufacturer make by Micro Scooters themselves and is designed specifically for the Micro Scooters unique (ahem) design.

We decided to go ahead and stick with the branded lock because we figured it would be of the same quality as the scooter. How wrong we were. To start with the combination lock will reset itself if you depress the side buttons simultaneously. However, thanks to the lock being so small, doing this is way too easy. Risky too, you can’t reset it to zero if you screw up, oh no, you have to get wire cutters and bin it.

The second problem was that when you pressed the button to release the lock, the wire sprang out at a speed that was faintly worrying for an adult, much less a child. While I am sure that younger kids wouldn’t be playing around with a combination lock, the risk is there for older kids. Also, if you depress both buttons when the lock is released, the wire shoots back into the hole really fast. It whips around and spins back. This is NOT safe at all.

The final straw is that on the second day the button on the left of the lock, the one you need to release the wire, jammed.  On the second day. The lock cost us around £14 to buy and lasted a grand total of two days. And our scooter had to sit outside for three days while we tried to locate a wire cutter…

August is upon us.

Hopefully that will mean long, warm (at the very least please) summer days and the sanity-saving knowledge that before long children up and down the land, dressed in shiny new uniforms clutching newly stocked pencil cases, will be heading back to school for a new academic year.

School uniform can be hideously expensive, particularly if your child(ren) goes to a school that insists on every item being emblazoned with the school motto.

We don't want you to have to extend the financial agony any further than necessary, so we happily agreed to review some Back to School items from Poundland.

Following a quick rummage through the Poundland Back to School stash that arrived in the PlayPennies office, we duly sent it off to PlayPennies mum Ellen, to review.

"Various Back to School stationery items arrived from Poundland for me to test," says Ellen, "You know, the usual suspects: pens, pencil cases, pads of paper and notebooks etc.  It was tricky to know where to start really, so I just dived in."

The long haul of the school summer holidays begins in just three days time; I know a lot of parents who are already beginning to feel the strain and schools haven't closed their doors yet.

It wouldn't be so bad if the weather was a little more reliable, at least you could turf the kids out into the garden and let them burn off some excess energy.

The bad news is the changeable weather is set to stay for at least the first week of the school hols, but after that it should warm back up  and be a little more settled; hurrah!

There are only so many expensive trips out you can do between now (just pretend it's Friday) and the beginning of September.

Even a family trip to the cinema is now a bank-balance-busting experience, so when find-me-a-gift.co.uk asked if they could send us a couple of inexpensive summer toys to review we were happy to oblige.

A big bubble wand and water bomb catapult set duly arrived and, despite the temptation to launch a few water bombs across the PlayPennies office first, we sent them off to PlayPennies mum Laura and her six-year-old son to play with.

Bubble Wand

The Big Bubble Wand retails for £2.49.

You know how it often is with toys, if they don't cost a ton of money you don't really expect them to last that long, or be of very good quality; in my opinion, a toy with a £2.49 price tag tends to fall into that category.

Louise thought so too.

"I am surprised this is only £2.49," she says, "It is better made than other bubble wands I've tried, mostly from the pound shop, and the quality of the bubble mixture is much better too."

Louise tells us that her son has been playing with the big bubble wand for a month now and still hasn't used up the bubble mix, "You get a LOT of bubbles from just one dip!"

Apparently, though, the reason he really loves the big bubble wand is that it has become a sort of light sabre - a boy after my own heart!

"There's something about the sturdy build, the colour, and the way the bubble mix swishes about inside it that seems to have some sort of appeal for him," Louise explains.

Louise also reports that the big bubble wand doesn't come with any instructions.

"I did expect this to make large bubbles," she says, "and maybe it does and I just haven't worked out how!"

But fear not, it transpires you don't need a degree in bubble science to enjoy the big bubble wand.

Louise  tells us that it makes about a zillion bubbles just by waving it about, or blowing on it, "Good bubbles too, that kept my son happy by floating way, way, way up in the sky."

"This was an excellent toy to take to the park," concludes Louise, "It worked as a play sword and kept us all amused with the bubbles. It's especially fun with lots of space to run around in making bubbles, and chasing them."

Quick Knot Water Bomb Catapult Set

There's something about water bombs and a catapult  that brings out the 'Dennis the Menace' in us all.

It really is very satisfying when that balloon makes contact with its target (preferably a human target on the target on the run) and EXPLODES!

The Quick Knot Water Bomb Catapult set also retails for £2.49 and, again, earns high praise from Louise.

"Now this was amazing! For the price I really wasn't expecting much," gushes Louise, "but you get a sturdy, plastic catapult that will take a good pounding, a net to put the water balloons in, water balloons, and a little funnel to make it easy to fill them up."

Marvellous! All you need for water bomb chaos in one very reasonably priced package.

Louise confesses that there isn't really very much she can say about the Quick Knot Water Bomb Catapult set, without sounding almost evangelical.

"It is easy to use, and the catapult can be pulled back and released by even tiny hands." This is good news as, often, little ones want to play with things like this and end up getting upset, and frustrated, when they can't do it properly.

"We had a lot of fun with this at our local park, which has a water play area. I would suggest that you buy two of them though, so you can chase each other!"

Louise was concerned about the natural rubber latex used to make the water bombs.

She says that although there's a very clear warning on the back to always clean up the burst bombs, she does wonder how many people actually do.

"Also, when we used it in the park, I worried about pieces that we might miss," she admits, "especially if they get eaten by wildlife, like ducks!"

And finally...

As far as Louise is concerned both the bubble wand and the water bomb catapult are fabulous and fun.

The price is more than reasonable; in fact, she's still not quite over the fact they are so cheap compared to their quality.

"Both of these toys were a HUGE hit with my six-year-old son," she concludes, "...and me!"

www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk

Offer me anything that has the word 'Spa' in it and I'm rendered powerless to resist so,  as you can imagine, I was like the proverbial child in the sweetshop when the ENTIRE Skin Wisdom Day Spa range arrived in a huge box.

The range has been created by three of the country's award winning Spas and it's sold exclusively through Tesco.

This is v e r y good for me, Tesco is my local supermarket of choice and as I've fallen in love with more than one or two of the Skin Wisdom Day Spa products I know I can easily replace them when I need to.

The Day Spa products come in four 'flavours'

• Rose and Geranium
• Gingerlilly and Orange
• Warm Cinnamon and Fig
• Vanilla and Neroli

And just to make the world an even better place, most of the Skin Wisdom Day Spa products are on offer at Tesco, with 1/3 off,  until 2 August (I'm afraid I can't tell you whether or not this offer is also running in-store).

This is going to sound a little strange, but hear me out: I love the new Vileda 1-2 Spray & Clean mop. Now, I know what you’re thinking. A mop is a mop, is a mop, what’s there to love?  Well. Plenty.

We moved house recently, and before the van arrived at the house, I did, with new mop, cleaning liquid and toddler in tow. I took my new and as yet unused mop, clicked all the bits in place, and set about the business of cleaning before my furniture arrived.

The mop doesn’t require water, and it doesn’t require a bucket filled with water and sloshing bits around as you try to move it around the room. I know, a winner already, right?

The Vileda mop comes with a small supply of Vileda cleaner, which you can pour into the handle of the mop, and then you pull a trigger, sort of like a bicycle brake, which sprays the cleaning fluid onto the floor where you’re about to mop.

The mop bit is made of cotton, and is easily run over the floor – it is a flat mop with a swivel connection so you can clean under tables, sofas and raised kitchen counters (mine are about 10 inches off the floor for some bizarre reason) without having to get down on your hands and knees to clean.

And then, once you’ve finished, you pop it off, and into the washing machine ready to face all those toddler spills again tomorrow.

I never thought I’d be the kind of person to get excited about anything domestic, but I must say, this little bit of genius thrills me.  Especially since you don’t have to use any particular brand of cleaning fluid, so if you wanted to go for a more eco-friendly alternative, or use a home-made solution, you’d be able to do so.

I managed to clean all our hardwood surfaces in less than ten minutes, with a child on my hip. Using this Vileda 1-2 Spray & Clean mop is so easy, even my daughter – in the picture – can do it.

Vileda 1-2 Spray & Clean mop is available  from Sainsbury's, although they don't seem to have it online yet and you can also find a list of suppliers on the Vileda website.

Father's Day is just one and a half weeks away; it's on Sunday 19 June and if you've been stuck for ideas then this Liz Earle Men's Face Scrub, Cleanse and Polish review might give you some inspiration.

It's taken a long time for men and skin care routines to become comfortable bedfellows, and there are still hardcore guys who flatly refuse to go anywhere near anything vaguely resembling moisturiser.

Fortunately for us we have PlayPennies dad Simon on hand, he got wise to the benefits of skin care years ago and was more than willing to put some Liz Earle products for men, sent to us by QVC, through their paces on our behalf.

The Liz Earle Men's Face Scrub, Cleanse and Polish set contains Men's Cleanse & Polish (100ml), Men's Face Scrub (75ml), Aftershave Moisturiser (15ml) and two muslin cloths; at QVC it retails for £23.20.

I saw the products before they were sent off to Simon and was interested to hear what he thought of the packaging.

"I was relieved when I saw the packaging for the Liz Earle products for men," says Simon, "It's subtly manly without a bulldog, or garish colour, in sight which makes a refreshing change."

Cleanse and Polish

The Cleanse and Polish cleanser is suitable for all skin types and has a two-step process which promises to clean away dirt and  the excess oils that build up, block pores and cause spots.

"The hot cloth cleanser is great," Simon reveals, "it's lovely and creamy and easy to apply.  Then taking one of the muslin cloths, dipped in hot water and wrung out, you rub off the cleanser."

"It leaves your skin feeling clean, relaxed and refreshed - although at times with my shaved head I did feel like I was polishing a bowling ball!"

The Cleanse and Polish cleanser is mineral oil free and it's 'Naturally Active' ingredients include eucalyptus, to purify, and cocoa butter for smooth skin.

Face Scrub

The face scrub can be used one or twice a week after cleansing and/or after shaving - it can help prevent ingrowing hairs apparently - but it's not suitable for sensitive or damaged skin.

"The scrub leaves your skin feeling clean and seriously smooth to the touch," Simon tells us, "Like most scrubs it has rough bits in it but they don't feel like they're shredding your skin whilst you're massaging it in!"

Now I rather like that, but I understand feeling like you're rubbing sandpaper on your skin isn't everyone's cup of tea.

The rough bits in the Liz Earl Face Scrub for Men are actually tiny bits of pumice stone and jojoba beads.  It also contains eucalyptus to cool the skin.

After-shaving Moisturiser

Finding the perfect moisturiser can be a bit hit and miss; some can be a bit watery, others too heavy, some can smell horrendous and others have far too much of a scent to them.

The Liz Earle After-Shaving Moisturiser claims to be light, easily absorbed whilst being very effective at the same time.

Simon certainly agreed.

"I really enjoyed using the after-shaving moisturiser," he says, "it really was easily absorbed and left my skin feeling moisturised without that horrible oily feel you can get sometimes."

Don't be put off by the small size of the moisturiser, Simon says you don't need to use much at all as a little bit goes a very long way.

The Naturally active ingredients in the After-Shaving moisturiser include self-heal extract (I have NO idea what that is, but it sounds like it's a good thing to have in there) to help soothe small nicks and calm razor burn plus borage to help moisturise

Naturally Active

There is a very strong natural and environmental ethos behind all of the Liz Earle products.

They describe themselves as a botanically-based beauty company doing their upmost to keep their environmental impact down, whilst not compromising on product quality.

They won't settle for anything but the highest quality naturally active ingredients, which have to be ethically sourced, and try to ensure they're certified organic too.

Liz Earle are also committed to making sure that as much of their packaging is made from already recycled material and can be re-recycled.

Simon told me he feels the Company's efforts to go green and be a environmentally responsible and ethical manufacturer hasn't compromised the products in any.

If anything, he was surprised they weren't more expensive as a result.

And finally...

All of the Liz Earle products were a big hit with Simon.

"All of the products had a very pleasant neutral fragrance; it was light and fresh without being perfumed." Simon explains, "The whole system is quick and easy to use too."

"In the past I have mainly used L'Oreal for Men but I'd switch!" concludes Simon. "Liz Earle has a popular Facebook page where fans can get promotional offers and extra product information - I 'like' Liz Earle for Men!"

Liz Earle Men's Face Scrub and Cleanse & Polish @ QVC

The sun tan; summer holy grail for some and hell for those who burn, then peel, at the merest mention of 'heatwave'.

The one thing everyone can agree on is the skin cancer risk that comes from basting yourself in oil, baking under a hot blazing sun (I include UV sunbeds in that statement too) and that fake tans are the way to go if you want to be a bronzed beauty or Adonis.

I must confess I'm a tan fan; I have an olive skin tone and if allowed to be pale I just look pasty and rather unwell.  I'm most envious of those with stunning pale porcelain skin who have an, almost, translucent china doll glow about them.

However, that's never going to be me so over the years I've become something of a fake tan officiando.

I'd like to say, at this point, that when I say 'tan fan' I mean a healthy glow rather than 'footballer's wife orange' - so when Bronze Ambition sent us some of their tanning products to review, I was given the task to test them...because no one else was prepared to risk turning a deep orange and looking like they'd been tangoed!

I was sent home with Glow 'n' Glow, an instant tan that rubs on and washes off,  and Fake Don't Bake which is a tanning cream whose colour develops over a few hours.

I have a nearly 16-year-old daughter who was my victim willing volunteer and helped me test the Bronze Ambition fake tan products; we tested Fake Don't Bake on her and Glow 'n' Glow on me.

Glow 'n' Glow - £1.99 (100ml)

The directions for use on the back say 'apply to cleansed skin rubbing in firmly to ensure smooth and even coverage' and it will give you a 'flawless instant golden glow that easily washes off, whilst giving your skin a smooth radiant finish'.

Well, it does...and it doesn't.

I showered, exfoliated and cleansed before applying the Glow 'n' Glow.

I ignored the rather scary dark coloured liquid/lotion that sat in the palm of my hand and, after taking a deep breath, started to rub it on.

I began with my shoulders and arms first and all seemed to be going well - the colour is nice actually, despite it's colour coming out of the tube being akin to that of creosote my dad used to paint the garden fence with! - however, when I put it on my neck it didn't seem to be so smooth and my neck looked dirty rather than beautifully tanned, smooth and radiant.

The same happened on my chest.  I wondered if I was rubbing too hard or had applied too much here - you know when you rub cream in for too long it can start to rub off in 'bits'?  Well it was a bit like that.

So I grabbed a sacrificial towel and rubbed the Glow 'n' 'Glow off those areas and started again. My second attempt was marginally better, but not much.

However, I persevered and the rest of my body covered really nicely, including my face, is indeed looking golden and rather lovely.

It occurred to me that most people fake tan for the summer or before going away on holiday.  Bearing in mind Glow 'n' Glow washes off,  I wanted to know how it would stand up to me being hot and, dare I say it, sweaty. Go away somewhere hot like Italy or Southern Spain and this is will be a valid consideration when the daytime temperatures start peaking at 40C.

It's not hot in my little part of the country today so I embarked on a pretty hectic thirty minute cardio' training session to really put it through it's paces.

It did ok in as far as it wasn't running in streaks down my body, BUT it did come off when I wiped my face which left me looking more than a little odd.

I admit this is a little extreme but if you wear Glow 'n' Glow, get hot and wipe your face it WILL rub off - so perhaps think 'pat' with a tissue rather than wipe with a towel and I'm afraid it's also left me with 'interesting' coloured palms.

Fake Don't Bake - £2.99 (150ml)

The Fake Don't Bake natural look tanning cream claims to give you a 'no streaks' natural looking tan in a few hours.

My daughter and I, having inspected the colour of her skin quite closely (it was one of the more surreal mother-daughter bonding moments), we both agree.  There's not a streak or hint of orange to be seen.

To be honest I was expecting the final colour to be darker but I think this is just a throw-back to the fake tans of yesteryear, this colour is warm and natural and if you want it slightly darker then you could apply a second layer - but only when the first one is completely dry and developed otherwise you'll run the risk of the cream turning into bits like mine with the Glow 'n' Glow.

The Fake Don't Bake cream rubbed in easily and doesn't have that hideous fake tan smell about it either.

In fact, both the Fake Don't Bake and Glow 'n' Glow smelt lovely; after much sniffing we pinned the scent down to peach with a hint of coconut!

It took about three hours for the colour to begin to show itself on my daughter's skin and another one and a half, or so, to fully develop.

She found an old white vest top to wear for a while and, after close inspection of that too, we couldn't find any staining on it where it came into constant contact with her skin (around the seams etc).

And Finally...

I'm aware that my review of the Glow 'n' Glow could come across as being negative but it's not - I think it's perfectly suited to going out in the evening when you just want to add a little bit of colour to your skin.

It certainly doesn't have the colour intensity of a full-blown fake tan and if you're not going to be doing anything energetic, or you're going to be safely seated in a lovely air-conditioned restaurant then you'll be safe from inadvertently rubbing it off in the sweaty heat.

It smells lovely, comes in a 100ml hand-luggage approved travel size and at £1.99 it really can't be sniffed at.

The only downside is the way it stained my palms - just be QUICK about washing your hands or get someone else to do it for you!

I don't have a bad word to say about the Fake Don't Bake tanning cream.

It went on easily, has a nice smell to it and does exactly what it promises to do - give you a natural looking tan with no streaks.  It also comes in a 100ml travel size which is £1.99 rather than the £2.99 for 150ml.

Overall, we were very impressed with the products from Bronze Ambition, particularly when we took into the account the price and that you can easily pay at least three or four times that for other fake tan brands.

You can buy Bronze Ambition products online directly from their website - delivery is free if you spend over £15 - or you'll find them on the high street at Poundland, Home Bargains and B&M Bargains.

www.bronze-ambition.com

Sometimes review products land on the PlayPennies desk that we just don't want to part with - generally anything to do with food.

QVC really tested our resolve for spreading around the 'food love' when they sent us a selection of DeviliShh desserts to review; it was with heavy hearts, and tears and tantrums from some, that we sent them off to PlayPennies mum, Tracy, to try out.

"I was, naturally, very keen to review the desserts for PlayPennies," Tracy said, "especially as the name 'DeviliShh' suggests something rather scrummy and indulgent was heading my way."

Tracy also told us she was rather intrigued as to how they were going to arrive.

Were they going to come presented by waiter on a silver platter a'la the cooking competitions on TV?  Were they cold puddings that were ready made and could be eaten hot or cold? What?

"I must confess to being taken by surprise when the DeviliShh desserts arrived," Tracy told us, "there were about eight boxes of Creme Caramel puddings, one box of panna cotta, four boxes of pot au chocolate, four glasses, four bowls, two chocolate syrups, one rhubarb and strawberry coulis, a sour cherry one AND a raspberry one too!"

Now you understand why the sighs of remorse about not keeping the DeviliShh desserts in the PlayPennies office were as loud as they were.

You really can't beat wrapping off a meal with some sort of dessert; hot or cold, sweet or sharp, it makes no odds as everyone loves a little something else after dinner.

BUT, not everyone has the time, the inclination, or the skill sometimes, to knock up something fabulous. Sometimes you need a little bit of a helping hand and that's exactly where, according to Tracy, these DeviliShh desserts come into their own.

Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection - £22.25

The Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection was the first of the DeviliShh deserts that Tracy tried - we would have gone for the chocolate first too.

Following the instructions on the box all Tracy had to do, to make what she described as a 'delicious choccy desert', was pour everything into a pan, heat it until boiling, stir continuously, pour into heat resistant bowls/glassses and chill for one to two hours.

"This was so easy peasy," revealed Tracy, "that it almost felt like cheating! The pudding whips up quickly, smells utterly heavenly and sets REALLY FAST."

Tracy went on to say that by the time she was pouring the mixture into the last glass it was already starting to set.

"I served the glasses of chocolate pud' with sour cherry coulis and even my extremely fussy husband really liked the flavour and texture of the dessert."

Both Tracy and her husband felt the coulis was a nice touch and made a super contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate.

"I liked the fact the entire dessert was done and dusted in under five minutes and that there were precisely three things to wash up afterwards - bowl, spoon and jug," Tracy concluded.

She does have a piece of advice for anyone who decides to give the Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection a go, "The only thing that would be a minor problem is the one to two hour wait, but with a bit of forward planning this won't be a problem."

Create Your Own Creme Brulee Dessert Kit - £23.32

Along with all the various dessert making ingredients and paraphernalia comes a recipe for Bread and Butter Pudding; you use the ingredients from the Create Your Own Creme Brulee Dessert Kit to make it.

"You need the creme brulee mixture along with bread, sultanas, cinnamon and nutmeg to make this bread and butter pudding," explained Tracy. "Simply butter some bread, make the creme brulee mixture, pour it over the top and plonk in the fridge for 1-2 hours!"

Again, this seems wonderfully straightforward, faff-free and great for Bread and Butter Pudding fans.

Tracy told us she was a bit suspicious of the non-baking element to this particular DeviliShh dessert. However, the eating element of it seemed to go down well.

"My husband, who loathes bread and butter pudding, really liked this," Tracy told us, "he finished it off when I wasn't looking! It was very more-ish, very filling and incredibly tasty."

Tracy has another tip - I think I shall call them 'Tracy's Tips' - she says, "Just make sure you really cover every inch of bread or it is seriously weird and just like bread and butter with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on it."

Create Your Own Panna Cotta Dessert Kit - £16.50

Now this is one dessert I'm happy to pass on to anyone else who will take it, it was also the one Tracy was looking forward to most and, as a result, she went a bit 'Master Chef' on us.

"I decided to get adventurous for the Panna Cotta DeviliShh dessert," she boasted, proudly.

"I crumbled chocolate brownies into the bottom of the glasses and then poured the Panna Cotta on top.  When they'd set they were super scrummy and delicious with that distinctive panna cotta taste on top."

The same basic principles apply to the DeviliShh dessert Create Your Own Panna Cotta Dessert kit as the others: mix it, pour it, chill it, eat it!

The Panna Cotta was Tracy's favourite by far and the chocolate, creme brulee and the creme caramel were huge hits with the kids and the fussy husband.

And finally...

Tracy was completely won over by the DeviliShh desserts we sent her.

"All the desserts are seriously easy and really tasty," Tracy said, "there was a hint of 'Angel Delight' in the chocolate dessert but, really, that only added to the awesomeness."

All of the family agreed that they loved the easiness of making the desserts and how, in spite of this, they tasted amazing rather than plastic and rubbish.

"I have to say I am very impressed," concluded Tracy, "as most instant desserts are a bit yuk and these, while not what you'd find in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, are really good; I don't see anyone turning their noses up at them. "

So, ideal for busy parents who fancy a treat without the agony of having to slave over something for hours in the kitchen, then further hours afterwards washing up all the chaos and carnage.

Tracy told that on a scale of one to ten she'd give the DeviliShh desserts a nine and a big thumbs up.

Click HERE to see the full range of DeviliShh desserts available at QVC

When I think that it’s almost father’s day, my heart starts racing a little. I can hardly believe the year is almost halfway gone already. It’s all just going too fast for me – evidenced by the fact that a large box arrived for us with father’s day products to review.

Now, if I’m honest, my first thought was, “Great, a bunch of tat to clutter the house.” But, it didn’t take long for me to change my mind. In fact, when my hubby came in to see his very early father’s day gifts, there was already a bit of an ownership battle going on for the oversized coffee cup.

Paladone Products has been around since 1991 and is one of the UK’s leading gift development companies. You might not know their name, however, as they don’t have their own ‘shop’ as such, but sell their products in more than 30 of the UK’s biggest retailers. So whenever you’ve bought a little something from the ‘seasonal items’ isle, chances are it was from Paladone.

The first thing we looked at was the StressBerry. In our home, this is a pretty good all-rounder item – see, I’m a CrackBerry addict, which pretty much makes the hubby hate it. So for him, this foam rubber BlackBerry look-a-like is a wonderful alternative to a stress ball. I think he gets some rather frightening pleasure out of pummelling the poor thing. In fact, the look on his face when he squished it as small as he possibly could kind of confirmed that – especially when accompanied by the odd “arrrrghhhhh” sound.

I also thought it meant he’d pretty much destroyed it, but as it turns out the StressBerry is pretty hardy. Not only were there no cracks in the paint or foam, it actually sprang back to normal.  Since then, it’s become my daughter’s phone. I’m not sure what it’s made up of, but it doesn’t make annoying sounds, it isn’t anything into her brain when she holds it near her head and for the most part means she leaves my phone alone.

Also, at £2.99 from Amazon, the StressBerry is certainly not going to break the bank.

Next up was a Mr. Messy apron. While the hubby is actually a pretty great cook, it’s not something he gets to do too often, so the apron doesn’t see much use. Perhaps now that it’s summertime it’ll see the light of the barbeque a little more often, which would be great. It’s made from 100% cotton, so I also don’t have to worry about it melting near the stove or fire either, and is quick and easy to wash too. While he did take exception to being called messy, he liked it and has worn it since.  From a ‘typical woman’ point of view, it’s well made and neat and tidy in all the right places. It also doesn’t unravel in the wash as some cheaper craftsmanship does.

The Mr.Messy apron is available at Amazon for £9.99.

The Punk Washing Up Brush (on sale at Find Me A Gift for £3.49 at the moment) is the item we agreed is the most ‘average’. No matter what we said about it, it remains a washing up brush. But that’s possibly not entirely fair. It’s a fun item, it puts a smile or at least a raised eyebrow on people’s faces when they see it standing by the sink. The bristles are quite hard so it stands up to a good amount of cleaning. It can stand next to the sink – in other words the washing up brush balances well on those little punk feet. I found it a bit uncomfortable to hold, but with his bigger, manlier hands, my hubby didn’t complain about it.

While the Amazon description says “Now you can bring laughter and joy to this thankless task with this hilarious punk washing up brush,” I must admit it didn’t get the same response here. It was more “It’s a bit of fun, but still doesn’t make me want to get up and wash the dishes.” But in fairness, who wants to do the dishes?  But, for someone with a bit of an eclectic taste, or someone who likes trinkety things this would be a great gift. At least it’s functional and works well, so all’s not lost on me. So long as Mr.Messy does the dishes, I’m happy.

The final item we received was that coffee cup. The I’m The Daddy Mug makes Starbucks Venti cups look like shot glasses. Sort of. It has a 900ml capacity (just over 1.5 pints) and is actually ridiculously large, but while I might have my BlackBerry in one hand, I have a cup of coffee in the other, so the husband and I were fighting about who should have the cup. He is the daddy though, so he won out, but I’ll be borrowing it next time we have a teething night!

A reviewer on Amazon said that the print wasn’t as clear or well defined, but that wasn’t a problem we’ve experienced. Ours looks pretty much like the one pictured.  It’s definitely an ideal gift for new dads, or anyone wanting to mark their territory.

I must admit, I was dubious at first, but now as everything has a place in our cupboards, toy box and kitchen counter, it’s grown on me. If you’re looking for fun little presents for father’s day, you won’t be disappointed in these and you’ll definitely get good use out of each of them.