NEW Models Own Speckled Eggs Collection SS14

How excited am I about this post?!?! I am super super lucky to know a lovely lady called Nara who just happens to work at the Models Own Bottleshop at Westfield White City. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last month, you'll probably be aware that the Models Own Speckled Eggs collection went on sale this week. As soon as I spotted them on Instagram I just knew I had to have them and i begged Nara to pick up a set for me. THANK YOU NARA!! I've been playing with them all afternoon and I thought I'd pop up a post IMMEDIATELY and share them with you. 

This collection is made up of 5 adorable pastel polishes containing miniscule black confettis that give the look of a Cadbury Mini Egg when applied. As a Vegan, the chocolate variety is off limits to me so I'm glad I can still appreciate the effect whilst remaining dairy free haha. These polishes are totally animal friendly! 

The Shades are as Follows...

Swan - Dreamy Lilac

Magpie - Mint Green

Goose - Mellow Yellow

Dove - Cheeky Pink

Duck - Cornflower Blue

It's easy to immediately draw a comparison between these and the Illamasqua speckled polishes from their 2013 Im-perfection collection. Yes, the concept is the same, but the Models Own versions are definitely more affordable and the formula really does hold up against its higher end contenders. 

These polishes really were a pleasure to swatch! I'd thought they might be a little bit wishy washy but two coats worked a treat. The speckles are really generously distributed through the polish so I didn't have to fiddle around 'arranging' them like you have to with some confetti/glitter polishes. I'm not the tidiest nail painter by any means but I didn't make much of a mess at all with these. All round thumbs up from me! Favourite shade?? It's a toss up between Swan and Dove at the moment but I also love Duck... and Goose... and Magpie... Oh, okay I can't choose. I love them all!

The Models Own Speckled Egg polishes retail at £5 each for 14ml. They're currently running a 6 for £20 mix'n'match offer online and from the Bottleshops so you can pick up all of these shades and them some! Well worth investing in. These colours really are perfect for Easter and for Spring. 

Shop now at

 modelsownit.com 

Do you love Models Own polishes?? What are your favourite shades?? What nail colours do you love for Easter??

New Addiction! Rebel Kitchen 'Mylk'

Wow, I'm on a bit of a roll with the food and drink type posts this year! A bit different for me I'm quite enjoying it actually. Fresh out of sweet treats from my The Vegan Kind box last week, I went on to discover Rebel Kitchen via Instagram and just HAD to make an order. My greedy Vegan tummy just NEEDED them. I'm a complete sucker for flavoured milks and Veganism isn't going to put a stop to my obsession. In a way I'm loving them even more! 

I just love the whole attitude behind Rebel Kitchen. Seriously, if a product says "Drink me, I'm Epic" then I am gonna drink it. And trust me when I say these badboys ARE epic! Consisting entirely of whole foods, no artificial nasties and no added sweeteners, Rebel Kitchen 'Mylk' is one of those treats that you won't feel guilty indulging in. They are made using a combination of coconut milk, spring water, date nectar and cacao. Per 200ml you're getting approx 100kcal and 4g fat (only 2 of which are from saturated fats and there's ZERO cholesterol). Obviously there is a fair portion of sugar involved BUT the good news is that it's all naturally occurring sugars and nothing refined. Plant-tastic! 

Sooooooooo... what's the verdict??

Rebel Kitchen Mylk is my new treat of choice. I was really pleasantly surprised how creamy they are. I thought they would be quite thin in texture, which is slightly true for the Orange Choc variety but not so for the other two. The flavours are amazing. None of that artificial taste that you get with regular milkshakes. A little Instagram birdie tells me that there will be new flavours emerging soon which I am definitely excited for and will be purchasing without hesitation. 

Right now you can purchase Mylk on the Rebel Kitchen website and at Whole Foods Kensington. I ordered a 'taster pack' with one of each flavour for £5.70 which isn't cheap. Definitely an occasional indulgence, BUT Rebel Kitchen gives you the opportunity to bulk buy packs of 12 and 24 which saves a few pennies. I'm not sure on the price in the shops at the moment as I don't live near Kensington. Hopefully they will be adding more stockists soon to save me on P&P. 

Check out all of these flavours at 

rebel-kitchen.com

What are your favourite dairy alternatives?? Do you have a particular animal-friendly sweet treat of choice?? Have you tried Rebel Kitchen Mylk?? 

Skincare Saturday! Superdrug B. Pure Micellar Water

I'm developing a serious crush on Superdrug's own brands just lately. I love that almost everything is cruelty free and animal friendly. As I've been loving Micellar waters for cleansing lately, I just had to pick up this one. I had been previously using the LOreal version, however, I've fallen out with them regarding their sketchy animal testing policy and would prefer not to repurchase until I can find out a bit more. The B. Micellar water, on the other hand, is Leaping Bunny approved and marked suitable for Vegans so I'm entirely confident to use it. 

B. Pure Micellar Water - £2.47 for 150ml superdrug.com

Cleanses - Removes impurities and makeup.

Tones - Restores pH balance whilst keeping the skin supple.

Refreshes - with cucumber juice extract.

Ophthalmically approved.

Dermatologically approved.

This is a thoroughly decent little product. It's not as big a bottle as the LOreal version but, for the price, you can't grumble. I always felt like the product was dispensed too quickly from the bottle with the LOreal so I'm sure there was wastage there. Not the case here thankfully. I'm sure most micellar waters are used in the same way so I'll not bore you by commenting on application. This product really does the job and even had my mascara off in a flash without much effort. I tend to use micellar waters mainly for getting my makeup off prior to using another cleanser such as my Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser but this one works fine on its own for when I'm having a lazy day. I normally follow it up with a Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix exfoliating pad and an appropriate moisturiser.

Once again I'm really impressed with the quality of a Superdrug product as well as their prices. The B. range is slightly fancier than their regular own branded skincare and I've heard great things about the entire range. I may well dabble with their day/night creams once I've done with my current choices (I'm not going to be able to afford my Origins Night-a-Mins every time after all).

The B. range by Superdrug is well worth investigating. They have a wide range of skincare and makeup items to choose from. You can view the full range at superdrug.com or check them out instore.

Do you love Micellar Water for cleansing?? Do you have a favourite brand?? Have you tried the B. range yet??

What's in my 'The Vegan Kind' Box #TVK5

I'm quite excited about this post! At the beginning of February I came across The Vegan Kind via Facebook. For those of you unfamiliar with their service they are like a hybrid between a monthly beauty box like Glossybox and a Graze Box except all the products are natural, cruelty-free and Vegan. At the time I'd only been fully Vegan for about a week or so and thought this might be a fab opportunity to introduce myself to some new and animal-friendly products and snack ideas. So I signed up and my first box arrived this morning and I thought I'd do some photos and pop up a first impressions post. 

You absolutely do NOT have to be Vegan to enjoy this service. It's perfect for anyone looking to discover healthier, more eco and animal friendly snacks and beauty/household products and those who are contemplating experimenting with Veganism. With each box you receive 5-6 products ranging from healthy snacks, sweet treats, Vegan alternatives, cruelty free beauty/household products and anything in between. The Vegan Kind also donate 10p from every box sold to a featured charity each month (voted for by their Facebook followers). This month the donation will be made to the Society for Abandoned Animals. Each month you also get a recipe card with ideas on how to use the products in your box which are designed to go into a special folder (received with your third box). 

Sooooo.... What's in the box????

They're certainly playing to my sweet tooth with this one! I was a little bummed that I didn't get any toiletries or beauty products for my first box (past boxes have included Organic Surge shower gels and Vegan lip balms) but I'm not cross. This is a lovely selection. The Pulsin Raw Choc Brownie lasted all of ten seconds once I'd taken its picture and it was LUSH! Kind of like a naughtier version of the Nakd snack bars. I'm sure I will enjoy the SAF Express Raw Coconut Cookies. I'm really not a fan of coconut at all but, since being Vegan I've found myself coming round to many things I wasn't keen on before. Perhaps my tastebuds are evolving? 

TVK have also appealed to my love of something spicy with this box. The Flavour Magic Harissa seasoning will come in very handy as I love a sprinkle of something tasty. This powder looks like it will be very versatile. My On The Pulse Hot Chick chickpea snacks also have a Moroccan theme. Finally, TVK have saved me a trip to the supermarket for washing up liquid by including this Greenfrog version containing natural soapnuts. I'm just about to run out. It's a HUGE bottle too so will last a long time. Great value. 

All in all I am really pleased with my first TVK box! The products are all full size and the RRP of everything adds up to more than the £10 (+£2.95 P&P) I paid for the box. There's nothing here I won't enjoy or make use of. Fingers crossed for some beauty products in #TVK6!! I'm definitely going to stick it out for a few more boxes. If you want to find out more about The Vegan Kind, their products and the service they provide visit

www.thevegankind.com

or seek them out on Twitter and Facebook @thevegankind 

Are you looking to make more Vegan choices?? Do you prefer healthy snacks?? Would you subscribe to  service like this??

Nail Colours of Spring: Pastel Pink

Seems I've picked the darkest, murkiest day of the last fortnight to come up with this post haha. I'm getting in the mood for SPRING just lately and, having painted my nails this morning in a gorgeous, dusky, nude, pastel pink shade I realised that I have several such shades in my collection. Do I really need all of them? My mum thinks I'm bonkers when I declare that I NEED a certain shade of nail polish and then totally reject 5 or 6 shades fitting the description because they're just not 'right'. So I've decided to pull out my Top 5 of the pale pink shades in my collection and have a little swatch-fest.

Here are the shades under scrutiny today (L-R)

OPI 'Steady as She Rose' 

Nails Inc Gel Effect 'Mayfair Lane'*

Essie 'Fiji'

Nails Inc 'George Street'

and

Look Beauty Nail Pop 'Petticoat'

I wouldn't say that any of these shades are the same. A pink nail polish is rarely just a pink nail polish anymore (especially for a beauty blogger). Some are cool, some are warm, some are nude, some are.. you get the point. And a lot of them look completely different on the nails to how they look in the bottle. 

When you look at the shades side by side on the nail wheel it turns out that this is really a collection within a collection. No doubt I will wear all of these at some point over the coming warmer months. All of these shades are really wearable and look amazing with a bit of a tan. Fiji is the palest of the bunch while George Street is the deepest and also the most opaque. Favourites?? It's got to be a toss up between Steady as She Rose and Mayfair Lane but for completely different reasons. I love the grey tones in Steady as She Rose while Mayfair Lane is the perfect peachy pale pink. The Nude Award of the bunch has to go to Petticoat. This polish works on its own and also as a base for pink glitter polishes. So, basically, there is definite justification for me having all of them... HURRAH! 

I think I might stretch this post out into a series as I also covet mint greens and duck egg blues during the Spring/Summer months and none of the shades I have will be going unloved this year. So expect more swatching in posts to come!

What are your top Spring nail colours?? Must you have ALL OF THE PINKS?? Do you have a favourite shade of pink??