#TVK Does Beauty!

Yes, yes, I know. Slap my wrist, I've been a bad blogger. 

I do have a legitimate excuse for my absence. Interning has had to take priority over the last couple of months. I've spent so much time researching and drafting for the PETA UK blog that I've been totally zapped for inspiration for my own! However, my time there has now come to an end (sad face) so maybe I can find some focus and crack on with more personal projects. I'm here today to bring you an exciting new box by the lovely people at The Vegan Kind... They've only gone and done a BEAUTY BOX!!! 

The Vegan Kind, who have been providing me with such wonderful, yummy vegan treats for the last few months have gone one better and brought out a one-off TVK Beauty Box! Needless to say I was all over it. My own quest for quality cruelty free, vegan cosmetics has had its ups and downs, to say the least, and I was hoping that TVK could help point me in the right direction. 

Here's a little peep at what's inside...

My Thoughts....

I'm thoroughly delighted with everything in this box. So many wonderful, natural and organic ingredients and everything, as always, is 100% cruelty free and vegan. I'm particularly taken with the Furless stippling brush by Furless Cosmetics. It's super soft and I can't wait to try it out. I have a feeling it will be perfect for powder. Another product that has got me excited is the Lime and Coconut Cleansing Water by White Rabbit Skincare. It smells so lovely and fresh and mixes spring water, coconut oil and orange blossom water with essential oils which sooth both skin and mind.

Inika are a brand that beauty box devotees will be familiar with, but did you know that as well as being organic they are also cruelty free and vegan friendly? I'm still using up the dregs of my pre-vegan eyeliner stash (seriously I have loads) but it's great to know that I have a trusty cruelty free option to fall back on. Beautiful Movements are a completely new brand to me but apparently they also sell in Holland and Barrett. Their loose mineral eyeshadows are free from parabens, synthetic dyes and animal products and come in a variety of beautiful colours. According to the product list there should have been two shades in this box, but I only found one, Adobe Brick, which is a lovely muted golden shade. Not that I'm complaining. TVK can't do much wrong by me at the moment.

Last up is a great sized Orange Cocoa bath melt by Simply Soaps. This bar has the freshest citrus orange scent and is made with raw cocoa butter and essential oils. I'll have to keep reminding myself not to eat it. TVK promise me that it will make my skin feel silky soft as well as leaving me with that pampered feeling.
*****

TVK keep consistently wowing me with their monthly offerings. To read my thoughts on their July #TVK9 box head over to my other blog Thirty-Something Vegan. It really was a BELTER! Ever heard of Coconut BACON??? This Beauty Box is currently just a one off, but for £10 a month (plus P&P) you can subscribe to receive monthly vegan treats, which also include cosmetics and toiletries. They've never managed to disappoint me yet! You also get discount codes and monthly vegan recipes.

For more information on TVK and to subscribe visit
thevegankind.com

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??

December Feel Unique Box: My Thoughts

Afternoon all! 

Think this is the earliest i've blogged in... FOREVER!! After being woken up at the crack of dawn by my window cleaner trying to smash is way into my flat (well thats what it sounded like to me, ever heard of GENTLY??), and then a phonecall from uni about my DSA assessment (BLEH), I realised i was up in time to trek to the post sorting office to retrieve my Feel Unique Beauty Box which was delivered, then taken away yesterday while i was still at my parents' cutting hair. 

And here it is!! FINALLY!!

Very first impression of this box was "Well its not very Christmassy, is it!!" , and to be perfectly honest it doesn't feel like a Christmas themed box at all. There's nothing in here that just SCREAMS December. But here's what's in it......

Perfume samples are always a bit "Hmmmmm" for me when they appear in beauty boxes. I think perfume is such a personal thing and one person's heaven is another person's MIGRAINE!! 

Having said that, this is a MASSIVE sample of Annick Goutal's 'Mandragore'. In the description of this fragrance they rave about bergamot, boxwood, ginger and all that jazz but, to me, this smells incredibly citrussy, like oranges.The other notes do seem to come out a bit once you've had it on a while. Its probably the closest thing to Christmas in this box but it will NOT be to everyone's taste. However, for me, the size of it and the fact that i actually don't mind the scent will probably see it in my handbag over the festive season. 

This confused me a little bit before i realised that you don't actually have to take out the second mortgage and buy a Clarisonic to use this Nourishing Care Cleanser. Its a cleanser so there's not really anything much i can say about it until i've used it, which probably wont be for a while as i'm still happily scrubbing along with my Liz Earle C&P. This is for normal/dry skin and i have normal/combination skin so i'm not sure how i will get on with this BUT, its a decent sized sample so i'm willing to give it a shot. 

This Nails Inc Oxford Circus mini sample size is perhaps what has disappointed me the most. Not least because, having previously been subbed to GlossyBox (only cancelled in order to save a few quid - Student, blah blah blah) I am used to a full size polish in my box. Its a candy, pastelly pink. For me, these colours are shut away in winter and then brought out again with a flourish as soon as Spring arrives again. A nail polish for this time of year should be a berry or wine kind of shade, or at least a warm colour. Baby pinks aren't always my cup of tea at the best of times but i will probably get some use out of this next year. 

I actually rather LIKE the Figs&Rouge Sweet Geranium Balm. I haven't really experienced many of these multi-use balm products before but i still can't think how they would work on anything but the lips. I don't suffer from particularly dry skin so, for me, this will probably remain a lip balm, but i'm happy with it for that. It's got a whiff of turkish delight to it (although i'd prefer my turkish delight covered in choccy) and i've got a dab on my lips at the moment and it feels very pleasant. 

Lastly, is the Tigi Bed Head: Candy Fixations Sugar Dust. I had suspected that there may be a Tigi product in this box, but i couldn't help but groan a little when this popped out. I have thick, heavy hair and products like this just do not cut it. I tried the Schwartzkopf dust and immediately handed it over to my finer haired friend. I'm hoping this might perform a little better but i'm not holding out much hope. I'd had my fingers crossed for at least ONE product that i would get tons of use out of. 

All in all, i'm not blown away by this box at all. I think that they could have gone to a LOT more effort to make it a bit more Christmassy. There's nothing in this box that i would go out and buy out of my own choice BUT, there's nothing in here that i probably won't use either. For the £9.50 you pay you get what are, generally, VERY good sized samples (if not a full size product). I think a little more attention could have been paid to this box, if i'm honest. 

I'm NOT, however, going to unsub just because i'm a little bit BLEH about the first box. I'm going to keep it up for at least January just to see what else they can come up with, although i am tempted by the Carmine box as i've heard so many squealy tweets about how pleased everyone is with their boxes. I think my main advice for Feel Unique (if they're bothered) would be to allow subscribers to note their product preferences when they sign up. Not everyone wants a new cleanser every month. Not everyone has hair that is in need of extra body. 

If you saw the contents of my box and were blown away and want to subscribe for the next one, you can do so HERE. 

Which boxes do you subscribe to?? What did you think of this box??