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Isla Apothecary Skin Balm Review

Bath & Body, General, Reviews, Skincare

For me, this month has been all about striking a balance between getting all of my work done and taking care of myself. How has the first month of 2019 been going for you?

Today is the third and last part of my mini Isla Apothecary review series. Scroll down to read my review on the Isla Apothecary Skin Balm!

Are Isla Apothecary cruelty free?

This London-based brand makes everything with care using only natural, ethically sourced, and where possible organic ingredients.

Formulated without animal-derived ingredients, parabens, phthalates, synthetic materials, preservatives or aromachemicals, all ingredients and products are free from animal testing, and are suitable for vegans.

The Isla Apothecary philosophy is to package products according to what is essential to their integrity, to reduce waste at the source and to encourage re-use and recycling, using recyclable boxes and 100% biodegradable void-filling chips made from renewable sources.

Isla Apothecary Skin Balm

The Skin Balm is a luxurious and versatile treatment formulated to offer extremely effective anti-oxidant protection against damaging radicals to restore balance and moisture, reduce inflammation, accommodate cell turnover and strengthen the skin’s protective barrier.

Made with a careful curation of pure, cold-pressed fruit, nut and plant oils naturally abundant in potent essential fatty acids and vitamins vital to skin health. The Skin Balm is a lightweight, grease-less balm used to cleanse, moisturise or prime the skin. The Skin Balm is suitable for all skin types and costs £35.00 for 60ml.

Review

One thing that I noticed was that the jar is much smaller than the others, but it’s safe to say that I definitely underestimated how much product I would need to use.

The Skin Balm doesn’t really have much of smell, but that didn’t really bother me too much. What I really loved it the smooth, buttery texture of the balm, the texture reminds me of ghee. As I mentioned before, I underestimated how much I would need to use on my skin, I’ve been using a pea-sized amount of the balm on my face and haven’t needed to use any more than that.

Most of the time I had used the product on my skin where I had dry patches because of the cold weather and it worked like a charm. The balm spreads quickly and settles into the skin in minutes, leaving a nice shine to it without feeling greasy. After a while, my skin looks and feels smooth – I love it!

Overall, I felt that all the Isla Apothecary products have been high-quality and have become a part of my daily skincare routine. I would definitely recommend the brand to anyone that’s looking for organic skincare, and wants products that are versatile and easy to use. Thank you to the Isla Apothecary team for sending me the set.

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

 

–  Sonam xx

Click here to buy the Isla Apothecary Skin Balm

P.S: If you haven’t already, check out my first Isla Apothecary review. 

Isla Apothecary Skin Purifying Mud

Isla Apothecary Skin Purifying Mud Review

Beauty, General, London, Reviews, Skincare

Today is the first part of my mini Isla Apothecary review series. This is one of three reviews that I will be doing for this brand (so far). So scroll on down to read my review on the Isla Apothecary Skin Purifying Mud! ☺

Are Isla Apothecary cruelty free?

This London-based brand ensures that everything is handmade with care using only natural, ethically-sourced, and where possible organic ingredients.

Formulated without animal-derived ingredients, parabens, phthalates, synthetic materials, preservatives or aromachemicals, all ingredients and products are free from animal testing, and are suitable for vegans.

The Isla Apothecary philosophy is to package products according to what is essential to their integrity, to reduce waste at the source and to encourage re-use and recycling, using recyclable boxes and 100% biodegradable void-filling chips made from renewable sources.

Isla Apothecary Skin Purifying Mud

The Skin Purifying Mud is a multi-tasking facial mask and gentle exfoliant, to deeply cleanse, purify and balance your skin.

A refreshing, circulation and collagen boosting treatment for the skin, the mud synergises anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and skin toning ingredients such as raspberry leaf, yarrow, rosehips, with compounds from lemon balm and orris root to absorb excess oil and impurities, and to penetrate the deeper layers of the skin for deeper cleansing and greater protection against everyday skin stressors. It will also help to remove the last traces of your cleanser, which will contain environmental build-up and make-up. With a potent, natural source of salicylic acid from white willow bark that effectively treats infected skin, the mud mask is especially beneficial for acne-prone skin.

Simply mix the powder with an equal amount of water to create a paste, leave on your skin for 10-15 minutes to reveal a smoother, brighter, fresher and noticeably refined complexion.

The purifying mud is suitable for all skin types and costs £30.00 for 95g. Which may seem like its less but one teaspoon of the powder was more than enough to use the mask for about 4 times.

Review

First off, I have to mention how much I love the whole look of the jar. Most of you can probably tell that I’m a tad obsessed with rose gold. And of course that its reusable, which is a bonus.

As I mentioned before, I only used a teaspoon of the powder. It is fairly simple to make into a paste, didn’t require much effort or work. It turns out that one teaspoon was more than I needed, so I also got my mum to try out the purifying mud too. And there was still plenty left over!

What I wasn’t expecting were the exfoliant bits when making the paste, you can really smell the rosehip in the mask. Once I had got the right consistency, I left the mud mask to set for a minute. When I put the purifying mud on my face and neck, it started to dry within minutes, but didn’t completely dry until 30 minutes later – I had the heating on as it was cold that day, so that could have sped up the drying process a little. The smell of the mud is so fragrant and soothing and after a while I could really feel it tightening my skin as it dried.

After washing off the mud mask, I rubbed the exfoliant bits into my skin and it gave my skin the kind of smooth and polished look that you would have after having a professional facial – I was mind blown at the quality of the product. It’s definitely worth trying out, or gifting someone for Christmas.

Thank you to the Isla Apothecary team for sending me my new favourite mud mask and exfoliant ♥

I hope you all enjoyed my review. Don’t forget to comment, share & follow.

– Sonam x

 

P.S: For more skincare reviews, click here. 

Lush Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb Review

Bath & Body, Bath Bombs, General, Reviews

Lush Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb Review

It’s been freezing this week and honestly a hot tub bath was exactly what I needed, and definitely something I’d recommend for all of you too! In case you haven’t had a chance to read my latest posts, or you’re a new reader, I decided to do a series on some of Lush’s Valentines bath bomb range, as requested by some of my lovely readers. So today, the last review of my mini Lush Valentines Bath series will be on the Lush Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb.

Who are Lush?

Lush are an all-round ethical cosmetics company that are committed to being cruelty-free, vegan and sustainable as possible. Their products are all handmade, smell amazing, and have a cool sticker at the bottom of their boxed products to tell you who and when the products were made. With over 100 stores across the U.K, Lush is easily one of the most prominent organic beauty brands.

Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb 🌹

The rose bombshell bath bomb is quite literally a bombshell of roses, with yellow rose petals, rose absolute and rose oil. Once it fizzes, the powdery outer shell breaks away releasing yellow petals with Sicilian lemon and floral geranium oils. I bought the bath bomb from the Lush Oxford Street store for £4.50 (each).

Review

When I first saw this bath bomb, it instantly reminded me of the Twilight Bath Bomb, just to clarify, it’s nothing like it. The Rose Bombshell bath bomb smells quite powdery on the outside, and as you can see from the pictures it is a pastel pink, almost purple colour with little bits of blue here and there. At first, you can’t really smell the roses so much.

When I put the bath bomb in the tub, it began breaking down immediately, at first the water started changing into a very light pink colour with powder floating around. Then as the layers began to fizz out, the water turned into a pretty bright pink colour revealing the yellow rose petals, at this point the fresh floral scents were in the air!

Once I got in the tub, I could smell the subtle citrus scent of the Sicilian lemon oil and the oils were slowly working to soften my skin and relax my body. Generally, the bath bomb seems like a less subtle version of the Tisty Tosty Bath Bomb. I was a little disappointed because it didn’t photograph very well, because honestly the image doesn’t do justice to the lovely colour! After getting out of the tub, I felt quite refreshed and I ended up smelling like roses for the rest of the day (lol), I was inside the bath tub for almost 40 minutes and I will definitely recommend this to anyone that loves roses as much as I do! 🌹🛀🏽

I hope you all enjoyed my review on this! Don’t forget to comment, share and subscribe ☺

Click here to check out the Lush Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb.

For more bath bomb reviews, click here. 

CGD London – Getting Things Done Kit Review

General, Inspiration, London, Reviews

Hi everyone,

How is your week going so far? ☺

Now that we’re coming to the end of January, or what feels like the longest month ever, it can get difficult to keep working towards your goals and stay on track. Truthfully, I am one of those people, I haven’t been sticking to all of my little goals but I’ve been trying to be as productive as possible. Which is why I wanted to share this post about a planner set that I’ve been using for almost a week, because I can’t be the only person feeling this way (I hope lol) and to show you a productivity kit aimed at women.

Who are CGD London?

“We’re women just like you, thinking outside the box on ways to work smarter, not harder.” – CGD London, About page

CGD London was founded in 2017, and is an off-shoot of careergirldaily.com, an award-winning career website  providing support and advice by like-minded career girls specifically for women –  I actually blogged about Career Girl Daily earlier this month; 5 Motivational Newsletters for Women. CGD London believe that the key to a successful life is in a great plan, and help get it done by designing and building products to help you do just that.

The Getting Things Done Kit:

The Getting Things Done Kit is a limited edition kit designed to help you get things done – it’s pretty much in the name. There’s plenty of room to write, set daily goals and keep you on schedule making sure that you’re as organized and productive as possible. Inside the kit, are a Getting Things Done Planner, The Ultimate Week Plan, a Getting Things Done rose gold engraved pen and a sticker sheet. It’s usually priced at £70, but the kit is currently on sale for £35.99.

Review:

1. Getting Things Done Planner

The Getting Things Done planner is an A5 planner made of vegan-friendly leather and there is plenty of space to fill out as much as you need to within the daily pages. One thing that I must admit that I do love is the daily reminder for self-care, exercise, drinking water and space to make note of what you’ve eaten during the day, I feel like it’s been helping me keep track of the little things that tend to get overlooked when prioritising tasks over taking care of myself.

So far… so good, I’ve only been using this for about a week, but this planner has definitely helped me stay productive and it’s generally easy to use.

2. The Ultimate Week Plan

The Ultimate Week Plan is an A4 notepad with enough space to write down your main tasks and goals for the week. The layout is simple and clean, which is perfect as you can make it your own and use it as a basis for your personal goals, studying or tasks for work. I’ve been using this template to help map out my week and just stuck it on my fridge as a reminder, having the week plan separate from the planner has been easier than flipping back the pages to the beginning of the week.

Generally, I feel that the Getting Things Done Kit is quite practical for those of you ladies that are looking to improve on or maintain your productive streak, this is also useful for someone who maybe new to using planners as it’s a very simple layout meaning you can add what you want to it.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my post! Click here to check out the Getting Things Done Kit.

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

 

– Sonam x

(For more inspirational posts, click here.)

Peachy Fox Dead Sea Mud Mask Review

Beauty, General, London, Reviews, Skincare

I wanted to share with you a new product that I’ve had the pleasure of testing out – the Peachy Fox Dead Sea Mud Mask.

Are Peachy Fox cruelty free?

Peachy Fox are an all natural, conscious London-based skin care brand that believe in purity and being unapologetically clean. Each product is crafted in the U.K, using only natural and organic ingredients. Their mission is to offer stunningly clean products using ethically sourced natural ingredients which is why all of their products are free of parabens, sulfates, colours and petroleum – to top it all off they are cruelty-free!

The Dead Sea Mud Mask

The dead sea mud mask is rich in minerals and nutrients that help to detoxify and deeply cleanse the skin, promoting clearer, brighter skin while tea tree oil and collagen work to prevent breakouts and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Formulated with nourishing ingredients such as jojoba oil and hyaluronic acid, this mask is a deeply moisturising treatment for the skin. It’s recommended to apply the mask on clean skin, avoiding the eyes, and leave on for 10 minutes before wiping away clean.

The mask costs £13.99 for a 100ml tub and is available to buy online. I received this product free from the Peachy Fox PR team.

Review

When I first tried out the mud mask, the consistency was thick, the smell of the tea tree oil and dead sea salt were quite prominent. As I was applying the mud mask on my face, I noticed that the mask went on and spread across my skin smoothly, the mask is generally quite creamy. Once I had fully applied the mask, I felt a tingling sensation that lasted for about 10 minutes, but I’m guessing that’s more to do with the fact that my skin is quite sensitive so I was expecting that to happen, I could definitely feel the tea tree oil working into my skin and tightening my pores.

Although the recommended amount of time to keep the mask on is 10 minutes, I decided to leave the mask on for approximately 35 – 40 minutes until it was completely dry. After washing off washing off and removing the mud mask with a flannel (water alone did not do the job), my skin was visibly brighter and firm. Not only did the mask reduce the look of the blackheads on my nose significantly, but it also made my skin feel hydrated, in fact I didn’t need to moisturise afterwards. Personally, I would recommend that you use this mask at least once a week, just to help maintain your skin.

As far as I am concerned, the Peachy Fox Dead Sea Mud Mask is an all round brilliant mask for helping keep your skin clear, especially as it starts to get colder outside. I’d like to thank the Peachy Fox PR team for sending me such a lovely mud mask. 🙂 🧖🏽✨

I hope you all enjoyed my review. Click here to buy the Peachy Fox Dead Sea Mask.

 

– Sonam x

P.S: Click here for more skincare reviews. 

Vegan Indian Restaurants in London

10 Vegan Indian Restaurants in London

General, London

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. ☺

Lush ‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Face Mask Review

Beauty, General, Reviews, Skincare

Today I thought that I’d write a review on a relatively new face mask that I’ve been quite impressed with in the short amount of time that I’ve been using it – ‘The Birth of Venus’ jelly face mask by Lush.

Are Lush cruelty free?

Lush are an all-round ethical company that are commited to being cruelty-free, vegan and sustainable as possible. Their products are all handmade, smell amazing, and have a cool sticker at the bottom of their (boxed) products to tell you who and when the products were made. With over 100 stores across the U.K, Lush is easily one of the most prominent organic beauty brands.

Lush 'The Birth of Venus' Jelly Mask close up

‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Face Mask

The Lush ‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Face Mask is great for toning, soothing and balancing your skin. Fresh sea water tones and refreshes skin, lavender oil calms and rose absolute soothes and balances. Carageenan seaweed gel is intensely softening and will leave skin irresistably soft. To use, simply pinch off a piece of the mask and work to a paste between clean, dry hands. Apply to the face and let it work its magic for 5-10 minutes.

I bought ‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Mask for £6.95 at the Oxford Street, London store.

Review

My initial thoughts on the mask were that the texture reminds me of melted marshmallows and once you start to rub it between your hands it the jelly mask starts getting thinner and looks a little like lather.

Normally, I like to leave on face masks longer than the recommended amount of time, mainly because I like the face mask to be completely dry before taking it off. So I left the jelly mask on for about 15 minutes, and once the mask had dried completely I washed it off with luke warm water. As I was washing it off, I felt that my skin was visibly more softer and was glowing, and after drying my face my skin was smooth and firm. I would definitely recommend this mask for you all, especially before you sleep!

I hope you all enjoyed my review of the ‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Face Mask. ‍💆🏽✨

Buy the mask here.

For more skincare reviews click here.