This is a self-made documentary about Chumbawamba and their ever-so-strange career. It was put together in 2001, so it pretty much excludes their current acoustic-only folk guise. But it’s entertaining, witty and informative, and proves that there’s a damn sight more to Chumbas than (pretty very poor and not-at-all-representative) Tubthumping. And if, like me, you spent half the ‘90s with dreadlocks and stripy tights, hitch-hiking up and down the country to see them, a blast from the past which’ll have you jiggling nostalgically in your seat.

Hurrah! An SPF15 moisturiser from Lush! I wound up with this product through a series of serendipitous events. Having popped into Lush to stock up my usuals, I was hoping to snaggle a tester of Vanishing Cream, a new product billed as “low-fat moisturiser” and created for spotty herberts like me. By happy coincidence, there was a special offer on – spend £20 and get one of anything free. Anything! But there was no Vanishing Cream to be seen – it had been snapped up by other spotty herberts – so the assistant persuaded me to try a tub of Paradise Regained as my freebie, and it may well turn out to be free money well spent.

Described on the tub as “no-tox” and “reviving”, I’ve seen it billed elsewhere as “anti-aging”. This piques my BSometer, as there’s no such thing as anti-aging, plus I don’t think of myself as being old enough to “require” such a thing yet, but no matter, I’m just trying it on for size _{and I probably am old enough, let’s face it.} It also contains skin-brightening AHAs, but rather than chemically extracted ones, PR’s AHAs come from fresh green grapes, pineapple and green tea infusion. And – oh joy! – it also contains SPF15, a rarity for Lush products as finding non-animal-tested SPF is nigh-on impossible and pretty spendy.

In practice, the cream is astonishingly light on application. It sinks in economically and quickly leaving only the faintest trace of oiliness. After a couple of days’ use, my skin does seem brighter and smoother, and my existing spots seem to be healing up, though whether this is connected or not is unsure. In the last few days I’ve also started wearing foundation regularly again, so if it’s fighting against the spot-creating properties of foundation, it’s doing a very good job.

I often find with moisturisers that they work really well for a week, or a month, then start to lose their efficacy. I have a full tub of this which I reckon will last a good long while, so I’ll update later once I’ve had a longer run. The tubs are £25, which is quite an initial outlay, but if it lasts as long as I reckon it will, and continues being ace, it could well be my Holy Grail moisturiser, and as such worth the cost.

Incidentally, this product is so new that the Lush website didn’t yet have a pic and I had to filch one from eBay. Thanks, eBay seller, – please, someone, click through and buy the item so I don’t feel so bad about the picture theft.

I got this cheap from eBay, so I didn’t pay the full £35 for it, and I don’t think I would. It’s nice enough, and it smells lovely, and it does sink into your skin luxuriously, but for £35 I’d expect it to make my skin glow, and it really doesn’t. In fact I think it may have contributed to my recent spottiness. Also, it doesn’t have any SPF factor, which is pretty much a must for me. I know why it doesn’t, and it’s all to do with animal testing, which is all very worthy and nice, so I forgive them. I have another pot of this because I emailed them and complained about the packaging, which is unsuited to the runny cream, so I’ll probably use it up out of stinginess, but next time I think I’ll try another one of their creams, one with an SPF this time.

Lovely stuff. I’ve been having a bit of a breakout recently, so I hotfooted to Lush and told them that my usual Baby Face was a little too greasy for my current needs. They pointed me straight at this, and it’s done a great job of clearing up my skin. It works along the same lines as Baby Face – rub it on straight from the bar, massage it on, wipe it off with a damp cloth – but has the added bonus of ground-up aduki beans for extra exfoliation. It’s also packed full of lavender and tea tree oils so it’s great for breakouts. I am a convert. The one drawback is that it’s not so good for removing eye makeup as it’s a bit gritty, but it works ok as long as you’re very very gentle. And it smells yummy – bonus.

I bought this to replace the amazing Ruby and Millie mascara I got free off the front of a magazine. But it is, frankly, shit. I am pretty long and thick of lash already, and I curl pre-application, so I give my mascara an easy ride. But this wishy-washy rubbish somehow manages to make my eyelashes look worse. It kind of skews them off to one side, clagging and clogging as it goes, without ever really adding any density of colour. At the same time, it gets all over your eyelids even if you are an expert applier and don’t get the wand anywhere near them. Then, within half an hour, it all starts flaking off so you end up with sort of black dandruff under your eyes which, if you rub it, smears everywhere so you look both dirty and exhausted. And this morning I cried when I failed my driving test, and the damn stuff just liquified and slid straight off – waterproof my arse. My arse is more waterproof.

Upshot is, I’ll be using it for now, but as soon as I get my hands on some decent mascara, I will be actually binning this, and I almost never bin makeup before it’s actually run out. I’d advise the rest of you to save your pennies and not both with this stuff.

Oh. My. God. I never thought I would find a pickled onion to rival those made by my dad, my uncle and, once upon a very laborious time, me. But I picked these up at the supermarket tonight, mainly as a novelty item because I couldn’t believe Barry Norman was doing a Paul Newman and launching himself on the food chain. But they are amazing. Crunchy ,crispy, and so spicy they’re painful. And they have afforded me the opportunity to say my current favourite word, onioniest – say it, it’s fun. Onioniest. They are the onioniest.

Anyway, if you like pickled onions, don’t faff about with those silverskin wussy pussies – if you can’t get a member of my family to make you some, these are a very close second. Recommended. Just don’t breathe on anyone for a week.

Ffft… Wishy washy, to be honest. Not fantastically well written or acted, and plot holes aplenty, but for some reason I kept watching, probably cos I was waiting for it to get really good because that’s what I had been promised would happen.

I did start to enjoy it more, though, once I realised that Sylar bears more than a slight resemblance to our very own Paolo, thus enabling me to imagine that it was mild-mannered and gentlemanly P-love slicing open heads, hurling people against walls and leering with bloodlust from under his eyes.

This is one of Lush’s body butters, marketed as conditioner for the skin in much the same way that you use them for hair. This one is a solid exfoliator – a block of conditioning, moisturising oils, which smell great, with ground almond shells mixed in. You use it in the bath or shower after washing and rinse it off. It’s a great idea… in theory, but in practice I’m just not impressed. True enough, it makes your skin feel amazing, but the shell gets in all your, erm, nooks and crannies, and it’s a bugger to wash off and down the drain. And it just doesn’t last – seriously, you’ll be lucky to get a fortnight out of this bar, and at £4.75 a pop, that’s just not good enough. I might try one of their non-scrubby body butters at some point but for sloughing off skin I’ll be sticking to my trusty exfoliating gloves in future.

I’m not thin yet, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a good book and a great system. It’s just not one I’ve properly put into place yet! I recommend that anyone who’s been on more diets than they care to remember give it a read, because it will remind you what eating is really about – hunger. It also contains plenty of exercises to help you get into the mindset and habits of a naturally slim person, and – get this – no diet plans whatsoever.

Really really useful book chock full of easy and thoughtful exercises to help you see the brighter side of life and maintain a consistently sunny mood regardless of life situation and serotonin levels. Highly recommended, especially for people who let life’s little downers get the better of them. Michael Neill also has a website where you can sign up for a really helpful and informative weekly email filled with wisdom and great exercises to help you realise what you want, and go out and get it.