Beauty Warrior: December 2012

Sunday 16 December 2012

Behind the door of my advent calendar today...

A few years ago you'd struggle to find much exciting out there for vegans - no advent calendars, easter eggs, etc. Now, however, I am so thankful that more and more options are becoming available.
I know it's a little late for getting an advent calendar this year, but I'd thought I'd share how I'm enjoying my advent and give some tips and heads ups for next year. The below suggestions could equally work well for stocking fillers and other seasonal goodies, such as for treating your Secret Santa or attaching to your Christmas cards.

I found this little gem in my local Montezuma's chocolate shop, their Montezuma's Organic Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar. It's completely vegan and is also free from soya, gluten, GM and preservatives. It's a little pricey at £9.99, but you get a healthy slab of delicious dark chocolate each day and I also love the design - very stylish.
www.montezumas.co.uk

Me and my boyfriend have also begun a tradition of filling a calendar for each other (which we started back in the days when vegan advent calendars were super hard to find). We bought each other a fabric calendar which can be refilled each year, such as this one from the RSPB shop which you can make yourself and add a name. (Plus at the RSPB {Royal Society for the Protection of Birds} shop you can save nature while you shop with 100% of profit going towards saving birds and wildlife).

My boyfriend then filled mine with some scrummy vegan chocs such as the below, again from Montezuma's.

Montezuma's Organic Dark Chunky Snowmen
£4.99 for 8

Montezuma's Sunrise Truffles
£4.79 for 120g
These gorgeous balls are organic orange and dark chocolate truffles sprinkled with sugar - sublime!

If I'm lucky, behind some of the doors I also find a little gift and today I got to unwrap a very exciting little beauty treat - The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter. I love the Body Shop lip butters, but have never tried the coconut flavour before. I instantly love it though. It is so buttery and creamy and is not an overpowering scent - it is nice and subtle and sits beautifully on the lips. It contains organic virgin coconut oil for instant hydration and is perfect for this time of year when my lips are often chapped and dry no matter what I do!
The only downside is that I keep having to top it up as I'm continually licking it off! Perhaps not something I should recommend you do...

The Body Shop Coconut Lip Butter

£4.00

It is clear that I like coconut and the Body Shop though (and that great minds think alike!) as my boyfriend got to unwrap The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel in his calendar from me this week. I have every intention of stealing this - it's a handy pocket-size hand cleanse gel which should be great for my boyfriend who is always on the move and travelling on public transport.
It instantly cleanses and requires no water for use. You simply squirt it onto your hands for instant cleansing on the go. It's also only 60ml so can be taken on board planes to rid yourself of all those germs between meals (if you dare to eat aeroplane food that is). The coconut scent is also gorgeous - an immeditate refreshing smack in the nose!! I have Pink Grapefruit gel on my desk at work and everybody in the office knows when I have used it (and wants to borrow some!). Plus at £2.50 it's an absolute bargain!

The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel
£2.50 for 60ml

Whether you're a vegan or not, I hope you like these ideas. I think it's lovely to fill an advent calendar with chocolates and gifts that you know the recipient will love. It's a nice personal touch too and it's fun to get it down from the attic every year and know that Christmas is just around the corner!

Friday 14 December 2012

Christmas Gift Guide

Shopping is perhaps admittedly my favourite hobby, if it can be called that! Although, as soppy as it sounds, buying for others is even more fun that buying for myself.
The one thing I do hate about shopping, however, is spotting that special something and must-have purchase, only to read the label to find out that it's made of leather or contains another animal ingredient.
I've been putting in the leg work to find some nice vegan and vegetarian goodies which are of great quality and sure not to disappoint. Read my Christmas gift guide to see what I've been buying this year and hopefully get some last-minute inspiration for yourself!

For Mum

The fashion world is unfortunately full of fur and skins, but I absolutely love these vegan friendly loafers from Asos.com. They're 100% textile and polyurethane and you'd never be able to tell that they weren't leather. The metal clasp is gorgeous and oh-so-subtly Gucci-esque while the nude grey colour is perfectly in vogue and will go with everything.
My mum is also a horse lover and this rodeo cowboy trend is going to be huge next year (trust me).

Asos Marshmallow Loafers with Metal Trim
£25.00 now £12.50

For Dad

My dad is officially the world's hardest person to buy for, but as a music fan and collector I couldn't go wrong with this new live album from Coldplay. Music and books are always nice gifts and are, I imagine, produced in a largely cruelty-free industry. I know the link here is tenuous, but Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, has also been voted the world's sexiest vegetarian.

Coldplay Live 2012
£10.00 from Amazon

For The Boyfriend

Me and my bofriend recently graduated and started our first jobs so I have spent many hours searching far and wide for a nice satchel-look briefcase that is not leather and I think I have found the perfect one. This designer number from Tommy Hilger comes with the big name, but without the big guilt. It's rare to find a designer who doesn't always use leather and this product is 100% polyurethane, but looks the real deal. It's also smart and youthful at the same time. A nice investment piece.

Tommy Hilfiger Mace Messenger
£85

For The Teen Brother

My younger brother is not afraid of a bit of man-pampering and I have often bought him Cosmetic Lad from Lush before, a lavender honey moisturising and shaving cream, which he loves. This year I've got him Whoosh Shower Jelly which is one of those great Lush products which are innovative and fun to use. It literally is a wobbly jelly which I can't resist prodding and poking when I'm in a Lush store. You simply break off a piece which foams up like magic. This shower jelly is made with seaweed and fresh lemon, lime and grapefruit juice - perfect for smelly boys.

This product isn't vegan as it contains honey water, made by bees, but it will certainly wake you up in the morning!

Lush Whoosh Shower Jelly
£3.50 for 100g
£6.50 for 250g

For Friends

I love these lollipop gift sets. This Born Lippy set from the Body Shop features five juicy lip balms in Strawberry, Raspberry, Satsuma Shimmer, Passionberry and Watermelon - ideal for Christmas kisses under the mistletoe! They do contain beeswax so are again not vegan, but the Body Shop is a fantastic company to support. They are agaisnt animal testing, part of Cruelty-Free international and support community fair trade, defend human rights and protect the planet! Superheroes!

The Body Shop Born Lippy Fruity Lip Balms
£10.00