Recent cruelty free nail/nail care purchases

I've decided to talk more about using cruelty free items. I've been on a mission for about 5 years now and about 95% of everything that comes into this house to use on my face, body, and for cleaning/laundry hasn't been tested on animals. Here are some recent nail care and nail polish purchases I've made.

I can't remember if I got these strengthening nail masques in a beauty box or if they were a gift. I wasn't expecting a lot from them as I can have an allergic reaction to anything, but they blew me away. You slip on the little pre-soaked covers and leave them on for 15 minutes then massage any excess goop into your nails and cuticles. It made my fingers and nails feel so soft and moisturised. I may buy a bunch of these and do one a week. Montagne Jeunesse are a PETA-accredited cruelty free company. Some companies are cruelty free but may not make PETA's cruelty free master list because PETA are very strict.

It gets a bit muddy here on out: companies who don't test on animals (like The Body Shop) are totally cruelty free, but sometimes their parent company (in this case L'Oreal) will perform tests on its other products. You draw your own line - I do use Body Shop products, but I wouldn't touch a L'Oreal product with a shitty stick. I totally understand if others choose to boycott an entire group, even its cruelty free sub-companies.  If you're a vegan it becomes even more complicated as even some cruelty free companies aren't fully vegan. Once you start caring about things like this you soon realise how complicated it is to have a conscience. I don't judge anyone who's trying to live a kinder life. It all makes a difference.

Recent cruelty free skincare/beauty purchases

Here are some recent cruelty free purchases I've made. I don't talk about cruelty free beauty items as often as I should - I've been on this CF thing for about 5 years but rarely talk about it as it's so normal to me now.

Any link with *AL written after it within this post is an affiliate link, which means if you click and buy from it I will earn a small commission.

Aldi don't test any of their own label products on animals, which includes their Lacura beauty range. The Lacura light-reflecting concealers are £2.99 each and I bought them from Aldi online with free delivery as they didn't have them in stock at my local store when I popped in. It's a repurchase as I love them. I bought two shades this time - Savannah and Cashmere. Cashmere is the lightest shade and I use it for my under eye area and for tidying up my brows after I've drawn them on. As it has bristles you can really fine tune with it. Savannah is for medium skintones and I got that to cover some darker marks I have on my face - melasma from the sun. This is the first time I got the darker shade. I've only had Cashmere before. It only comes in 3 shades which is a bit rubbish as there are so many shades of humans, and everyone deserves a chance to wear this great concealer. I hate that dark skins are left out of so many makeup products. The two shades I got are out of stock online in the UK now, so check in store.

Beauty | Collection Cosmetics Field Day

Hello lovely people,

A while back I won a competition on London Beauty Queen to bag the whole Collection Cosmetics Field Day Spring-themed makeup set. Collection was previously called Collection 2000 and is an affordable and cruelty free company.

My took a while to arrive (directly from Collection) and Hayley kept in touch brilliantly throughout, and when it arrived they'd popped in some extra bits to apologise for the wait.

Collection Cosmetics Field Day makeup collection

The Field Day collection is made up of 3 lipsticks, 3 nail polishes and 2 eye crayons. (They also popped in a lip balm, mascara and bronzer which aren't part of the Field Day line.)

The lipsticks are Pink Rose (matte, first lip swatch below) and Tulip (matte, 2nd swatch down) and Fuchsia (gloss, 3rd swatch down.) The lip balm is called Orange Burst, which is a moisturising glossy peach with some shimmer (last lip swatch.) I didn't test for longevity as I was swatching one after the other, but matte lipsticks always last longer on me than glossy ones. I'd expect to find about 3 hours wear from the matte shades and 2 from the gloss, as that's usually the case with most lipsticks on me. I don't mind re-applying though, as I love looking at my face. ;)

I need a 'tache wax!

The eye pencils are Summer Meadow (green) and Golden Sun (gold) and they do NOT budge easily at all. I usually avoid eye pencils as they normally crease and look awful on me. I did find with these that they settled into my eyes after about half an hour as my natural oils kicked in, and they needed a little top up of colour to be completely opaque, but after that they didn't move. No creasing, no disappearing act. Colour me impressed.

The mascara is a waterproof black lengthening mascara with a thin, flexible wand. The formula is quite dry, and gives that slightly crispy lashes look which is common in waterproof mascara. It's not the most lengthening mascara I've ever used, but I don't need any additional length anyway as my lashes already smudge my glasses all day long. It didn't clump, which I'm really impressed about. I hate clumpy mascara with a passion.

The bronzer is shade 2, medium and has fine shimmer. I used it lightly under my cheekbones. Check out all my freckles already! My gosh.

The polishes are Heather, a mushroom shade, Peony (pink) and Peach Blossom. I used 3 coats to get a fully opaque finish. I find Peony to have the best formula of the three. The other two were a bit streaky.

Boots seem to have the best availability of Field Day. Lipsticks £2.99. Eye pencils £3.19. Nail polishes £1.99. Obviously at these prices you're not getting MAC, but if you want to experiment with colour and not hurt any bunnies in the process, you can't go wrong.

Thanks for reading. Have you tried anything by Collection, or anything in the Field Day collection?

Leah xoxo

Disclosure: I won this.

Beauty | Sleek Makeup Blush by 3 in Pink Lemonade

Howdy!

Sleek Makeup is one of my favourite makeup brands. I love their pigmented products at pocket-friendly prices, their cruelty free status and their wide range of colours to suit almost all skin tones.

I find their blush products particularly good. A single blush is £4.49, but it's far more cost-effective to get a Blush By 3, three full sized blushers in a mirrored palette for just £10. They're available in 7 colourways on the website currently, and they're brilliant.

This blush palette is called Pink Lemonade, and has 2 powder blushes and a cream blush in the middle.

Now, there's some argument about the individual blush names on various different beauty blogs. Looking at the palette from underneath but facing up the shades read Pink Mint, Macaroon, Icing Sugar, which some blogs list L-R. But if you turn it over to look at it they read Icing Sugar, Macaroon, Pink Mint and some other bloggers have that order L-R. There's no clarification to be found on the website as the individual blush shades are named differently to in the palettes (I'm not even sure if all the colours in the Blush by 3's are available singly - some might be limited edition.) Bloody hell, whoever said makeup was simple?! I guess it doesn't matter, but to save confusion I'm going with on the left/the first shade - a gorgeous pink powder blush with fine sparkle. In the middle we have Macaroon, a gorgeous pink cream blush, and the third shade is a ruddy coral powder blush. My favourite of the three is the first colour, which makes me feel like I'm a 5 year old obsessed with princesses again.

Out of focus shot so you can see the sparkle in the first shade

The third shade looks a little daunting in the pan but it's actually quite lovely on - I'm wearing it here. (I'm also wearing green shades from the Sleek Original eyeshadow palette which I talked about recently.)

You can buy Sleek on their website, in selected Superdrug stores and on Superdrug.com. 

What are your favourite makeup brands?

Thanks for reading,
Leah xoxo

Ted Baker make up set

Hello lovelies,

I haven't done a Christmas presents post as I got mostly money this year, but I will be showing some of the things I got in various posts here and there. My brother and sister in law bought me this set for Christmas and I'm really rather taken with it, not just for the makeup in it, but for the storage I can use it for as well. I'm a sucker for pretty storage.

It's a lovely set with a magnetic lid with a mirror in it and a drawer underneath. It has 2 nail polishes, 2 face highlighters, a blusher/highlight and a kabuki brush, a lip crayon, a lipstick, 2 gorgeously creamy eye shadow sticks, a liquid eyeliner, a mascara and an eyelash curler.

The blusher it is doesn't really show up on my skintone at all but makes my skin really soft so that's a bonus. The kabuki is losing hairs at such a rate I think it'll resemble Bruce Willis soon. ;) The lip crayon and lipstick are both lovely shades of red, and the eyeshadow sticks are both super soft and sheeny without being too in-your-face. The eyeliner has a felt tip nib, and is rather wet - I dislike dry nibs as they drag on my ol' girl eyelids and I end up looking like I did my makeup sitting on a seesaw. The mascara seems to be basic with a small but very flexible brush. The facial highlighers are great. I haven't done any more than swatch as yet but so far I'm impressed. The packaging of the makeup itself is very plasticky and basic, and probably wouldn't hold up to being bashed about in a makeup bag for long, but I understand quality has to be compromised somewhat to make sets like these viable at Christmastime.

As luck has it, Ted Baker doesn't test on animals (according to PETA, who seem to be the best authority on such matters.) YES! Now I know this I will happily buy my friends and relatives TB goodies at Christmas. I just love it when big companies buck the trend and don't test on animals. There's really no need these days.

As you can see there's lots of room left in the box - with all the contents taken out of their plastic trays it all fits in the top part - so I look forward to stashing more makeup in the bottom. My makeup collection is currently partly in the living room in faux leather storage cubes under our coffee table (the cubes double up as footrests - heaven!) and partly in my IKEA Alex unit in the bedroom. The bedroom is very dark and I no longer have a dressing table so I do all my makeup in the living room at present - the light is so much better there too. I keep meaning to swap makeup out from my stash in the living room and pull some things out of the bedroom which haven't been used in a while, but I keep falling for new goodies from Makeup Revolution and buying new things instead. Aaaargh.

This also matches my lovely mirror my friend Rachel bought me.

Thanks for reading!
Leah xoxo

Old Wives Tail SOS Organic Anti-Hair Loss Oil Treatment*

Hiya!

A couple of weeks ago Lily from Old Wives Tail got in touch to let me know about her range of cruelty free, organic hair care treatments and asked if I would like to try one.

***2015 EDIT - the website is down and the Facebook page hasn't posted in months so I think Old Wives Tail is no more. ***

I had a look at the website and was impressed with Lily's ethos:

Old Wives Tail is a small hair care company selling handmade organic hair care products – absolutely no additives or chemicals. We aim to nourish your hair back to life the Latino way with our unique blend of oils. Our main lifetime goal is to eradicate animal testing in the beauty industry and 10% of our profits go to charities that save animals from being tested upon. Love your pets, love the environment and love your hair naturally with OWT!

I chose the SOS Organic Anti-Hair Loss Oil Treatment as my scalp is so dehydrated and has been ever since I've had Fibromyalgia. Here's what they say about it on the website:

A healthy scalp is vital for healthy hair growth. If you suffer from a dry, itchy scalp just a few drops of SOS will soothe, moisturise and soften your scalp to prevent hair loss. This 100% organic oil contains natural anti-bacterial agents that soothe and heal scalp infections and remove dead skin cells. SOS has stimulating properties that increase circulation and encourage healthy hair growth.

Product on - hair treatment before - amount used

I applied the treatment to my scalp and dry hair then spread the residue to the ends of my hair. It smells lovely - menthol, like Olbas Oil. Because I was thick with cold and throat infection when I used it it actually made me breathe better while I had it on. I put a towel on my head which had been roasting in sunlight in the sunroom and left it on for an hour. Then I shampooed my hair twice with two different shampoos to make sure all the residue had gone and dried my hair. I didn't feel the need for any conditioner afterwards as my hair felt moisturised.

Although I think the real results of this treatment will only become apparent after a few more uses, there were a few subtle differences as soon as my hair dried. My scalp was less tight, dry and scaly afterwards, and my hair was softer and less knotty. Even after the next shampoo it felt softer than usual and more tangle free. Because my scalp is so dry, I think I will need several treatments to improve my moisture level, but I have high hopes, and I would definitely repurchase this treatment.

The treatment was £13.99 for 100ml. I estimate I used 5-10 ml on my first treatment, so it will last quite a long time used as a weekly treatment.

There are other hair treatments on the website - both masks and oils - so have a look.

Thanks for reading!
Leah xoxo

*Product supplied for review. Opinions are honest and my own.

MeMeMe Cosmetics review part 2*

Hiya loves!

Here's part two of my MeMeMe Cosmetics review. Excuse my almost bare face in these photos - I was packing to go away in between taking the shots. It was about 28 degrees and I was melting!

Flawless Face Powder in Translucent

The face powder is a life saver for hot sticky days. I applied it on a day when I had a serious glow on and it absorbed shine and made me feel far less hot and bothered. In the winter months it may be too dark for me, but it suits my tanned skin perfectly at the moment. It has iron oxides, which are an inorganic sunscreen agent, although it doesn't say what level of SPF it might provide. It's enriched with silk and Vitamin E and comes in a heavyweight mirrored compact.

Long Lasting Gloss Polish in Vivacious

This nail polish dries phenomenally quickly - so much so I couldn't believe it. I love the colour and it has a wide, fan shaped plastic brush which really helps ease of application. I'm wearing 3 thin coats which dried virtually instantaneously. Love!

Long Wear Satin Lip Cream in Persian Pink

Look at that shine! In the bullet, the colour didn't appeal to me at all, but once on I fell in love with this. It's enriched with Vitamin E and Shea butter. Wear time for me is about 2-3 hours, which is average for me as I have quite moist lips.

This lipstick is also great. It has a purplish sheen to it which you can see in the tube in the photo above. The lipsticks smell gorgeous, a bit like vanilla and something else I can't put my finger on - I'll call it baked goods.

I absolutely love the lipsticks and nail polish and would say if you're going to try anything from MeMeMe, make it the lippies, the nail polishes or the baked eyeshadows. It's a thumbs up from me!

I'll be doing a couple of proper looks using some of these items in the next few days.

Do you like anything you've seen here?

Thanks for reading.
Leah xoxo

MeMeMe Cosmetics Swatches and review*

Hello lovelies!

Recently MeMeMe Cosmetics contacted me and sent me some items to try out. There are 8 items in total so I'm splitting it over 2 posts, one now and one this afternoon.

MeMeMe are based in Wiltshire and have a female team. They say: We formulate premium quality products that will always be as gorgeous as possible whilst performing at a standard you would find from only the best & most renowned cosmetic houses.

First impressions are that the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. It fills the gap between high end and high street, using simple but quality packaging with bit of artistic flair.

Blush Me in Pink

The blush is a very finely milled powder which comes in a box with a mirrored lid and brush. It's very similar in colour to my rosy cheeks so it might work better on someone without my very high colouring and freckles. The swatches you see here is the result of heavy swipes of product. The powder is so finely milled it floats off the brush, but if you persevere you won't find it highlights your pores as it's so fine. This would be best suited to very fair complexions and those wanting a very minimal look.

Lip and Cheek Tint in Cupids Kiss

The lip and cheek tint is a very subtle moisturising liquid which also can be used as a stain. It leaves a juicy look on my lips and a very subtle colour on my cheeks. Again, due to my colouring it's too light for me, but will suit very fair people.

Dew Pots in Coral Blossom

The dew pot is a cream eyeshadow which is very similar to my skin colour, as you probably can tell by the swatches above. It evens out any redness and it can also be used as a base for eyeshadow, (it doesn't crease) but my favourite way to use it is as a highlight. It's absolutely fantastic at giving a subtle, dewy glow. If you click to enlarge the photo below you can see the subtle sheen on my nose and swatched on my hand.

Eye Inspire Quad Baked Eyeshadow in Fire Eyes

I'm really impressed with these baked eyeshadows. The pigment speaks for itself and I'd buy these in other colourways. I'm going to do a pink and orange eyeshadow look using this quad soon.

My favourite items out of these four are the cream eyeshadow and the baked eyeshadows. I'm really happy to have discovered another make up brand who don't test on animals and look forward to discovering more things from MeMeMe.

Part 2 will be up this afternoon.

Have you tried anything by MeMeMe before?

Thanks for reading!
Leah xoxo

Quick beauty reviews/swatches - Barry M/Superdrug

Hiya love bugs,

Although I love make up and beauty and have enough stuff to sink a battle ship, I'm really crap about talking about it, so I've decided to do a collective post every couple of weeks.

First up, Superdrug eyebrow shapers. £1.99 for 4 sheets of 14 strips. Some of the strips are curved to fit your eyebrows, and some are straight.

I had high hopes the first time I used these, as they seemed to remove hair efficiently, but every time I've used them since (I've gone through half a pack) they varied in success from removing just a few hairs to none at all. The amount of wax distributed seems to be really hit and miss. After using 4 strips on one eyebrow the other day and not removing a single bloody hair I've given up. I wouldn't repurchase - the wax just isn't sticky enough. I shall be going back to my Veet facial wax strips.

Barry M Arabian from the Aquarium collection. £3.99 from Superdrug, Boots & Barry M website. Arabian is a gorgeous greenish gold. I used 2 coats here but I think 3 coats would have been better. I find Barry M polishes to dry quickly, and this one was no different. No polish lasts more than a couple of days on me without chipping (I'm a clumsy bugger) but Barry M fares as well on me as more expensive brands. I love Barry M.

Barry M Princess from the textured glitter collection. £3.99. This is a gorgeous gritty pink shot through with gold and silver glitter. It's so feminine. It's a little difficult to remove (as are most glitter polishes) but using the tin foil removal trick it's not too bad. Again, it dried quickly and lasted a couple of days before chipping.

Barry M 53 Coral £4.59. I find Barry M lipsticks to be quite drying as they pack quite the pigment punch, but the flip side of that is they last longer on me than more moisturising lipsticks, which tend to slide off fairly soon. (I have quite moist lips and about 3 hours is the longest wear I'll get, even out of so-called long-lasting lippies.) The dryness is nothing a slick of lip balm beforehand won't fix.

There is a slight issue with this lipstick though - it applies unevenly, leaving little areas with more product on than others. It's not immediately noticeable on the lip, but as it wears over time it starts to look a little bitty. You know like when you get stringy bits of lipstick in the very corners of your mouth? Kind of like that. You can see it the problem slightly in the photo below. It could be down to application - if I were to apply once, blot and reapply rather than my usual windscreen wiper movements this might be avoided. The colour is so pretty and summery I can live with it though.

I have some more Barry M polishes to show you next time, and a lot more besides in the future. I WILL get through my enormous to-swatch pile. :)

Let me know if this is the kind of post you want to see every couple of weeks as a side-order to my normal plus size fashion stuff.

Have a great weekend!

Organic Surge 2 minute moisture hair mask

Hello lovelies!

I recently bought a couple of bits from Organic Surge, who are one of my favourite cruelty free companies. I'd heard good things about this hair mask and was keen to try it out for myself. Can a two minute mask really make that much difference to my hair? Read on to find out!

I was expecting a tiny little pot but as you can see it's a sizeable pot. Using it once a week, it's going to last me months.

It has a creamy consistency - neither too runny nor too thick.

Here's what Organic Surge says about it:

Daily life and regular heat styling can take the life out of all hair types, leaving it dull, frizzy and dehydrated. In just two minutes this creamy, nourishing mask gives your hair the emergency treatment it craves.

Our 2-Minute Moisture Hair Mask is super-charged with pure coconut oil and plant extracts, it works to penetrate the hair shaft, targeting weak or damaged areas and helping to protect hair from the inside out. Enjoy smooth, manageable hair that shines with health and vitality.

 

Why We Love It

• 97.5% natural moisture hair mask
• Untouched by harsh chemicals
• Silicone free detangling and conditioning
• Protects hair from the inside out
• Animal-friendly, suitable for vegetarians and vegans

 

Use it this way

After washing, work a generous scoop through your hair, combing through lengths. Allow just two minutes to work, then rinse away and dry as usual.

 

Natural Actives

• Coconut oil - naturally nourishing, high in antioxidants, helps to protect hair from environmental and heat styling damage
• Sweet orange and black pepper essential oils - work to eliminate toxins, stimulate the lymphatic system and boost scalp circulation
• Plant extracts - help to condition hair without build-up, smoothe the cuticle and help improve visible shine

I grab about a teaspoon or two worth of product and run it from level with my ears down to the ends of my hair, paying attention to the hair that grows behind each ear which is really rough and curly. I don't very often condition my whole head of hair as I have a greasy scalp.

What's the verdict? It's a winner! It smells gorgeous - I love coconut scents. It makes my hair softer, less tangly and more shiny. Since my reverse shampooing regime my hair is looking great. Because of reverse shampooing I put the mask on, leave it for two minutes then shampoo afterwards and I still get all the benefits of the mask.

Organic Surge 2 minute moisture mask is £6.99 for 150ml and you can get it here.

Have you tried this out?

Thanks for reading.

Organic Surge gentle cleanser rave review

Hello lovelies!

I've used this whole bottle of Organic Surge cleanser now so feel qualified to give it a balanced review. (Edit, does not exist as of 2016).

I bought this in the summer when there was a massive discount on selected Organic Surge products. I'd been keen to buy more products which are definitely not tested on animals (rather than a murky grey area as is the case with a lot of brands who won't fess up one way or the other - grrr!)

It smells....herbal? ...as you'd expect from an organic company. I would say the scent is mild rather than overbearing, and it grew on me as time went on (I was used to fake scents beforehand.) By the time I was halfway through the bottle I really enjoyed the scent, probably because I associated it with a lovely, gentle product which didn't dry out or inflame my sensitive skin at all. It's a quite runny white liquid which doesn't sting my sensitive eyes one bit. It's a massive plus point to be able to get make up off my eyes without ending up with stinging, red eyeballs. It does a wonderful job of cleaning away dirt and make up - even mascara (I don't wear waterproof mascara so can't speak about that) and leaves my skin glowing with health.

It's £5.99 for 200ml (correct at time of posting), has a flip top lid (so handy!) and I would definitely repurchase. 

Have you tried this, or anything else by Organic Surge? What do you cleanse with?

Cruelty free. 

Thanks for reading.

A cruelty free alternative to Pantene Pro V?

Hiya loves!

To those of you in the UK, I hope you're enjoying the bank holiday! To everyone else I hope you're enjoying your Monday.

When I decided to try to incorporate more cruelty free (thus forth referred to as CF in this post) products into my beauty arsenal about this time last year, initially I focussed on make up, as I didn't want to overwhelm myself and give up. As time went on I started to think about other things such as skin care, toiletries and even cleaning products.

I've tried a few CF shampoos and conditioners which at first I thought were great for my hair, but ended up either drying it out or weighing it down, but now I think I've found THE shampoo and conditioner for me. Even better for me, it's totally affordable, kind to animals and easy to get hold of. I used to use Pantene before I knew it was tested on animals, and am pleased to have found a CF equivalent.

My hair is dry on the ends and tends to be greasy at the roots. I need to wash it every 36-48 hours to keep it tip top. I tend to suffer with lack of shine if I'm using a product which isn't moisturising enough and because my hair is fine it's easily overwhelmed with a build up of product if something is too moisturising.  

In the UK there are two well-known chemists - or as they call them over the pond - drugstores. Superdrug could be easy to overlook in comparison to the 'sexier' Boots. They don't tend to have the bright lights, swanky displays and dedicated beauty advisors of Boots, nor a lot of the big brand names which Boots attracts, but what they do have is an entirely cruelty free own-label range (and usually more affordable prices than Boots.) As you can see on the close up of the labels above on the right, Superdrug own label products are BUAV approved - which means they're certified cruelty free. I have long been a fan of Superdrug as I'm a tightwad bargain lover, and when I started to do my research and discovered everything own label is CF the love affair just deepened.

I bought the Silky Smooth shampoo and conditioner for shiny hair a couple of months ago for £2.29 each (for a bargain 400ml.) Not only has it made a vast difference to the softness and shine of my hair, but other people have commented on their use of it, too. When my family came to stay a couple of times recently I told them not to bring any toiletries as I have a stockpile. My aunt and cousin both have thick, coarse, wavy hair which became noticeably soft and shiny after using this shampoo and conditioner - so much so that they both mentioned it to me. A couple of months in and I'm barely half way into the shampoo so the value for money is immense.

It's important to me to be able to have hassle free CF products - which for me is animal-friendly products on a budget which I can get my hands on easily AND which do the job they're supposed to. These products tick all the boxes, so I can forget about it and just enjoy having shiny, soft hair. I don't want to have to think about CF or non-CF products and hope one day everything will be CF, especially since there's no need for animal testing at all these days, with in vitro testing etc.

Products - £2.29 each. Available from Superdrug stores and Superdrug.com. Also available in Daily Nourish for normal hair, Full Volume, and Hair Defence for people who heat style frequently.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. As ever we're all the boss of our own underpants and I'm going CF because of my love of animals. There is no judgement whatsoever about anyone else's beliefs and I share CF posts for other CF beauty obsessives, not to 'turn' anyone or preach. 

Face spam - FOTD

Hiya lovelies!

It's been a while since I've posted a make up look. I did some make up on Saturday and it just came out great. Most of the time I apply make up and know what I'm going to get, but occasionally there are angels at my fingertips and some magic happens.

Saturday was the day for me, so I'm going to spam you with my face. My eyebrows (the bane of my life!) came out great, my eyes looked sparkly and aside from the horror of going a bit buck wild with the blusher, I looked in the mirror afterwards and said to my hubby 'You could've done worse! I scrub up all right!' Of course he had his head stuck in the computer, so I was talking to myself, but you can't win 'em all! ;)

There are some colours which really bring out the hazel in my eyes - burgundy, purple, and grey. I've used Gunmetal by Urban Decay on and off for years, but I haven't reached for it for a long time - perhaps as long as a year. I don't know why, because it makes my eyes look fantastic.

I used: (CF denotes cruelty free.)

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer in Lemon Drop - CF
Virgin - shimmery nude, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - inner corner highlight/brow highlight - CF
Gunmetal - grey, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - lid - CF
Creep - black, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - outer corner, blended slightly up and out - CF

Avon Spectralash mascara
Barry M black gel eyeliner pencil - CF

Face
Avon Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage foundation
Famous shimmer brick in Pink (old stock, before they relaunched) CF as far as I know (made by the same people as MUA)
Catrice brow kit - CF

The Avon products were bought before I knew Avon test on animals by law (for sale in China) and I look forward to using them up and buying cruelty free alternatives. I'm really pissed off because the Avon foundation is the best one I've ever had, but I won't be buying it again. The mascara is shit - clumpy and horrible. You'd be best off to avoid it.

I made the decision to try to go cruelty free almost a year ago. I'm not going to say it was easy, and I'm not going to pretend I'm happy with every product in my household - not by a long shot. I'm not used to second guessing myself at every turn, and navigating the bullshit that different companies put out to try to mask the fact they still test on animals is like knitting with water - but it is worthwhile.

I've gotten so caught up in bargains I've bought things and later regretted it when I've realised they're not cruelty free. I have a huge stockpile of make up and toiletries to work through. The money is already spent and I'm not in the position to throw everything out and start again. A lot of my make up choices were accidentally cruelty free ones (I've always been an Urban Decay addict) but I'm finding it harder to remember to check toiletries. I've always been far more discriminating about what I put on my face than what I put on my body plus I get gifted a huge amount of toiletries at Christmas - it's my family's thing. What do I do then?! Accept and donate out to save my conscience, or shrug and say at least I didn't spend money on a dodgy company so hey ho? I'm not sure what is moral. Maybe asking for vouchers is the safest option in future?

Get onto cleaning products I use around the house and I'm pretty sure almost none of them are cruelty free. That's a good excuse for using natural cleaning products like vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice, and then there are less crappy chemicals for me to breathe in as well.

Even a year on, it's baby steps, and in as much as I feel guilty for not doing better already, I feel some small comfort from trying to change my ways. I've still got a long way to go - I can imagine some people stay oblivious because information can be conflicting and it can be like trying to see black and white in a sea of grey. It's daunting. I have a plan to deal with the toiletries situation - Aldi don't test any of their own label make up/toiletries/cleaning products on animals (plus it's cheap, yay!) so I'll go on a major stocking up mission so next time I run out of something, I don't even have to think about choices. Superdrug don't test any of their own label stuff on animals, neither do the Co-Op or Tesco (on own label products.) It's just a case of changing habits and not picking up things willy nilly. I'll get there with a bit of forward planning. If I had a cat or dog the thought of them being taken off and having shampoo squirted into their eyes or their fur shaved off and bleach rubbed into them repeatedly I'd feel sick to my stomach. It's no different with rabbits or rats - they're still sentient beings. I look forward to a world where nothing is tested on animals - there's so much which can be done, for example in vitro testing.

Do you mind if things are tested on animals?

Thanks for reading!

Darling Girl swatches pt 3

Hello you!

Here are some more Darling Girl swatches for you. Here we have Cut Me Deeper from the Not an 80's Band collection, Bioexorcist from the Ghost With The Most collection, Black Day and Scarab.

Darling Girl colour descriptions:
Cut Me Deeper - Deep blood red and wine with golden shimmer.
Bio-exorcist - Black base loaded with gold and blue shimmer.
Black Day - A stunning, dark, coal black with blue duochrome.
Scarab - Deep cool greyish brown with strong green shift.

L-R Cut Me Deeper, Bio-Exorcist, Black Day, Scarab

You get 2 free sample sizes per order and also a gift with purchase (GWP) if you spend over $10. The GWP is a freebie in a little screw lid jar with a sifter. Delivery is $5 international.

Each sample bag you get - even though it has a tiny amount of product - will give you enough for 2-3 uses, certainly enough to tell if you want to buy a bigger size. You can buy 5 sample bags on the website for $4, which is a steal.

Full sizes have 3/4 tea spoon of product in a sifter jar and cost $5.90 (about £3.65.) Petit sizes have 1/4 tea spoon of product in a sifter jar and cost $2.50 (about £1.55.) It doesn't sound like a lot of product but it goes so, so far, especially if you use a sticky base to make your shadows pop. I did swatches today using Darling Girl Glitter Glue. It makes such a difference to the vibrancy.

All of these colours are stunning and I couldn't possibly pick a favourite among them.

You can see Part 1 of my Darling Girl Swatches HERE and part 2 HERE.

Did anything take your fancy?

Thanks for reading.