No need to go without a manicure during the Christmas party season even if you’re on a tight budget! Tampax and Always have teamed up to launch its limited edition ‘Free Manicure’ offer, available at hundreds of beauty salons across the UK.

This offer is available when you purchase specially marked promotional packs of Tampax and Always, including the new Always Collection, Tampax Pearl and Tampax Compak.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Purchase a special pack of Always or Tampax featuring the ‘Free Manicure’ sticker before 31st December 2011
2. Visit www.alwaysmanicure.com or www.tampaxmanicure.com to find their nearest participating salon
3. Book a nail treatment with the salon before 31st March 2012 quoting ‘Always and Tampax Manicures’
4. Print the voucher and take it, along with the on-pack sticker, to their appointment
5. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Don’t mind if I do…

Full details and T&Cs can be found at www.alwaysmanicure.com or www.tampaxmanicure.com.

So you’ve survived the summer. Congratulations! But with the start of the new term, there’s little respite for mums yet. We’re all on the lookout for the best deals on those back to school essentials, but when time is of the essence there isn’t always enough space in the schedule to spend a long time traipsing through the high street trying things on and hunting for bargains. To ease the process, we’ve come up with a few creative suggestions of our own with the aim of helping you to save both time and money.

School shoes are often one of the hardest items to find. No doubt your little one has a very clear idea of the style he or she wants but whether this a) exists and b) is available on budget is usually a matter of luck. For a wide range of styles and highly competitive prices there are few shops to better New Look. Furthermore, you can always sit the nipper on your knee and get her to choose from the vast selection of footwear available online. With prices like these, you might even find some new school dresses too. Or, of course, a treat for you.

With the return of the school day comes the return of the lunchbox. Often the best way to make sure that your little one eats a good lunch everyday is to provide a variety of foods throughout the week. This, however, can be time consuming, but there are a few shortcuts you can take. If you’re making pasta in the evening, cook a little extra and turn it into a tasty salad with tuna and veggies for the next day. If you have a little time on a rainy weekend, you could always get the kids involved in the lunchbox process by cooking up a batch of flapjacks or brownies that they can nibble over the course of the week ahead.

If you’re looking for ways to encourage the wee ones to improve their reading and develop an interest in books, popular website thebookdepository.com is full of great ideas. Prices are competitive and, best of all, delivery to your door is absolutely free so you can be enjoying your new literary material in no time.

Are your kids massive Doctor Who fans? Are they begging to go to Doctor Who Experience but the ticket price is making you think twice? Well great news – Doctor Who Experience is having a fun Halloween promotion. On Friday 28th October children dressed as Doctor Who characters go free!

We took DSD on Saturday so I could honestly recommend the show to you – and I think it’s pretty cool. But I think the most important opinion is DSD’s. I asked her to type up a few sentences about her favourite parts so here you go:

I liked the bit when the wall opened and it was 3D. I liked the bit when the floor moved. I liked the bit when Doctor said to hold your adult’s hand because he said that they might be scared. I liked the exhibition bit and I liked being a Dalek.

She was pretty excited to go and even more excited to recount the experience – she’s a huge Doctor Who fan so this was a VERY BIG DEAL! I’m glad she’ll remember it so fondly. The Experience includes a fantastic exhibition with costumes, props and characters throughout the show’s history and an interactive journey that makes you feel like you’re part of the show!

The floor moves in this room!

So anyway, back to the promotion! Doctor Who Experience has a whole host of Monster-themed activities planned for October half term.  On Friday 28^th October children aged 5 – 16 dressed head-to-toe as Doctor Who characters and monsters will be given free entry to the Experience when accompanied by a full-paying adult. To get ready for Halloween, Doctor Who choreographer Ailsa Berk will be at the Doctor Who Experience in person on Friday 28^th October giving visitors a chance to perfect their monster impersonation skills with special lessons on how to walk like real Doctor Who monsters.

If you can’t go Friday 28th, you won’t be able to take advantage of the kids-go-free promotion, but there are still loads of extra-special activities. On Saturday 29^th face painters will be onsite to give visitors Doctor Who makeovers so kids can be turned into their favourite scary monster! On Sunday 30^th October live monsters will enter the Doctor Who Experience for the first time. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to come face- to -face with the Doctor’s terrifying adversaries the Cybermen and the Scarecrows.

To buy tickets (you need to get them in advance) or for more information, go to www.doctorwhoexperience.com.

Recently, Lionsgate sent us a copy of Monster Mutt to review. Thank you Lionsgate!

Here is the summary:

Monster Mutt follows the Taylor family children in a quest to save their beloved pet dog from the clutches of an evil megalomaniac! With a load of laughs, a lovable canine star and a heavy dose of feel-good family fun, Monster Mutt is the ultimate family DVD release for the Halloween period.

We haven’t been very good about film reviews, I’ll be quite honest, but this time we decided to come up with five questions to ask DSD, who is six, in order to give some good feedback.

Here you go:

VM: What was the funniest part?

DSD: When Max ran off and knocked over the bins.

VM: Who was your favourite character?

DSD: Ashley. No. Max.

VM: Were any parts boring?

DSD: No.

VM: What are three words to describe this film?

DSD: Funny, interesting and crazy.

VM: Would you watch this film again?

DSD: Yes.

I would like to add that this is not a film for adults. You know how many kids’ films these days are equally funny for grown ups because they have loads of jokes and pop culture references that go over the little ones’ heads? This is not one of those. But that’s fine. She enjoyed it, which is great.

The film came out on DVD this week and all 84 minutes of entertainment can be yours for 9.99.

Would you like us to put your film through our rigorous five question review process? Get in touch!

Quick – MagicFreebies are giving away a cute blue Cath Kidston Bird Day Bag. It has a pretty print and practical design with a durable oilcloth finish which makes it easy to clean. Plus there are two side pockets, perfect for your umbrella!

The competition ends on 20th September so go enter!

Congratulations to Laura for winning the Tesco voucher code from my back to school giveaway!

We almost never go to the movies anymore unless it’s Orange Wednesday because it’s just so insanely expensive. So it’s exciting that Odeon has a great offer on at the moment – 40% off tickets until 13th October.

You have two ways to get the discount – either print this voucher and take it to the box office or redeem it when booking online with voucher code Film40.

I had a quick peek at the T&Cs and there isn’t anything to really hold you back apart from the fact that you can’t use the voucher in conjunction with other offers (to be expected). You also can’t use it on Johnny English Reborn.

Right – so go see a movie! And tell me what you saw. I still haven’t seen One Day but I’m DYING to. And I Don’t Know How She Does It even though I’m really annoyed that they’ve set it in the States.

Happy back to school! We’re really lucky because Clothing at Tesco sent us another great school uniform pack. They also gave me a £15 voucher to give away to a reader so tell me your favourite thing about back to school in the comments and you’ll be entered to win.

If you still need to buy some kit, Tesco are running a You Buy One, We Give One initiative which means they will donate a full uniform to a child in Sri Lanka, Kenya and Bangladesh for every item of uniform sold under the scheme.

Here is the pack we received. Complete with washing liquid. Don’t they think of everything?

We also received this great pack of school supplies. I love the notebook on top although I think the message was sort of lost on DSD.

Drop me a note in the comments with your favourite thing about back to school if you want the voucher! I’ll close comments on 16th September and do a random drawing to choose a winner.

A really cool company called No Added Salt got in touch to see if we would try some of their ready meals designed just for kids. DSD gets a kick out of reviewing things so of course I said yes.

No Added Salt is a family run business founded by an Essex mother and daughter team. The company specialises in supplying healthy and nutritious pre-packed frozen food for children aged 1+.

The launch range includes Chicken Nuggets, Beef Burgers, Mini Fish Fillets, Cottage Pie, Chicken Casserole, Sausage & Mash, Spaghetti Bolognese, Tomato Penne and Spaghetti with meatballs. According to Kay Shearing, who masterminded the dishes, each dish is packed full of hidden vegetables and herbs. There are also 24 further dishes in the pipeline too.

Overall, DSD was pretty enthusiastic. The first dish she tried was the sausages and mash. She said: “I like that the sausages are round and I like the sausages because they taste nice.” She also inhaled half the penne and, at another meal, the mini fish fillets (although she suggested they were a bit too lemony for her taste).

The portion sizes were huge for six-year-old with a small appetite. The prices of these entries seemed a bit high but if you work out that you could split them between two kids or make two meals for one kid they are pretty reasonable. (Sorry – I can’t seem to find the prices as I’m writing this!)

No Added Salt also pays special attention to packaging. All the dishes they supply for reheating remain cool when put in the oven or microwave. All packaging is recyclable, the trays are biodegradable and No Added Salt are working hard to establish links with local providers to help reduce road miles on ingredients and to support local businesses too.

You’ll be able to buy No Added Salt at shops soon – check out this page to find out where to buy.

Does your bra fit? At the moment 1/3 of British women are wearing the wrong size, according to M&S. If you’d like to sort yourself out, pop into M&S during the Bra Fit event before 25th September.

Soozie Jenkinson, head of lingerie design at M&S said: ”Not many women know how a well fitting bra can not only improve their posture, make them look slimmer and boost their confidence as well as their assets!”

If you use the service and spend £30 on lingerie, M&S will give you a £5 voucher. Or, get the same offer online with voucher code BRAFIT11.

You probably already know this but I didn’t realise how much cute stuff there is in the lingerie dept at M&S until the other day when I spotted this:

This adorable set is almost sold out though, unfortunately. If you happen to be a size 28 D, this bra is only £5. The knickers are only £3 in 12 and up. Amazing deal if those are your sizes!