Review: Sobriety Alcohol-Free Drinks

Last week I was sent some sample bottles of Sobriety’s alcohol-free drinks by the Sensible Drinks co. Supposedly created for people who like the taste of alcohol but dislike the hangover, or those attempting to reduce their alcohol intake by replacing it with a placebo, the concept behind these beverages is very logical. The two original flavours are Juniper & Tonic and Rosé inspired drinks, so I’ll give a comprehensive review of these. With a few of my housemates, I tested these drinks and so this review is based on both their and my opinions.

Juniper & Tonic

Smell: I would basically advise you not to smell this drink. Bleach, cleaning fluid and chemicals were all words that flew around the room as we smelt it. Perhaps it’s the ingredients in the drink that lend to the unpleasant smell but whatever it is, it isn’t good.

Aesthetic: For this drink, the glass bottle shape is good. It’s easy to get away with believing this could potentially be an alcoholic mixer.

Taste: Unfortunately, the taste was dreadful. I felt slightly sick after trying the bizarre flavour which tasted very, very different from a gin and tonic. Some of the most descriptive comments that came out were ‘this tastes like medicine, but bad medicine’, ‘I would drink this if I were paid to’ and ‘ew’. Sadly, as much as I appreciate the idea, this drink needs tweaking.

Rosé

Smell: This smelt very sweet, almost like a strawberry sugar drink. It wasn’t as unpleasant as the Juniper & Tonic drink but it still wasn’t as appealing as I feel it could have been.

Aesthetic: In the same bottle as the Juniper & Tonic, it seemed like the wrong look for a fake wine drink. I think if I was trying to use these drinks as a means to get over alcoholism or a similar problem the look of the Rosé beverage would be severely disappointing. Part of what I would expect from the concept of these drinks is looking the part and unfortunately, this drink looked wrong.

Taste: Though better than the Juniper & Tonic drink, we still couldn’t get on board with this drink. It was too sickly, synthetic and sweet. It wasn’t drinkable, nice or realistic so overall it was severely disappointing.

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Overall, these drinks were disappointing. The concept is a good one but the taste is so far from being realistic or drinkable. The fact that none of my friends, who are all poor university students consuming cheap drinks all the time, wouldn’t drink these speaks volumes. I appreciate the idea but the product is far from being decent enough to be used as an alcohol substitute.

Review: The Body Shop’s Himalayan Charcoal Glow Mask

The O2 Priority Moments app recently offered up free face masks from The Body Shop so I grabbed one to review. I really like products from The Body Shop but feel they’re quite expensive so a free sample was very handy.

Smell: I actually really liked the smell of this facemask. It’s smokey but fresh and has quite a strong smell but it’s very pleasant and not overpowering.

Texture: This facemask had quite a lumpy texture; it is filled with little leaf pieces and other bits and pieces which give it a rough texture. It’s a grey mixture and feels really nice when it’s applied to your face, almost minty in the way it was cool against the skin which was a really refreshing feature.

Aftermath: After removing it (in circular motions as directed) my skin felt very fresh and silky and still feels gorgeously smooth hours later. Follow with a moisturiser for the best results.

Overall experience: I really liked this facemask. It was fun to apply and felt refreshing on my skin. I’m prone to being very sensitive to creams and lotions but this didn’t react badly on my face which was fab.

Ratings

–Recommendation: 8/10. I enjoyed it but might have preferred something slightly smoother.

–Results: 9/10. My skin was silky, soft and felt lovely.