Native Unearthed Deodorant

Probably my favourite item that I received in The Vegan Kind August box was definitely the natural deodorant from Native Unearthed.  I’ve always been sceptical of natural deodorants as I have an irrational fear of smelling bad.  I’m the kind of person that will put some on in the morning, then before I leave for work, then when I get to work, then on every break etc... So you get the picture.  I don’t want to stink.  I’ve tried going natural before using one from Lush, which unfortunately did not work in the slightest for me and left me feeling really self-conscious going about my day.  I stuck it out for about 2 weeks before packing it in, so although I was excited to find this in my box, I was also a little skeptical and rather uncertain about giving another one a try. 

The Native Unearthed stick deodorant needs to be wet before you apply it to your underarms.  There is no fragrance to this particular one, which worried me slightly as what if I do start to stink and there is no pretty smells to try and combat it?  Of course I was being ridiculous, but hey, that’s just me.  As you rub it on, a clear wet paste like solution glides over the skin – it’s hard to tell if you’re putting on too much or not enough.  I will admit that it does not give me the same clean feeling as using a spray on does when applied, however you can’t really compare a spray and solid.  I love that it doesn’t flake off as you move your arms, nor does it stain you clothing as your pulling it over your head, like most spay on deodorants do!  After applied, it’s a waiting game to see how it preforms…

I played it safe for the first few wears, applying it in the morning and only using it on days when I knew I wasn’t going to be getting up to much other than blogging and a dog walk.  When these days passed without any problems, I started applying it in the mornings before going to work – but would always use the spray on stuff when I was at work to keep me topped up.  However this last week or so, I’ve put it to the real test and have been only wearing this for all day, be it a lazy day at home, a trip to town for some shopping or an evening work out at the gym – and it’s been great!  Not once have I found myself feeling sweaty or uncomfortable as my day as gone on - nor have I began to develop a bad odour either – which of course is my main concern here!  Of course I do still sweat, however it doesn’t smell at all and it doesn’t leave me feeling damp or sticky either.  It really is a great product, and I’m so happy that I got this in with the August box.  Priced at just £6.49 RRP – it’s a total bargain or the quantity and quality of the goods, and I will definitely be repurchasing again when this one runs out.  I’ve been convinced that natural deodorants are the way forward for ethical reasons thanks to Native Unearthed, it’s by far the best natural deodorant that I’ve come across to date, and would highly recommend that you give it a try too!

What’s your favourite natural deodorant? 

Until the next one,

Fun Bath Bombs

For a very long time I tried my hardest to avoid all of the Lush bath bombs.  There was two reasons for this: One, I can’t have a bath at my house, so I only get the opportunity when I stay at my boyfriends – so I didn’t tend to go for one that often.  Two, some of them can be quite pricey for my liking.  £4 for a singular bath bomb?!  Fair enough they are pretty huge – but jesus christ!  Funnily enough though, I am actually now converted (thanks to the Boxing Day half-price sale) and I do really rather enjoy treating myself to these expensive bath bombs and soaking in the tub.  There have been a few recently that I have tried out and loved, they were so fabulous actually that they inspired this post.

Intergalatic

I wanted my first proper bath bomb to be one that was going to convince me that there would be no going back to plain boring baths ever again.  I had bought several of the Cinders in the Boxing Day sale, and although they did leave me smelling amazing – they just didn’t meet my high expectations.  Intergalatic did however meet this criteria, it all started when I caught it sparkling away at me when I walked into the store.  I’d seen loads of pretty pictures and videos on Instagram prior to purchasing, so I knew from the get go that it was never going to disappoint.  Even before you pop this in the bath, Intergalatic looks totally mesmerizing, all of the colours are blended and swirled in perfectly with one another creating a beautiful image of a galaxy – with the glitter sparkling away at you with every twist and turn in your hand.  Loaded with peppermint and grapefruit oils – Intergalatic creates a beautiful and refreshing fragrance that smells so good, I’d love to be able to bottle it up if I could!  As you pop this bad boy into the water it creates colours and images that you cant help but take photos of every single time you go to use one!  Priced at £3.95, I would highly recommend this one to anyone you fancies a good old pamper session.  I like to use Mask Of Magminty while in the tub to create a real minty theme. 

Sex Bomb

I treated myself to this beauty back in April when I was in Glasgow with my sisters, taking them to a 5SOS concert.  When we discovered  that there was going to be a strong possibility that our room was going to have a bath in it (and there was – praise jesus!) – we all went to Lush and treated ourselves to bath bombs that we had not tried out before.  After being given a demonstration in the store of Think Pink by one of the assistants, he suggested Sex Bomb as an extra wee treat, which I decided would do the job just nicely.  It was one of those ones that ive been wanted to try out for a long time anyway, I had just never gotten round to making the purchase.  I loved the vibrant pink and purple flower on the top, it made it feel really girly and pampering – and that was just when looking at it.  To smell, it’s a really seductive kind of floral and jasmine scent.  It’s really pleasant, however to some it might appear to be over powering.  Sex bomb creates a very vibrant and beautiful pink coloured bath that creates a very chill and relaxed atmosphere.  And that little flower that I told you about?  It floats beautifully in the water until you decide you are ready to rub it into your skin like a soap.  I think my favourite part of this bath bomb is that the scent lasts a super long time – my sisters said that they could actually smell it on me at the concert – amazing!  Sex bomb retails at £3.50, and I would recommend it to anyone who fancies a real girly treat.

Lover Lamp

Although not as colourful and quite so exciting to watch as it fizzes away in the bath, Lover Lamp is another one of my favourite bath bombs now.  It makes me really sad that this is a limited edition bath bomb, because I now need to wait until next Valentine ’s Day to stock up!  Another one on the larger side, Lover Lamp creates a beautiful white a frothy bath for you from the moment you drop it in the water.  Packed with cocoa butter, orange oil and vanilla, it releases a delicious fragrance that absorbs into your skin – leaving you smelling pretty all night long.  My favourite feature of this one, is that the little red hearts are actually little pockets of cocoa butter – they float around in the tub until you feel like rubbing them into your skin.  Lover Lamp is a gorgeous bath bomb for when you feel like jumping in the tub, but don’t care for all the glitter!

What’s your favourite Lush bath bomb right now?

Until the next one,

Lush Brazilliant Shampoo Bar

One of my favourite go to Lush products for some time now has got to be the Brazilliant Shampoo bar.  I was really curious for a long time by the whole concept of a bar of shampoo – I just didn’t really get it.  Me being me though, of course it didn’t take me long to embark on this trend that Lush had created.  There are many things that I love about the solid shampoo bar, and although there have been a couple of others that I’ve tried out along the way, Brazilliant is the one that I seem to keep coming back to after each new bar I’ve tried out.

Brazilliant was the bar that I picked first out of the stack of options in store, simply because I did a whole lot of research prior to purchasing.  Although all of the Lush products that I buy always last me a long time (bar the bath bombs… duh) I sometimes find them to be a little pricey for my liking.  Hence why whenever I’m about to make a purchase, I spend ages pouring myself over the website, catalogue and app checking out all of the reviews and product descriptions to make sure that I buy the right one for me.  £6.75 is a crazy amount to pay for a singular shampoo – so I wanted to make sure that I would find something that would not only work, but I would actually enjoy using every day.

Brazilliant stood out to me because it was described as being “a mane carnival” and perfect for tackling curly and fizzy hair.  My hair is both, especially frizzy, and so I find that Brazilliant actually works really well for sorting that out.  Even better, it leaves my hair feeling beautifully soft and full of volume. I also knew that this would be the one for me when I saw that it was fragranced with oranges and would leave your hair smelling citrusy and fresh.  I try hard to ensure that I smell nice from top to bottom, and so now my hair is not excluded from this either.

I’ve found Brazilliant, alongside all of the other solid hair care products that I’ve purchased from Lush over the years to be fantastic value for money.  I’m totally mesmerized by just how quickly the bar lathers up into a thick and creamy foam, all it takes is a couple of strokes through your hands or down your hair to do the job!  I tend to go through a 250ml bottle of shampoo a month, and I’ve seen my bars last 2-2 ½ months in total!  Although it probably works out about the same that I’m spending on shampoo in the long run, it’s nice to know that I’m not going to have to nip out and buy some more quite so often!  I love that they don’t need any packaging, and because the bars are so little, they are the perfect size for storing away and taking on travels.  I keep mine in a small Tupperware box now, but I used to store it in an old face cloth and it kept for ages too.  Lush solid shampoos have been one of my favourite discoveries ever!

Have you tried out any of the solid hair care range yet?

Until the next one,

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub

For as long as I have been shopping at Lush – the lip scrubs were always something that I have tried to avoid like the plague.  Paying £5.50 for such a small product that I believed did very little was something that I had no interest in.  I even went to the extreme one time of actually making my own – which was actually quite nice and worked really well, if I’m honest.  Honey, coconut oil, sugar and peppermint essence.  Just a little too messy for my liking.  So it actually kind of came as a surprise to myself when I randomly decided to add one to my basket one evening.  During this winter past, my lips were really super dry and sore from all of the wind, rain and the little snow that we had to endure.  So I thought “what the hell?”  I had the cash, and felt like going a little bit nuts – which is apparently my approach to every purchase I make there now!

When it finally arrived in the post, it didn’t take me long to crack it open and give it a bash.  The smell is incredible, it smells just like those really cheap and nasty bubble gum balls that you would buy from a sweetie shop when you were a kid which tasted like heaven.  The colour was also stunning, this scrub is a fluorescent pink which makes it stand out from the other scrubs… bar The Kiss, the valentine’s limited edition.

The scrub is really quite loose in the tub which makes it really good and super easy for actually giving your lips a nice scrubbing.  It does however tend to be a tad messy when using though – clumps tend to fall off as you’re applying and you end up with pink sugar everywhere!  After use, my lips feel brand spanking new every time.  I apply a little bit of lip balm straight after use, which leaves my lips feeling nice and soft until my next application.  I’ve been using my scrub a few times a week since purchasing back in December, and I’ve only now used about half of the pot – which I think is amazing considering that this was a £5.50 purchase.  I’m absolutely delighted with my Bubble Gum Lip Scrub, and although I’m not sure it will be something that I will stock up on straight away when I run out – the fact that it’s lasted me this long for such a small price makes me think that this won’t be my last purchase of the product!

Have you tried any of the Lush lip scrubs?  What’s your favourite?

Until the next one,

Fresh Flowers at Tesco Program

A couple of weeks ago now, I decided to sign up to The Orchard Program by Tesco.  It’s a great way to try out loads of products that Tesco have on offer both online and instore – for free or at discounted prices.  Not long after I signed up and started filling out surveys, they asked me if I would be interested in taking part in the Fresh Flowers at Tesco program.  Naturally, I signed up without hesitation – I love flowers however I never really buy them for myself to them and so this was the perfect way to go about it. 

A £5 voucher for Tesco fresh flowers arrived through the post last week, which I was delighted about because all of the Valentine’s Day flowers were catching my eye every time I had to nip instore.  I’ve always found that Tesco have a beautiful flower selection no matter what time of the year it is, and when you can pick up a pretty bunch of tulips for as little as £3 with the promise of 8 days freshness, you can’t really go wrong, can you? 

Day 1

In the end, I went for a pretty £5 bouquet of white and pink roses, with some yellow lilies in the mix – both of my favourite flowers combined into one bunch!  These were not from the Valentine’s Day selection – however I did very nearly come away with a pretty bouquet of fresh red roses before these ones caught my eye.

Day 2

I’ve had these flowers displayed in my bedroom since late Saturday night when I picked them up with my mum.  The lilies are still opening up day by day, however the roses are still looking beautiful in colour and life!  All of the flowers look healthy and fresh on day 5 of their life with me (I’m surprised they’ve not died yet if I’m being totally honest… I’m not very good with plants) – and I’m pretty sure they will outlast Tesco’s 8 day freshness guarantee.

Day 4

Beautiful

Have you #triedforfree on the Tesco Orchard Program?

Until the next one,

Lauren x