The Vegan Kind Beauty Box

I had already subscribed to 'The Vegan Kind' before I met them at 'Vegfest' last month so I already knew what they were all about. For those of you who don't know, I shall explain. 'The Vegan Kind' send out monthly vegan lifestyle boxes for a fee of £10 plus postage and packaging. The box usually contains about six food items and one non food item, all Vegan and cruelty free. You shall hear more about the monthly subscription boxes after I have received my next box but this time I want to let you know about their beauty box which is updated every three months and costs £15 plus postage and packaging. I picked mine up for the reduced price of £13 at 'Vegfest'. Now I'm probably a little late with this one but it gives you an idea of the sort of items you can find.

So in this box I received six cruelty free beauty products and a description of each one. The first product I tried almost instantly on opening my box has to be my favourite out of all the items and that is the 'White Rabbit Lime and Coconut Cleansing Water' (RRP £4). This is very gentle on the skin but does it's job well. The lime essential oil contained within it has antiseptic, antibacterial, astringent and toning properties. It has a subtle citrucy smell which I like because it's not too over-powering when I apply it to my face. This now has pride of place in the bathroom cabinet with all my other favourite products.

My second favourite item in the box would have to be 'Simply Soaps Orange Cocoa Bath Melt' (RRP £4.50). It's made from raw cocoa butter and pure plant essential oils which soften the skin. I can't pinpoint any one particular scent with this but you can definitely detect the citrucy notes. I was hoping that it would smell a little stronger once in the bath but that didn't put me off. I love bath products that contain cocoa butter so I couldn't wait to give this a try. I placed it in the bath and swished it around until it had fully dissolved. I climbed in and out of the bath with care as the bath melt had made it extremely slippery but it left me feeling moisturised and very relaxed.

The 'Furless 'must have' Pro Stippling Brush (RRP £8.50) is suitable for applying liquids, mousses, creams, primers and powders. I stupidly haven't used it yet as it feels so soft and I don't want to ruin it. I know, I know... what's the point in having it if I don't use it! I will, in time but for now I just like looking at it in my make-up bag. 'Furless' are an Australian company that sell an array of different high quality synthetic make-up brushes, cruelty free make-up and nail polish. I looked up their WEBSITE and was very impressed.

Now I don't normally use eyeliner pencils, I prefer liquid eyeliner for ease of application but I was pleasantly surprised with 'Inika Black Caviar Eyeliner' (RRP £13.50) as I didn't have to press as hard as I normally have to with a regular eyeliner pencil. I don't know if anyone else has this problem, maybe I'm just extra sensitive or weird. I think I will actually give this a go on occasions so this product gets to stay in my make-up bag... lucky thing!

Last but not least I received not one but two fabulous 'Beautiful Movements Cosmetics Beauty Eyeshadow' 1g sample (RRP £3.50 each) which are apparently available nationwide at 'Holland and Barret.' These mineral eyeshadows are free from parabens, synthetic dyes and fragrances, fillers, bismuth, oxychloride, nano particles and animal products. The shades I received were 'Platinum Tiara' and 'Dusty Road' (so a gold and silver) ideal colours for the autumn and winter months, 'Dusty Road' particularly so at Christmas. I tried out both and really liked them but 'Dusty Road' was definitely my favourite out of the two because it seemed to stay on for longer and was more vibrant. Although I hadn't applied any primer beforehand which I will next time.

So for a £13 box that's usually £15 I didn't do too badly with all the products totalling to £37.50... a real bargain if you ask me even if you purchase the box at full price. They may have introduced the next box by now with new products so please don't purchase it expecting to get these items but I'm sure the next one will be just as good.

Veganuary

While I was at 'Vegfest' at the weekend one stall in-particular caught my eye so I went over to investigate. 'Veganuary' is set up to raise awareness of Veganism and living cruelty-free and urges people to go Vegan throughout the month of January 2015. After being reassured by a lovely lady who spent time explaining everything to me, I quite happily signed up. My only fear is slipping up, but I was told that it doesn't matter as long as you try to maintain a vegan diet as best as you can.

If you are a vegetarian looking for a challenge or even a meat-eater looking to change your eating habits I suggest that you sign up to 'Veganuary.' You will receive email's with information and recipes to help you. I am looking forward to finding loads more amazing Vegan products and blogging about my experience throughout January. Please follow me if you want to keep up with my posts.

London Vegfest 2014 Part 3

So here's the third and final instalment of my Vegfest posts. Apart from having a fab time checking out all the awesome stalls and stuffing my face I spent some time in the cinema area where they were showing some interesting documentaries. I had planned to watch one in-particular and that was 'Cowspiracy.' I had already watched the trailer a couple of weeks prior to the event and when I heard that they were showing it I wanted to make sure I got a good seat.

'Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret' is most definitely a must see, minus the distressing parts which I just couldn't bring myself to watch. You may want to look away during a certain part when they are talking about back-yard farming if you get around to watching it. Kip Andersen, co-producer/director of the film documentary does a heap load of research and discovers that animal agriculture is the leading cause of global warming and most of the other things that are going wrong in the world such as rainforest destruction and species extinction. It's incredibly eye-opening. Watch the trailer provided below.

I managed to catch a couple of comedians, one being the quirky and a little crazy Harriet Kemsley (look her up) and Vegan Smythe who writes and performs songs related to Veganism. He earned himself a standing ovation at the end of his very amusing set.

I should have made an effort to catch some more entertainment and talks, I suppose this is where a weekend ticket would have been useful. It's worth attending both days just to fit everything in. Overall I had a great time and can't wait to attend another 'Vegfest' event in the near future.

London Vegfest 2014 Part Two

There was a wide range of cooked food available at Vegfest, so as I was around from opening to closing I had both my lunch and dinner there. I tried my best not to fill myself up on chocolate samples because I had already had my heart set on a hot dog from 'Vegusto.' I wasn't disappointed, the hot dog was tasty and I was left happy and ready to venture on.

When I went to check out the stalls upstairs I discovered 'Big Fat Vegan Bakery'. There was a swarm of people around their stall so I went to see what all the fuss was about. When I feasted my eyes on some of their cakes I knew I had to have one. I chose the apple strudel and I loved it. Unfortunately 'Big Fat Vegan Bakery' is based in Bognor Regis, a little bit too far for me to travel for cakes but if I'm ever in the area I would definitely look them up.

Towards the end of the event I was feeling hungry again so I bought a Pad Thai at Bang Wok who were very enthusiastic when preparing their noodles. I liked it but didn't love it. I think it was because I was expecting it to taste like Wagamama but it didn't. The taste was a little sharp for my liking but it didn't stop me from scoffing the lot.

I wish I could have ate more as there were many stalls selling different types of food but I would have most certainly popped. So I took some photos of the food stalls instead.

London Vegfest 2014 Part One

Vegfest is a festival of all things vegetarian, vegan and cruelty-free and takes place annually in large venues around different parts of the country. I found out about it through word of mouth so I made plans to attend this year for the first time. I had heard good things about the many products they had to offer so I went prepared with my ruck sack in tow.

I arrived at London Olympia just before 10am for the 11am opening and realised I was third in the queue. Just half an hour later the queue was down the road and round the corner. Vegfest had grown in popularity and I could see why. I was overwhelmed by the abundance of stalls packed with food products, clothing, cosmetics and information. I was in heaven and I couldn't wait to explore.

I picked up a programme for £1 which gave me listings of everything that was happening. This became my bible for the day. I was also given a voucher to collect some Vegfest freebies which included Chia seeds, Love Beets beetroot juice and two items of my choice, Provamel almond drink and Bourne & Willis red cabbage. I do love a freebie and I'm looking forward to trying them out.

There were lots of free samples on some of the stalls so I took the opportunity to try some of the chocolate available which subsequently led to me purchasing a little (OK, a lot). I also tried some Sheese which was awesome. This was a new product for me as being veggie I hadn't experienced substitute cheese before, but I liked what I tasted. I must have gone around the stalls multiple times and I was still finding more products that I had missed.