BUY AT: Amazon

There are numerous books on green living (and I think I went through 4.56 bazillion million of them) as there are on housekeeping. Do not buy any of them. Not even Martha. Because I promise you, this is the only book you’ll need.

I’m not going to go mix oils and say a prayer to clense my space. Nor am I going to make a shelving unit for 32 kinds of bleach to clean my clothes so that I can iron them all perfectly. I’m one who likes a clean home, without chemicles but I confess to being a little bit lazy and a cringer at anything “new agey.”

This book is just a very simple, really well explained book on how to keep a home. From how to keep your plumbing going, to keeping floors (hard wood and carpet) clean, to bugs and how a dishwasher works and clothing care and well, everything.

It’s all so simply explained but what I really love is that it’s such a unisex book. It’s all just matter of fact but written in a very interesting way so that you don’t feel intimidated or that it’s a “girl” chore or a “boy” chore. It provides information on why bleach is bad and alternatives. It explains how things work and what to do about it. It’s honestly the only home book I keep now and has answered so many questions (and ones I didn’t even know I had!)

It’s a must for anyone who has a home or flat and has a little interest in cleanliness. So that should hopefully mean you!

BUY AT: Rishi-Tea or Whole Foods

I love tea. No wait. I adore tea. I also adore fair trade products. However, I often find it really hard to find really great tasting tea that is fair trade. That is why I’m adoring Rishi-Tea’s new Fair Trade Masala Chai in their pretty little silver (and stackable) tins.

Chai is being thrown around so much that it’s almost become sysnonymous with sweet and Starbucks. But it’s actually a black tea that’s had lots of spices added to it and has a rich, flavour made creamy by all the hot milk you add. And this is the perfect loose chai tea; you can actually see and smell the spices in the tin.

Whilst brewing, the smell is divine and it continues when you pour it into a cup. It’s my morning pick me up not just because of the caffine but because the warm, rich flavours feel so cosy on a cold morning. Besides, this tea does something good for my belly and something good for those who participate in Free Trade. Now that’s something worth drinking to.

I could no longer take the “are you OK?” questions due to the lack of colour on my naturally pale face and decided to do something about it. The only problem was that blush in the past always made me look like I had really red skin, blotchy skin, too made up or made my skin react.

I’d read so many good things about this cheek stain over the years that I decided to go for the pink one, Dollface. A quick little swipe of this gel based blush on each cheek and voila – colour! But not just colour, colour that seemed to come from within. Colour that seemed to belong to me! Who knew one could look healthy with a little glow?

And it is a little glow; there is no shimmer, there’s no shiny just plain, perfect colour. No skin reactions, no fake blobs. Just pretty. Just well… a dollface!

BUY AT: Sephora