vegan beauty

The Body Shop, Shea Butter Richly Replenishing Conditioner

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Made from Community Trade Shea Butter from Ghana Shea Butter Richly Replenishing Conditioner (£6.50, 250ml) promises to leave hair nourished, less prone to breakage and less frizzy.

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I have thick, coarse shoulder length hair which is excellent condition but looses it’s natural oils easily, even after using very gentle, natural shampoo.

I like the mild nutty scent and how creamy this conditioner is. My hair was left feeling incredibly soft and replenished. It was still a little frizzy but then I would never expect conditioner alone to sort this out. I always need to add hair oil after lightly towel drying my hair, no matter what conditioner I use.

The only problem for me is the size and the price, it’s either too small or too expensive. I can appreciate that the people who produce this in Ghana need a fair wage but maybe The Body Shop could take a little less profit? I don’t know but what I do know is that it’s too dear for me to use regularly with my thick long hair, even though a little does go a long way.

Rating 4/5

❤Chrissie❤

 

Yaoh – Organic Hemp Seed Oil Shampoo & Conditioner

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Yaoh Organic Hemp Seed Oil Shampoo – Coconut and Lime (£5.99 240ml)

Contains extracts of rosemary, lavender and chamomile and is free from sodium lauryl sulphate and other harsh chemicals. The lime and coconut scent reminds me of a delicious holiday cocktail. I have tried shampoos in the past (most of the generic brands from big companies) that have left my hair feeling like tangled straw. I’ve tried shampoos that are a lot more gentle but didn’t really do the job. Yaoh shampoo removed a huge amount excess grease, dirt and product build-up but didn’t strip my hair of it’s natural oils. Sometimes I co-wash (meaning just washing with conditioner to gently refresh hair and re-define it’s shape) but I honestly could have sham-washed with this shampoo, it’s that gentle and nourishing.

Rating 5/5

Yaoh Organic Hemp Seed Oil Conditioner – Summer Breeze (£5.99 240ml)

I have to get this out of the way first; both me and my bloke hated the scent of this so I only used it on the back of my hair for the purpose of reviewing it and then my usual conditioner on the rest.

Rating 2/5 (only for that scent though)

Overall

My hair has never been so soft ever before, not even as a child. It’s like I have a totally new (and much calmer) hair type that just falls into shiny loose spirals – wow!

For 33% off all bath products Nov-Dec use code SHAM33

❤Chrissie❤

Ciate Minis – Gelology Collection – Paradise Lost

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 4 Comments

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I have way too many nail polishes so I’m only buying ones from now on that are very versatile or have something special about them.

Paradise Lost is a beautiful rose gold colour with copper tones and incredibly fine sparkle, which has a matte texture.

 

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Ciate Gelology range incorporates their most popular shades but this time in a highlight pigmented gel finish that bonds to the nail better and bends with the nail for longer wear. This glided on easily and two thin coats gave this amazing depth of colour. I do have very weak bendy nails and it hasn’t cracked or flaked at all!

I’m going to be wearing this through October and the party season. It will also look stunning with a tan in Summer.

❤Chrissie❤

Norvelle 4 Faces Facial Tanning Spray & Body Buff Exfoliating Ph Balancing Mitt

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Norvelle are British brand who serious about tanning, they are even used on Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars. They offer a comprehensive range of products depending on how dark you want to go and how you prefer to apply your product. They are BUAV (leaping bunny) approved to not test on animals.

4 Faces Facial Tanning Spray (£9.99 2floz)

The Science Bit

Time Release Micro Capsules bind moisture within the skin, for 24hr hydration.
Natural Enzymes repair weak, dehydrated skin.
Unique Dermal Barrier locks DHA within the top layer of skin, priming it for Longer Lasting, Deeper, Sunless Results.
Advanced DHA Odor Encapsulation molecules ‘trap’ and virtually eliminate common sunless odor.
Non-Comedogenic Facial Quality Formula designed for delicate facial skin and will not clog pores.
Just of the Beach Color™ patented blend of DHA and bronzers found only in Norvell Professional products.

Application of Facial Spray

It’s suggested that you spray this facial tan onto a beauty blender to apply it. The first one absorbed most of it and then it ran straight off the second one. Clearly, I need to up my beauty blender game! So instead, I prepped my face with some rich moisturiser and sprayed this straight onto my skin and blended with my fingers and palms. The spray is very uneven and does not come out like a mist. The nozzle is incredibly hard to press down (and not just with my hypermobile fingers, my friend struggled too) so some work is definitely required either way you apply this. I’m going for the mouse if I ever buy this myself.

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Please excuse the shadows on the left of my face, this was the most true light, rather than blanching me out in glaring sunshine.

Result! (Yes, I am actually shouting that out loud)

Spray tan usually makes my skin so dry and it settles in all of my expression lines but my skin remained hydrated, even through the next day. When my skin was wet I patted it dry with a white towel and the tan didn’t transfer. Well, that’s a first! I have been wearing darker coloured tops incase it rubs off around my neckline though. I had a very faint freshly painted smell but that faded quickly. I’m still waiting for it to go patchy five days later but it’s not budging. I’ve just exfoliated (because my skin needed it, not the tan) and even now I’m still tanned and glowing!

I have a realistic colour that works wonderfully with my natural skin tone and I wonder if this is because I diluted the colour a little with my moisturiser. I can imagine you could go really quite dark with a few layers of just this product, even though there are much darker one’s available in the range.

Pre Sunless Body Buff Exmitt Exfoliating Ph Balancing Mitt (£5.99)

The Science Bit

Boosts Amino Acid Levels on the skin surface, which works directly with the active sunless ingredient, DHA, to produce maximum color results.
pH Balancing Skin Primer balances out skin surface prior to tanning to minimize orange look for that natural just off the beach™ color.
Hydrates skin for even and maximum absorption of sunless solution.
Advanced DHA Odor Encapsulation molecules ‘trap’ and virtually eliminate common sunless odor.
Time Release Micro Capsules bind moisture within the skin.
Unique Dermal Barrier locks in DHA.

Application

Even though this mitt is really big it’s soft and easy to use. I didn’t realise it comes with a lot of moisture, so much that I dripped it everywhere taking it out of the foil – oops! It moved along my limbs fine but didn’t feel very exfoliating. There was enough moisture left to be able to reuse it, so I put it into a zip lock bag for next time.

Result

My legs felt moisturised and a little smoother and the tan glided on really well. I was worried about the colour payoff because my legs were actually wet from the mitt before applying the tan. I was left with subtle, natural looking colour as if I’d been running errands, during a week of sunny weather, rather than on holiday or outside gardening all day. A huge bonus for me was that there was no freshly painted smell at all! My skin stayed moisturised, with no patchiness, colour change or spray tan scent and those really are the most important things for me. Low maintenance and a believable result.

❤Chrissie❤

 

This product was gifted to me.

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Zoya Nail Polish in Rocky

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Cruelty free and vegan with no formaldehyde, toluene, dibuytl phthalate or camphor. I’ve used this polish in a hurry without a base coat and, unlike a lot of polishes it has not made my nails dry or brittle. With a base and top coat this polish has lasts up to four days even though my nails are oddly flexible, meaning polish is prone to cracking and breaking up but Zoya lasts.

Rocky is an opaque turquoise. It reminds me of 1950’s electric guitars and retro Smeg kitchenware but a tiny bit more toward the greener side of turquoise, which adds depth and saturation to the colour.

❤Chrissie❤

Your Tea – Tea Face Healing Hydrating Tea Scrub

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 3 Comments

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Your Tea is a company which sells all kinds of tea, tea accessories and tea based beauty gifts. Tea Face Healing and Hydrating scrub ($24.95) is said to assist with a radiant complexion, healing scars, addressing uneven skin tone and drawing out impurities. It contains all natural ingredients including Rosehip Oil, Patchouli Oil, Jojoba Oil, Ylang Ylang, Cold Presed Coconut Oil.

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I thought this scrub would be messier to use than it actually was but the tea granules stuck together quite well as I scrubbed my skin in circular motions. I leaned back to chill out for 15 minutes to let the oils soak in before removing with a damp flannel and rinsing my face with tepid water. I was impressed with how effective the exfoliation of this scrub was as it left my skin feeling really smooth. It also looking radiant and a lot calmer than before. Some scrubs leave my skin a little red or flushed but Tea Face actually calmed down the redness that I had across my nose and cheeks.

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I decided not to use any moisturiser straight afterward as I loved my skin the way it was! I really like the packaging as it’s easily recyclable and I’m going to re-use the glass jar as I think it’s lovely. It’s important to keep the scrub in the fridge once it’s opened, which keeps it fresh and really adds to how refreshing it feels.

Rating ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

❤Chrissie❤

The Vegan Kind (quarterly) Beauty Box

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 8 Comments

The Vegan Kind Beauty Box

I’ve subscribed to The Vegan Kind beauty box (£15 + £3.50 p&p) because it’s quarterly. That’s just enough time for me to use the products and not have then mount up, making every available space look like a beauty apothecary counter. Not that that’s entirely a bad thing.

The vegan Kind Beauty Box products

I really like that the box comes with an information sheet which describes each product in detail, and three codes for money off, encouraging you to buy from those very ethical brands in the future.

Twa Birds Woodland Rose Epsom Salts Bath Soak (RRP £2.00)

This has such a beautiful, comforting yet uplifting rose scent and the petals look really pretty in the water. My aching joints and back really appreciated this addition to my bath.

PHB Anti-aging Eye Gel, Argan & Rock Rose (RRP 16.95) handmade with 15% of profits going to charity

With active ingredients of Argan oil, seaweed, Rock rose, Lavender, this eye gel this eye gel is incredibly effective. I’ve been keeping it in the fridge for extra cooling and apply it every morning as soon as I get up. After an hour my bags are looking a lot less apparent and have decreased by around a third of there original size.

Fairypants Lemon Drizzle Lip Scrub (RRP £3.99)

This is delicious…I mean rather effective! Because I cheat and eat food I’m intolerant to once (twice) a week my lips freak out and get really dry and rough. This scrub helps to refine the texture of them and leaves them feeling moisturised for around three hours after, no mean feet, believe me. Oh and the little pot is utterly adorable!

Grounded Coconut and Lime Hair Mask (RRP £12.50)

This smells like the fruitiest cocktail you have ever ordered. Due to my sensory issues I somehow miss-judged the feel of how oily this mask is and put way too much of it all over my hair. I had to shampoo twice to get it out and my hair went greasy again the next day. However, a little bit used on mid lengths or ends will be incredibly effective and it will last much longer than I first thought. I’m so glad I’ve found this product!

Alva Natural Cosmetics Green Equinox Sparkling Harmony Mineral Powder (RRP £7.50)

Overall this looks gold to me. Different shades of gold in different lights, sometimes with a pale green tinge but I wouldn’t describe it as completely green. It glides on easily, is blendable, and highly pigmented although it doesn’t show up when confronted with a very bright camera flash but thats expected with most mineral make up.

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All of these products add up to £42.94 so getting this box at £18.50 (including p&p) rather than buying them individually is a huge saving of £24.44! All of the products here would suit a wide range of people as non are specifically aimed at a certain skin or hair type and the eyeshadow is universally flattering for all skin tones. This is another thing I really love about this subscription box.

20p from each box goes to Dr Hadwen Trust, the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity who fund and promote the development of techniques to replace the use of animals in biomedical research.

This box was a back issue from Summer but you can buy the new 2017 Vegan Kind Beauty Box here.

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Twitter:

@TheVeganKind @PHBbeauty @alvaCOSMETICS @fairypantsuk @groundedscrub @TwaBirdsSoaps @DrHadwenTrust

❤Chrissie❤

Lavera Organic Self Tanning Cream for the Face

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 4 Comments

I get a wonderful tan really easily because of my golden skin tone but my body forgot to give my face the memo! My face always looks sallow in comparison and needs some extra help so I bought Lavera (Organic) Self Tanning Cream for the Face £10.90 for 50ml.

 

Lavera self tan for face

The tan contains macadamia oil to moisturise which means you get an even streak free tan which lasts. This creates a subtle tan which can be increased with more light applications leaving each one to dry in between. I’m choosing to show you the results on the underside of my forearms (still rather pale), rather than my face which had too many shadows. The natural daylight has been virtually non-existed the last three days!

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This is after one application and as you can see the effect is quite subtle but there are no streaks and it’s a very natural colour.

Pros

  • Moisturising
  • Natural Tone
  • Organic
  • Vegan

Cons

  • Quite expensive for the amount you get
  • Tanning effect is almost too subtle

Rating ❤ ❤ ❤

❤ Chrissie ❤

 

 

Holy Lama Naturals ‘Hair Boon’ Review

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 1 Comment

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I received this Holy Lama Naturals hair boon travel set (£10) in my last Souk Souk beauty box and I’ve only just got around to reviewing it for some reason (I’m so sorry the picture is slightly out of focus – I didn’t realise until I viewed it on my laptop screen and I’d used the products by then – lesson learned). Holy Lama is an all women enterprise and supports women from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is also Vegan Society approved.

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Yogi Soap

I love how this came with it’s own bamboo leaf soap dish – gorgeous touch. This soap has a beautiful fresh flowery scent, it foams up well and leaves skin feeling soft and hydrated. I felt this was too scented to use on any sensitive areas which includes my face but it’s a great hand soap.

Rating 4/5

Shampoo

Aaargh! Now as you’ll know by now I have very coarse high-maintenance hair – granted but this shampoo turned it into a mass of matted straw. I was actually scared I’d have to take the scissors to it! I can only recommend this for people with greasy hair or roots in conjunction with the moisturising conditioner.

Rating 0/5

Conditioner

I used the whole tub of this luxuriously creamy conditioner, I had to to combat the effects of the shampoo! It worked magic though and left my hair feeling soft and manageable. I was very impressed and relieved.

Rating 5/5

Hair Oil

I adore this stuff! I used a little of this before shampooing (I realise now I should have used more) and I applied some to towel dried hair after conditioning. It worked like a mild gel and calmed my hair, added shine and gentle hold. My curls stayed defined after they had dried and had natural movement to them.

Rating 5/5

Personally I’d recommend buying the products individually unless you are going on holiday, in which case this handwoven basket of mini products might come in really handy.

Overall rating 3.5/5

Have you heard of Holy Lama products before?

Chrissie xx

Neil’s Yard Remedies Samples

/ Vamp It Up Mcr (Chrissie) / 2 Comments

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I poped into NYR to pick up some digestive supplements (a little post on this coming up shortly) and I was kindly given some samples.

 Beauty Sleep Concentrate

This cream has a medium – thick consistency and kept my skin moisturised until morning. Unfortunately it was a little to rich and clogged up several of my pores so I won’t be using it again. I’d recommend this for people with drier skin than myself.

White Tea Tonning Eye Gel

I woke up this morning, bags under my eyes, then I applied this, and to my surprise, they were gone, gone, gone. This had a rather runny consistency than I’m used to with eye gel and I found  storing it in the fridge added to it’s soothing quality. After an hour – apart from the crease that’s always there – my bags had disappeared!

White Tea Enriching Facial Mask

I was expecting the mask to set a lot quicker, in fact it didn’t ever really set 100% I washed the mask off after 15 minutes and unlike every other face mask I’ve used it hadn’t dried out my skin. My face felt so soft and incredibly moisturised. I’ll use a very thin layer next time as I like masks that set as I feel they dray more impurities out of my pores.

Rejuvenating Frankincense Refining Cleanser

This cleanser refreshed my skin, removed all traces of my foundation and was calming my skin looked tone looked a more even and less red.

Frankincence Hydrating Cream

I love this moisturiser! It’s a medium consistency and sinks in quickly. It kept my combination skin moisturised all day and evening. It wasn’t until around 8.00pm that my skin looked a little shiny. This cream has a lovely scent (as all of these products don’t) and was a perfect base for my medium coverage makeup.

Chrissie xx