Hey Sweeties,
I don’t know about you, but I am definitely more of a shower person, than I am a bath person… although I do love a hot bubble bath! When I give myself the time to run a bath, I make sure I use products that will enable me to properly relax and enjoy the experience, such as essential oils (like these). However, when it comes to showers it’s not always so easy to find products that enable that luxury experience.
I recently received the Youth Fresh Emulsion* from the Drops of Youth range to try out and review from The Body Shop. The only product from this range I had tried previously was the Youth Liquid Peel, and having got on well with it, I was intrigued to try more from the range, which aims to tackle the first signs of ageing.
When I first saw the product and read the word, ‘emulsion’ I was ready to dismiss it as just another product to unnecessarily add into my skincare routine, that probably does the same job as something else already on my bathroom shelf. In addition, I really dislike products whose title makes me question what I am actually supposed to do with it, ‘emulsion’ being one of them.
With an infusion of thyme and buddleia extracts and broad spectrum coverage using UVA and UVB filters, we’ve created an effective but ultra-light daily emulsion to help protect against pollution and enhance skin’s youthful appearance. This protective formula hydrates your skin and can be used as your daily moisturiser or in addition to it. First lines and signs of tired skin appear reduced, while pores and skin texture look refined.
I have to hand it to The Body Shop, I do not think I am yet to receive or purchase a product from them that I dislike the packaging. The Drops of Youth, Youth Fresh Emulsion comes in an attractive green glass bottle with a good pump attached to it for distributing product; it looks great on its own and it looks great sat on my bathroom shelf. I also like that you can see the product inside so you won’t get caught out when it’s empty.
Despite my comments earlier about not being all that keen on the word, ‘emulsion’ I liked this Youth Fresh Emulsion product pretty much from the first use. The instructions state to apply 1-2 pumps onto fingertips and massage onto your face every morning, which I have found easy to incorporate alongside my existing skincare, and I love the ultra-lightweight formula.
At the moment I’ve got to be honest, I have great skin –redness in the morning and the odd breakout, sure, but on the whole right now I do feel my skin looks good. The fact that I keep getting asked for ID every time I try and buy a bottle of wine at my local ASDA when I’m wearing little to no makeup, is probably testament to the youthful element of these products and amen to that, ha!
Have you guys tried any of the Drops of Youth range from The Body Shop?
Until next time x
Like any lifestyle or diet, the more effortless it can be the better and ultimately for me, this is achieved when I know that everything in my house for my consumption, is totally vegan. As you know I subscribe to a monthly beauty box from Look Fantastic (see February’s box here), and I often subscribe to the occasional other beauty box as and when an interesting one gets released.
But now my attention has been drawn to wanting to discover vegan food brands, particularly for treats as I’m not really someone that snacks during the day, but I like something sweet to finish a meal. So in the same way I discover new beauty brands, I am now looking into monthly subscription boxes for vegan products.
I just happened to be on Twitter last month when I saw The Vegan Kind tweet announcing that within the next five minutes they were going to be releasing the remaining stock of their latest Mystery Box at half price. Of course I jumped at this and after a few refreshes of their website, I manged to secure myself one for the bargain price of £8.15 including delivery. So what arrived in the box?
Ten Acre Cheese & Onion Crisps – I have heard so much about this brand and this particular flavour of crisps they produce (by hand) so finding them inside my box was brilliant! Since going (90%) vegan in my everyday life, I have had to sacrifice cheese and to be honest this is one of the main products I am seeking a great vegan alternative to.
That aside, cheese and onion crisps are my favourite and you would never know these ones from Ten Acre aren’t the real thing. They taste incredible! While I am not a big crisps eater, these are now firmly on my radar & I’ll be looking to get them stocked in my kitchen for when I get that crisps craving.
Yushoi Snapea Rice Sticks, Lightly Salted – The best way to describe these, or rather, the closest thing I can compare them to are Wotsits, mostly for their texture. While I didn’t go wild for them, they made for a perfectly decent snack and I wouldn’t say no to having them again.
Provamel Rice-Coconut – One of the things that I can tell has made the most difference to me since switching to a more plant-based lifestyle, is taking out cow’s milk. On its own I never liked the taste of milk so I only had it on cereal and in my coffee. While I still don’t drink any of my plant milks straight from the cup, and to be honest they look pretty rank in my coffee (let me know if you know what I mean), they still taste so much better and look much cleaner to consume. This drink from Provamel has a very watery consistency but blends into porridge and/or smoothies easily, I’m sure it’s gorgeous to drink too.
Nakd, Christmas pud – If you’re a fan of nakd bars, this Christmas flavour is a welcome addition. Personally, I don’t think it particularly tastes of Christmas and is thus not my favourite but it might well be yours so give it a go if you get a chance.
Taste Magic BBQ Dust – I haven’t actually tried this product yet but I am waiting for the opportunity too, maybe when I next have some friends over? According to its description, it can be added to anything so I might try it in a (quorn) chilli or spaghetti bolognaise maybe??
White Rabbit Scotland Tea Tree & Mint Toner – Admittedly, I haven’t got around to trying this out either yet as I have a few other toners on the go at the moment, most notably the new Drops of Light range from The Body Shop. However, I always have a bottle of the tea tree toner from The Body Shop in my bathroom cabinet which I get on well with, so I am sure this one from White Rabbit Scotland will be similar. Toners are one of those products that divides the beauty industry, some people love them, others hate. I for one actually like them as a step in my skincare routine and thus am likely to always welcome new ones to try.
Harper’s Candle, Jingle Bells – I was delighted to find this product in my box as I love candles (who doesn’t) and ones made from soya burn much cleaner. This is a cracking little candle and although small, burns slowly so it hasn’t disappeared within an evening. I had a look on the Harper’s website and I’m delighted to see this candle retails at £8 so very affordable and definitely on my list when I’m next due to replenish my candle stock.
So overall, a very pleasing box and well worth the money, even if I had paid full price for it I would feel like I got a lot of good products out of it. Now I just need to decide if I am going to commit to a subscription, hmmm!
What do you guys think?
Until next time x
Hey Sweeties,
So firstly I want to apologise for not posting my Veganuary update last week, but I was so overwhelmed with wedding stress that I ended up not posting at all, like anything. So today I have combined weeks 2 and 3 together; a product and an experience (kind of).
As you’re reading this (depending on the time of day), I’m in London to meet Ella Woodward at her book signing for her new book,Deliciously Ella Every Day. You’ll remember my post last year where I reviewed Ella’s first book, along with Madeline Shaw’s Get The Glow and Davina McCall’s 5 Weeks to Sugar-Free. I have become a huge fan of Ella Woodward and delighted at her recent success so as you can appreciate, I am very excited about meeting her today.
At the beginning of the month as I was heading back to the car in town, I was dressed in gym gear carrying a Holland & Barrett bag in one hand, and in the other my new favourite toy, my brand new Spiralizer; I was literally a walking January cliché!
I’m going to cut straight to it (excuse the pun), but believe the hype; Spiralizers are Amazing! I am obsessed and I don’t use that word lightly. I’m not going to lie though, the first time I got it out its box, while you think it’s obvious how to use, I don’t think it is so I had to quickly jump on YouTube to find a how-to video. Yes, really. But there are so many online that I can’t be the only one that got flummoxed by something so simple looking. That all being said, once you’ve worked out which end to attach to what, you can create a meal in minutes and it’s honestly the best thing probably since sliced bread, probably. Buy one!
Now for my experience.
Yesterday I got properly stuck in Waitrose trying to find something for lunch that wasn’t something really boring (i.e. a very plain salad), overpriced or totally not suitable for vegans. Earlier in the week I visited Tesco and again, while finding something wasn’t instantly easy, I ended up with a bowl of simple mixed leaves and a small tub of falafel with humus which combined together was delicious. I tried to create the same at Waitrose only to find their falafel contained milk and egg!! –why on God’s earth do they make them with dairy products included? Absolutely no need. I ended up with this Itsu Vegetable Festival Crystal Noodle Cup which from my basic understanding of ingredients, is vegan friendly and was actually really nice and not expensive.
Call me crazy, but I like that I can’t just buy anything in a supermarket anymore, I enjoy the challenge of finding something suitable which often requires me to be more creative with my options. It also requires me to be 100% more conscious with what I am putting in my body and where it has come from. But I think supermarkets need to think so much more about providing enough fast lunch options for those with specific dietary needs, but don’t rack up the cost because it’s ‘specialist’. If you look along the shelves now, their superfood salads despite not seeming that much value for money, are always topped with cheese or contain meat. Even if you’re not vegan, not everybody likes everything included with cheese. That being said, some of the top supermarkets are making the effort to publish lists of the vegan friendly products that they stock so it’s worth taking a look at their websites before you shop.
Until next time x
Hey Sweeties,
As you know, I’ve been on a journey to eating a more plant-based diet for I’d say a little under a year now, gradually finding healthier/vegan alternatives to the food and treats I enjoy in my daily life and making those adjustments and replacements accordingly.
In my New Year post, I mentioned that in re of the above, I will be participating in Veganuary –a challenge to go 100% vegan for a month, and while I want to keep you updated with progress, I thought it would be fun to do a weekly post on a Friday highlighting a new recipe, ingredient or even a new restaurant I have discovered and/or particularly been loving in the past week.
My discovery this week is overnight oats.
Overnight oats are no secret, the internet is filled with a million recipes and pretty much anything goes. I decided to give them a go this week because at work, while there is often a carton of almond milk in the fridge, I can’t rely on this, particularly during Veganuary.
I thought I would try overnight oats as this way I can guarantee myself a healthy vegan breakfast. Essentially, overnight oats is porridge made cold the night before and left in the fridge overnight to soak and thicken. As I said, the internet is filled with tons of recipes but this is how I have been enjoying them:
I mix all the ingredients together and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I add a dollop of almond butter and a handful of blueberries. Typically this is eaten cold but if I am honest, I like to zap my overnight oats in the microwave for 30 seconds or so just to heat it up a little.
The trend also it seems is to decant portions into mason jars so they are easy to transport on the go, personally this isn’t for me particularly as I like to heat mine a little so I just use a Sistema Microwave Porridge Bowl.
I think it’s important to note that while you can change your diet and lifestyle overnight, I personally am finding it easier to make these changes gradually. This is partly down to living with a partner and even though I feel I can make the switch easily, my lifestyle choices does impact him too which I need to be considerate of.
It also takes time to find those food alternatives and educate yourself properly to ensure you’re nourishing your body correctly.
Have any of you tried overnight oats?
Until next time x