Tag: Vegan

HEY GORGEOUS PURE WILD VOLUMISING MASCARA [REVIEW]

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Are you tired of lashing out (lol, pun intended) at your mascara brush, because your eye feathers aren’t quite co – operating when it comes to looking all fabulously voluminous?

Great! I’m glad I’m not the only one.

As you may know, I am trying to make a conscious effort to use cruelty free make up brands and skincare products, and contribute towards living less of a waste free lifestyle. Fortunately, one of my favourite skincare brands from South Africa,  and now MAKE – UP brand too, so happens to fit these exact qualities.

Yes, my heart skipped a beat too, when I heard that Hey Gorgeous was working on a make – up line, and they’re dropping some hot new things!

For the last two months, I have been testing out their very first product from their up and coming range, which is the Pure Wild Volumizing Mascara in Black/Nior. Everything about this packaging is SO “HEY GORGEOUS”. Think fun, playful and my favourite bit – CRUELTY FREE!

I first used this mascara when having a braai (bbq) which lead to a night out of drinks, so yes, I have put this little tube to a few good tests! The brush wand is Pure Wild! See what I did there? Thanks to this marvellous wand (Oh, and Hey Gorgeous too), I found that when using this, my mascara was clump free. I have honestly struggled to find a non-clumpy mascara. I mean, how difficult can it be, with all of the mascaras out there in the world?

The formula is thick enough to build up to your desired thickness on your lashes, or keep it light and fresh for a day look. To get the look in my picture (above), I went in with 2 layers of mascara. Volume is key for all sorts of sexy eyelash fluttering! A girl has always got to be prepared!

Black marks under the eye? I absolutely love how I have had minimal to none! The only time I had a bit was when I got caught in serious torrential rain for about 30 min and when I’ve done really REALLY intense, sweaty exercise sessions. But that’s a given, right? Day to day activities, have also allowed me to return home after a day out looking like the same species that I left the house as, and not a panda! Black eyes are a thing of the past!

I love that the wand has smaller bits which allow for the inner lashes of the eye to be reached easily with no mess. If bottom lashes are your thing, then this wand makes that super easy too, with the smaller brush bits.

Another big quality that really tickles my pickle (and probably my lashes too), is that I don’t have to fight with them to get the mascara off at the end of the day. It is super easy to remove and totally hassle free.

Below is a picture my mascara in the morning, followed by an evening picture of what it looked like at the end of the day. Fabulous, isn’t it?

eautyblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/img_6351.jpg”> Bright eyed and bushy tailed with my lashes!

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This wand can be
[/caption]This wand can be found in both South Africa (R140.00) and in the U.K  (£14.50) Im so excited for Hey Gorgeous to release the rest of their make-up range!

OUR THOUGHTS ON PULL UP PANTS [ BY NATY]

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When I first heard about pull up pants, I totally associated them with potty training. Well, I was wrong. Pull up pants are actually one seriously cool invention when it comes to keeping our little ones’ happy, and keeping us parent’s sane.

Changing table terrors – does this sound familiar at all? Boy oh boy, this is a serious game changer (or nappy changer – whichever way you look at it) when it comes to changing our little one. Changing a wriggly worm can quickly turn into serious moments of fear, more so, when  you have a dirty diaper on your hands – literally!

In general, we use Natys eco friendly nappies for Harps, but when I heard about their range of pull up pants, we of course had to give them a go.

The sizing is fantastic, for a snug fit. Very often, because of my little wriggly worm, I sometimes find that I don’t fasten Harper’s nappy as tight as it should be. Sometimes it can be quite a challenge when your child has her legs squirming left, right and centre, arms flapping and squeaking like a baby dolphin in every effort to escape from the person who is so willingly attempting to give her a cleaner bottom. For this reason, pull ups really do come in handy. You can pretty much pull up and go (as you would with panties) off of the changing mat, letting your bub stand/ lean on you while pulling them up from their ankles.

All the stretchiness in the world.

We have had no leaks while using the pull up pants, as they are the perfect little fit. The waist band is also super stretchy and comfy, and doesn’t leave any red marks along Harper’s tummy. There’s nothing worse than little red lines when a nappy has been put on too tight.

We have found ourselves in a bit of a pickle a few times with changing a dirty pull up nappy. At first, it seemed like a real scientific affair, trying to suss out how to get Harper’s pants off, without getting the contents of her nappy everywhere. We find that snipping the area where the clasps would go on a normal nappy, with scissors seems to be working well.

We really love alternating between pull ups and nappies and they both offer their own unique qualities when it comes to keeping our bub dry, fresh and happy. Pull ups are fabulous for evenings and throughout the night.

A comfy waist band

The cute little patterns make them even more adorable and are 100% breathable, which helps prevent nappy rash. My favourite part about these is that they are of course eco friendly and biodegradable which leaves our hearts super happy, along with Harper’s bottom.

If your baby is between 8kg – 16kg, then these are perfect to try. These pull ups also have a non bulky fit, are chlorine and perfume free, and have a compostable corn based film which is what helps prevent leakage.

You can find these online for £7.49 for 18 pull ups. These really are a great investment for our planet and our children.

Best friends in their pull ups!

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

XXX

ECO PERSONAL CARE BY NATY

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Being squeaky clean, should always be on the top of your list. A shower a day keeps the stinkyness at bay!

With that in mind, my husband and I have recently been trying to make a joint effort at being eco-friendlier. We have since introduced these eco-friendly ways into our daily hygiene, being conscious of the products that we use.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that our daughter has been using the most divine eco-friendly range from Naty (Eco by Naty). Naty are a Swedish company, dedicated to being waste free and have designed a beautiful extensive baby range from nappies, nappy bags, all sorts of baby toiletries to eco-friendly clothes!

Naty always leaves Harpers bum as happy as can be, so with that in mind, my husband and I gave the Naty Adult range a try. Parents have to have some spoils too, right?

We have the Naty shampoo, shower gel and body lotion.

A lovely family photo!

The first thing that I noticed is that all of these products are packaged in waste friendly bottles, with beautiful branding that’s simple, yet elegant. Who wants to look at unattractive bottles anyway? Respect for the eyeballs really goes a long way!

husband and I both really liked the shower gel, its smooth, fresh, and a little goes a long way. To me, the shower gel has a beautifully light rosey scent. Its super subtle, but its definitely there. Robbie said that he thought it smelt foresty, but this is also the same person who thinks that strawberries smell like apples.

Robbie loved the shampoo. He found it to lather really easily and left his hair as soft as Harpers bottom. I found that the shampoo worked quite well. I have EXTREMELY damaged hair from years of highlighting. I often buy salon quality shampoo ranges specifically for blonde/damaged hair which are extra conditioning and give my hair some serious TLC. As far as my damaged hair goes, my hair was left feeling dry, but I can only guess that it’s because there are no bad chemicals, parabens, or mineral oils. However, when brushing my hair wet, it was totally fine where my hair has grown out, but when I brought my hairbrush down to my highlighted hair, it didn’t brush through very easily. This tells me that if I had an entire head of natural colour free hair, that this shampoo would’ve been superb, especially being friendly to our planet and waste free. Robbie and I both loved the scent – very similar to the shower gel, just a little stronger, in a yummy way!

I absolutely LOVED the body lotion. It smells like a bottle full of sweets! How delicious! One of the mumma bloggers Gill from ChatsWithGill, that I regularly interact with and follow was recommending this lotion to her audience, and now that I have tried it, I TOTALLY understand why! The lotion formula is smooth and again, a teeny bit goes a long way. The bottle also has a pump lid, making it easy to apply and scoosh out. I’d absolutely recommend this!

All in all, the Naty Adult range is really an amazing one to try, simply for its eco-friendly, chemical free, oil free, pollution free ethos. So many things FREE!

It’s also a priority of Naty’s to be cruelty free, which is a major bonus in my books as I really am making a slow move in that direction. I truly love everything that this company stands for after using both their baby range and adult range of body care/hygiene products.

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

MY FAVOURITE 2-IN-1 LUSH CLEANSER AND MASK

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It’s time to mask all things facial related! Yes, that means getting down to the bottom of those gnarly pores, blackheads, whiteheads and blemishes the natural way!

If you’re like me, you enjoy all things skin related. Facial masks are a regular, and of course, every day cleansing is a MUST! A happy face means a more confident you, and a confident Betty, means all the more reason to have those boys poreing (pun intended) their hearts out to you!

All natural, fresh ingredients!

I have been a regular user of normal store bought face washes, toners, moisturisers and everything in between, but since being pregnant, and after the extensive research that I have been doing about all the different chemicals that make up majority of these products, I have decided to opt for a more natural route of face bathing!

I have always had naughty skin, so much so, that at one point my spots were so uncontrollable that I had to resort to Accutane. If you know how bad Accutane is for the human body, then I hope that paints a clear enough picture of what my actual face was looking like at the time.

Since being pregnant, my skin has become more sensitive to harsh chemicals, which may be a good thing, since I have now switched over to using more of a natural range of products which I am totally enjoying. I can also totally pronounce all of the ingredients too, which is an added bonus!

The self preserving type is the best type!

Today, I am going to share my 2 favourite 2-in-1 all natural mask and cleanser with you. All organic. All natural. And all fabulous!

Up first, we have the Mask of Magnaminty . This tub brings more to the table than expected. It’s pretty much a 2 in one jar of awesomness! This peppermint mask can be used as a face or body mask and comes in two different sizes – a big tub and a baby tub.

The Mask of Magnaminty

This concoction is self-preserving, which means that it doesn’t need any synthetic preservatives (generally the ingredients that you can’t pronounce) to keep them fresh.

The freshness of peppermint oil and kaolin clay promote a feeling of tingliness and freshness. This mask is also great for redness of the skin (which I have) with its soothing vanilla properties. You can also enjoy a 15-minute moisture burst from the honey in the mask too. The consistency is spot on (excuse the pun) and thick which makes applying the mask to dry skin oh so easy.

Minty fresh!

My other current favourite from the LUSHious range of products is Angels On Bare Skin. This tub of goodness is frightfully heavenly. I will say that at first, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the smell, but after a few sniffs and wafts, I began to LOVE it! This might also be due to an over sensitive pregnancy snout. This product is a little different as it is not a mask, but rather a cleanser, both for the body and face – BINGO!

Angels on Bare Skin!

The consistency is crumbly with plenty of ground almonds, lavender and camomile oil. The lavender is super refreshing against unhappy skin and is an absolute skin savior with its disinfectant properties that help banish bacteria from the pores. How pore-fect!

To use this, simply scoop a few crumbles onto your hand and mix with a dash of water to make a paste. Massage this onto the face or body and rinse to have a smoothly cleansed face!

All of the crumbly goodness!

P.S I totally got my boyfriend to try the Magnaminty mask with me, and he secretly loved it. So come on girls, get your bubbly out and have a pamper night with your man!

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

BATISTE DRY SHAMPOO RANGE [REVIEW & COMPETITION]

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Good hair days, bad hair days – we ALL have them! Some, much more than others, but alas, those days of naughty locks that don’t listen to your hairy demands happen to the best of us.

If you’re anything like me when it comes to your fur, then you’d agree that your hair can either make or break your look of the day, or night – whichever tickles your pickle.

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Thankfully though, for those bad hair days, we no longer need to put our noggin strands in the naughty corner for misbehaving. We simply just refresh them with Batiste dry shampoo. And trust me, with this, it completely encourages your hair to have a new and improved attitude for the day – HOW FABULOUS!

Besides transforming your hair to look clean and fresh and full of volume, these babies’ come in super yummy fragrances too! Today I have chosen my top 3 Batiste dry shampoo fragrances to chat about with you guys.

Up first, we have the Coconut & Exotic Tropical Fragrance. Sounds islandy, right? And yes, this totally smells like a holiday in a can! My favourite part (besides the smell) is the super cute packaging. Flamingos, palm trees and tropical leaves are all spread out over a bright yellow background. FYI – we all know that yellow is a happy colour, so you can only imagine how fabulous it leaves you feeling!

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Next up is the Floral and Flirty Blush Fragrance – talk about girl power! I love how fresh and dainty this one smells – and just look at those pink hearts on the bottle! Expect super flowery scents through the snout with whisps of petals and roses. How romantic, but of course, let your hair do the flirting while getting those boys to flock at your feet with such delicious looking locks! You can thank Batiste later!

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Lastly, we have the Clean and Classic Original. This one is, well…clean, and yes…classic. It has a fresh powdery scent and is, well…an original too!  One of my favourite things about Batiste is that their products are vegan and totally cruelty free! How delightful!

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COMPETITION DETAILS:  [CAPE TOWN & UK]

Want to be the betty with the lushest locks in Town? No problem! Subscribe to my blog to be entered into a raffle to win a Batiste worth R500. Excuse the pun, but – WINNING!

If you are already signed up, like this blog post and tell me which fragrance is your absolute favourite. All participants who enter will be added into a raffle and chosen at random. YAY!

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Happy entering, Beautiful Betty’s!!

Until next time,

Mycaila-Jade

xxx

LUSH SHOWER JELLIES [REVIEW]

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The 411 of every day/morning or evening should definitely be personal hygiene. If not, we might have to reconsider our friendship, otherwise, let me let you in on my latest secret of how to smell like the freshest daisy in town, all day long!

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One of my favourite shower products from Lush is STILL their ever so famous shower jellies. I recently found myself back at their store in Buchanan Street gravitating towards the jelly section. There’s no doubt that these are totally my favourite wobbly bits!

First off, unlike all of your regular shower creams and products, these ones tend to live in the fridge, for extra freshness, and it makes sense when use them too. The sensation of a cold handful of jelly on your skin under hot water is super soothing & unimaginably refreshing!

Although there are a few different scented bits of wobblies, today I will be sharing my two favourites with you – The Whoosh & The Refresher.

THE WHOOSH

This jelly has a whimsical selection of the freshest ingredients being lemon, lime and rosemary all mixed with honey water – sounds good enough to have in your morning smoothie, right? Well, you can only imagine how delicious it smells!

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Whoosh appears to be a see-through darkish blue and lifts to a beautifully lighter colour in the sunshine. It’s like a little tub of the ocean – all magical and relaxing.

One thing that I love about Lush, is their sense of humour when it comes to their descriptions of their beautifully handcrafted products. The name “WHOOSH” comes from the sound of deadliness whizzing by for times when you feel like an alien on your own planet. A shower jelly with a bit of personality? We don’t seem to come across those very often.

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THE REFRESHER  

With this jelly, you’ll feel like a queen (or king) that has found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. With its rose oil & lemony scent, this jelly is a MUST when rethinking your morning routine. It will give you the ultimate blast to a good day and leave you feeling refreshed – just like the name says! And let’s not forget that the goldie colouring will make you look and feel like a winner all around! Fancy that!

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HOW TO USE

Firstly, we know that these creations live in the fridge. Secondly, these babies are super easy to use. Literally pop them out of the pot, and rub over your body for a squeaky clean experience. Pop them back in their pots & place in the fridge again.

These products are 100% vegan and are made out of a solid seaweed gel which is super moisturising for the skin.

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You can find these 100g jelly pots at your local lush stacked on the crushed ice display with all their other differently scented friends.

Happy showering!!

Until next time,

Mycaila-Jade

xxx

THE VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

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Chocolate and vegan in the same sentence? Say what? Best you believe it because it’s about to happen.

If you are a humble chocolate cake lover, but don’t quite enjoy the calories that come with it, try this easy vegan recipe and enjoy a guilt free slice of spongy goodness.

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 200g flour
  • 35g raw cocoa
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 70g maple syrup
  • 80g apple puree/sauce
  • 50g grated 70% Lindt dark chocolate
  • 1 cup almond milk (Almond breeze)
  • 100ml water
  • coconut oil for greasing

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WHAT TO DO:

Before beginning with this recipe, make sure you have preheated your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease your cake tin with a pinch of coconut oil.

This has got to be the easiest cake recipe to date, so if you’re not quite Jamie Oliver in the kitchen, don’t stress. Let’s just say if I can do it, so can you!

Mix all of the above ingredients together, adding each ingredient slowly, one by one and beat/mix with a hand whisk until all lumps and bumps have disappeared.

After that, simply pour your mixture into your greased tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

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TOPPING/” ICING”:

  • 100g chocolate (Lindt 70% dark chocolate)

While your cake is cooling down on a grill rack, break your slab of chocolate into squares and melt in a bowl, over a pot of boiling water. When melted, pour/drizzle over your cake when placed on a serving stand. Add a sprinkle of almonds as a finishing touch and for decoration.

Finally, serve, and ENJOY!

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Until next time,

Mycaila-Jade

xxx

THE EGG CAPPUCCINO

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Hello all you Caffeine Cathy’s

How many of you Dandy Delilah’s are complete and utter caffeine lovers?? I sure am. In my world, it is a crucial and vital morning rule that coffee is as much of a morning necessity as your breakfast spoon is to your cereal!

Sally's Family Photo

Family Photo

Another rule of mine is that being offended before your morning coffee is an absolute crime and that is why I have decided to share my new cappuccino discovery with you.

How marvellous, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong when a frothingly delicious cappuccino is involved!My guilt free discovery involves the friendship of a raw happy chicken egg and French Vanilla coffee.

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What you’ll need:

  • A Working Wendy Whizzer
  • One single, happy chicken egg (single and happy? What an odd combo!!)
  • A tiny teaspoon of courageous Coconut Oil (cold pressed)
  • 1 cup of Caffeine (I have chosen French Vanilla filter coffee)
  • A few sprinkles of your Cindy Cinnamon
  • However many spoons of Sally Sugar your heart desires
  • A positive Percy attitude
  • An Excited Elliot face
Courageous Coconut Oil

Courageous Coconut Oil

Steps:

To begin, it is of every level of importance to take that Excited Elliot face of yours and exert your Positive Percy attitude through it resulting in morning facial expressions unexplainable to everyone else around you in your household. You are about to indulge in caffeine and should be frolicking about with joy in the kitchen. Once you have mastered that, follow my easy instructions:

Crack your singly happy chicken egg into your cup and whizz/froth with your Working Wendy Whizzer until semi fluffy. After that, add your Tiny Teaspoon of Coconut Oil into your mug.

How to be singly happy!

How to be singly happy!

Best friends!

Best friends! (whisked egg and Coconut Oil)

Once they’ve become friends at the bottom of your mug, interrupt their conversation with the pouring of your hot ready made black coffee (whether it be filter, Fancy Nancy machine coffee, or instant) into your mug.

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French Vanilla Filter coffee

You now have your three best friends at the bottom of your mug. How lovely! Let’s add a fourth one to be fair – allow your Sally Sugar to make an appearance if your heart so desires. The heat from the coffee will melt your coconut oil to give some richness and a hint of flavour.

After that, invite Wendy the Whizzer to take part in the next step of frothing all of your ingredients. Hold the Whizzer just below the surface to get the creaminess and foaming going.

Serious Sally making an entrance!

Serious Sally making an entrance!

If you’re feeling like a Generous Jenny, sprinkle some Cindy Cinnamon on the top for decoration and taste.Your caffeine delight has now been transformed into a Serious Sally Cappuccino. Well done!

Mycaila-Jade

xxx