Thursday 23 June 2016

Weekly Pampering | Beauty Treats For Self Care

Weekly Pampering | Cruelty-Free & Vegan Beauty

I'm totally new to the idea of self care, but I do like to have something of a weekly pampering routine. If I've had a bad week, having some nice beauty treats to use is always a pick me up, so I wanted to share some recent cruelty-free and vegan favourites.

First up I've been using the very lovely Faith In Nature Intensive Conditioner*. Made with lavender, geranium, jojoba oil and (vegan favourite) avocado, it's very thick and smells very yummy. I usually have the old classic of greasy roots and dry ends so a generous squidge of this conditioner has really been helping to lend some moisture to my hair, and calm the frizziness that it loves to do in summer.

I only tend to wash my hair twice a week, and what I really like about this conditioner is that you can leave it on for longer as a hair mask. This way I don't have to remember to use an extra product and I'm still giving my hair a little TLC. I rinse it out after about five minutes, or as long as it takes to wash my face and exfoliate. The gorgeous lavender scent lingers afterwards and whether I'm using it as a regular conditioner or a mask, it leaves my hair feeling soft and smooth to touch.

After really liking Botanical's natural facial polish, I was very happy to try out the Mandarin & Chamomile Cleansing Melt* to add to my skincare routine. Like the facial polish, this cleanser is made without water so it's much like a solid balm that melts as you rub it in. The mandarin is a nice citrus scent and it's very gentle on the skin. It's always nice to take a few minutes at the end of the day to look after my skin and go to bed feeling refreshed.

To take it off I've been using the Botanicals Organic Muslin Cloth* which I've found is softer than my similar organic one from Pai, and still holds up in the washing machine. Lately I've had trouble with spots on my chin and the right side of my face, which I'd put to down to hormones. So I was delighted that using this cleanser and cloth duo has cleared them up. 


Barry M Gelly Summer Almond Review | Cruelty-Free & Vegan Beauty

Friday evenings are my favourite for catching up on Netflix and painting my nails. Barry M are always my go to for cruelty-free and vegan nail polish and I've been loving their Gelly Summer Almond shade. It's a pale lilac grey, or a perfect 'dirty grey', which is a colour I may have been obsessed with for a good few years. 

This is the only Gelly polish I own so I really want to try more from the range, even though I have far too many nail polishes already! I always use the clear top coat as well which helps the polish last up to a week (so long as I remember to wear rubber gloves to do the washing up).

Lastly is my Deep Steep sugar scrub, for weekly exfoliating. This scrub starts off quite coarse with large grains of sugar, so depending on how hard you rub you can get a really good scrub with it (exactly what you want if you've just got home from a festival). The sugar quickly melts in a warm shower, which then leaves a generous amount of argan oil to moisturise your skin. The lavender vanilla smell is subtle but lovely and I'm happy to use this scrub year round to get my skin nice and glowing come rain or shine.

Do you have any self care tips? What are your favourite beauty treats right now?

Gemima


Thursday 16 June 2016

Natural & Organic Perfume | Sinne Firenze

Sinne Firenze Cruelty-Free and Vegan Perfume

When it comes to the products I use the most, be it skincare, shower gel or otherwise, the winners are always the ones that smell good. So I wanted to introduce you to my latest favourite scents, Sinne Firenze's organic vegan perfume. I only have a few perfumes in my beauty collection, because as tempting as it is to try out all the cruelty-free offerings out there, I'd rather have some that I really love to rely on.

Wonderfully there are more vegan and natural brands starting up every year, but it seems that natural and organic perfume is still something of a rarity. Sinne Firenze are one of these, using Fairtrade essential oils to hand make their perfumes in Italy, and were kind enough to send me a couple from their range to try. 

Balance Me is a rich, woody scent, like pine mixed with aniseed. The smell speaks to me of a summer evening in nature, maybe sat outdoors with a good book to read. Delight Me is sweeter, a little lighter and my favourite of the two, featuring ylang ylang and citrus that reminds me of bubblegum. I love that each perfume is designed to create a certain mood, as smell is so easily associated with memories and feelings. The whole range is unisex too and my boyfriend is happy to wear them as well.

The scents do disappear quickly - after around an hour they've lost their strength so these are not long lasting perfumes. However I love that they come in little roll on bottles that I can keep in my handbag. This means I can reapply whenever I want to, and I really enjoy just taking a minute when I'm out to roll them on my wrists and enjoy the scent. It helps me to be a bit more mindful during a busy day and feel more grounded.

Have you tried any natural perfumes? Let me know your favourites.


Gemima

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