Louise Loves #12

Aldi Choceur Belgium Chocolate Waves

Do you remember those amazing Cadbury Snaps which were out a few years ago and discontinued?  Well I have rediscovered them in the form of Aldi's Chocolate Waves!  I bought these a few months ago and then forgot about them until I was in Aldi recently where I saw them again.  They are so tasty!!  I have had the milk chocolate, caramel and mint (which are dark chocolate) and I think they also do hazelnut.  My favourite is probably caramel but they are all so good.  Warning - highly addictive!

Brianna's Poppy Seed Dressing

A farm shop and cafe local to me in Scotland uses Brianna's salad dressings which are all quite unusual and unique favours.  My favourite is the Poppy Seed and I decided to splash out and buy it for myself from the shop, but I have seen them in Asda before as well.  It wasn't cheap at nearly £4 but I decided it would be worth it because it keeps in the fridge unlike the ones I normally buy from Morrisons so even though they are only about £1, I use them twice then need to bin them after 5 days.  It has a really usually flavour, quite sweet and creamy but then the poppy seeds give it a kick.  Despite the creaminess it is actually vegan!

Orange is the New Black

[source]

I am definitely late to the party with this one!  OITNB wasn't something that really appealed to me but eventually so many people were talking about how good it was I thought I'd give it a try (after unexpectedly finishing OUAT on Netflix!).  It wasn't what I expected at all and am loving it, it's different from anything I have watched before.  I have just started season 3, oh my god, that season 2 finale!!

Public Desire Summer Boots

I only discovered Public Desire recently through girls at work and they have some amazing shoes at decent prices!  I am usually in a pair of chelsea boots so I thought I would try out something similar but more summery.  I went for Amira Ankle Boots in Beige and Priscilla Heeled Boots in Black which are £29.99 each but I got 10% off for signing up to their newsletter.  The higher heel was a bit of shock for me, and driving was a bit of a struggle (got some flats in my car now!) but they are pretty comfy in general, the black pair slightly more so.  I do find it quite amusing that although they both have zips on the outside, the actually functioning zip is on the inside ha!  I just hope the beige ones don't get too messed up, I have used Crep Protect on them so fingers crossed.

<3

Louise Loves #10

Back in 2012 (oh my god *faints*) I did a weekly series called Louise Loves where I just shared a few items that I was enjoying at the time.  I thought I would resurrect this series again - 3 years later... - as it's fun to do and I love reading similar posts.  I'm not sure whether this will be weekly, fortnightly, or what yet, I'll just go with the flow and see what happens!

Once Upon A Time

[source]

Recently Netflix added Once Upon A Time which was a series I started watching years ago on LoveFilm until they took it off so I was really excited to see it!  I've started watching it a few episodes in a sitting, which is the normal way to watch Netflix, right?!  I'm currently on episode 21 and really enjoying it so far.  It sounds quite childish when explaining the storyline to people but it is far from it, it's really quite dark and sinister at times!  I've got 5 series to get through and it's still going so it should keep me busy for a while!

Nando's Creamy Mash

Normally when I go to Nando's I get chips or spicy rice - or both.  However I recently tried the creamy mash for the first time after hearing someone saying it was really good, and oh boy, it's really good!  It's probably majorly unhealthy and full of cream and butter but it's definitely worth it!  I could just eat a whole bowl of it, mmm!!

White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water

I blogged about White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water recently and you can read my full review here.  It smells amazing and feels so fresh and cleansing on the skin.  I will definitely repurchase and look forward to trying other products.  You can get this from the Etsy shop here.

Have you got anything you are loving recently?  Share your links in the comments!

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White Rabbit Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water

White Rabbit is a cruelty free and vegan skincare company, all handmade in Scotland.  I've known the founder for ages through Twitter and it's been great seeing her business grow!  I wanted to try some bits for a while but I had to wait until I'd finished up another skincare items otherwise they end up not getting used and going to waste...

Click read more to see my thoughts on one product in particular.

Beefayre Rhubarb & Raspberry Candle

When I was offered the chance to try something from Beefayre I was thrilled as although I hadn't heard of the company, after some quite googling I knew it was right up my street.  Beefayre was developed by artist Sharon Jervis and her son after visiting beekeepers in Romania.  The products are handmade in England using high quality ingredients, avoiding any petroleum by-products.  They also donate 3% of their profits to bee conservation and research which I think is brilliant! 

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

I feel like I spend a lot of timing looking for a mascara which works for me!  I've not been particularly excited about any since they discontinued the Bourjois one I loved - there are cruelty free disputes about them now however so it's probably not a bad thing.  

When I went to Paris in June we obviously had to go to Sephora so I thought I'd splash out a bit and try a Too Faced mascara as I'd heard good things about them.  There were a couple to choose from and in the end I went for Better Than Sex.  

It's the biggest tube out of all the range and it's really quite heavy and chunky actually, I'm not sure if it's supposed to remind us of some sort of vibrating sex toy or if that's just me being dirty minded!  Anyway... moving on, as you can see from the photos below, it's also got a huge brush.  You can't see it all that well but it's twisted and in an hourglass shape.

Below are some photos to show the effect of the mascara.  In the first one I have no make up on at all, then for the next two I applied foundation, concealer, brow pencil and finally the mascara.  Please ignore the drunk look in the middle one, my eye kept blinking haha!  I think mascara works really well at both lengthening and curling the lashes - I didn't even curl them before this.  

I am loving this mascara, definitely the best one I've used in a long time!  It lasts all day and I've not had any problems with flaking.  However, I normally don't wear mascara on my bottom lashes so I think it would transfer if I did, as every other non-waterproof one does, but I wanted to show it applied in the photos.  

What's also great is that removal is easy and comes off quickly with my Body Shop Camomile Eye Makeup Remover.

The only negative I have come across with this is that I seem to always get it on my eyelids which isn't something which happens with other mascaras!  I think it might just be because it's such a huge brush which I'm not used to, so hopefully I'll get to grips with it soon...

I would definitely repurchase this however it seems to be really popular and sold out almost everywhere at the moment!  As I mentioned above, I bought it in Paris and it was about 23€, and from what I can find online I think it's £19 here which isn't too bad.  Boots and Debenhams both stock Too Faced but are out of stock online, however BeautyBay are selling it here for a bit cheaper at £16.91 with free delivery.

I would like to try the Better Than False Lashes which has nylon fibres you apply in between coats but this is £32 so maybe once I have a bit more money...

<3

The Body Shop Mini Haul

This is my first online purchase since moving - no internet for nearly 2 months saved me a fortune! - and I got it delivered to my work as well which was pretty exciting!  Didn't buy a huge amount but thought I'd share it anyway.

Thirsty Hands Moisture Gloves - I have a pair of moisturising socks which work really well so I wanted to try the gloves.  My hands as they've become quite dry recently and will probably only get worse going into Autumn and Winter!  My first impression of them is that they are really quite tight and I have relatively small hands, I'd imagine they'd stretch but maybe wouldn't be very comfy on bigger hands!  They do however feel lovely and soft; and they're also made from organically grown cotton and support Craft Aid which is a textiles business which aim to provide employment for people with disabilities in Mauritius. £7

Camomile Gentle Eye Makeup Remover - This is my favourite eye makeup remover at the moment - you can read my review here.  I'm almost halfway through my current bottle so I've bought this new one so I can have one in my flat and one back Home. £8/250ml

Satsuma Hand Cleanse Gel - I've got this in the mango fragrance which smells really good which I kept in my bag but I'm now keeping it at my desk instead so I needed a new one for my bag.  I went for satsuma which was a bit risky as I'm a bit fussy with citrus scents but luckily it smells nice! £2.50/60ml

I got all of this for about £12 as I used the voucher code "RIPE" to get 30% off 3 items, or you can get 40% off 5 items!

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Lush Secret Garden Bath Bomb

I'm quite delayed with this one as it's from the Easter/Mother's Day collection but due to the move I hadn't had a bath in a few months (not in the food and there was also a leak...)!  So for the first bath in my new flat I decided to use Lush's Secret Garden.  It has a floral - as you would imagine - of rose absolute, wild orange and rosewood oils.

When I dropped it in the water, it started to fizz away and as the green and pink mixed, it made the water a very dubious grey colour!  However as there is more green in the bomb, it soon took over and the water was a much nicer shade of green!

As it reached the end of it's life, I realised it was spluttering (yes, actually spitting them out!) out some little flower petals!  I did know this at the time but after a few months I'd forgot so I was slightly alarmed to see black things floating around my until I realised what they were... I do enjoy petals but these were a bit odd to be honest, there wasn't many and some just looked like bit of dark mush!  I have seen it compared to Tisty Tosty which also has petals in it but I haven't tried it to say for myself.

The smell of it was pleasant but I would've liked it to be a bit stronger.  If you like floral scents but only quite subtle ones then this would be ideal for you.

Overall I did enjoy the experience of using Secret Garden but not going to bother repurchasing if they bring it out again next year.  I think it was £2.50 which is fairly cheap for Lush, and it's also vegan.

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Dinner at Chiquitos

At some point before I moved down to Manchester, Chris and I went on a wee date to Chiquitos and I thought I'd share my meal with you and do a mini review!

We started off with a plate of nachos to share - it was just the normal size though not the bigger one.  They came with cheese, salsa, jalapeños, sour cream and guacamole with some green stuff sprinkled on top?!  Coriander maybe?  They were really good but there was something else which had a funny flavour to it, a bit of a minty edge which was unusual, we weren't sure what it was!

For the main course I had roasted vegetable fajitas which were pretty epic!  It was two huge skewers of vegetables with more underneath then on another plate were your sauces and wraps.  If you ran out of any of those they would refill for free which I think is great.  We both got a couple more tortillas but I still couldn't finish my veggies.  There were green and red peppers, red onion, sweet potato and courgette I think?  Chris got chicken fajitas which were a similar layout but actually looked less than mine!

We also got sweet potato fries which were really good, we added them into our wraps haha.  We probably shouldn't have got these as we had so much food already, and if I known I'd have sweet potato in my fajita skewers I probably wouldn't have bothered.

For both our meals and drinks it was about £40 which I think it quite a lot considering it's more tex mex rather than an authentic mexican restaurant but I would still go back on occasion.

What's your favourite Mexican restaurant?  I went to Pancho Villas once and I'd really like to go back there.

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Homemade Veggie Nandos

Nando's seems to be a bit of a love or hate thing, some people are obsessed and others think it's rubbish and overrated.  I am part of the 'love it' category which probably sounds crazy to some people seeing as Nandos is a chicken restaurant and I don't eat chicken...  But if you actually look at the menu, yes there's loads of chicken, but there's also loads of veggie options!  For example, for the main meals you have bean burger, veggie burger or portobello mushroom and halloumi...  The one I always get is the latter, usually in a burger with chips and spicy rice.

However one night I was lying in bed and had this sudden amazing idea - to make a homemade Nando's using Quorn?!  So the next night my boyfriend and I were cooking dinner so we decided to have a go at this and see how it would turn out.

We went to Asda and picked up the following ingredients:

Quorn 6 Chicken Fillets
Nando's Peri-Peri rub in Medium
Nando's Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce
Nando's Chip Salt
Asda Seasoned French Fries
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Pitta bread (we got the giant ones)

1. We started by turning on the oven for the chips and rolling 4 chicken pieces in the spice rub.
2. Put some chips on a tray and sprinkle some chip salt over them.
3. Heat olive oil in a griddle or frying pan then place in the 4 chicken pieces.
4. Fry the Quorn on both sides until cooked through, adding in more of the spice mix if desired.
5. Toast the pitta bread in toaster or under the grill to heat them up.
6. Assemble everything on the plate - 2 pieces of Quorn, lettuce and sauce in the pitta, then chips at the side with more chip salt over the top.

It was sooo good!  Far too spicy though, when we made it the second time we used the Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri rub and it was so much better, didn't burn my tongue off!  My boyfriend hadn't tried Quorn before and he said he really enjoyed it and couldn't tell it wasn't real meat.

Have you got any good meat substitute recipes?  The Nandos products are also suitable for vegans so it could quite easily be adjusted for a vegan diet too.

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Birthday Celebrations at Òran Mór

On Febraury 4th it was my dad's birthday so to celebrate went to the cinema (Jack Ryan: Shadow Agent) and then to Òran Mór for dinner.  The Òran Mór is a bar/restaurant converted church at the top of Byres Road, Glasgow.  We'd never been there before so weren't quite sure what to expect!  We ate in the main bit which is also the bar, called the John Muir Room.

For starters, my mum and I shared nachos which came with salsa, cheese, jalapeños, creme fraîche and guacamole.  The plate was huge!  I am so glad we shared as if I'd ate that alone I wouldn't have managed much for the main meal.  It was amazing, definitely one of the best nachos I've had - especially because they come with guac, yum!!

My dad had vegetable pakora which I didn't try but he seemed to enjoy them.  Also a good size portion!

For my main course I had Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Red Onion Salad with a side of chips.  I didn't feel like anything too heavy so I went for this, but got the chips for a bit of substance!  The chips are honestly amazing, I love big chunky homemade ones which still have the skin on.  They also came with garlic mayo which is probably my favourite dip ever!  The salad was nice but I found it too much to have as a main course, I'd prefer a smaller portion as a starter given the choice.

My mum had a Salmon Burger.  We've never come across a salmon burger before so weren't sure what it would be like but she said it was really nice.  It came with chips, salad and sort of salsa sauce.

My dad had a Beef Burger which also came with chips and some salad.  He said it was a really good quality homemade burger - it's made with 100% Scotch Steak Mince.

Here is a link to the Òran Mór's website and this is link to the menu for the John Muir Room.

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Empties #13

I seem to have managed to use a different font in the above photo to the last few empties photos... odd...  Anyway, here we are again - 5 items plus a wee sample included too.

Christmas is so soon now, it's scary!  I'm dreading it this year though as it's the first (and hopefully last!) Christmas I'll have spent working full time in retail.  Retail + Christmas = Hell.  Sadly I will be working Boxing Day, I'm so gutted, however I've managed to avoid it for the past few years so it's probably my turn anyway!

St Ives Apricot Scrub

Thoughts: I've literally had this for years so I finally decided to get rid of it.  I've had heard some things said about the particles being too rough for your skin and also Caroline Hirons saying never to use a scrub on your face anyway, use an exfoliating toner instead!  Good riddance!

Cruelty-free?: Unknown, doubtfully.

Repurchase?: No.

Lush Eau Roma Toner Water

Thoughts: I love this stuff, it's so refreshing and because it doesn't contain any alcohol or chemicals it doesn't dry out my skin or make it feel tight.  I use it after an exfoliating toner (REN Clarifying Lotion) to rehydrate my face.  This is my 3rd bottle of Lush's toner water and I've already bought myself a big bottle of Breath of Fresh Air.  £3.95/100g here. Vegan.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Yes.

Neal's Yard Remedies White Tea Enriching Facial Mask

Thoughts: I got this free sample when I bought NYR eye make up remover a few months ago.  I managed to get two uses of of the tiny wee tube which is pretty good, however it really didn't 'wow' me at all.  £25.75/50g here.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

ELF Translucent Matte Powder

Thoughts:  I've been trying to finish this for ages actually!  I decided that as it's nearly finished I would use it until the end of the week and then get rid of it.  It was an okay powder but not very translucent - it definitely had some colour to it which is unfortunate.  £3.73 here.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Dry Shampoo

Thoughts:  I received this as a PR sample along with some other items from the Luxurious Volume collection.  It worked okay but definitely not as good as Batiste and it had a quite a strong aerosol smell to it.  It was as if there wasn't enough powder coming out the the spray as I had to use quite a lot to see any effect.  I don't even know how much this is because I can't find it on the Boots or Superdrug websites...

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

Dove Beauty Care Body Wash Cream Oil

Thoughts:  I've been trying to use up my large collection of non-CF shower gels and moisturisers that I've collected over the years and I've definitely made a good dent in it!  This came in a set of two where the other one was Silk Glow and it was lovely however this one was nowhere near as nice.

Cruelty-free?: No.

Repurchase?: No.

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The Vegan Kind Box #1

[via with permission]

As soon as I heard about The Vegan Kind box being launched, I knew I had to sign up!  Even though I am not vegan - more a fussy pescatarian - but the idea of getting a box full of 100% cruelty free items really appealed to me.  I always said, if someone made a cruelty free beauty box I would sign up in a heartbeat so although this is more a lifestyle box, it's good to know if any beauty items are included they will be vegan and cruelty free.  Other than the fact it sounded great, I also found out it was started by one of my Scottish blogger friends Karris, so I wanted to support her in her amazing venture.

My box arrived on Monday which was a pretty quick delivery but I live relatively close to her in comparison to the rest of the UK so that could have been a factor.  Luckily my dad was in to get it off the postman - this bad boy would definitely not fit through your letter box!  The box is enormous compared to any other monthly boxed I've seen!

Inside, at the top there were a few sheets of paper including a lovely little welcome newsletter introducing themselves, a list of all the samples and a recipe card.  Every month there will be a recipe card in the box and on month 3 you get a binder to store them in - so cute!!  Also, since the box is based around helping animals, each month 10p from every box will be donated to a different animal charity which I think is such a lovely gesture.  Then underneath are all the goodies:

1. Crystal Spring 50g Salt of the Earth Travel Deodorant (unisex) This is applied to damp skin and leaves a thin layer of natural mineral salts on the skin which prevent the formation of body odour.  Personally I prefer antiperspirant rather than deodorant but I am intrigued to try this, perhaps keep it for less busy days though! link
2. Clearspring Organic Miso Bouillion Paste - Concentrated Vegetable Stock You probably would associate miso with Japanese food but this can be used in the place of any other stock in soups and stews.  I've been making a lot of soups recently so I'm looking forward to trying this out instead of my usual Knorr cubes! link
3. Living Naturally Soapnut Sample Bag This is probably one of my favourite items from the box simply because of how bizarre they sound!  Soapnut shells can be used instead of detergent in your washing machine even though they are a fruit, what?!  They can be used a few times before being composted and they are 100% natural with no chemicals in them at all.  They are also naturally conditioning so you don't need to use fabric softener either.  I am quite excited to try them actually - how sad am I?? link
4. Goody Good Stuff Fizzy Sweets 25g One thing I did miss when I stopped eating gelatine (in sweets, not raw... gross) was jelly sweeties!  I can get some from Tesco but I'm quite far away from one and there's only a couple of flavours I like, they're also only suitable vegetarians not vegans.  Needless to say, these did not last long!  They are very sour, and very fizzy!  I didn't love the flavour but only cos I'm not a massive fan of cherry but other than that they were comparable to Haribo!  I'll definitely be looking out for these and hopefully try different flavours, as they're available in places I have nearby like Asda and Waitrose. link
5. The Vegg 1.56oz This is more for the actual vegans as it's an egg yolk replacer, however I do plan on trying the french toast recipe on the front - I'll need to buy soya milk to make it with first haha!  It's great to know these products are out there. link
6. QI Tea Samples Unfortunately I don't drink tea so I've passed these onto my parents to try! link
7. Koolbadges This was added in as a little bonus which is really cute!  Koolbadges is ran by a vegan married couple who are based in England.  They hand make all their badges and source everything from the UK to keep environmental impact to a minimum, and recycle everything where possible.  They supply badges worldwide with 6000 designs to choose from! link

So there you have it!  I won't be doing this for every single month as I know myself how tedious the beauty box type posts can be after a while... but I wanted to share The Vegan Kind's first box with you.  If you're interested in signing up the link to their website is here, and it costs £10 plus £2.99 P&P.

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Empties #10

I seem to have gone through quite a lot of products recently, it's not often I have one so soon after the last!  Also for a nice change, they're all cruelty free!

Organic Surge Blonde Boost Shampoo

Thoughts: No, I'm not exactly blonde but at the time on Naturissimo it was this one and another type which were available and the blonde one suited me best!  This was fine, SLS free which is good but still foamed well.  £5.99.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: I'd like to try other Organic Surge shampoos.

Organic Surge Blonde Boost Conditioner

Thoughts: No issues with this at all, worked well as a conditioner.  I found it so strange that although it cost £5.99 too you get a 50ml less than you do in shampoo!  However I still finished them both on exactly the same day, freaky!

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Same as above.

Lush The Comforter Bubble Bar

Thoughts: I love Lush's bubble bars and this is definitely one of my favourites.  It smells like blackberries and it's such a lovely, relaxing scent.  The bar itself is huge and you can get about 4 uses out of it, probably more if you cut it up in advance.  The Comforter is vegan.  £4.25 here. 

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Yes.

Montagne Jeunesse Juiced Orange Body Wash

Thoughts: The lovely girls at Beauty Without The Beasts included this little sachet in a goody box they sent me a while ago.  I hadn't tried any of Montagne Jeunesse body washes before and it was quite nice, but I'm not a huge fan of orange scent so I wouldn't buy it myself.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

The Body Shop Green Apple Bath & Shower Gel

Thoughts: I love apple scented things but I was a bit disappointed by this to be honest.  It was a very artificial scent and it actually reminded me more of Apple Sourz rather than actual apples - which isn't the best when you're showering with a hangover, boke.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No.

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Cruelty Free Online Shopping Guide

Over the past year or so I have come across a few great websites which specialise in stocking only cruelty free products.  It allows you to browse in confidence and come across new brands or ones you might not have heard of before.  I thought I would make this list to display them all in the one place, and I'll also link in the Cruelty Free Brands page above, so you know where to find it if you're looking for it again.

CutECOsmetics is probably my favourite website from the list, it's so beautifully displayed and easy to use.  I've also worked with them a couple of times and they are lovely!  You can also specify if you only want to view vegan products or organic products which is great.  Some brands they sell are Butter London, Amie, Inika, Lily Lolo, Neve Cosmetics and OCC.

The next website is Cocktail Cosmetics, personally I haven't bought anything from them but they do stock loads of brands like Yaby, Sugarpill, Lime Crime, Sigma and NYX.  I remember this website from before they had a makeover and it said that all the brands were PETA certified which I don't actually trust alone, so if you're like me or not sure about any of them then maybe just contact the brand directly first.  I'm not sure whether that is still how they work but just to let you know!

Next up is Amarya which is a natural and organic (mostly skincare) beauty site, and I tweeted them yesterday to ask about cruelty free products and they said that is their main concern and all brands are cruelty free.  I haven't bought anything from them yet but I am going to buy a Dr Hauschka deodorant today - ooooh exciting!!  They stock brands like Balance Me, Antipodes, Lavera, Weleda and Neom; and they also offer a beauty box which is pretty cool!  EDIT: Now called LoveLula.

Ruffle No Feathers is the most recent of these websites, it only launched a few weeks ago!  They only stock brands which are BUAV Approved which is fantastic - no need for double checking!  Some of the brands included are Bulldog, SpaRitual, Buddha Beauty and BM Beauty.  They also do Astonish who sell cruelty free household cleaning products like dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, various cleaning sprays...

Naturisimo is one I forgot about, and I have actually used it to buy Organic Surge shampoo and conditioner!  They are quite similar to Amarya but have some different brands, however be careful as   I know they sell Caudalie who aren't cruelty free.  Some of the brands Naturisimo stock are Pai, Bodhi, Bellepierre, Green People and Tisserand.

~

So these are the websites I know of so far, if you know of any others I should check out then let me know.  I will update this post if and when I come across others!

<3

WishyWashy Soaps | Strawberry Sparkling Santa

This is the second product I've used from the lovely bundle I received from Alex at WishyWashy Soaps, see them all here!  Again like all her other items, this soap is cruelty-free, paraben-free and SLS-free!  As the name suggests it is a strawberry scented festive soap, with a coating of glitter on the top.  I absolutely love the smell of this, it smells like strawberry jelly, like the really concentrated stuff you dissolve in water first...  I don't actually eat jelly because it has gelatine in it and to be honest I never really liked the taste, however I do love the smell!  This guy costs £2.

The layer of glitter on the top also acts as an exfoliant for the first couple of times you use it which is an added bonus.  It's only one on side so you can just use it on specific areas then use the other side as a normal soap.

There is also a Lavender and Chamomile Twinkling Angel soap in the Seasonal collection.  I've only just started using this one but it's got the same formula as Santa and it's got a nice relaxing scent.  I do prefer the Santa one, only because I prefer fruity smells in general anyway.

These are my ones that I was sent, they're just the cute wee sample sizes!  I would definitely buy the Strawberry Santa one for myself or as a present, they're such lovely stocking fillers for anyone who likes bath and body goodies.

[link]

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WishyWashy Soaps | Minty Skulls Peppermint Sugar Scrub

This is first item I've used from my lovely little collection of WishyWashy products (see them all here)!  As the title says it is a peppermint 'flavoured' sugar scrub - it is super cute and smells amazing!  All WishyWashy items are vegan, cruelty free, paraben free and SLS free!

These lovely scrubs are only £1.95 and I would say you could probably get up to three uses depending on how you use them.  I tend to use sugar scrubs on cellulite areas so upper thighs and bum, then as I'd ran out of my foot scrub I used it on them too.  I got two uses out of mine but I think I would have been able to get three if I'd split it accordingly before getting in the shower!

The scrub is quite squishy (I'm wanting to say chewy?? Maybe not eat it to find out though...) so you just need to run it under the warm water to get it into a nice paste which you then just rub into your skin.

I have found this a lot more user friendly than my normal Lush Sugar Scrub which I've basically given up on - it's so solid and takes a lot of work to break it down into something which won't take the top layer of your skin off...

[£1.95 from WishyWashy]

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Louise Loves #8

I have had quite a busy week.  I had my tattoo covering project to hand in for Monday but couldn't actually do the work for it until the Friday before (my concealers didn't arrive!), was babysitting 3 kids on Saturday, then on Monday I had a singing rehearsal - my friends and I are singing at the last Christmas concert in my old high school before it gets pulled down!  Anyway, I passed my tattoo project - yay! - and I am going to do a basic tattoo covering guide on here too which should be up tomorrow.  I mentioned last week that we are now onto Fashion Makeup at college, so we started with a smokey eye, and I'm pleased to say my model did not end up looking like she'd been punched!

I'm afraid this week's favourites are fairly boring but never mind, enjoy!

River Cottage Veg Everyday! Cookbook

I bought this book from The Works a couple of months ago as someone (maybe my auntie?) had said it was really good.  So far we have made quite a few things from it.  Last night we made a spinach spoufflé (soufflé with pasta in it!) which was really tasty and you can also replace the spinach with courgette for a different flavour.  The night before that we had tomato and mozzarella risotto.  I noticed that beside some titles there is a V and it took me a minute to realise that that must mean vegan, so it will be interesting to try out some vegan dishes (my dad will be disgusted!).
[£12.50 from Amazon]

Lush Northern Lights Soap

I did a short post on this along with my Lush soap storage a while ago, but I think I will do a review of it quite soon by itself.  This is probably my favourite soap full stop, I just love the smell and the colour of it, it's so bright!  Oh and apologies for the stock photo, I tend to avoid them but my one is not looking attractive right now haha!
[£3.25/100g from Lush]

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WishyWashy Soaps | Vegan, SLS & Paraben Free

Just a quick wee post to share a company with you.  WishyWashy are a handmade soap company who are cruelty free and all the items they sell are vegan and also don't contain SLS or parabens which is fantastic!

Alex, who runs WishyWashy, and I had been following each other on twitter for a while and then not long ago she kindly offered to send me some bits to try and and review on here.  I told her my skin type and let her choose the items.  Shortly after I received a very generous parcel full of goodies!  She not only sells soaps, but bath bombs, scrubs, facial washes and hair products.  They are very reasonably priced, the soaps starting at about £2.

I haven't tried anything yet as the majority of them are soaps which I will use when I'm finished my current one.  However, I wanted to show you the items anyway, have a look at the website and maybe even make a purchase if you like the sound of anything!  Then in due course I will put up reviews of all the bits.

All of these are soaps apart from the open green one on the top left which is a complexion care soap, and the white skull on the bottom left which is a sugar scrub.  Although I've not tried them yet I have had a good sniff and some of my favourites so far are the Love Spell (based on a Victoria's Secret fragrance - the mustard coloured one above the sugar scrub) and the Strawberry Sparkling Santa (the small red Santa... self-explanatory!).

I am looking forward to trying these!

Website: www.wishywashy.org.uk

Follow them on Twitter

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