Agave Bun

Do you have products that you love and no matter how many innovations and "miracle" ingredients the skincare market comes up with, for you they remain a gold standard and a permanent resident in your stash? Today I wanted to share my all time favourites.

How much quinoa do I need to cook? That is the question because it will expand during cooking. Quinoa comes as little grains so it is easy to over-estimate (and I will raise up my hand to admit I do this every single time). Quinoa is an amazing superfood, packing the highest amount of protein per gram (including all essential amino acids), plus fibre, calcium, omega-3, magnesium, vitamin E etc. Similarly, brussels sprout pack a hefty amount of fibre, Vitamins K and C, folate, protein, iron and other micronutrients. I guess I am very lucky to have a natural love towards brussels sprout and I do not have to force myself to eat all that goodness.

This vegan, simple and nutritious meal is one of my favourites and I find it is amazing after a workout. It can also double as a terrific lunch for the next day after your leftovers will soak up all the flavours. It is very quick and easy to make and if you do not have all ingredients on hand, just substitute! The possibilities are endless!

 During winter even my oily skin needs a little extra TLC. When people talk about dehydrated skin it gives an impression that skin needs extra water. That is not the case, the skin needs oil. Natural skin lubricator, sebum, is an oily substance secreted by sebaceous (oil) glands to keep our skin protected against harmful environmental stress. You may have noticed that moisturiser absorbs faster than face oil however oil is better at nourishing the skin at a much deeper layer. With these principles in mind for over a year I have been mixing my moisturiser and face oil as part of my mourning routine.

I love subscription boxes and I feel very recently there has been a boom of subscription box companies - or maybe I just come across them more often. Some of the most popular UK boxes are not natural nor carry exclusively cruelty-free brands.

I have been following The Natural Beauty Box on Instagram for a while and thought the new subscription service box ticks a lot of my requirements - natural, cruelty-free, good "power of bargain". I have been tempted by the account's lovely photos and finally decided to take a plunge.



The Natural Beauty Box promises to send 4-6 skincare and beauty products using both well-established and small artisan brands. Each box costs £24.95 (including P&P) and new subscribers can get 10% off the 1st box by subscribing to the newsletter. There is also a small discount if you purchase 3 or 6 month subscription. 50p from each box will go to a charity with a different charity being supported each month (I am not sure which charity was supported with January boxes). The products with parabens, SLS and harsh ingredients will be avoided. All products have been tried and tested by the head of the company herself so the customers are getting only the most highly recommended and loved items.

Disclaimer first - this was a free sample I have picked up on Naturisimo website. In order to get it, I had to purchase something, for which I had paid with my own money.

I love samples! Mainly because I love trying different things but also because they allow you to try a product without having to splurge out for a full version which you might not like. Unfortunately, there are no shops with extensive green beauty stock and availability of samples where I live hence I rely on online retailers to obtain my samples. Naturisimo is one of my favourites because they have regular '10-15% off' promotions and a good variety of samples. Unfortunately not everything on their website can be sampled which would have been especially useful for makeup when you really do need to try foundation before you pay £30 for a bottle which might be of wrong shade. From time to time some of their samples become free hence I picked up this moisturiser when shopping for something else. RRP is £38 for 50ml.

I have used Madara before and I have generally liked everything I have tried from them. Madara is a Latvian brand which uses natural and organic ingredients in their products. One of the biggest selling points is that they do not use water, instead, they use birch water (or sap) which is native to the Baltic regions. Birch sap is full of nature elements, such as potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus, as well as amino acids. It is great for drinking but I have not seen another skincare company which uses birch water. Water as the main ingredient is one of my pet peeves - a lot of the natural and 'green' beauty products are pricey hence I feel like they could maximise the benefit of their products if something more nourishing is used instead of water, such as aloe vera. Using birch water to me feels like taking the ingredients game a step higher!