vegan

Vegan and Cruelty free Winter Skincare Saviours

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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✨🖤✨

Bol Plant Based Dinner Boxes

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 2 Comments

Whilst shopping online at Tesco I stumbled across the Bol range of dinner boxes, which are plant based ready-meals in a cardboard tray (thankfully not plastic, which is a bit of a deal-breaker for me).

Fire Roasted Cauliflower-Tikka Masala

The Tika Masala wasn’t quite sweet enough and I had no idea where the ‘sweet pickled onions’ were!? I did really like the combination of ingredients though.

Caribbean Jerk, Rice and Peas

This tasted like it was homemade comfort food at its best.

Thai Panang Coconut Curry

I thought this contained too much lemongrass and citrus flavour and not enough coconut so I added two pinches of sugar. The butternut squash was cooked perfectly.

South Indian Spiced Chickpea Curry

Again, the flavour of citrus overwhelmed the other flavours, which I balanced by adding some sugar.

Overall

I noticed that every meal had a lot of ‘leafy greens’ in them, which I didn’t mind but it was rather repetitive.

I loved all of the chutneys and used them on the rice and greens. I don’t usually like quinoa but mixed with rice it tasted lovely.

I’d buy these again because they are a quick and simple way of getting vegetarian and dairy free, balanced meals for one, which I’d never be able to cook for my self.

Rating 4/5

✨🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤✨

Kawaii-Grunge Outfit

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I’m going to be 40 in 4 months so naturally I’m doing the adult thing and wearing this type of kawaii-goth style I used to wear all of the time in my early 20’s – early 30’s hehee!

Hot Pink Hoops – Claire’s

Hatsu Miku tee – EMP

Arm warmers – Forage Design

Leggings – EMP

Wedge trainers – Koi Footwear

🖤💖💙Chrissie💙💖🖤

Delicious Gluten-free Plant-based Mezze

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Toofoo (smokey version) coated in sesame oil and chilli oil and grilled so it tastes like roast chicken, which I’m dipping into Helmans vegan mayo.

PICKLES!

Batata Harra (lightly fried potatoes with red peppers, coriander, chili, and garlic).

Falafel (from a shop bought dry mix, then shallow fried) which I’m having hot with caramelised onion humus.

The falafel and tofu are easy to prepare and store in the fridge until you want to cook some. The potatoes are a simple and quick dish to cook fresh.

🖤✨Chrissie✨🖤

The Best of Vamp It Up 2020 – Style, Plant-based Food and Lockdown Lifestyle

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Even though this has been one of the weirdest years I’ve had, being in ‘lockdown’ isn’t that different from having chronic fatigue anyway really. Lots of telly watching, reading, putting outfits together for no particular reason, eating copious amounts of takeaway and going out to have a quick drink, when I’m able.

Leave your questions or comments below and I will consult my foggy (but sometimes, strangely encyclopaedic) brain to reply to them lol

🖤✨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!

December in Photo’s

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Christmas fleece – Cotton Traders

Joggers – Hunkermoller

Ugg/Emu style boots – Dorothy Perkins

Making the most of the dark afternoons by making the living room feel all cozy.

Lots of natural skincare and lifestyle goodies in this Freedm Street advent calendar (items available to buy individually from heir online shop).

Making ‘special coffees’ by adding Baileys or Sailor Jerries Spiced Rum and throwing in pieces of salted caramel or hazelnut caramel choccy.

Jumper – Shein

Joggers – Cotton Traders

Bizarrely, for someone who has disabling arachnophobia when I see one, this was one of my favourite books as a child. It’s magical and a little creepy!

Little reindeer I found at the back of a cupboard!

Sparkly chocolate vegan brownie from Zad’s takeaway.

Dad decorated the whole downstairs in under 15 minutes. Secret festive ninja!

I’ve been watching His Dark Materials on BBC iPlayer and I am so impressed with this adaptation. Especially my favourite bad-ass actress, Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter.

I’ve developed quite a obsession with cute cartoon penguins so I was really happy to get this card from my Dad ^_^

Tee – Next

Christmas fleece – Cotton Traders

Joggers – Cotton Traders

At the Blokes flat we have our 22inch Christmas tree. I swear, after Christmas this is being packed away exactly as it is now – it was so fiddly to decorate!

Like most people in he UK we don’t have candy canes but we do have gelatine-free sweets!

This wonderful wreath gives me serious Narnia vibes. Unfortunately where we live, neither of us can put wreathes on our front door as they would get nicked and given to someone’s Mam or Missus.

MOOEY CHRISTMAS YOU LOVELY LOT

🎄✨Chrissie✨🎄

My Fave Dairy – free Chocolate & Gelatine – free Sweets!

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Biona Fruit Bears – Full of natural fruit flavour, these are even liked by my friends and family who don’t usually like sweets. Organic. Gluten free.

Tribe Nature Bombs Chocolate, Caramel and Almond Butter – Caramel and Almond Butter mixed together and covered in chocolate. These are so more-ish, the two pack isn’t enough so treat yourself and get a bag.

Love Raw Peanut Butter Cups – These lasted all of two minutes nom! Vegan.

Candy Kittens Eton Mess – These creamy, chewy sweets taste exactly like the dessert. Quick, take them away from me, before I go through the whole bag. Palm oil free.

Bouja-Bouja Truffle Selection No1 – I actually prefer the purple selection as these chocolates were almost too rich in flavour for me, especially the champagne and espresso but I loved the rum and cherry cognac flavours. Best to keep these cool or they become sickly, quickly. Organic. Vegan.

Rhythm 108 Hazelnut and Praline – This small Swedish brand makes bars that are the most like traditional chocolate bars – delicious. Gluten free. Organic. Vegan.

Pulsing High Fibre Brownie – Although it’s called a brownie, it isn’t squishy in the middle. It does have nice big chunks of choccy and it is very substantial. It did give me a good start to the day, energy-wise.

So lovely people, do you want me to review more choccy, sweets or both?

🎄✨Chrissie✨🎄