I had a day off today and needed some pampering after working all weekend. So I told kindly asked our resident therapist Emma if she could fit me in for a few things, including this:
Each toe has a little jewel on and my big toes have nail art. Should be getting a manicure on Friday ready for a Halloween party!
Our skin plays a key role in protecting us against pathogens, but skin cells are permeable and substances can seep through and end up in our blood stream with ease. Just think of the nicotine patch which takes advantage of this to release chemicals into the body. It is estimated that the body absorbs 5lb of make-up chemicals a year. If your skin care products contain harsh or toxic ingredients then your skin will absorb them. Therefore we only stock products that contain mainly natural and organic ingredients.
Women who use make-up on a daily basis are absorbing almost 5lb of chemicals a year into their bodies, it is claimed.
Many use more than 20 different beauty products a day striving to look their best while nine out of 10 apply make-up which is past its use by date.
Dependence on cosmetics and toiletries means that a cocktail of 4lb 6oz of chemicals a year is absorbed into the body through the skin.
Some synthetic compounds involved have been linked to side effects ranging from skin irritation to premature ageing and cancer.
Richard Bence, a biochemist who has spent three years researching conventional products, said: “We really need to start questioning the products we are putting on our skin and not just assume that the chemicals in them are safe”.
“We have no idea what these chemicals do when they are mixed together, the effect could be much greater than the sum of the individual parts.” Mr Bence, an advocate of organic beauty products, believes that absorbing chemicals through the skin in more dangerous than swallowing them.
He said: “If lipstick gets into your mouth it is broken down by the enzymes in saliva and in the stomach. But chemicals get straight into your bloodstream, there is no protection.”
Warnings over using out-of-date lipstick and mascara have also been issued by the Royal College of Optometrists which believes such items are a “hothouse” for harmful bacteria.
Clio Turton, of the Soil Association, said: “Many women are using over 20 different products a day, bombarding themselves with hundreds of different chemicals. They should be asking themselves ‘is that eyelash conditioner really essential?’ ”
Among chemicals under scrutiny are parabens (para-hydroxybenzoic acids) which are preservatives used in products including soap, shampoo, deodorant and baby lotion. Traces of parabens have been found in breast tumour samples, although its link to the development of the cancer is disputed.
Body absorbs 5lb of make-up chemicals a year.
Our staff are on hand for free advice on our entire range of natural and organic body care products and make-up, including Dr Hauschka, JASON, Elysambre, Barefoot Botanical, Burts Bees and more.
Just called into Millies and grabbed some of Taylors of Harrogate World’s Best coffee beans to use in our coffee machine.
World’s Best was a blend invented during the second world war. While all commodities were in short supply, Taylors purchased a small quantity of very high-quality beans which we saved to create our World’s Best blend. The blend was so good that it lives on today. There is a high proportion of top Kenyan beans along with some excellent coffees from Central America. Medium roasted, they produce a wonderful lively flavour full of citrus fruity notes and plenty of body. It is a perfect all day coffee with an amazing aroma.
Medium roast.
Coffee Origin: Africa, Central America
Coffee Type: Whole Bean Blend
Roast Colour: Medium Roast
Coffee Range: Speciality Coffee Beans
Also available in: Speciality Coffee Beans
Tints of Nature is a new and highly effective range of 24 conditioning permanent hair colours. It employs an advanced formula to produce outstanding results whilst protecting and caring for your hair and scalp as naturally and gently as possible. Tints of Nature is the only range of hair colours to use high quality, certified organic ingredients. It contains no harsh chemicals, such as resorcinol or nonoxynol, thus guaranteeing damage free results without compromise.
Thinking of colouring your own hair but not sure where to start? Why not take advantage of our free colour consultations? Claire Rodgers, colourist for natural and organic based Tints of Nature and Change will be at Millies Fresh and Organic to show how easy and effective this range of ammonia-free home hair colours can be.
Claire is on hand to offer advice and fresh ideas to show how you can create perfect tones with confidence. Because Tints of Nature has been created by professional hair specialist, it gives salon results and outperforms traditional ammonia-based colours in terms of colour results and anti-fade.
For more information about this in store day please contact Millies.
In January 2009 The Leeds Guide held their annual Take-Away Awards. They picked six of their favourites from accross the city and pitted them against each other to determine Leeds best take-away. Guess who won….!
Leeds Guide, Wed 21 Jan-Thu 5 Feb 2009:
Having recently opened a big new store on Vicar Lane, Millies Fresh & Organic are one of Leeds’ foremost providers of, surprisingly enough, fresh, organic and locally sourced foods. Their shelves are stacked with health foods, herbal teas, and they even have a therapy room. We’re not interested in that though. What we were loving was their takeaway sandwiches, cakes, soups and buns. It might not be your traditional takeaway, but swear you can actually feel some of that stuff doing you good. They were kind enough to send over a variety of sandwiches (including their New Yorker – steak, cheese and onions – which has become an office staple ever since) a few cakes and even some pumpkin soup.
Our Favourite Dish
Their pork, turkey and stuffing pie. At least two of our judges agreed that it was “the best thing they had ever put in their mouth”. High praise indeed.Overall winner:
Topping our poll (probably thanks to that aforementioned pork pie) was Millies and their sandwich, pie, soup and cake combo. A healthier alternative to take-aways, and thoroughly tasty to boot. We spoke to owner Geoff about his victory.How do you feel about winning?
I’m delighted! We’re a family business, very much driven by customer service, and want to provide the best of everything – every product we use is the best we can find: meat from our local farmers, bread from our local bakers, and so on.Why should we go organic?
Organic, locally-sourced food is the way of the future. We’re about helping to save the environment, supporting local businesses and providing a means for people to buy affordable, healthier, tastier food.Why do you think your company won?
Fresh, organic food tastes better. We cooked the meat that we served in the takeaway ourselves – everything we use in a takeaway is from our store, so you know exactly where it’s come from and that it’s good quality.How does your business fit in with the city of Leeds as a whole?
City centres in general have suffered a decline in independent food stores. We wanted to provide Leeds with a store the like of which isn’t widely available in the North. Everything that we use in store is the best we can find.
Lactic bacteria cultures probably don’t sound that appetising, but considering how good and how important they are for you, you really should be scoffing not just a few, not millions, but billions of them everyday! They inhabit the human digestive system where they create a lactic acid environment that bad bugs can’t live in. These lactic cultures help keep your insides clean and functioning well.
When made correctly and eaten fresh, yogurt offers plenty of these nice little bacteria. Scientific studies show that besides providing calcium and protein, yogurt consumption can help increase our physical defence against infectious microbes, and normalise our intestinal flora. Unfortunately the live cultures have a limited lifetime. This means processed yogurt and some store-bought yogurts may not have any live lactic cultures left by the time they are consume.
Fortunately, a clever man named Len Light not only came up with a way of creating fresh yogurt bursting full of billions and billions of cultures, he also made it as simple as making a cup of tea!
In three easy steps, with no electronics or mess, you can make perfect yogurt every time:
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Step 1. Half-fill the yogurt jar with cold drinking water. Thoroughly mix in the contents of the sachet. Top up with more cold water. Replace lid and re-shake. |
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Step 2. Push the baffle down inside the Yogurt Maker as far as it will go. Pour boiling water into the Yogurt Maker. |
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Step 3. Place jar inside and put the lid on. Leave a minimum of 8-12 hours or overnight until set. Then store the yogurt jar in the refrigerator (4°C). |
The real yogurt bases are made from the finest quality New Zealand milk powder, and come in a large range based on fat content plus specialty ones such as Greek, Organic and Probiotic Biolife.
The EasiYo Yogurt Maker’s are now available at Millies. If you have any questions just call in and ask one of us about the benefits of the EasiYo.
You may recognise the owner of the Saddleworth Cheese Company as the guy who played Martin Platt in Coronation Street, but Sean Wilson is now a well know name in the cheese world and an award winning producer of artisan cheese. The names of the cheeses, which are all hand-made in Saddleworth, Lancashire, using only Saddleworth milk, take their names from Lancashire sayings such as “how’s your father” and “mouth almighty”.
Suitable for vegetarians as only vegetarian rennet’s are used, the line up includes Lancashire crumbly (Muldoons Picnic), Lancashire Creamy (Hows yer father) , Lancashire Tasty (Mouth Almighty) and a specially formulated medium soft blue cheese (Smelly Apeth).
With awards including a British Cheese Award, Best Cheese in Show at Bakewell including Best Crumbly and Best Farmhouse Cheese, these cheeses are well worth sampling. You will find them in our deli counter at Millies along with a range of specialist cheeses, cooked meats such as ham, beef, chorizo and salami, olives and lots more.
Saving the planet can often be thought as expensive, boring and a selfless act. Fortunately Ecover have a different approach to environmental friendly shopping with their ingenious Ecover Refills. The concept is incredibly straight forward – instead of throwing away your plastic washing up bottle (which then takes hundreds of years to degrade) bring it into Millies and simply refill it. Not only is this even better than throwing it in the recycling bin, it also saves you money as you’re not paying for the packaging, shipping, etc. which is normally included in the final price. The environmental goodness doesn’t stop there; as Ecover can transport more products in fewer stinky lorries, you help save the Ozone!
We currently have refills available for:
Each can be used to fill your 500ml, 1 litre or 1.5 litre bottles.
Finally, we’ve found kids love calling with their folks to help refill, making shopping a bit more fun and teaching them recycling from an early age!
We’ve been featured in the Leeds Shopping Guide Autumn/Winter 2009 magazine, a free magazine available to pick up at various locations throughout the city. In a section dedicated to the local, independent stores, Geoff answered a few questions in an interview with them:
Why Leeds?
We felt the city would benefit from a shop much more similar to what’s available in the south where you can almost do your weekly shop in mid sized lifestyle stores. Leeds has a varied customer base, we feel we offer something for everyone.
What’s your advice for leading a more healthy lifestyle?
Don’t try to eat a limited range of foods just because that food group is a healthy option, buy better quality from sources you either know about or can find out about. Enjoy your diet, but keep it varied.
I was going to cook tonight (honest!), but then I saw our deli chef had cooked venison pie for ‘Meal of the Day’ and it looked just too good not to try! So I grabbed a couple of slices and some veg and brought it home. I know this may sound bias, but this really is one of the best pies I’ve ever had.
The venison is from our local supplier, Holme Farmed Venison in Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire. As described by Holme Farm, here’s why the pie tasted so good:
At Holme Farmed Venison we believe that quality is of the utmost importance. Our deer are reared naturally, grazing on grass pastures, guaranteeing a beautifully flavoured lean and tender red meat. One of the healthiest meats available, venison is low in cholesterol and fat and high in protein. It has recently been found to be a source of Omega 3 fatty acids, along with the immunity boosting zinc and selenium.
There’s still lots of pie left, so feel free to call in and grab some for your lunch!
I’ve been busy in the kitchen today baking lots of yummy treats for the people of Leeds! (left to right) All-Bran Loaf, Banana Cake, Chocolate Chip Flapjacks, Chocolate Brownies, Fruit Cake and Cherry Bakewell Cake.
Also at the back are our whole Large Christmas Cakes (3kg), Small Christmas Cakes and Banana Cake.
Call in for a slice and a coffee!
Mark Long will be in store a Millies on Saturday 31st October 2009, 12:00pm – 4:00pm to help you with any question you have with training and nutritional advice.
Mark has 7 years experience in helping people to reach their goals as a fully qualified YMCA AFI Level 3 Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist. He holds a Masters Diploma in Fitness Training and Sports Therapy and has also competed in the European Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open for Britain winning a bronze medal.
Our sports supplement department is located on the first floor, just call in and Mark will be happy to chat with you. There is no need to make an appointment and it’s totally free.
This is easily our favourite pudding. A “rich chocolate sponge topped with morish belgian chocolate sauce”. All I can say is it’s yummy, I love it!!
Served with Provamel Soya Custard Vanilla.
All available in store at Millies.
Lets say – hypothetically speaking of course – you have a late night out on the town with the girls and you then have to work 8am – 6pm the next day. The last thing you want to do when you get home is cook. Queue our deli chef Andy and his fantastic vegetable lasagne!
Available in store at the deli counter for lunch or tea!
Burt’s Bees is the latest natural personal care range at Millies. These truly natural products are wonderfully effective at cleansing and moisturizing your skin and hair, and minimize the environment impact. The products are carefully crafted from time-tested, proven recipes using ingredients that are the best nature has to offer: beeswax, botanical and essential oils, herbs, flowers and minerals. These safe, effective ingredients have withstood the test of time.
As the products are made from as many natural ingredients as possible, it makes sense that most of the packaging is created from recycled materials, or has been developed with recyclability and re-use in mind.
Burt’s Bees are just one of the body care ranges available at Millies, along with Dr. Hauschka, Elysambre, JASON and many more you will be able to find a natural product that is suitable for you. Please feel free to call in and speak to our staff about the benefits of these products.
