cruelty-free

Pure Natural Box Edition 7 - March 2017 | Review

10:07


Subscription boxes are great! Too often the same brands and products get the spotlight (due to good PR and/or good quality). You can argue that good products do not need advertisement because they speak for themselves but the reality of the green beauty world is that a vast amount of excellent products can be left unnoticed. It is not time or money efficient to try every Etsy store so subscription boxes can come in handy because they can introduce you to the artisan brands which have been hand picked and trialled.

I had my eyes on Pure Natural Box for a while now. I was a bit hesitant with December 2016 edition, however, I was too intrigued with the latest edition I could not miss it!

Body

Om She Aromatherapy - Miracle Body Oil | Review

01:19

Ah, my favourite lie I like to tell myself is "I am only popping to TK Maxx to have a look". And I know when I am telling this to myself I will leave with at least a new candle (or more like 60 quid lighter and with 2 bags of shopping). I do love browsing their skincare section because you might be able to pick up a few bargains (such as Organic Surge are always are cheaper than RRP) or come across brands which otherwise are hard to find in UK (such as my beloved Deep Steep) or just explore the brands you have never heard of (such as this one I am about to write the review).

cruelty-free

The Vegan London Nom-Nom Travels

20:57


You can have a mixed opinion about London but one thing you cannot deny - there is plenty of choice. And that is fantastic when it comes to eating out as a vegan. You might be lucky to have a completely veggie/vegan cafe or restaurant in you city but for a lot of vegans eating out can still be a struggle. If your friend group is not entirely veggie, you can feel isolated with your salad and chips (thank heavens for these safe options available at almost every dinning) while others are tucking into their far more exciting looking dishes. Do not get me even started on the dessert! After a few trips like this you would definitely start to dream of a local veggie cafe where staff can confidently advice according to your dietary requirements and do not confuse gluten free with vegan (these are not synonyms!).

For me, travelling to a new city always involves exploring what local vegan cuisine has to offer. In fact, most of the time going for a vegan snack is first on my to-do list (priorities, right?). My saviour is The Happy Cow mobile phone app (free version available) which allows you to search your area for vegan, veggie, veggie-friendly and health stores. The app also has the opening times, the price category, address, external links and sometimes reviews and photos from previous visitors. While the information is abundant, I would definitely advice you to check the official source (Facebook or website) of any particular place you are going to because I have been caught out with places being closed for vacation and moving to an alternative place.

Body

Latest in Beauty Box January 2017 | Review

19:33


I love bargains. That's it, now you know it too. Nothing beats a good deal, a great way of saving those pennies. As a cheap person I seldom buy something for the full price, it needs to be something truly necessary in order for me not to wait for a 10% or 'buy one get one something' or 'free gift with this purchase'. I like feeling I am getting something a bit extra for my money and, let's be honest, sales are pretty frequent in the world of online shopping so it's not like you are waiting for that one day in the year!


cruelty-free

BRUU Subscription Box Review | Review

20:34


What can you give to a person who does not want anything? I am talking about my dad because my default option for mum for be some sort of skincare. He asked for a bottle of whiskey but since I am opposing both alcohol and smoking this option was not on the list. And then it struck me - a subscription box! I love tea and my parents usually like something more exciting than plain black so getting a tea subscription box would allow them to try out some new flavours. After a quick search I have settled on BRUU. They have a number of gift box options but I wanted a monthly delivery option rather than a one-off box so I went with £10/month plan + free P&P (1st box was half price with code BRUU). Each month you get 3 different flavours which should make around 40 cups of tea. You can personalise the selection to black, green, white, herbal, fruit, oolong, chai and rooibos tea. The subscription can be cancelled and paused by emailing the customer service.

cruelty-free

The Vegan Kind #38 December 2016 Box and more | Review

00:15


The Vegan Kind is a Scottish company founded in 2013 with the aim to alleviate all the tedious time spent looking at food labels during shopping. TVK is one of the most famous vegan subscription boxes out there which offers both the monthly food box and the quarterly beauty box. The food (or "lifestyle" as they call it) box is priced £13.15 (£10 for the box and £3.15 for delivery) and £18.15 for beauty box (£15.00 for the box and £3.15 for delivery). These prices may increase in the short future following an Instagram post on TVK page that they may be changing from Royal Mail to a courier service due to customer complaints of boxes not arriving.

cruelty-free

Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

23:06


That's it, you heard me right. This vegan cheesecake is a new level of yummieness that I have managed to make myself (and this means anyone can make it too). I am far from being an amazing baker, in fact I had quite a few bad batches when I was attempting to make a vegan pumpkin pie. However I do very much love cheesecake and miss the convenience of being able to pick a whole big tub for £2. There are frozen versions but they do not have as rich flavour and raw cheesecakes are expensive and often too indulgent (and flipping tiny!).

Aromatherapy Associates

Almost empties - a review of Juice Beauty, Aromatherapy Associates and Yours Truly Organics | Review

22:55


Have you ever used a product for so long it made you think "why have I not run out of it yet?". A realist would suggest this questioning could be because I am not enjoying them as much as I did, which could be true - I have a quick attention span and I like to change up things from time to time otherwise I get bored. The downside of constantly rotating skincare is that most products need consistent use to show their benefits. In addition, I usually just about can finish up a bottle before it's "use before" date. Now, say it takes you 4 month to use a moisturiser. That is fine because most green beauty products are good to be used within 6-12 months since opening. Now imagine you have 4 open bottles of moisturiser and some are need to be used within 6 months of opening. This puts pressure to either use up the one with the shortest use by period or face the fact that after a while you will be using moisturisers which have lost their freshness and maybe even went bad. Apart from wasting product and money and causing some breakouts (ain't nobody got time for that!), this situation is just heart breaking! In addition, this takes up extra storage room in your bathroom. I do not mind having a stash of various unopened bottles and jars tucked away in a box but doing this to my opened products risks of completely forgetting to use them. Of course, it is different if you are using same type of products which are doing different things. For example, I have a number of opened face masks at any one point because I usually have an acid peel mask, a clay based mask, a scrub and a couple of masks from Niod. But I don't see the point of having more than one open hyaluronic acid serum because they will be doing the same thing. You get me?

Bodhi & Birch

Review: Bodhi and Birch Neroli Luce Revitalising and Desert Rose Rejuvenating Face Oils

23:25

I swear this is not intentional but I am going to review deluxe aromatherapy orientated products for the 3rd time in the row (solid basis for a conspiracy theory 🙊 ). Bodhi and Birch is England based brand with the vision of bringing Western and Eastern wellbeing philosophies. They are cruelty-free however their skincare range Rosa Rosa contains milk derivatives. If you have ever smelt Bodhi & Birch products you will know each bottle has unique intricate aroma, although I would not say I like every single scent. Each eco-luxury filled bottle comes with a high price tag but as discussed in my previous post this reflects the price of good quality essential oils.

Aromatherapy Associates

Review: Aromatherapy Associates Facial Oil and Bath & Shower Oil

22:57

I came across this brand while browsing on Naturisimo and very plain minimalistic packaging caught my eye. Rather peculiar for a plain packaging to stand out however in the myriad of pretty looking lotions and potions simplicity is unique. One would even go further to suggest that if a brand does not invest into making the packaging eye-pleasing they must be confident in the performance of their products!



Bloom Remedies

Review: Bloom Remedies Daily Detox Face Moisturiser

00:39

Last summer I came across the small company called Bloom Remedies whose products are handmade in Cornwall. The range includes natural facial and body skincare, as well as aromatherapy. The entire range organic and completely cruelty free (yay!). In addition, the containers are made from recycled material and the packaging usually does not contain plastic. It always rubs me the wrong way when goodies arrive through post packaged in layers of unnecessary plastic so this is definitely a brownie point!


30 ml sample

cruelty-free

Hello...

19:14

First post in my blog so it makes sense to say hello :)

I wanted to start this blog to share my enthusiasm for safe, natural and cruelty-free products. I found that a lot of blogs / vlogs are being maintained by folks from overseas and tend to include a significant proportion of products which are hard / expensive to source in UK. Hence I wanted to tackle this issue for all my fellow green beauty enthusiasts who live at this side of the pond!

I am planning to write about various products I have tried and I am thinking of having different themes too! I hope I got you intrigued enough to carry on reading my blog :)

Annie


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