holiday Archives - Kind Culture

New Year, Better Me

General, InspirationDecember 30, 2017March 18, 2018

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are well! ☺

As my last post of the year, I thought it only makes sense to talk about this year and the new year.

New Year, Better Me 🎆✨

Every year my social media is full of people that either use the phrase ‘New Year, New Me’ or complain about the phrase. In all honesty, the phrase does bother me at times, one because we (obviously) remain the same person, it’s the feeling behind the phrase that bothers me the most. Though the phrase is meant to be positive, it seems to carry a heavy feeling with it, most of which seems like it’s full of self-loathing rather than wanting to improve – I’m not sure if I’m the only person that feels this way, you may disagree with me and that’s okay.

I think it’s about time that we show more love for ourselves and embrace who we are, any improvements that we’d like to make for ourselves should be practical and always make sure that self-love is at the centre of whatever we do in 2018.

Goodbye 2017 & Hello 2018.

On a personal level, 2017 has been full of lessons, and blessings and I cannot wait to grow and develop more as a person in 2018. This year Kind Culture hit new milestones, and I have many ideas that I am eager to share with you all in the next couple of months. 2017 has been a good year for the blog I’ve met so many fabulous fellow bloggers, collaborated with brands and companies, I’m confident that 2018 will be another amazing year and that I’ll be able to take my blog to new heights. I hope you all have just as much success in whatever aspect you need to grow in – so here’s to a New Year and a better me! ☺ ✨

Happy New Years in advanced from me, I hope you all have a fun and safe time.

Lots of love from Sonam x

(P.S. Click on the image below to read my latest review on a great journal to help start your year off with posivity and productivity!)

10 Vegan Indian Restaurants in London

General, LondonOctober 19, 2017May 23, 2020

Hello everyone!

Happy Diwali & Bandi Chhor Diwas to you all. 🎆🎇✨

One of my favourite things about celebrating Diwali has always been the amazing food and of course spending time with my family.

It’s interesting because India is known as having one of the largest vegetarian populations in the world, as there are such a diverse natural ingredients that are easily available across the nation. And yet, ironically, here in Britian the most famous Indian dishes are non-vegetarian. Each Indian sub-culture has a unique and distinct style of cooking each with their own specialities and of course there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options – from street food, thalis and main dishes!

There are many Indian restaurants here in London, unfortunately they are not exclusively vegan, but they do cater to vegans. So here’s a list of vegan Indian restaurants in London to help you all celebrate Diwali the vegan way. 😉

10 Vegan Indian Restaurants in London 🍛🇮🇳🇬🇧

1 | Woodlands Restaurants Ⓥ – Are a vegetarian restaurant that mainly serve South Indian dishes, as well as some diverse pan-Indian vegetarian dishes. They cater to vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and Jain (no onion or garlic) diets and have restaurants in Marylebone, Piccadilly, and Hampstead.

2 | Rani Restaurant Ⓥ – Are an authentic vegetarian Gujrati restaurant that cater to vegans and have clearly marked their menu to show dishes that contain dairy, sugar, peanuts, wheat, onions and garlic. Rani Restaurant are based in Finchley.

3 | Dishoom – Although this Bombay Café is not exclusively vegetarian, they have a vegan menu, gluten-free and diary free menu, serving Bombay style cuisine as well as some famous regional dishes from India. Dishoom is has restaurants in Kensington, Shoreditch, King’s Cross, Carnaby and Covent Garden.

4 | Sakonis Ⓥ – Are an exclusively vegetarian restaurant specialising in vegetarian dishes from across India with loads of vegan and gluten-free options on their menus. They currently have two restaurants in Wembley and Hatch End.

5 | Sagar Ⓥ – Specialise in cooking traditional South Indian vegetarian food and label which dishes are suitable for vegans and which foods are onion & garlic free on all of their menu’s. Sagar have branches in Covent Garden, Hammersmith, West End and Harrow.

6 | Shayona Ⓥ – Are an authentic all-round Indian vegetarian restaurant based in Neasden. It’s not clear from their website, but I’m sure that they are able to make adjustments for vegans.

7 | Rangrez – Offer Punjabi cuisine, although they are not a vegetarian restaurant, they offer dishes suitable for vegetarians, vegans and customers requiring gluten-free diet. Rangrez have restaurants in both Hammersmith and Ealing.

8 | Kricket – Combine British ingredients with Indian spices to create a modern blend. Kricket is based in Soho, they aren’t exclusively vegetarian or vegan, but they do make adjustments for vegetarians and vegans. On their menu they make it clear which foods are vegetarian and gluten-free.

9 | Jashan Ⓥ – Are a vegetarian restaurant based in Wembley, that specialise in South Indian cuisine. Their food does not contain meat or eggs and you can ask about having diary-free dishes to make it vegan.

10 | Rasa – Inspired by the traditional cuisine of Northern Kerela, Rasa has two restaurants, one of which serves only vegetarian food (in Stoke Newington) and one that serves meat dishes (in Mayfair).

I hope you all enjoyed my ’10 Vegan Indian Restaurants in London’ post. ☺

Cruelty-free Halloween makeup

Beauty, General, MakeupOctober 8, 2017July 8, 2018

Hello everyone,

How are you all?

It’s October so it can only mean one thing – Halloween! 🎃👻

Growing up I used to love Halloween, I guess I’ve outgrown the most of the excitement for it, but seeing all these cruelty-free Halloween makeup collections have definitely got me feeling festive! Some of the things that I still love about Halloween are the Halloween films and all the insanely creative makeup ideas that makeup artists post on instagram – it puts my winged liner skills to shame.

From Makeup Revolution’s amazing collection, NYX’s metallic liquid lipsticks to Barry M’s body glitter there are plenty of looks that you can create with the right kind of makeup, so scroll down and check out my guide to cruelty-free Halloween makeup. ☺

(All of these Halloween makeup products are under £10 each!)

Eyes 👀

1 | Makeup Revolution Midnight Unicorn Palette – £6 – Has 16 eyeshadow shades with a mix of smoky night time shimmer shades as well more bold shimmer shades to create a variety of colourful looks from unicorns, mermaids or even a sugar skull look.

2 | Makeup Revolution Dark Reign Palette – £6 – Has 16 eyeshadow shades, 8 shimmer shades and 8 matte shades to create an intense evil queen look.

3 | Ardell Fright Dragon Lady Halloween Fake Lashes – £5.99 – These extra thick double layered lashes will make a statement in any costume – click on the link to check out the other lashes from Ardell’s Halloween collection.

4 | Sleek Makeup i-Art Precision Liquid Eye Colour – £6.99 – The metallic liquid eye colour is available in 12 shades with a tapered precision tip to create a variety of looks, including the perfect cut crease and is waterproof!

5 | Eylure Enchanted Lashes Mermaids are cool – £5.95 – The thick wispy lashes are perfact to get a dreamy mermaid look or any other look really, they’re quite versatile!

6 | NYX Professional Makeup Vivid Brights Eyeliner – £5.50 – Give your eye makeup a bright pop with the highly pigmented Vivid Brights Liners – they’re available in 9 shades and can be used to pull off any kind of look you’re going for.

Face 💆🏽‍♀️👩🏽

1 | Barry M Fine Glitter Dust Gold Iridescent – £4.59 – Is perfect to use all over; on the eyes, cheeks, lips and even body, you know if you’re really planning to commit to being a unicorn or a glitter ball haha. There are 6 shades of glitter to play around with and have fun with.

2 | Barry M Glitter Rush Body Glitter Snow Globe – £4.59 – Comes in two different shades, Snow Globe and Desert Bronze.

3 | Makeup Revolution Halloween Ghost White Foundation Whitener – £3.00 – Can be used to build coverage to create a ghostly, skeleton or even a zombie look.

4 | Makeup Revolution Halloween Special Effects Spectre Palette – £6.00 – The Spectre SFX palette has 8 highly pigmented face paint shades with everything you need to create cuts, scars, bruises, decay and much more.

5 | Makeup Revolution Ghost Sculpt – £4.00 – You can use this duo powder set to create some bold contour looks. You can even get a Makeup Revolution Ghost Face Powder on it’s own if you’re not planning on contouring.

6 | Makeup Revolution Ghost Lights Highlighter – £3.00 – And of course no contour will be complete without a little highlighter!

7 | Lottie London Mermaid Glow – £5.95 – The rainbow highlighter is perfect to add a colourful glow to your unicorn and mermaid looks.

Lips 💄💋

1 | Makeup Revolution Vamp Matte Collection – £6.00 – This collection has lipstick shades that you can wear all year round; Beyond Vamp – deep berry red, Give them Darkness – bold dark grey and Ultra Vamp – deep dark purple.

2 | NYX Cosmic Metals Lip Cream – £7.00 – This new lip cream range by NYX is exclusive to Boots and comes in 20 metallic shades, so there are plenty of colours to be creative with!

Hair 💇🏽‍♀️

1 | Pixie Lott Paint Wash Out Hair Colour Sorbet – £5.99 – Pixie Lott’s Hair colour collection is so gorgeous and comes in six pastel colours.

2 | Pixie Lott Paint Wash Out Hair Colouring Pen Pack of 4 – £5.99 – The hair colouring pen pack are great to use for a semi-permanent look that you can wash away.

3 | Superdrug Spray Hair Chalk Purple – £2.59 – Can instantly spray on the hair chalk if you don’t have enough time to use hair dye or hair pens. The hair chalk comes in 5 colours.

Nails 💅🏽

1 | Girls With Attitude False Nails – £3.99-£5.50 – There are plenty of cruelty-free false nails to choose from to complete your halloween looks, from dark berry vamp style nails to holographic and metallic nails.

Extra ✨

Of course no Halloween look is complete without some gory scars and blood

1 | Makeup Revolution Halloween SFX Scar Liquid Latex – £2.00 – Create your own scars, cuts, warts, burns with this SFX Liquid Latex.

2 | Makeup Revolution Halloween SFX Realistic Fake Blood – £2.00 – Can be used on its own or paired with the SFX Scar Liquid Latex to create realistic (and gory) cuts, scars and burns.

I hope you all liked my post on Cruelty-free Halloween makeup – don’t forget to share this post! ☺♥

Himalaya Herbals Neem Scrub + Wash Review

Beauty, General, Reviews, SkincareFebruary 2, 2017June 14, 2020

Today I wanted to share another Neem post with you all, since I know that you all love my posts on Ayurveda.

What is Ayurveda?

For those of you that are new to my blog (welcome!), you can check out my previous Ayurvedic posts by clicking on the images below:

To quickly define what Ayurveda is; it is a traditional medical science that was created by the Vedas in India which covers a broad spectrum of health and well being (from beauty to yoga and so on). Today the remedies that are provided by Ayurveda are well established in the field of beauty and alternative medicine, in fact, a lot of the foundations of modern-day mindfulness and holistic lifestyles are influenced by Ayurveda. Those of you that have been following my blog will be more than aware of my love of Ayurvedic Beauty products and how passionate I am to show you all brands that are both cruelty free and well established in the field of Ayurveda.

Are Himalaya Herbals cruelty free?

Himalaya Herbals are a cruelty free brand based in India that are committed to creating natural herbal products based on the ancient traditions of Ayurveda. The company create a variety of products from haircare, beauty, bath and body products to toiletries – they even have a baby care range.

To check the cruelty free status of Himalaya Herbals you can check by typing out ‘Organique by Himalaya’ on the Leaping Bunny product search by Cruelty free International. You can also check the back of the Himalaya Herbals products for the No Animal Testing/Cruelty Free logo.

Purifying Neem Scrub Review

The Purifying Neem Scrub is made with a blend of Neem as well as Apricot which has quite a cool and gentle touch to it. The Apricot is used to scrub away blackheads and dead skin while the Neem is used for its natural anti-bacterial properties, leaving the skin clean and smooth. When using the scrub I noticed that the little scrub granules are not at all harsh on the skin, so it generally works well for someone that has quite soft skin.

Purifying Neem Face Wash Review

The Neem Face Wash is a gel that’s made using Neem & Tumeric and I must say it was surprisingly gentle on my skin, considering how strong both the main ingredients can be (also, it looks like Flubber to me haha). The Tumeric works to naturally control acne and pimple outbreaks and again the Neem is used for its natural anti-bacterial properties. After using the face wash the skin is left with a natural glow and the skin stays quite soft during the day.

Overall, both products work well for my sensitive skin, but I would recommend those with extremely sensitive skin to consult a dermatologist before trying Neem products. Whenever I use these products, I end up using them together – but you can use them individually.

Good news for all of my readers based in U.K, most of the Himalaya Herbals range is available to buy at Beauty Base. The Purifying Neem Scrub costs £2.59 and the Purifying Neem Face Wash costs £2.99 at Beauty Base.

I hope you all enjoyed my Himalaya Herbals Neem Scrub + Wash review.

Don’t forget to comment, share & follow.

– Sonam x

Click here to read more skincare reviews.

christmas dinner flat lay - Kind Culture review

Where to get a Vegan Christmas dinner in London

General, LondonDecember 8, 2016May 23, 2020

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all well! I’ve been so busy with Christmas planning, so this post will be a quick one for you guys!

As Christmas is approaching and everyone is busy getting prepared for the holidays I thought it would be great to put together a list of the best places to get a proper vegan christmas dinner in London. Since being vegan doesn’t exactly fit in with most of the traditional Christmas foods, I thought it made sense to help you guys find the perfect vegan Christmas dinner, so here are 10 places to help you with your Christmas cravings…

Where to get a vegan Christmas dinner in London:

1 | Pret-a-mangers – Okay so it’s not technically a Vegan Christmas dinner, but it is a Vegan Christmas themed baguette, plus you can pretty much find a Pret-a-manger’s almost everywhere across Central London. So it’s not exactly dinner, but I guess that’s your Christmas style lunch sorted.

2 | Amico Bio – An Italian restaurant, close to Barbican Station, that offers a range of vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options. Right now they have a Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner set menu with plenty of options for you all to choose from that will be served throughout December.

3 | Manna – Is a well established 100% vegan restaurant based in Primrose Hill. They currently have a menu exclusively for Christmas with plenty of traditional options that will only be available up until Christmas day, so you better start making reservations fast!

4 | Tibits – A vegan and vegetarian restaurant chain that was initally based in Switzerland and now have a restaurant in Central London (off of Regent Street). Right now they have a special Winter Menu as well as a special Christmas package available.

5 | Mildreds – Based in Soho, Camden and Kings Cross, Mildreds is a vegan and vegetarian restaurant that prides itself in making internationally inspired cuisine. Their Christmas menu has a bit of a twist on the traditional Christmas dinner and is available across all three of the sites in London.

6 | The Gate – Is a vegatarian restaurant chain influenced by French and Italian cuisine based across Central London, with a site in Islington, Hammersmith and Marylebone. It took a little while to find their Christmas menu, at first I wasn’t sure if they had one, but I managed to find it! They also have a Sunday Roast section on their regular menu.

7 | 222 Veggie Vegan – This particular restaurant is based in Kensington and if you can’t already tell from the name it’s a vegan and vegetarian restaurant. There doesn’t seem to be a Christmas special on the website, so I’m not sure whether there is one going or not, but there does seem to be a Vegan Roast option on their menu.

8 | Farmacy – Based in Notting Hill, Farmacy has a range of vegan and vegetarian dishes inspired from world cuisine for you to choose from. The Christmas menu has options for those of you that are vegan, vegetarian, eat gluten-free and even have nut-free options.

9 | Carnevale – If you don’t feel like having the traditional Christmas dinner then you can try the Mediterranean vegetarian and vegan food at Carnevale , near the Barbican Centre. Again I’m not sure if they have a christmas menu, but they have plenty of vegan options.

10 | NAMA Foods – Is a vegan restaurant based in Notting Hill that specialises in making raw vegan dishes. For Christmas they currently have a luxury 5 set menu.

Let me know if you guys liked this post on where to get a vegan christmas dinner in London! ☺