Sukin's Everyday Shampoo and Condtioner

First and foremost - I am a terrible blogger. I have not posted anything in over a month! Don't worry I haven't died - I have an excuse. I am in my last few months of my degree and have so much work to do, that adding a blog post on top actually terrified me. I just feel like I don't have the time. Don't worry though, this summer I am dedicating myself to writing, and you should (emphasis on the should) see much more of me.

My Sukin 500ml bottles, feat.
Seascape Island Apothecary Unwind Body Wash 
from my March Lovelula Beauty Box

Anyway, back to the real reason I'm posting.

Let's fade back to February time. I went to TKMaxx, as is a regular jaunt for me, and decided to walk to my favourite part - the makeup section. I love going there, it always has cruelty free and vegan brands for the cheap. No idea about you, but I love cheap makeup! Not only do they have makeup, but they also have vegan hair products!

One of the brands that they always stock is Sukin, one of my favourite brands for affordable vegan cosmetics. They're an Aussie brand, of which I am currently also using their Super Greens Nutrient Rich Facial Moisturiser - I'll be honest, it used to sting when my face was really dry but now, it actually feels amazing and my skin feels amazing.

Mid-Shower pictures! Left is the Shampoo
Right is the Conditioner. 

The Shampoo and Conditioner are part of their everyday set, because I do wash my hair every day. The Clarifying Shampoo and Nourishing Conditioner are exactly that. My hair feels amazing. It was a bit of  a struggle to figure out how much of each to use, and for a few days I did have slightly greasier hair.
It's still aloe vera based, like the one I was using before, but Sukin is a 100% vegan brand which I feel much happier using. Aloe Vera is really good for my hair, if I don't use aloe in it my hair becomes quite dry and frizzy at the bottom - now it curls properly and feels very soft. Not only that but my scalp doesn't itch as much as it did - I am unfortunately a person with dry skin and greasy hair.

As someone who has dyed hair, this shampoo is glorious and I will be buying more the next time I venture into TKMaxx (it's thankfully a product that is ALWAYS there).

Have you tried any Sukin? What's your favourite shampoo/conditioner - natural or your trusty drug store brand? Have you ever thought of switching it up before? Leave a comment below! 

February's Dr Organic Empties

I've recently (within the past few months) fallen in love with Dr Organics. I'm not an advocating the purely vegetarian products, I'm not sure who would want to put snail-gel on their faces. However, I love their aloe and tea-tree products, which have done wonders for my ezcema and folliculitis prone skin. I get all my products from Holland and Barrett, which is where I have linked you all.

Dr Organic Aloe Vera Shampoo and Dr Organic Aloe Vera Conditoner

Jamie Lannister and a large porcelain cat
protecting the products

Before I went cruelty-free I used to use Aussie's Mega Shampoo and Conditioner. This is because I wash my hair everyday; if I don't it feels greasy and lank, my head feels hot and bothered. I needed a cheap-ish shampoo and conditioner that didn't weigh my hair down and made it feel cleansed and refreshed. Not only does it feel clean, it also helps add some moisture back to my dyed hair - especially if I've just dyed it. I am naturally a dark blonde, but I like being lighter. This combo makes my hair feel normal, and not ratty and dry like it would do normally.
It's also very good at making my hair lie flat. When I was younger I had very curly hair, which fell out to just waves (and some curls around my face). This shampoo and conditioner combo makes those curls turn to gorgeous waves, and I really like the way my hair looks with it.

Dr Organic Tea Tree Skin Lotion

This lotion has been a life saver for my whole body. Yes, it may smell to high heaven - I didn't expect it to smell that tea-tree-y - it's helped to reduce the ingrown hairs and nasty red lumps I have. Tea-tree is antibacterial, and this stuff works much better than the stuff my doctor prescribed. It also leaves my skin feeling moisturised, which keeps my ezcema happy. Though I still do have some dry patches on my collar bones, the rest of my body feels pretty darn good. I'm not sure what else to say about this product, other than if you also suffer with dry skin and the occasional infection in that or otherwise, I really suggest picking up a bottle of this. In Holland and Barrett, they tend to be buy one get one free.

My next shampoo and conditioner buy are the Sukin Purifying Shampoo and the Nourishing Conditioner. I got mine from TK Maxx, but they sell them in Holland and Barrett too. Once I've used them, I'll give you my first impressions.

Have you tried any Dr Organic products? Which is your favourite? If not - why? Leave a comment down below! 

My Winter Holiday Reads 2017

My mother treated me to a holiday away in Fuerteventura earlier this month (Jan 2017) and I thought I would let you all in on the books that I read!
As an aside, the books I read were slightly varying in themes but were very easy to read. No one wants a tough pool-side read, and I didn't feel like testing myself while trying to relax.

Tracey Chevalier, The Lady and the Unicorn,
Harper Collins Publishing, 2003

 Book one for the holiday was The Lady and The Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier. I took this on holiday as a loan from my Creative Writing tutor, Jennifer. She gave me this because it related to my project for this year.
It's a multi-person narrative, which is based around the tapestries of the same name, which are created by the ambitious artist Nicolas des Innocents for Jean le Viste (who is the only man that history can place these tapestries in the hands of first). The book openly talks about sex and relationships, with lines such as 'That night I dreamt of a strip of tapestry with Claude's face on it and woke sticky. That had not happened in some time' (p. 149) or 'And there was Marie-Céleste - I might have to plough her just to be rid of her' (p. 154).
I give this book a solid 4/5 kittens. The changing narrative could be a little jarring, and I wanted to see more from the other characters. However, I absolutely loved it! Highly recommend.

Book numbers two and three were the original diary-form romance of Bridget Jones' Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, by Helen Fielding. I obviously have nothing bad to say about these books. They're tried and tested romances, and I liked them. I found it hard to not see Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, so was very much routing for him throughout. They were hard to put down. I'm not looking forward to reading the next two, as I know they aren't as good. 4/5 kittens - come on, it's Colin Firth!

Book number four was Consequences, by Aleatha Romig. I'm honestly not sure where to start with this book. If someone, the real life Claire, actually went through this I hope that they get a huge amount of counselling and that if Tony were a real man he would be in jail. Although I was shaking my head for a lot of the novel, I still found myself feeling happy with Tony showed his love for Claire. I think I'm just a hopeless romantic. I've had to download the rest of the books (all four of them) onto my kindle, because I have to finish this series and see where it actually goes. 2.5/5 kittens.

What books do you read on holiday? What did you think of the books I read? Have you read any of them before? Leave a comment down below! 

The Year in Review - 2016

2016...what a year, 'ey? Countless celebrities have died, my degree ran into it's final year and I started to lose weight, (for real this time).
In the second half of 2016, I decided to; lose some weight, begin to use vegan friendly / green beauty products and to begin to feel happy with my body.
An extra gift for me was to become an Aunty to a gorgeous little girl called Poppy.

Losing weight was the hardest - I just couldn't work out how to shed the pounds. Without the help of my dear mother, I wouldn't have decided that the best way for either of us to try and lose our tummies was Slimming World - this is no means a sponsor for them, just me telling you all that it worked for me. I can proudly say that since the end of November, I have lost nearly a stone in weight. For me, that's an amazing amount of weight, and I am now lighter than I have been in a good few years.
On the 7th of Jan 2017 (4 days from this post) I am going on holiday for the first time in 3 or 4 years. And I am excited to show off my trimmer tummy in the bathing costumes I have. I am very excited.

I feel so much happier with my makeup choices. My face may have broken out currently (damn the weather), but the makeup I have has made my sensitive and angry skin pretty healthy. I hope that my breakouts and dry skin issues fix themselves a bit more when it gets warmer.
My fave products to date are Ooh! Cosmetics: Organic Baobab Rejuvenating Face Oil*, Dr Organic: Organic Aloe Vera Skin Lotion and Lush: Daddy-O. Review of my new favourite products is to come, don't worry - I can't wait to let you all know my faves!

This year I finish my undergrad, hopefully move onto a masters and attempt to keep dropping the pounds!
And I would love to take you to the next step of my journey.

This picture was taken during the Summer of '16, when my boyfriend
(@SilverMountMan) and I went to my family farm

How has your 2016 gone? Feeling optimistic for 2017? I'd love to know. Leave a comment in the box below! 

Winter Round Up 2016

First and formost - Happy Holidays/Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah/Other festive celebration to all.

I am currently at my Grandma's for the holiday, sans Internet (disclaimer: this was written on my phone so may look bad), so thought I would make a quick post before Christmas Day (and a longer one before New Years)

What a year 2016 has been. My blog was born mid year, after a good few months of dilly dallying. I just wanted to thank you all for your help with everything; ideas for posts, readership, critique and generally making me feel excited to share a post every time. Without you all I would have given up long ago.

Without further ado; here is my obligatory 'winter jumper selfie'.

Dealing With the Curse of Winter-Hands

When I was younger, I suffered terribly from dry and cracking hands. They were so bad, that I could barely move them. I was given some super greasy cream, and it went away. Ailment gone...or so I thought. To this day, when the weather gets cold - the tips of my fingers peel. If I let it carry on, I'd be a great burglar, because no one would see my finger prints.

It has thus happened again this year. I can tell it's there, because the skin on my hands catches on everything. It's only slight, but it's there, and it annoys me. Last time it happened, my first plan was to moisturise; put on untold amounts of hand cream. But that didn't work, and just made it very difficult for me to do anything, I could really only do that at bedtime.

My very dirty pot of 'Salted Coconut'

I was really stumped, I couldn't just leave it, it would get ten times worse. It wasn't until a chance trip into Lush (who am I kidding - I would spend my whole pay check there if I could), and a talk with one of the lovely people who work there, did I get any help. I was offered a sample of Salted Coconut hand scrub. I was a bit put off at first, I was just worried it would really hurt. Which it did. But obviously salt is an amazing way of getting rid of any infection, it's how I had kept my infected eczema at bay in the past, and is something that I am going to do again some times soon as it's gradually come back. I immediately went back and brought myself a pot.
The scrub is amazing. Within a day or two my hands were as soft as a baby's bottom; there was no catching on fabrics. I didn't need to moisturise them, because the scrub did that for me.

This year, when Winter-Hands came back, I knew exactly what to do. I still had my pot of Salted Coconut around, they last absolutely forever - mine's only just coming to the end, and slathered my hands in it. By slather, I only mean a small amount, as a little goes a long way. After that hand wash, the flakiness was gone and I had lovely and soft hands again.
It's got a weird smell though. Their website says it smells like gorse, and I don't know what gorse is meant to smell like, but it definitely smells like play-dough.

It lasts ages, but I need to get a new pot soon

I'm not the only one who sings Salted Coconut's praises either. My dear friend, Luke, gets much worse cracked and painful hands than I do. His whole hand can be dry and scaly. I took him to Lush and told him to buy a pot of it, don't even bother with a sample - it's so kind to skin, even though it scrubs, that I felt no guilt in not telling him to sample first. Within a few days his hands were much better. I'm not saying it's a miracle cure, but for once his hands weren't red and scaly, and were nice and soft.
But don't take it from me. Luke had this to say about it;

'During the colder months the weather does real damage to my hands. The skin becomes dry, cracked and weak. It's painful and a knock to one's self confidence. No other lotions or creams were working. I was recommended The LUSH Salted Coconut Hand Scrub, by Hannah. At this point I was willing to give anything a go. To my delight it works wonders. Just small amount is enough to exfoliate your hands. It's not the most comfortable product to use, it's very coarse. But, the end result is smooth hands that stay moisturised for a good few hours. The smell is present but not overpowering and it lasts a long time. All I have to do is to keep using it.'

Do you get cracked and painful hands? What's your No.1 go to product for it? Perhaps you've tried Salted Coconut and want to sing it's praises too, or perhaps it wasn't for you. Leave a comment in the box below!

Verulamium Spa Day

For my 21st birthday, I was given a voucher from buyagift by my Dad's friend. After searching high and low for an experience to do with it, I settled on a Spa Day for 2 at Verulamium Spa.
With my Mum in tow, we spent a day at the Spa together.

We spent an hour before our treatments trying out the spa, which is underneath the treatment rooms. It included things like 3 types of sauna, a steam room, a monsoon shower and a hydro pool. We had wanted to have a proper swim before using the spa, but had no idea how to get down to it, so gave up on the venture and attempted (and failed) to do a small amount of swimming in the hydro pool - bear in mind this pool was as big as a jacuzzi.

After spa-ing we had a light lunch at the bistro, because by 1pm we were hungry, and then had our treatments.
Mum had a head massage and a pedicure and I had a back massage and pedicure.

The oils were amazing, my back felt moisturised for days - which is a weird thing to think about when backs are notorious for being the hardest place to reach to moisturise by yourself. I have a bad lower back, I hurt it during a zumba session many years ago and have never had a day without a small twinge. Suffice to say, the massage hurt a lot there, but the day after I had no pain. In fact I hadn't had any pain until a week after, for me that's a massive plus. I wished it had gone on for longer, 25 minutes was not enough. Note to self - book a longer one next time.

After my massage I had a pedicure done. My feet aren't normally scaly or dry, but the winter kicking in has definitely begun to dry them out - hot to cold and vica versa is not good for my ezcema prone skin.
As you can see from the picture, I had my nails painted a black-purple, which has to be my favourite colour of this Autumn/Winter - as my mum had heard me say many times "I want a cardigan in this colour" (I am still waiting on that cardigan, hint hint).  
The colour still hasn't come off, and it's over a week later. Whenever I do my nails at home it lasts 3 or 4 days tops, so I am very happy with this.


While our nails dried, we had an afternoon tea of cake and cava. Most of which we had to bring home with us because we were so full.

I think all the products used were Caudalie or Clarins, the former being a CF brand and the latter sadly not being a CF brand. Obviously, this a point of contention for me (which is why I have linked Caudalie, and not Clarins), but I wanted to enjoy my day out with my mum so may have let it slide. The nail polish was from a brand called Jessica, which I hadn't heard of until we went to the spa, but with the amount of colour pay off I might have to invest.

Have you been to a spa recently? What treatments did you get? What would or wouldn't you recommend? Leave a comment down below!