Original Source Shower Gels

Have you ever picked up a bottle of body wash and thought “holy crap this smells good enough to eat”?  Or have you ever been lathering yourself with your body wash and drifted off into a fruity sensation?  If you’ve not, then you’re definitely missing out!

On my quest to becoming a better vegetarian, I decided to go cruelty free with all of my beauty and personal products and cosmetics.  Although I’ve always been aware that some companies do still test on animals, I was actually very much disturbed to find that a lot of the brands that I’ve been using all of my life are all culprits to this awful act.  I mean if we can be charged for being caught physically mistreating an animal in our homes or out on the street, then why should it be any different for these poor souls who have to endure various different tests on a daily basis?!  It’s really upsetting when you think about it, hence why I’ve made the decision to change my ways!

I was totally delighted to come across a brand that had not only so many fragrances to choose from, but also a fantastic range of goodies to pick from too!  Original Source are a 100% vegan brand meaning that they don’t use any animal produce in any of their products.  They pride themselves in using only the most natural ingredients in their products, hence why they smell so absolutely fantastic.  They’ve been on the go for a number of years now, and have continued to develop their range over the years too.

Spied in most of the major supermarkets and beauty stores, I’ve been picking up bottles of their shower gels for a few months now.  My absolute favourite one has got to be Lime – its smells just like the chocolate lime sweeties that I used to love when I was little, and it honestly leaves me feeling so super fresh and clean with every wash.  I have however had the pleasure of enjoying the lemon, mint, strawberry and cherry & nettle fragrances too – and each and every single one has never disappointed in terms of fragrance and cleanness.  Recently I’ve seen most of their goodies on special offer for just £1 – which is pretty fantastic considering a lot of vegan brands tend to cost a wee bitty more due to the nature of them sourcing non animal products. 

Original Source have helped me realise that it’s super easy to adjust your cosmetics to cruelty free brands.  I’ve yet to come across a scent that I have not yet enjoyed – and I’m super excited to find on their website that they actually have a range of body lotions and butters now too!  The lime and coconut oil range particularly take my fancy – so here is hoping that I can find a branch close to home that sell these beauties!

Have you tried out any of the original source range yet?  What’s your favourite?

Until the next one,

Sky's Body Shop at Home

So last week, an old friend of mine got in touch with me after having come across my blog on Instagram.  Sky is a Body Shop Consultant, and has been representing the brand for a little under a year now.  She asked me a few questions about my skin type, and wanted to know if I had ever tried any of the Body Shop products for sensitive and dry skin.  I had never been aware that the Body Shop catered for my skin type. I’ve always been a fan of their body butters, however over the years as my skin has gotten worse, I’ve chosen to stay away from them – simply to avoid any unnecessary irritation... even though they all smell good enough to eat!  She asked if I would be interested in trying out some of the products on a trial basis, and to give feedback on the products designed to look after dry and irritated skin like mine – and so of course I said yes!  She dropped off a large selection of products for me to try out: face, body and even foot products – and then left me to try them all out!  This week, I’ve been making my way through the bundle and I am glad to report only good things from the selection she left me…

Just a select few of the items Sky dropped off last week

Vitamin E Body Butter

As I said before, the Body Shop body butters have always been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember, and so I was super excited to see that there was a body butter for dry skin which states it would moisturise without irritating.  To look at, the butter was a beautiful pink colour, which I’m not going to lie kind of worried me a little as I’ve found coloured products to be really irritating in the past!  However I chose to ignore this thought as Sky had provided me with a little notebook with some information about each product she had dropped off.  I loved how thick the mixture is, yet how light it felt on my skin.  I don’t feel caked in moisturiser when I wear this, unlike some of the other moisturisers I’ve used in the past.  Because my skin is so dry, I do find myself applying more of this throughout the day – however it is not a lot that I need to use to top up and I don’t imagine that this would be necessary for normal skin types.  The butter has worked wonders on my elbows over the last week, which is amazing because I have yet to come across a product that actually works on this part of my skin.  Overall, I would totally recommend this product to everyone and anyone despite their skin type.  This is a product that I will be treating myself to in the future – the only thing stopping me from doing it now is my funds!

 

The difference in my skin (right to left) using the body butter from last Friday - Wednesday!

Peppermint Cooling Foot Cream

To start with, I love the smell!  It’s not overly minty – but it does give a nice and refreshing scent as you apply it.  The smell does tend to linger throughout the day too, which is fab because when I’m on my feet all day doing a nine hour shift – my feet don’t smell fresh like roses by the end of the day!  This is not a product that I’ve used every day since it was dropped off, however I have actually noticed that my feet feel softer to touch around my heel which was an unexpected bonus.  Overall, my feet just generally don’t look quite so gross to look at, which was nice to see after just a few uses.  I’m not normally one to fuss about buying products for my feet, however after seeing how easy it was to use this product and see results – it is something that I would consider purchasing.

Rose Body Wash

I’m not crazy about the smell of flowers ever really, and if I’m being perfectly honest – rose scented anything is something that I would normally go out of my way to try and avoid.  However, with that being said, I didn’t actually hate the scent of this new body wash range.  It lathered up amazingly, which I was very surprised by as I used very little of it.   This is not something that I would rush out to purchase for myself I don’t think – however for a rose scented shower gel, it did smell pretty good and very fresh!

Moringa Body Scrub

I love Love LOVE this product!  I’m totally amazed by just how gentle it is yet how effective.  I was feeling brave and so I applied this directly onto my irritated skin (normally I would avoid these areas until they were a little less red and sore).  You can feel that the seeds have scrubbed away at the dead skin, and yet the cream has coated the area to give it moisture and TLC.  I’m also amazed at how well treated my skin feels after each use, there is no irritation, just smooth and great feeling skin.  This is another product that I will be buying as soon as my funds permit! (Damn student life!)

Aloe Body Butter

Much in the same as the Vitamin E Body Butter, this product was great for use straight out of the shower.  I only needed a small amount each use to give my skin a good moisturise, and it didn’t take long for it to soak in at all.  I really liked that this one gave a cooling effect when it was rubbed in, I don’t know if this is simply because my skin tends to be super-hot after I shower or what, but this made my skin feel super nice and cold which I adored!  Although I’m not crazy about the scent, I would probably pick this product up if I was browsing or there was a special offer on! 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of all of the body care products, and that’s not to mention the face care ones Sky left for me to try also!  I’ll fill you in on those ones later…

If you feel like treating yourself to a couple of the products mentioned above, or anything for that matter, you can order directly from Sky here: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1402703613387143/?fref=ts

Until the next one,

Lauren x