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Forest Essentials Facial Essentials Kit

Forest Essentials Facial Essentials Review

Beauty, General, Reviews, Skincare

Forest Essentials Facial Essentials Review

Last month, I went on holiday to India and honestly it was a nice break  from not having to worry about work and getting everything else done.

Speaking of work, I’ve got a new job! 🙂 Which is why I didn’t have enough time to blog this month – thankfully, I’ve got the hang of juggling everything now.

As I was coming back from holiday, I found this facial set by Forest Essentials at Delhi Airport – after spending the entire trip looking for the brand in Punjab. I’d actually heard about the Forest Essentials before but I never got round to buying their products – which is why I’m so excited to share this review with you all.

Scroll on down to read my review!

A little about Forest Essentials…

Forest Essentials is an authentic, traditional skin care brand, with its foundations in the ancient science of Ayurveda. A pioneer in the luxury Ayurvedic segment, today it has become the quintessential Indian Beauty Brand where secrets of ancient beauty rituals for skin and hair care have been made available to modern-day customers.

Forest Essentials cater to four major categories i.e. Facial Care, Body Care, Hair Care and Wellness. Each handmade product uses traditional methods in its making and adheres to the highest standards of purity, authenticity and quality. Forest Essentials extracts the best from nature’s vast repertoire and recreates fresh seasonal formulations using organic cold pressed oils, rare plant extracts, herb infusions and steam-distilled pure essential oils and best of all they’re cruelty-free and vegan.

The Facial Essentials set:

The Facial Essentials set is the perfect to keep with you on the go while you travel or to give as a gift. Inside the box are four travel size handmade items worth 1,625 INR (which works out to be between £17-£18, depending on the exchange rate;  the Luscious Lip Balm Sugared Rose Petal 4g, Facial Cleanser Honey Lemon Rosewater 50ml, Sunscreen Lotion Aloe Vera & Sandalwood 50ml, Refining Facial Scrub Kashmiri Walnut Gel 15g.

Review

Luscious Lip Balm Sugared Rose Petal

This Sugared Rose Petal Lip Balm is uniquely designed to replenish and soften dry, chapped lips. The lip balm is a lot thinner than I expected than I’m used to, and you can definitely smell the rose petal. I’ve used it a lot lately, and it definitely helps keep the lips soft. It reminds me a lot of the Rose Salve Lip Balm.

Refining Facial Scrub Kashmiri Walnut Gel


This Revitalising Kashmiri Walnut Gel Scrub has been formulated with a distinctive combination of high quality Kashmiri Walnuts with selected herbs like Agneemanth and Kachoor. At first, I only used a tiny amount and I was quite surprised at how such a small amount helped polish and smoothen my skin. I’ll definitely be ordering the full size scrub after I’m done using this one.

Facial Cleanser Honey Lemon Rosewater


This Wild Honey, Steam distilled Rosewater & fresh lemon Cleanser gently cleanses your face to remove surface toxins and exfoliates dead skin cells making it clean and fresh. For a gentle cleanser it sure managed to brighten the look of my skin. I do feel that the fragrance of the rosewater was a little much, but it did the job so I can’t complain too much.

Sunscreen Lotion Aloe Vera & Sandalwood

I was admittedly a little scared to use this, mainly because I’ve had quite a bad reaction to products with aloe vera in it. The lotion was pretty soothing on my skin and the sandalwood oil in the lotion helped to maintain balance of my skintone. If you never tried anything with sandalwood oil, you should seriously consider trying it, this oil is known for bringing out your natural glow by reducing the look of dark circles and patches.

Generally, I’m so glad that I finally managed to come across this brand and try it out. The quality of the brand is brilliant, and so affordable considering that it’s mostly handmade. I always love supporting Ayurveda brands, especially ones that people may not have heard much of, I feel like Ayurveda doesn’t get enough credit for pioneering organic beauty.

I hope you all enjoyed my Forest Essentials Facial Essentials review. ☺

Click here to try out Forest Essentials.

Don’t forget to comment, subscribe and share ♥

– Sonam x

 

P.S: For more skincare reviews click here. 

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. 

The Ordinary Serum Foundation – Light Medium Review

Beauty, General, Makeup, Reviews

I hope you all are staying hydrated in this heat. In the summer, I usually try to avoid using much makeup on my skin. The combination of wearing makeup and the heat always ends up looking messy on me. But there are times when I really do want to wear makeup despite the hot weather. I was browsing the net, as you do, and I came across this foundation – naturally I had to do a review for you all!

Are The Ordinary cruelty free?

The Ordinary is an evolving collection of treatments offering familiar, effective clinical technologies positioned to raise pricing and communication integrity in skin care. The Ordinary, are free of parabens, sulphates, mineral oil, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, animal oils, coal-tar dyes, formaldehyde, mercury, oxybenzone. This brand does not test on animals, does not pay others to do so and do not sell any products in mainland China.

The Ordinary Serum Foundation – 2.0 N Light Medium ️ ️

The Serum Foundation is available in 21 shades, ranging from very fair to very deep and each classified according to its undertone. ‘P’ shades stand for pink undertones, ‘R’ for red, ‘N’ for neutral and ‘Y’ for yellow, so you can suit your skin tone to a tee. The formula also offers SPF 15 sun protection without the use of chemical sunscreens – and it’s vegan. I bought the serum foundation for £5.70 (30ml) from Cult Beauty.

Review

At first, I actually thought the cap was missing. Turns out it’s just meant to be that way, the pump twists to open and close. I found the serum foundation a little runny, but I guess the consistency is supposed to be thin if it’s serum based. The foundation blends well into the skin with a beauty blender, once it set it gave my skin a matte finish and matched my skin tone perfectly.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried different combinations of moisturisers, face oils and setting sprays to see which works best and lasts long. In that time, I thought that using face oils (whichever suits your skin type) and a light spritz of setting spray kept my foundation in tact and looking a little more fresher. Personally, I’m not a fan of the matte finish – though this wasn’t too mattifying. I appreciate that I can make small changes to my skin care to get the dewy look that I normally go for. For what it’s worth, I think it’s a steal; the lightweight natural coverage is perfect for this hot weather.

I hope you all enjoyed my The Ordinary Serum Foundation – Light Medium review. Click here to get The Ordinary Serum Foundation from Cult Beauty.

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

 

– Sonam x

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

Makeup Revolution Strobe Lighting Palette Review

Beauty, General, Makeup, Reviews

Makeup Revolution Strobe Lighting Palette Review

The one thing that you cannot have enough of in this sunny weather is a good highlighter. I try to use highlighters as much as I can because I love the extra pop that it gives to my makeup. Since you all enjoyed my last makeup review, I decided that I’ll keep at it and today I’m reviewing the Makeup Revolution Strobe Lighting Palette.

About Makeup Revolution

Makeup Revolution is a budget UK makeup brand, owned by TAM Beauty, that offers a wide variety of makeup and brushes. The brand launched in 2014, offering affordable high quality makeup and dupes of expensive high-end makeup – to top it off the entire range is 100% cruelty-free and some of their products are actually vegan.

Makeup Revolution Strobe Lighting Palette 🎨

This palette contains 3 strobe highlighters in a rose gold lidded case and a large mirror. As well as being cruelty-free, this particular palette is also both vegan and gluten-free – but unfortunately it does contain parabens. The Strobe Lighting Palette is £8 for three strobe highlighter shades, I actually got for free at Superdrug with the ‘Free Strobe Lightening Palette when you spend £12 on selected Revolution’ deal.

Review

Before I say anything else, I have to appreciate this gorgeous packaging – I absolutely love the shiny rose gold cover (just a tad obsessed). On first look, the shine of the white and green luminescent shade stands out the most to me. The highlighters have a silky feel to it and easily blend in to the skin.

The gold is more on the chalky side, but having said that it does make for a natural looking glow and is easy to build over. Generally, I felt that both the creamy gold and peach shades appear to be quite powdery on my skin and kind of blend in to my skin tone. I found that using a good setting spray brings out the look of the highlighters even more giving it an added pop to my makeup and helps the highlighter last longer than it usually does.

So far, out of all three shades, I’m loving the white luminescent shade with the green shimmer; I don’t normally get to wear colours like that but it’s fun to wear on a night out. ✨

I hope you all enjoyed my review of the Makeup Revolution Strobe Lighting Palette, and get a chance to use the deal a Superdrug too. Click here to buy the palette from Superdrug.

Don’t forget to share and subscribe for more! ♥

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

A’kin The Big Deal Kit Review

Beauty, General, Reviews, Skincare

I hope you all are having a great start to the week, today I finally get to share news about another amazing deal from A’kin & QVC. Those of you that follow my blog have already seen my review on an A’kin product a little while back  and I was pretty impressed by the amazing quality of their product. Today’s deal is not just about one product but as you can tell from the title of this post, it’s about four products namely the A’kin The Big Deal Kit!

A little about A’kin

A’kin was launched in Australia in 2002 using pioneering technologies and leading the way in natural skincare. The philosophy at A’kin is all about creating pure, authentic and beautifully aromatic skincare, crafted without parabens, sulfates, artificial colours or fragrances. This high quality, natural skincare brand is cruelty-free, organic and 100% vegan!

A’kin The Big Deal Kit 🎁

The Big Deal Kit includes 1 Cleansing Micellar Water (150ml), 1 Hydrating Antioxidant Day Cream (50ml), 1 Mini Hydrating Mist Toner (30ml) and 1 Certified Organic Rosehip Oil (20ml). The A’Kin 4 Piece Skincare Hydration Collection aka The Big Deal Kit is normally worth £55.50 if you buy directly from the A’kin website, and for this week only it’s  available to buy from QVC for £29.98.

Review

A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil

This lightweight but nourishing oil has quickly become one of my personal favourites; the rosehip oil is formulated to help soothe and hydrate your complexion, as well as other areas of dry skin on your body. It’s perfect to use over scars, stretch marks and just over dry skin in general. On days that my skin needs less moisturising, I’ve used this before applying my makeup and it’s kept my makeup looking fresh the whole day.

I’ve already reviewed this before you can click here to read the full review on the A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil.

A’kin Hydrating Antioxidant Day Cream

This daily facial moisturiser has a fast-absorbing formula enriched with organic coconut water and green tea, that works to deeply hydrate your skin.

The day cream is refreshing, calming and has a light, buttery texture and that nourishes my skin throughout the day. The smell of the green tea is quite refreshing, and when I apply the cream to my skin, I can definitely feel the calming coconut ingredients which works well for the skin as the weather starts to get warmer outside. I do wish that there was a night cream to the kit.

A’kin Hydrating Mist Toner

The mini mist spray is from the same range as the day cream, infused with organic coconut water and green tea, helps to balance the pH levels skin and soothe your skin.

I’ve been using this over my makeup before I go out to work and days out in general and I love the freshness of the spray. It keeps my makeup pretty much intact throughout the day, which is perfect if you don’t have the time to touch up or check your makeup. Word of advice to you all – don’t make the mistake of using this a little while after using mascara, I learnt that lesson the hard way (lol), in all honesty that was my fault for not waiting for my mascara to dry. This travel size toner spray is perfect to take with you on the go!

A’kin Cleansing Micellar Water

The cleansing micellar water is infused with organic coconut water, green tea, cucumber and lavender, there has never been an easier way to cleanse than with this micellar water, which works to instantly remove impurities and make-up from your face without the need to rinse it off.

Since I received this, I had been using the toner as a makeup remover everyday and despite the green tea in the water, it was so gentle and easily removed my makeup. The water left my skin feeling hydrated, refreshed and glowing after using it.

Personally, I think that this kit is a great way to try the different products from A’kin, especially if you’ve never used the brand before, it’s definitely worth the price. I’d like to thank the lovely people at RebKan PR and A’kin for sending me this wonderful kit!

Click here to buy the A’kin The Big Deal Kit from QVC – remember this offer is running for one week only, so make sure you get your hands on it before it all goes! ☺

I hope you all enjoyed my A’kin The Big Deal Kit review of this product and your bank holiday weekend!

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

– Sonam x

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

Milani Baked Blush Corallina Review

Beauty, General, Makeup, Reviews

Most of you may have already heard of this brand and may even use it. This is actually my first time using any Milani product, so naturally I thought that I should blog about it.

Are Milani Cosmetics cruelty free?

Milani Cosmetics was founded in 2002, taking inspiration from Milani. Milani’s lightbulb moment was sparked by the Italian world for colour, ‘colori’ – almost identical to colour, however with something a little extra; a little more.

Milani is designed for women who love to wear color, the products allow women to explore and push their boundaries – and yes they’re cruelty-free! 🐇

Milani Baked Blush – Corallina

This silky blush with benefits can be used so many ways; it shapes, it contours, it highlights. Sun-baked on Italian terracotta tiles, it’s buildable from sheer to vibrant. Yes, it adds a cheeky pop of colour to your complexion. Radiance and warmth, too. I bought the Baked Blush in the shade 08 Corallina for £9.95 at Beauty Base.

Review

Like the description says, the blush powder is definitely silky and I absolutely loved the warmth of the Corallina shade. Even though it is a baked blush, I wasn’t expecting the sheer amount of shimmer in the product, it really adds that extra glow to the skin.

As you can see from the swatch on my arm, it’s a super pigmented powder, unfortunately it doesn’t really have a scent. The colour is absolutely gorgeous. The blush lasted the entire time that I’ve worn it – during the day, right through to the evenings; so I’m pretty impressed with the baked blush.

 

When I bought the blush I was a little disappointed because the packaging is a little deceiving as there’s a mirror and blush applicator brush at the bottom of the blush, which I didn’t really notice at first. The bristles of the little brush are a tad harder than I’m used to – in all honesty, I would have preferred to use my own brush. Although, it is a great travel size product to keep with you, and the brush is pretty easy and convenient to use when you’re on the go.

Given the price of the product, I’d say that I was very impressed with the quality of the baked blush, this was my first time using any product from Milani and I’d definitely use it again.

Personally, I feel like I don’t review makeup enough, so I would love to your thoughts on the this review.

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

Click here to buy the Milani Baked Blush – Corallina from Beauty Base.

 

– Sonam x

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

Hempz Original Body Moisturiser Review

Bath & Body, General, Reviews, Skincare

Did you know that April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month? To kick-start the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month I decided to do a review on this wonderful cruelty-free and vegan product.

Are Hempz cruelty free?

Hempz Beauty is a division of the JK Health and Beauty Technologies Group PLC. Hempz Beauty are a natural beauty company that make products with 100% organic Hemp Seed Oil. All products are Paraben Free, Gluten Free, THC Drug Free and are not tested on animals.

Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturiser 🌿

The Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturiser is made with 100% Organic Hemp Seed Oil providing the skin with a perfect ration of protein, carbohydrates, nutrients, key minerals and fiber. The moisteriser is rich in natural anti-oxidants, anti-ageing properties and anti-inflammatories from extracts of Lemon, Ginger root, Ginseng and Grapefruit.

There is also a blend of Shea Butter and Sunflower Seed Oil for skin hydration, nourishment and conditioning. It’s also made with a fresh breezy floral and sweet banana fragrance – and it’s 100% vegan! The moisteriser is available to buy online at Amazon for £19.99 for 500 ml; the bottle shown in the picture is of the sample that I received from Alex Silver PR.

Review

At first, I could smell the sweet banana blend in the moisturiser, I couldn’t really smell the natural hemp oil, but can definitely feel the nourishing effects of it skin. The moisturiser is lightweight and easy to blend in to my skin, it generally keeps my hands, body and legs smooth and soft. I’ve also been using this as a face cream and I am loving how smooth, yet kind of firm, my skin is after using the cream. One thing that I do appreciate about this moisturiser is that it keeps my skin soft and firm throughout the day without needing to reapply it.

Thank you to Alex Silver PR for sending me this lovely product to review, you can click here to buy the Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturiser from Amazon.

I’ve got another Hempz product review coming out next week, so make sure you’re following my blog to keep up.

Don’t forget to comment, share and follow.

– Sonam x

 

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

A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil Review

Bath & Body, Beauty, General, Reviews, Skincare

Since it’s still February, I wanted to contine with the floral theme that I have going at the moment. So today, I wanted to share with you all my first review on an organic, vegan and cruelty-free product from Australia, the A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil.

Are A’kin cruelty free?

A’kin was launched in Australia in 2002 using pioneering technologies and leading the way in natural skincare. The philosophy at A’kin is all about creating pure, authentic and beautifully aromatic skincare, crafted without parabens,
sulfates, artificial colours or fragrances. This high quality, natural skincare brand is cruelty-free, vegan and completely organic!

A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil

The A’kin Certified Organic Rosehip Oil is 100% natural with a minimum concentration of 80% essential fatty acids (Omega 3,6,9) for optimal skin health. This antioxidant and vitamin rich oil helps to protect the skin from the effect of environmental elements, prevent signs of ageing and help reduce the appearance of wrinkles. It’s perfect for use on scars, strech marks, uneven skin tone and nourishing dry lips. It is recommended to apply 3-4 drops of the oil after cleansing by gently massaging it into the face, neck and decolletage prior to moisturiser, and to use it twice daily.

Normally this product is priced at £40.00 for 45ml, fortunately it’s currently available to buy at QVC for £25.68.

 

Review

As with most organic oils, the smell is a tad strong, but once you massage the oil into your skin the smell fades. When I first applied the oil to my face, I found the texture to be quite lightweight compared to most oils that I have used in the past. The rosehip oil easily blended into my skin, giving it a natural and healthly looking shine without appearing oily on my skin. Generally, I found that my skin absorbs the oil quite quickly when my skin is slightly warm from having a shower or washing my face with warm water.

I’ve been using the rosehip oil overnight and it keeps my skin, my face and parts of my body, hydrated throughout the night. As I mentioned before, you can use the rosehip oil to reduce the appearance of scars, and I must admit that I am quite impressed with the way that the scars on my face and body have begun to fade since using the oil.

In fact, in the past few days I decided to wear the oil under my makeup, as it’s kind a new trend that I’ve seen online and wanted to experiment with this oil. When applying makeup over the oil, my skin has had such a natural glow to it throughout the day and it stayed hydrated despite it the freezing temperatures outside – I absolutely love it! 💆🏽🌹✨

I’d like to thank the lovely people at RebKan PR and A’kin for sending me this amazing product! Click here to buy the A’kin Rosehip Oil from QVC, and to check out the rest of the A’kin collection at QVC.

I hope you all enjoyed my review of this product, do comment and let me know what you think. ☺