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5 Tips for a Natural Spring Glow

Beauty, General, Skincare

5 Tips for a Natural Spring Glow

As spring is finally here, most people will generally focus on spring cleaning by getting rid of their clutter, but there’s hardly any focus on how we can cleanse ourselves and get rid of all the damage that the winter can do to our skin (and bodies). I thought it would be great to encourage you all to with 5 tips to help your skin get a natural spring glow without the need of too much makeup. So here it goes…

 

Tip #1 | For those of you that aren’t vegan – cut down on the diary products. There are plenty of growth hormones, which are actually meant for little calves, that stimulate our oil glands and can clog our pores.

 

Tip #2 | Clean your make up brushes! A lot of people forget about it, but our makeup brushes can retain the bacteria that’s been on our faces. The same principle applies for our phones, most people don’t even think to clean their phones which is unfortunate because we use them all the time (and pretty much everywhere) – so don’t forget to keep your phones clean too!

 

Tip #3 | Invest in a good sunscreen! I cannot stress the importance of using the best possible sun screen that you can find. In the past, I never gave much thought into using sun screens and whenever I did I would just pick the first one that I would see which would end up leaving my skin all oily. I did a review on this ERiiS for Sun sunscreen which is perfect for spring – click here to read about it.

 

Tip #4 | Detox – This again is one of those tips that everyone knows that they could use, but end up forgetting about. Detox yourself inside out by eating and drinking clean. Cut out the alcohol, sugar and salty foods – our skin is like a weird sponge that not only glows when it’s getting the right foods and is cleaned properly but also starts getting dull when we neglect ourselves.

Tip #5 | Following on from what I said in the tip before – don’t be lazy with your skincare routine! Having a regular skincare routine and using a moisturiser that works well for you can do wonders for your skin. You know your skin and face better than anyone else so make sure that you stick to what you know works well with your skin.

Let me know what tips you all use to get your skin glowing naturally. ☺

I hope you enjoyed this post on 5 Tips for a Natural Spring Glow, click here for more skincare posts.

#GIRLBOSS Review

General, Inspiration, Reviews

#GIRLBOSS Review

Lately I’ve been reading Sophia Amoruso’s ‘#GIRLBOSS’ as a source of inspiration. Now I know what some of you may be thinking – probably something along the lines of “you’re so late”. I’ll be honest I’m not the biggest fan of biographies and as mean as this may sound I bought this book after reading the headlines about Nasty Gal’s bankruptcy, and Amoruso’s complete detachment from the company, on purpose to see if her writing was still just as inspiring.

Having read through the book, I can honestly say that Amoruso is extremely relatable and it’s refreshing to read about someone who’s had her fair share of hurdles. Despite the problems she’s faced, her persistence manages to get her through everything. I wanted to share this quote from the book with you all.

“Your challenge as a #GIRLBOSS is to dive headfirst into things without being too attached to the results. When your goal is to gain experience, perspective, and knowledge, failure is no longer a possibility. Failure is your invention.” – Sophia Amoruso

This particular part of the book resonated with me, as not only is Amoruso’s success on her own terms but she equally embraces and owns her failures (just so you know it’s in Chapter 7). It’s needless to say that no matter what problems Sophia Amoruso faces – she’ll manage. I did a little research into what she’s been up to lately and as of last year she’s set up her own podcast called GirlBoss.com, based on her biography, in which she interviews and talks to like-minded women.

We all go through hurdles, whether that be in our personal or professional lives but if we don’t persist and try to overcome the hurdles that we have, then we’ll never get anywhere. Keep working towards whatever you’ve been trying to achieve – don’t be afraid of failure and looking at things from a different perspective. ☺♥

I hope you enjoyed my #GIRLBOSS review, for more inspirational posts, click here.

Click here to get your own copy of  #GIRLBOSS – Sophia Amoruso.

Where to get Cruelty-Free Manicures in London

Beauty, General, London

Where to get Cruelty-Free Manicures in London

Hi everyone, how have you all been? I’ve been a little poorly, hence the lack of posts and slow responses to emails (*sorry*) but I hope that all of you are well. ☺

The search…

A little over a year ago I did a post on cruelty-free salons in London (5 Cruelty-free Salons in London), which is pretty self-explanatory. This time round I thought it would great to add to that list by showing you all places where you can get cruelty-free manicures in London.
Unfortuantely, most of the nail salons based here in London didn’t seem to mention much about the cruelty-free and vegan status of the products they use  – so it’s hard to tell whether they actually are cruelty-free or not just by looking at their websites.
 
​Just to give you all a quick heads up for those of you that think Shellac products are cruelty-free, their parent company, CND, have not responded to any emails regarding their cruelty-free status and they also haven’t responded to many other fellow bloggers (they seem a bit dodgy if you ask me).

Cruelty-free mani-pedis in London

1 | Nail Berry – Based in the Chelsea, Nail Berry are both a nail salon and brand dedicated to providing high-end quality manicures that are not only certified as cruelty-free, but are also free of chemicals and vegan.  I’ll definitely love to try out the Nail Berry nail polish some time soon. You can now get 10% off your first order when you subscribe to their newsletter.

 

2 | Nails Inc. – Are another brand that provide products and have their own salon based across the U.K.  In London you can find them at Bond Street Fenwick, Canary Wharf, City London House of Fraser, Oxford St Debenhams, Oxford Street House of Fraser and Victoria House of Fraser. They provide a small vegan and halal manicure and pedicure range called Pure. I’m not sure about all the other treatments that they provide as they didn’t explicitly write vegan on anything else. When you subscribe to Nails Inc. online you get a 15% off discount code on their products and you can get 25% off when you purchase a course of treatments in store.

 

“I don’t like plain nails, I get sad”- Zooey Deschanel, saying exactly what we’re thinking! #manicure #nailart #manipedi #pedicure #pamper #natural #organic #relaxation

A post shared by Natural Beauty Urban Retreat (@nbur01) on

3 | Natural Urban Beauty Retreat – NUBR are based in North Finchley and have a number of SpaRitual vegan manicure and pedicure treatment​s ranging from £10-£45. You can book an appointment directly on their website or you can book an appointment via Treatwell and get up to 21%​ off​ the Spa Ritual Manicure and Pedicure​ treatment.

 

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4 | Organic Beauty Salon – Is based in Brixton and also provide Spa Ritual treatments. I couldn’t find much information about the products that they use on their website, but I managed to find out via Treatwell that they use Spa Rituals for their normal manicure and pedicure treatments, please be aware that they do provide treatments using Shellac so make sure you’re doubling checking when booking or visiting.

If there are any that I’ve missed out then please do let me know! I hope you all enjoyed this guide on ‘Where to get Cruelty-Free Manicures in London’

Himalaya Herbals Neem Scrub + Wash Review

Beauty, General, Reviews, Skincare

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

Alchemy Oils Grapefruit Hair Remedy Review

Bath & Body, Beauty, General, Hair Care, Reviews

Alchemy Oils Grapefruit Hair Remedy Review

Hi guys! ♥

How has your week been going so far?

Today I’d like to share something that’s perfect for everyone during this harsh winter weather – Grapefruit Hair Remedy by Alchemy Oils.

About Alchemy Oils

The Grapefruit Hair Remedy is made with a blend of 5 oils to improve the condition of your hair by strengthening your hair with coconut, avocado, almond and castor oils. These oils are combined to promote growth, thicken hair and impart a lustrous shine as well as work in harmony with the grapefruit oil, which is used to fight dandruff and keep your scalp healthy.

Alchemy Oils have made it very clear on their FAQ page of their website that they have pledged not to sell products in China until the mandatory law is lifted, they are also PETA Certified and Vegan. A quick tip for any of you that are new to the world of the cruelty free and vegan way of life, you can always verify the cruelty free and vegan status of products via the PETA cruelty free brand checker, Beauty without Bunnies (they also have an app), as well as The Vegan Society Trademark search.

On the side of the label on the bottle (see below), it says that for dry hair you can begin by massaging the oil into your scalp and then apply to your roots. For people that are using the hair remedy with damp hair it says to only use a few drops on your hair all round and to apply to your roots. The recommended amount of time that you can leave it on for is a minimum of 20 minutes, if you’re not used to using hair oil then I would suggest that you stick to the recommendation because of the amount of oils already blended in with the hair remedy. If your hair is generally quite dry and damaged, then it would be best to leave it on for longer depending on how long you can have it on for – some people leave oil on for 1 to 2 hours, others leave it on overnight so it’s really up to you!

Review

As someone who constantly uses different types of natural hair oil, I couldn’t recommend this more! I’ve never used hair oil that’s been blended with 5 other oils, so I was quite surprised at how quickly it nourished my hair and it had a fresh, lush citrus smell of grapefruit. The only thing that I would personally say that I was disappointed by is the fact that there is no grapefruit shampoo and conditioner to go with the oil, because it would work amazingly together. 🙁

So far Alchemy Oils only sell hair oils, but I would love to see them expand their hair care range to go with the oils.

Where to get the Grapefruit Hair Remedy

The Grapefruit Hair Remedy is currently priced at £24 for 100ml on the Alchemy Oils website or, alternatively, you could buy a travel size bottle with 30ml for £8 if you’d like to test it out or take it with you on the go. Not to forget you can get a 10% discount code when you subscribe to their newsletter!

Thank you to RebKan PR for sending me the lovely Grapefruit Hair Remedy. ☺

I hope you guys liked this review!

You can now buy the Alchemy Oils Grapefruit Hair Remedy from Amazon Prime.

Read more hair care reviews here. 

Where to get a Vegan Christmas dinner in London

General, London

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! ☺

Handmade Heroes Dry Shampoo Review

Bath & Body, General, Hair Care, Reviews

Handmade Heroes Dry Shampoo Review

Hello people of the internet!

I hope you’re all well!

I’ve actually been wanting to share this with you all for quite some time, but I wanted to spend the right amount of time using this product before blogging about it. So without further ado, I present to you all the Drop Dead Gorgeous Dry Shampoo!

Who are Handmade Heroes?

The Drop Dead Gorgeous Dry Shampoo was created by Handmade Heroes, which is a company that was founded in January 2015 and have based all of their products on the value of an all-natural lifestyle. Handmade Heroes pride themselves in their ability to make all of their products from natural ingredients and make sure that their products are void of preservatives, synthetic chemicals and parabens. As Handmade Heroes are based in the U.S, they actively make sure that their packaging is approved by the FDA (the U.S Food and Drugs Administration) and is BPA free. The Handmade Heroes products are also certified by PETA as both cruelty free and vegan.

Handmade Heroes Drop Dead Gorgeous Dry Shampoo

Surprisingly, this was the first time that I had ever used any kind of dry shampoo, and I was kind of curious to learn more because of all the negative stories that were being shared on social media about dry shampoo. (Just to be clear, I’m referring to the negative stories about the dry shampoo that are made of foam and tons of chemicals.) It was generally quite reassuring to know that this product is vegan, so of course I knew that there wasn’t going to be any problems when using it. The dry shampoo is made with hints of peppermint and soothes with lavender and eucalyptus. Known for its absorption abilities to trap toxins and impurities, the activated charcoal leaves the scalp healthy, balanced and odourless.
 

Review

My initial thoughts when I opened the bottle were actually that the shampoo smells just like the Love Hearts sweets; I always love a natural product that smells great too! On the packaging it said it would take 5 minutes to use, but truthfully it took me 10 minutes to do so, then again that could be more to do with the fact that I have long and thick hair. Having long and thick hair is quite high maintence and I usually end up having to wash my hair every two days just to keep it from getting greasy. I had to leave my hair quite greasy a few times just to test it out properly and it managed to dry the oil at the top of my hair quite well to the point that it was not visible at all. Generally, I didn’t need a lot of product on my hair for it to do to its magic, I was definitely pleased with the change from oily to clean hair. The bottle itself is travel size so it’s perfect to take with you when you’re on the go or to use after a workout (or if you’re just feeling lazy).
Before…
Aaaand after!
The Handmade Heroes Drop Dead Gorgeous Dry Shampoo is available for you all to buy on Amazon for £5.90. On that note, I want to thank the people at Handmade Heroes for sending me this amazing product to try out and review for you all.
I hope you all enjoyed my Handmade Heroes Dry Shampoo Review.

Click here to read more hair care reviews. 

#EOYR2016

General, Inspiration

Happy Sunday to you all! 🙂

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend and enjoyed all the crazy sales.

Today my source of inspiration comes from one of my friends, who has created a social media campaign to pause, reflect and celebrate our achievements of this year. The motto for the campaign is “Hold the New Year Resolutions, Have an End of Year Reflection!”

To share the positivity, you can post a tweet on something that you have achieved, are proud of, have accomplished or learnt in 2016, using the hashtags #EOYR2016 (End of Year Reflection 2016) or #2016Accomplishment on Twitter or Instagram. Just so you know, the first hashtag is the most important, so please try to use this even if you can’t use the other!

I’ll be adding mine on my Instagram account and a link to the post on Twitter, I would love to see what you all have to say, so please do take part share and spread the word! ☺♥

Soap & Co Review

Bath & Body, Beauty, General, Reviews

Soap & Co Review

Recently I went shopping with my friend and was approached by a lady who worked at a Soap&Co stall in the shopping centre. Now I don’t know about you guys but I’m one of those people who find it hard to just leave a person in the middle of a conversation, plus the stall area smelt so nice, so I carried on listening to what she was saying. After testing out the products on myself, I ended up buying from her and I was so pleased to find out that their products are all natural and cruelty free (which is not always mutually exclusive).

Finding the right nail care brand can be tricky, let alone finding a good vegan nail care brand as it takes a while to find one that suits your needs. However, I must admit that when both my friend and I we’re testing out the products that the lady was showing us, we both really loved the fact that the products worked so quickly and weren’t full of chemicals. (We also loved the smell of the passion fruit scent) 🙂

Review

The actual nail care kit itself consists of a nail file, a nail buffer, a bottle of hand and body lotion and a little bottle of cuticle oil. I’ve used the products myself quite a few times at home and I am still just as impressed with the quality of the products as I was when testing them in store. The buffer works quite quickly without having to put much effort in it, leaving a nice shine to my nails on both my fingers and toes. Although, the nail file took a while to get used to as I have a bad habit of trying to file too quickly and eventually end up getting the wrong shape for my nails. The smell of both the cuticle oil and lotion lasts quite a while and it also does not leave a weird sticky feel like some oils and lotions can do – which is perfect.

I paid £39.99 for the whole set, which may seem like quite a bit, but so far I can definitely say that it is worth the money given the amount of times that I’ve used the products. On the Soap & Co website it’s not exactly clear whether the products are cruelty free or not, so I decided to get confirmation via email to which they responded;

“I can confirm that none of our products contain any source materials from animals and all our products are cruelty free in accordance with the beauty standards as set out by the EU governing bodies.”

For now Soap&Co are only available in shopping centres across Central London and online, but hopefully they shall be branching out soon so that the rest of you can pay them a visit!

Let me know what you all thought about this quick review and whether you’d like me to do more posts on nail care 🙂

Click here to read more beauty reviews 

Read more “Soap & Co Review”

One year on

General, Inspiration

Hi everyone,

Happy Sunday! I hope you all have had a great weekend and are all well.

It’s my first blogiversary! 🎂🎉  I cannot believe that my blog is officially one years old. One year on and I feel like I’ve gone through a steep learning curve from making my own content to managing the accounts and learning about so many different topics in one go. I must admit that I do love the fact that there is a never ending learning process when it comes to blogging in general and that there are constant changes happening in terms of animal cruelty policies, eco fashion and sustainability.

Over the course of the year I have met so many amazing and passionate people who like me are trying to make a positive impact. It is genuinely so inspiring to see the amount of people that share the same passion and try to do whatever they can to help animals and the environment, there is such a long list of other bloggers who have been an inspiration for me during the past year – the list would literally go on and on. Hopefully I have had the same effect too! (*fingers crossed*)

Naturally, there is room for improvement and I always will continue to learn as much as I can. I’d like to thank everyone that has read, emailed and given me support whilst I’ve started this journey, it is genuinely humbling when people can connect with you and share the same passion that I do.

 

(P.S. This post was slightly overdue as I had been juggling quite a bit lately, but I will try my very best to keep posting as much as I can ☺♥)

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