eco lifestyle

18 Tips for a Sustainable Lifestyle for Earth Day and Everyday!

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 3 Comments

Happy Earth Day! I pretend it’s ‘earth year’ and that it’s every year. 🤗

Ways to help our home:

💚Recycle

💚Buy things in easily recycled packaging

💚Repurpose things you’d normally throw away

💚Give things to charity

💚Shop from charity shops

💚Rescue bigger items from skips

💚Bring your own bags (even if you are reusing a plastic bag for life)

💚Use takeaways which don’t use plastic boxes or use them as draw dividers or planters (make holes for drainage).

💚Try to buy organic food and skincare

💚Grow your own veg

💚Plant wild flowers which insects and bees love

💚Cycle, walk or take public transport or buy an electric car

💚Buy locally grown produce (to reduce air miles/shipping)

💚Buy from your own country when shopping online (same reason)

💚Cut down on meat and dairy (to reduce CO2)

💚Replace fast fashion with sustainable fashion or buy things you know will last and you will wear for years to come.

💚Buy a metal water bottle as the plastic one’s de-laminate and go funky after a while anyway.

💚Use skincare and cleaning products which are as natural as possible.

Do you have any other ideas?

✨💙✨Chrissie✨💙✨

Wild Refillable Natural Deodorant

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I’ve decided to try Wild refillable natural deodorant. I didn’t sign up for a renewable, letterbox subscription but instead, bought a one-off package with the metal case (I chose the Aqua shade) and 5 refills.

I chose 2 limited edition Lemon Meringue (you will smell like desert for hours) refills and 3 Coconut ones.

The case is recyclable and the refills are compostable!

I’ve been using natural stick deodorant for around three years now so I’ve not needed time to adjust and it’s working really well!

One thing I struggled with (possibly because of Dyspraxia and Hypermobilty) was pressing in the little buttons at the side to change the refill. Easier to get my carer to that as you do need some strength and it’s a bit fiddly.

Would you make the swap to a refillable natural deodorant?

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

Vegan Hotdog Meal from Zad’s Manchester

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 3 Comments

When it’s not possible to pile on anymore topping 😁

My tea from Zad’s Vegan Takeaway

Hotdog – odd little pieces of red stir-fried onion, okaaay 😐 but loads of spicy BBQ seitan pieces (to bulk up the skinny sausage), mayo and jalapeños, which tasted lush as a whole but I really missed having a big pile of soft, brown onions

Curly fries – who doesn’t love a curly fry!

ZFC – spicy fried cauliflower, so much like popcorn chicken

Lemon sheese cake – Delicious

Overall really creative and tasty! 😋

✨🖤Chrissie🖤✨

The Hip Hop Chip Shop at The Carlton Club, Manchester

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The Hip-Hop Chip Shop has gone mobile! They are parked throughout February at The Carlton Club in Whalley Range, Manchester.

We decided to book on their pop-up website (which I now think is mostly booked up) to make it easier ordering food from their pop-up van. You can visit the van but you might have a bit of wait so (as they advise) wrap up warm!

This is the Vegangstarr Sausage Meal

Skin-on chips; Mushy Peas; Battered Sausage and Tartare Sauce; with a side of Battered pickled gherkins and a Chocolate Brownie by Lush Brownies (Chortlon) for desert.

They also have a battered halloumi meal if that’s more your deal.

The fact that people peel potatoes when making chips now amazes me. Battered gherkins have some real bite to them in texture and flavour. The inside of the sausage has a soft consistency like sweet potato pakora but it tastes exactly like a chippy sausage – whaat?! The choccy brownie is perfection.

FYI This is enough food to last me for my tea tonight and breakfast and dinner tomorrow.

✨✨🖤Chrissie🖤✨✨

Vegan and Cruelty free Winter Skincare Saviours

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 4 Comments

Hello lovely people! Between the wind, rain, cold and central heating it’s no wonder our skin can become sensitive, dehydrated and dry, or like mine, freak out and become oily and dry in different places.

Here are my winter skin saviours!

e.l.f. Holy Hydration Face Cream

A really light, easily absorbed daily moisturiser which can be layered with serums and balms. This moisturiser contains (plant based) Squalane to improve moisture balance and elasticity, Peptides to protect skin, B3 to brighten and even the complexion and Hyaluronic Acid to help the other ingredients sink deep into the skin.

UpCircle Organic Face Serum

This serum uses repurposed coffee extract, which is rich in antioxidants and rosehip and jojoba oils to brighten and care for dry, dehydrated skin. I apply this serum and before it sinks in completely I apply moisturiser, which helps the moisturiser to sink in easily. It does have a tiny tingly sensation at first but doesn’t make my skin flush or react.

Wild Tree Skincare Organic Body Scrub Melt

This has the most delicious chocolate scent! It also has the most amount of oil (cacao seed butter and Shea butter) and scrubby bits (cacao seed powder) in anything I’ve ever used before. It’s really easy to hold in your palm and one melt covered my whole body. I don’t think I’ll have dry skin again for the next year! Okay, a slight exaggeration there.

Lucky Cloud Soothing Super Balm

This balm contains Oat Oil, Evening Primrose Oil and Sweet Almond Oil to calm dry, sensitive, itchy skin. The Lavender and Geranium Oils also calm body and mind. It’s a little miracle in a pot!

Balade En Provence Solid Night Cream

I normally have very cold hands so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to use this but it melted into my palms straight away! Containing Cocoa Butter and Apricot Kernel Oil, this cream is both hydrating and moisturising, without clogging pours or creating an oil slick on your pillow.

Quite the dream team and all plant based!

Feel free to Like, comment (ask questions), follow and share.

✨🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤✨

My Hero Beauty Products of 2020

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These are the products I’ve been using and purchasing repeatedly over the past year. They have been perfect for balancing my combination-type skin and hair.

Skincare

Haircare

General

I hope you’ve found this helpful and, as always lovely people, leave any questions or comments.

Extra…

Over the next couple of months I’ll be reviewing more skincare and beauty (including tinted lip balms and super moisturising lipsticks), as well as self-care and pampering products. Keep an eye on my Insta for a heads up!

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

Independent Business #1 Love Absolute skincare

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This year I’m going to be doing a series of posts focussing on independent business, starting off the year with skincare.

Love Absolute was created by Holistic Therapist Sarah Bisset and specialises in botanically derived skincare. The brand is 100% cruelty free, vegan, organic and uses locally sourced ingredients, to support farmers, biodiversity and to cut down on carbon emissions.

I love their minimalist and recyclable packaging and it’s also good to know that their products are natural, fresh and free from unnecessary chemicals.

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

Eden Perfumes (cruelty free) Tester Boxes

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If you are someone who gets ‘Christmas money’ or likes to buy their self a prezzie, then Eden Perfumes (non animal tested, vegan) tester sets are a great way to help you find cruelty free replacements for your fave scents.

You search for the name or the type of scent (woody, fruity, citrus, oriental) you want to replace and choose three that you think are close matches (or just sound really lovely), then you receive those three (generous) handbag sized perfumes.

I’ve bought two sets and have found replacements for Beyoncé Heat, YSL Opium and Paco Reban 1 Million and I also chose two of Edens totally original scents which are gorgeous!

The ‘Zadams Family Pumpkin Spice’ Vegan Pizza from Zad’s, Manchester

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The Zadam’s Family Pumpkin Spice Pizza from Zad’s is THE best vegan pizza I have ever eaten!

Not too sweet (like a lot of vegan pizzas tend to be), but savoury, with just a little sweet spice. Perfect balance!

‘Pumpkin, squash and sweet potato puree base, with garlic drizzle, sage, thyme, crispy kale, cheese, red onion, roasted chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, apple chunks and diced walnut coated with cinnamon and dash of chilli flakes to warm your soul’.

The most Autumnal thing I’ve eaten this year!

🦇✨Chrissie✨🦇