Orange Blossom

Orange Blossom from DavidsTea

 Ingredients: Rooibos, currants, orange peel, orange blossoms, vanilla pieces, marigold blossoms, safflower petals, artificial flavouring 

I steeped this for five (maybe six, I got slightly distracted) minutes in my steeper from DT, which I use for practically all of my steeping. I'm a creature of habit, what can I say?

This is one awesome rooibos. I really love it. Super creamy vanilla with a punch of orange peel and blossom (two very different things, let me tell you), but never overpowering the rooibos. I am just in love with how all of the individual flavours shine, while coming together to make something so delicious. 

Now, it could be that I am a sucker for neroli (orange blossoms) ever since I started working with the essential oil as a massage therapist, but damn! I really really like this. I have stopped writing about a million times because I can't put my damn cup down!

I think that's all you need to know.

I'm going to go melt into my cup of nirvana now.

I know shit about photography.
Stop trying to be fancy, Kayla

Happy Steeping,

~K

PS. Sorry I didn't say anything funny... or write very much... or... screw it, who cares?! This tea speaks for itself *GLUG GLUG GLUG*
PPS I just got bitten for not sharing this delicious tea. birds are dicks

Tea and Hair Days 15-22

Okay so my hair is 100% getting lighter. Its undertones of brown are being brought out, giving it a more brown look when the light hits it.

Basically, how it looks after I spend my life outside in the summer, as opposed to post winter.

So fair warning, what they say about a chamomile hair rinse is true - IT WILL LIGHTEN YOUR HAIR. But, it also makes it looks super natural, and in a totally all natural way.

I had to use soft water (well water is great), and shampoo/conditioner I don't normally use, on my hair this weekend. The soft water is nice on my hair, the shampoo makes my hair act weird. Also, I was helping tear down a wall so I ended up showered twice because...well...you don't need to know what was behind the drywall. Let's just leave it at it was gross.
But soft water = softer hair. Double showering = my hair got wrecked when it came to dryness.

Sunday night earned a nice oil treatment for my hair and scalp, which worked wonders.

BUT I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE ONCE IT DRIED IN THE MORNING. Shut up, I was busy for once.  So, here are some shitty pictures of me, at 11pm on Monday. Curls still going strong.

Let me just say, I love this tea shit I made.

I PROMISE MY FINAL PICTURES WILL BE BETTER. YOU CAN ALL YELL AT ME IF THEY'RE NOT.

Salted Caramel

Salted Caramel had me super excited.

Super. Super excited.

ALLERGY WARNING: ALMONDS

I love caramel. I mean love it. I'd eat it alone if I had the chance not that I've done that before.

I steeped the 1.25 tsp to 1 cup of boiling water for 6 minutes per directions. I JUST WANTED IT TO BE PERFECT CARAMELLY

It smelled exactly like caramel when I opened it up, with a slight hint of black tea behind it. I was very excited! Can you tell how much I love caramel yet?

But when I tasted it, it was bitter. Let me know if you guys have had the same experience? So, to offset the bitter, I added milk. A quick fix!
Once I added milk, it had a light caramel flavor, and was a little creamy, and you could still taste some of the black tea! Overall, the balance wasn't bad at all, nor was the flavor...but it just wasn't caramelly enough for me!



If I am drinking something called Salted Caramel, I want to drink it and think "this reminds me of salted caramel!" not "Well, I guess this kinda sorta might make me think a little bit about caramel..."

Good, but not the best. So, I'm not getting it again. I'll stick to my caramel apples!

Enjoy your teas, everyone!

-Laura

La La Lemon (organic)

LaLa Lemon from DavidsTea

 Ingredients: Organic FairTrade black tea from China, orange peel, natural lemon and orange flavouring.

Orange? Orange?? There isn't any lemon peel in a LEMON tea?!?! Off to a great start here, DT.

This tea literally just tastes like citrus peel and black tea. The peel part really stands out, by which I mean, it's quite bitter. I would definitely recommend a lower steeping time. I struggle to taste the lemon over the orange, which is disappointing because I love lemon in straight black tea.

BUT! This tea is great for a lemon-y ICED tea. I made a jug of this during the summer (OH, GODS! SUMMER, PLEASE COME BACK!!!!) and added half a lemon, sliced. It was lovely. A very typical American iced tea. (I say American because in Canada, we like our iced tea to be comprised of sugar, sugar and moooore sugar -- what a twist!)

This would have been much better if I had actually had a lemon slice to plop in to my cup, but ALAS, I did not. So it was orange-peel-y.
In closing, I need more lemon in my lemon tea. LEMON, not orange. Lemon.... The yellow one. 
To the store, for some fresh lemon!!



Happy Steeping,

~K



PS

LEMON Because I didn't say it enough.

THIS is a lemon

This is NOT a lemon

Tea and Hair: Days 8 - 14

Ugh, on day 8 we had a MASSIVE temperature change, again. -32 C with the windchill. Needless to say, my hair was a frizzy mess. I had to oil it up.

Something I think I've noticed is my hair may be getting a little lighter, a little more reddish in tint. It totally is lighting dependent, so I'm going to REALLY track my pictures. Chamomile has been known to lighten hair, so it's entirely possible.

On day nine and 10 my hair was ballin'. Like it was so fucking fantastic looking and feeling I have no words.
Honestly, my hair has been looks pretty good no matter what I do. Pigtails all day? It comes out of it looking pretty grand

THUS FAR I AM IMPRESSED.

DAY 14 HAS TAKEN ME TO THE GYM. So my hair is tied back and not curly at all. Good fucking times.

even if my hair is getting lighter

Bigger and better pictures next week!

-L

Day 14: Pigtails all day plus a workout = this hair

Brazillionair

My next few reviews are all going to be from my collection of free samples! Wooohooo!
Today's tea is Brazillionair!

ALLERGY WARNING: TREE NUTS

When brewing it, it smelled almost chocolatey, almost creamy. It is yummy, but it is also overbearing, and a little musty. So I was fairly undecided at this point. I honestly couldn't even tell if I liked how it smelled.

The sample was 1.5 tsp, for 1 cup, and steeped for 6 minutes. Because I'm a square who follows directions! 

It basically tasted how it smelled. Creamy, chocolatey, musty, a little nutty, the faintest of tea note in the background. It had a more complex flavor than I thought it would, yet I honestly can't say it was my favorite tea at all. The fact that everything was so BAM IN YOUR FACE was more of a turn off than I thought it would be.

To me, this tea seemed to be lacking balance. It could have been the fact that this was just a sample, and I just got a poor blend up of everything (if so, then that is really unfortunate, since a sample is supposed to get you hooked), but either way, it just wasn't quite right.

Tone down some of the coconut and maybe less tree nut, bring out some of the black tea more, and add more raisins, then it would probably taste a lot better. But as it was in the sample? It is absolutely a no-go for me.

Toodles poodles!

-L

Forever Nuts ~ Happy Valentine's

Ingredients: Apple, almonds, cinnamon, beetroot and artificial flavouring


So, this is the only Valentine's dubbed tea from DavidsTea that I own, and I wasn't going to go out and buy any of the other ones (as lovely as they sound) because I'm on a budget.
Also, I will admit that I laughed - a lot- when DT chose FOREVER NUTS as a Valentine's tea. Get why? The twelve-year-old inside of my head sure did, and wouldn't shut up about it. heh heh... nuts.

This tea smells as amazing as it is pink. And holy crap, is it ever pink! That's probably why they actually chose it as a V-Day tea (I got tired out typing out the whole word, already), but I like my idea more because it's funny.

It looks like pink lemonade. What?!

Let me just say, my mum LOOVES this tea. I took over my first ever (and brand new) bag of 50grams a few years ago when I went to visit and I forgot it when I went home. I went back three days later, AND SHE USED ALL OF IT! My mum is amazing, but she's a tea theif!

It tastes EXACTLY the way it smells, which is exactly like the ingredients. ...exactly...... (sorry, looks like someone needs to brush up the the thesaurus) 
 I kind of forgot how amazing and comforting it is. I don't want to say cider because, though it has a very strong taste of apples, it is really something all on it's own. DT really hit this tea on the nose, which must be why they have it in their starter kit; everyone who tries it, loves it! It's great for people of all ages. And birds.


Happy Moronic-Corporate-BS-Holiday

Tell the people you love that you love them ALL the time! Because they deserve it. Doing something "special" on V-Day isn't special. SURPRISES are special!
Unless you normally don't do anything, then that would be a surprise, too! YAY!

Just a little love advice from Dr. K  ;)
Not a real doctor


Happy Steeping


PS  Sorry the cup picture sucks.

Tea and Hair: Day 2-7

Day 7

On day two, my curls were soft and tight, and shiny. By the end of the day it still looked pretty good, curls still behaving, if not a little frizzy. But, I could gently ruffle my hair at the roots, and although I got extra volume (which really, I didn't need but looked like I was attempting the 80s  fun) the curls still stayed intact, just a little more free. My hair was shiny at the start of the day, and at the end.

We had a major weather change on the third day, it got colder and started to snow. So my hair was a little drier and a little frizzier. But, still nice and soft.

I straightened my hair on day four and I swear to the gods it has never been more shiny and soft and...cooperative when being straightened. I even slept on it and left it for the next day (which meant no spray because otherwise I'd curl up again), and on day 5 it was still fairly straight, just a bit frizzy at the ends

Day 7

I had to use Zachs shampoo and conditioner on day six, my hair hates it because it's too heavy for my hair. So I was a little floppy. My hair was still shiny though.

On the final day of my first week my hair looked nice, felt nice. All around good hair.
I'm feeling sick today (amazing time for getting a cold), so I'm just drinking my Cold 911 (shhh, I'll review it eventually), to feel better. My weekly hair update picture sucks though, so sorry. And yes, I did take them in bed.

Overall, I am still happy with the results I'm getting, so this is absolutely going to continue!

-Laura

Day 7

Day 7

Mystery Tea AKA "Mint to Be"

While I find it amazing and awesome that fans are getting to name this tea (I submitted Cream of Mint Grey as a name), this is by far the strangest tasting tea I've ever drank. Strange is basically the only word I have to describe it.

I steeped the 1.25 tsp for 5 minutes for a cup, per directions. 

The loose leaf itself was quite pretty. Lots of color (I am a big fan of the blue).

It smelled kind of fruity, kind of minty. But it tasted like someone mixed peppermint, with Cream of Earl Grey!

It wasn't bad, or gross. But it certainly wasn't what I'd call good. It just didn't taste right, or sit right, with my taste-buds. 

I had the one cup, and that is all I'll ever have of this tea.

So weird.

Sorry this review is so short, but there is nothing to elaborate on! Minty Cream of Earl Grey!
If you like it, take this as the ignorant dislike speech that it is. (Hate is a strong word)

I wish I could make this a longer post...but I just can't think of anything else to say!

Sorry, DavidsTea! I'm just not with you on this innovation.

-Laura

Sweet Strawberry

Sweet Strawberry from DavidsTea

Ingredients: White tea, strawberries, rosehips, white silver needles, hibiscus, stevia, natural flavouring.


As gorgeous as that spoonful may look, that is about every single spoonful you will get; lots of strawberry, so very very little tea. But it smells like beautiful, juicy strawberries and it just makes your mouth water, like hot strawberry jam in a bowl of porridge. I would say this is more of an herbal tea than white, but I may add some white peony to it, as I have much to spare and it could really give this tea more... tea... But, perhaps I just got shafted on the tea.

I'm quite proud of this one! Pretty!

It tastes primarily of strawberries with a slight hint of rosehips. I can't even taste the tea. 
That isn't to say there isn't something sweetly delicious about it, but I wish I was tasting tea before the fruit. Come on! It's the MAIN ingredient listed on the tin!!
I am a little disappointed, tea wise... But it is amazing. And I use a spoonful in every fruit iced tea batch that I make.

 And holy shit, does it ever smell good! I want to make a perfume or shampoo of this smell, BATHE in this tea!

If fruit teas are your thing, wow! This is for you. Strawberry heaven.


Happy Steeping
~K

Tea and Hair: Day 1

What's this? I'm mixing tea and hair? Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!

So, my plan is to make a daily, after shampooing spray for my hair, using a tea mixture. I've been doing some reading, and many people find a tea rinse helpful, and some people use them as a spray. And, because it is tea related I am bringing you along for the ride.

My goal of this is to 1) see the prospective uses for tea, and 2) help my hair using something I'm passionate about. I also need some sort of hobby to make sure I stay motivated.

I'll post updates once a week, on Wednesdays, ending March 5th (or 12th, I'm unsure)!

If you don't want any information on my hair type or regular routine, then skip to under my selfie.

---

I have a 3a hair-type, my hair has a low-porosity when it is not being negatively affected by the weather, and medium when it gets too dry, mostly from winter dryness. Even my skin is drier during the winter. Medium width and a little longer than shoulder length. I have a little over a medium density hair during the summer, in the winter, it drops to a medium. If I'm stressed, I shed much, much more.

I am blessed with the genetics for having dandruff on both sides. So using Head & Shoulders as a shampoo is basically a need. Otherwise I get an itchy, dry, flaky scalp. Seriously. If I shampoo with a different one, my scalp is like NO. and gets itchy. So, to combat it's drying effect, I make sure to use their 2 in 1 shampoo, AND  conditioner for curly hair. I can't seem to find the PERFECT conditioner though, SO IF ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE. Currently, I use a Strictly Curls by Marc Anthony.

I wish I could wash my hair every other day, but because I'm a massage therapist, and my bangs are still growing out (thus at a very awkward length, and the curls make it so that not all of it is controlled by a bobby pin), I manage to get massage oil on it.

My selfie game is weak after
getting my hair all oiled up

So, the night before I did a major moisturizing treatment, like I do probably once every other week. Sometimes more like once a week, sometimes more than once a week if the weather gets cold and dry, but not less unless I can't help it. My hair gets straighter when I do, because, well, I'm stroking it a little and getting my quasi-treatment all over it. Also, I do it at the end of the day. Sadly, I do have to give my hair a comb out with a wider tooth comb to do it, otherwise my fingers get caught in the curls.

I use:

• A quarter size amount of a Macadamia Nourishing Leave-in Cream
• A dime sized amount of a extra-virgin cold pressed coconut oil/jojoba oil mixture
• Maybe a dime sized amount of Moroccan Oil
• One drop of peppermint oil
• One drop of lavender oil

My Mother-in-law-to-be found the coconut oil at Costco of all places! And let me tell you, it's in a huge ass tub and super high quality, yummy as well!

It smells nice and serves its purpose. But our horrible winter weather, and the fact I wash my hair every day (not good for hair and scalp care!), dries it out.






For the spray leave in I'm:

• 1 scoop chamomile tea
• 1 scoop Indonesian Green Tea
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 pot of boiling water
• 1 drop tea tree oil
• one drop peppermint oil
• 1 spray bottle, washed and dried

I started by cutting and crushing the rosemary. Then boiled the rosemary, and its stem, and the tea for a minute at a rolling boil, then let it steep until cool. Then, obviously, I strained it. I actually did this twice, to make sure I didn't get any floaties.
Then I put it in the spray bottle, and lightly spritzed my hair (it was towel dried, but still wet). I tried to get all of it.
Then, I put that shit in the fridge, to make sure it keeps.

Look at this massive ringlet

It smelled fresh, kind of minty. Just light, and fresh is the only word I can think of! Not bad in the least
My hair felt pretty damn smooth and soft after it dried.
My hair looked shiney as fuuuuck after it dried.
The peppermint oil left a bit of a tingly cooking sensation. Because it's so watered down, it was only a small one.

Day one overall happiness level pretty damn happy. Smooth ringlets!

LOOK AT THE SHINE

By the end of the day my hair was frizzier, and my curls weren't as tight. I still have ringlets hanging out though. I did go for a walk today, and it was cold and dry out.

Hair raisingly yours,

Laura

-----

Benefits of rosemary for hair [1] [2] [3] [4]

Benefits of chamomile for hair [1] [2]

Benefits of green tea for hair [1] [2]

Benefits of tea tree oil for hair [1] [2] [3]

Benefits of peppermint for hair [1] [2]

Yorkshire Tea

I got this tea from a friend who is from England. She swears by it and wanted me to try it (and review it) once I told her about this blog!

The packets said to steep for 4-5 minutes, since my friend said stronger is better, I left it in for about 5 minutes. I actually followed their brewing instructions! It was really fun to experiment! And yes, we did it 'Tiffy'!

My friend recommended to add enough milk (also, she said no less than 2% milk!) so that it is a caramel color, so I did. In the end it was about 1.5 teaspoons. Funnily enough, I actually had some homemade caramel sauce (which was used as a topper for a homemade steamed carrot pudding! Yum yum!) to use as a comparison, which helped immensely.

Yorkshire Tea is quite similar to an Orange Pekoe in taste. I find it tastes a little different, a little milder. I enjoy it a lot more than DavidsTea Orange Pekoe. My mum said she noticed no difference in taste, but I think she's cray-cray.
The fact it was slightly milder, and slightly sweeter, really made it enjoyable.



I actually found some at our local Christmas market! So excited!

AND IT IS FOR CERTAIN IN CANADA. CHECK OUT SOBEYS! WOOOO

It truly is a proper brew!

-Laura