I recently signed up to the Littlewoods fashion blog partner program. Unfortunately there were a few problems sorting out my product and it didn’t work out. Luckily Very.co.uk – which sells the same stuff under a different name (and with added Fearne Cotton) – swooped in to be my knight in shining armour and offered to send me an outfit instead.

True to their word, stuff arrived a couple of days later, so thank you Very for sorting me out.

The dress they chose for me is unfortunately not really my kind of thing. It’s a semi-fitted A-line shape, which makes me look like a barrel. As you can see in the left pic, I’m not too impressed! I added a belt to cinch it in a bit, but it still does very little for my shape and would be better on someone with smaller hips.

That said, the frills on the top are surprisingly pretty and flattering for a bigger bust. Reading the customer reviews on the site, it seems to be a hit with women who’re bigger up top. I found I liked the neckline much more when I pulled it down to an off-the-shoulder shape.

The dress is well made and fully-lined, and its now in the sale for only £12, making it quite a bargain.

Print-wise, snakeskin is not really something I’d wear normally, and I think a better bet would be the plain coloured version of the same shape with a tie belt for £49, which is part of Holly Willoughby’s collection for Very.

More successful were the accessories they picked out for me.

The bag, which I love, is by Dune and is now £22. It’s satin with a hard frame, a detatchable snake chain strap and a hard diamante bow. It’s much prettier in real life than it looks in the pictures. I carried it on New Year’s Eve, and it was big enough to hold all the essentials. There are even matching shoes.

While we’re on the subject, the shoes Very sent me are from the So Fabulous collection aimed at larger women, thus they’re wide fit. I’ll review them in more detail on Big Girls Browse shortly, but to sum up, they’re comfortable, they’re timeless, they’ll go with most outfits, but they’re a bit too wide for my size 6 feet!

When the kind folks at Electric Shopping offered to send me one of the newfangled hair removal products to try, I couldn’t really say no. As far as I’m concerned, hair removal is up there with ironing and washing up in the list of things I hate doing the most so anything that might stop me having to do it so often is a winner in my book.

The no!no! is a gadget that uses ‘Thermicon’ technology to remove hair. Basically, it’s the no-laser home alternative to laser hair removal, using only heat to zap hairs in a similar way, disrupting the follicle to stop them coming back. It claims to reduce growth up to 64%, and is also pain-free. Sounds good, but it comes at a price - £139.99 to be precise, plus you may need replacement hot blades.

The product itself looks like a small epilator (I was sent the pink but it also comes in black and blue) and comes with all kinds of extras, including a DVD to show you how to use it. Sounds intense, but getting the hang of it does take some time so it’s worth watching. Once you do get confidence, it lives up to it’s pain free promise, and it’s pretty quick too… it takes slightly longer than shaving, but less than epilating.

So how does it work? First you choose the right element (one for longer hair or one for stubble), slot it in and turn it on. Then you hold the no!no! at a 90 degree angle to the skin, and move it along at a steady pace. A light will tell you if you’re moving at the right speed. It doesn’t hurt even if you mess up, you just might feel a tiny bit of heat if you go too slow. What is unnerving though is the smell. This product is essentially burning hair, so you won’t be surprised to hear that using it fills the room with the smell of, um, burning hair. That takes a bit of getting used to and it is a big con (the guide suggests burning scented candles as you use it – not a bad idea).

Between using the no!no! on each area, you then pause to use the buffer (think very fine sandpaper) to buff the treated area. This removes bits of burnt hair and dry skin and any bits that have been missed. It reminds me a bit of using the silkymit (anyone remember that?) without the intense burning pain an hour later. This new-wave buffer is very fine and soft, but it does the job.

The makers of no!no! are very clear on the fact it may not remove all the hair at first, and you have to make a commitment to use it a few times a week minimum at first to see real results. This was a slight problem given the fact I was reviewing the product in the middle of Summer when I had my legs out all the time, but you can shave in between uses if need be (it’ll just slow down the process of reducing hair growth). As I’m fair-haired naturally, the hairs on my legs aren’t that noticeable anyway so it wasn’t too much of an issue, but worth bearing in mind if you’re darker. If you’re thinking of investing, this time of year is the time to give this a go, as you’ll be in tights or trousers most of the time so a bit of regrowth / missed sections as you get used to using it won’t be on show!

So the big question is…did I see results? Yes, I did, though I have some way to go. This is a long-term solution and there are no quick miracle results, so I’ll probably check in to this review in a few months to update. As of now, the hairs on my legs take longer to grow back and are finer when they do, and I think that will continue. I like that the no!no! is pain-free and easy to use, and it doesn’t make much noise either so I can use it while watching TV or listening to music. There’s no mess and it’s small and easy to store away – all good plus points. The main downsides are the smell, and the fact that it is expensive, but it’s actually not much pricier than a good epilator and is definitely a better option. Overall, I give it the thumbs up, and I hope in time they can reduce the cost so more people can give it a go!

* no!no! Hair Removal System, £139.99 at Electric Shopping