Cruelty-free Halloween makeup

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! ☺♥

 

 

 

Lush ‘The Birth of Venus’ Jelly Face Mask Review

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. 

Fenty Beauty

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you all have been well.

All my beauty lovers will already know about the launch of Rihanna’s beauty range earlier this week, frankly I can’t stop gushing over the products already. One thing that stood out in particular, was that the foundation range has 40 shades making Fenty Beauty one of the most inclusive makeup brands, ever.

As someone who has known many young girls and women that have struggled with finding the correct foundation shade for their skin tone, Rihanna’s range seems to be a breath of fresh air that the beauty industry needed. I’ve seen first hand that the problem is not just skin-deep but it’s the sense of being marginalised by mainstream beauty brands which has been going on for longer than it really should have. It’s such a shame that mainstream beauty brands have only started to become more inclusive in recent years.

What’s worse is the fact that for a long time, not only have women had to choose from a limited range of shades but they have also been shamed for wearing the wrong shade

“Fenty Beauty was created for everyone: for women of all shades, personalities, attitudes, cultures and races. I wanted everyone to feel included. That’s the real reason I made this line.” – Rihanna

Is Fenty Beauty cruelty-free?

Kendo, the ‘brand incubator’ and parent company of Fenty Beauty, also manage cruelty-free brands like Marc Jacobs and Kat Von D. The beauty range is cruelty-free, but it is yet to be independently verified by PETA, Cruelty-free International etc.

“POPSUGAR reached out to BOLD PR, the agency that represents Kendo Brands and Fenty Beauty, and a rep told us that Fenty Beauty is cruelty-free and it is not available in or to ship to China. So there you have it!” – Popsugar

Fenty Beauty seems to be a truly bold and revolutionary brand – much like Rihanna herself! (I can’t wait to try out her products.) From addressing the need to fund education across the world, to making makeup more inclusive Rihanna is a true inspiration. ♥

The Fenty Beauty range is available to buy here in the U.K exclusively at Harvey Nichols.

 

KiteNest Organic Dry Shampoo Review

KiteNest Organic Dry Shampoo Review

Hi everyone!

I hope you all are having a good week. ☺

Today I wanted to share an amazing product that I’ve been using for the past two weeks – KiteNest’s Organic Dry Shampoo.

A little about KiteNest

KiteNest are a Lincolnshire based company whose motto ‘Natural Creations Without Compromise’ is not only central to their ethical focus but to almost everything that they do and create. All of KiteNest’s products are 100% natural, paraben-free, cruelty-free, vegan and are individually crafted and handmade by Chris and Markus. The products that KiteNest sell range from hair care, skin care as well as beeswax products. Everything about this company is clean and green from the product itself, to the packaging including the vermiculite cushioning that’s used to pad the box packaging when shipping the orders.

The Organic Dry Shampoo 

About the product

The Organic dry shampoo is 100% natural and organic, cruelty-free and vegan-friendly, containing no talc and no toxic chemicals or GMOs. The cardboard tube is fully recyclable, and is sourced from responsibly maintained forests in Northern Europe. There are two different organic dry shampoo’s that are available to buy, one for light hair tones and the other being for dark hair tones. (It’s best to get in contact with the KiteNest team, if you’re unsure of which one would be best for your hair type.)

When using the dry shampoo, you simply need to apply some to the roots of your hair and massage it in for roughly 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how thick your hair is or how satisfied with it you are. Once you feel that the shampoo has absorbed the excess oil and moisture then you can brush through your hair to remove the excess powder and style however you like.

KiteNest’s Organic Dry Shampoo is available to buy via their website and is priced at £10 for 150g and if your order is over £30 your postage will be free! (That’s unfortunately only for U.K residents)

Review

The organic dry shampoo that I’ve been using is for dark hair tones. When using it the first thing that I noticed was the ethically sourced packaging and that the dry shampoo smelt like grapefruit – which I love. The powder itself is very lightweight and generally has a very fine texture that’s like talc powder.

At first I made the silly mistake of using too much product on my hair – which resulted in me having to shake most of it off. I eventually realised that I should put on a little bit at a time, and this helped with getting rid of the natural oil in my hair significantly. Quick tip – if you have long hair like mine, then it’s best to use the dry shampoo over your bath tub so that you’re not making too much of a mess or having to struggle over the sink like I did.

Overall, the organic dry shampoo works well in terms of making your hair look and smell fresher than it actually is (lol). The way that it manages to absorb the natural oils and excess moisture in my hair, without having to do much on my part, takes off such a big load as managing my hair is easily the most high maintenance task that I (and many of you all) have to deal with daily. So it’s definitely a thumbs up from me! ☺👍🏼

 

Lastly, I’d like to thank the KiteNest Marketing & PR team for sending me the awesome Organic Dry Shampoo. To check out KiteNest’s full range of products click here.

To read and learn more about how to recycle the vermiculite cushioning click on the link here.

I hope you all enjoyed the review. ♥

Read more hair care reviews here.

Do natural deodorants work?

Hello everyone! How is your weekend going so far?

Do natural deodorants work? Yes! But of course one word isn’t the best way to answer the question.

The reviews that are on this site are all done by myself, from testing out the products, to writing my thoughts about it – but today I’d like to share some research and reviews on natural deodorants (carried out by a very reliable source) – Reviews.com. And of course, like always all the products are cruelty-free and vegan!

Who are Reviews.com?

Reviews.com is a wesbite created and managed by an inquisitive small team who test and review products. Once they review the products and services the team collectively decide on which products and services are the best. Personally I quite like the idea of a team collectively deciding what is the ‘best’ as this makes the research more credible and valuable.

After talking with a dermatologist, a chemist, and two natural deodorant creators, the Reviews.com team hand-tested 23 deodorants to find their top picks: aluminum-free formulas with pleasant scents, goop-free application, and minimal residue.

The Best Natural Deodorants:

1Sam’s Natural Deodorant –  “The product is free of aluminum, free of common irritants, and its first two ingredients (coconut oil and baking soda) are verified odor-blockers. We found the circular stick easy to maneuver across our pits, and it left minimal goop on clothes and only a faint sheen on skin. The Cedar and Women’s scents that we tested both lasted through two hours of wear — without smelling overpowering — and if neither of these options appeals to you, Sam’s offers 13 more scents. Each stick is reasonably priced ($10 for 3 ounces) and an easy gateway for anyone interested in transitioning to a natural product.” Those of you based in the U.K can order directly from the Sam’s Natural website by clicking here.

 

2 | Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant – “Schmidt’s sticks for regular skin boast the same odor-busting coconut oil and baking soda as Sam’s, in a similarly flake- and residue-free formula. We tried four of its seven scents and liked the cool “freshly fallen rain” nose of the Charcoal+Magnesium formula — although if you like a pop of floral, its Rose+Vanilla certainly delivers. The price point is about the same as Sam’s: around $10 for 3 ounces.” Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant is available to here in the U.K from Naturisimo.com.

 

3 | For Pit’s Sake! Natural Deodorant – “This product comes in a stick that leaves almost no residue, but we did have to use quite a bit of force to fully coat our pits, which some of our hairy-pitted testers weren’t too into. That said, it includes all threeof the odor-blocking ingredients we pinpointed in our research — coconut oil, baking soda, and zinc — at a comfortable $9.” Unfortunately I couldn’t find any stockists here in the U.K, and I couldn’t find any details of internation shipping but if you are interesting in buying it’s worth getting in touch with the sellers.

 

4 | Green Tidings All-Natural Deodorant -“Like Sam’s and Schmidt’s, this deodorant is vegan and cruelty-free, but its ingredients are also certified organic by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and it’s made in a solar-powered plant. The trade-off? It’s a little more expensive, at $8 for a 1-ounce tube. Green Tidings is aluminum-free and includes baking soda and (organic) coconut oil to fend off body odor. The subtle scent (courtesy of organic lavender essential oil) didn’t last as long as Sam’s, but after two hours, we didn’t notice any BO, either. Testers did find the product a bit gritty, but some of them liked this added assurance that they’d successfully coated their underarms.” Again, this product only seems to be available in the U.S on Amazon.

 

 5 | Fatco Women’s Stank Stop Deodorant – “was the only other natural dedorant we tested that included all three of our wish-list odor-blockers. (It’s also Certified Paleo, and includes beef tallow as a moisturizer.) Fatco is a cream, which means you’ll need to dip your fingers into a (very small) jar to apply the product — a process our testers weren’t wild about. But the deodorant itself was very effective, with a pleasant smell and minimal residue.” Buy online from Amazon (U.S.) 

 

6 | Agent Nateur & Shiva Rose Holi Rose Deodorant – “seemed almost like a combination of deodorant and women’s perfume (although not everyone liked the rose and sandalwood scent). Holi Rose leaves very little residue, and while it was also the most expensive product that we tested ($25 for 1.7 ounces), it’s a good high-end option if you’re concerned about protecting delicate fabric.” You can buy this online from Amazon (U.S).

I’d like to thank the Reviews.com team for sharing their research with me and for allowing me to post about it. ☺

If you’d like to see the full research and review then please click here