Product Use Up Update #3 and Other Products

I knew this month was going to be one of those slow transitional months, where your mainly just warring the product down rather then using it up.  But it’s also the last month I’ll have the opportunity to wear as much makeup for the rest of the year and therefore the last opportunity to really get through the stuff.  That being said I didn’t actually wear any at all this week when I was visiting family – ops.

Though the progress was slow I did manage to use up one product and that was the Neal’s Yard hand cream in Wild Rose.  There’s not too much to say about this product really.  It moisturises your hands and smells quite nice.  It’s possibly not as thick as I need it to be and a bit pricey to buy again, but Neal’s Yard is a cruelty free company and I do like the fact that a number of their products come in glass.  Now it’stime to start working on the Neutrogena anti-aging hand cream.

And now for the rest.  I have made progress on the Gosh Velvet Touch Matt lipstick in Plum, though not as much as I had hoped with it being the only lipstick I wore this month.  I am going to take a break from it as a lipstick in April, but I have noticed that it makes a very good cheek stain and will keep working at it as that.  There have been no change with the other lipsticks in this project.

The Living Nature eye liner in Midnight is another product I use everyday I wear makeup but which show little progress.  This isn’t a surprise with eye liners though as you never really need that much of them.  I’m going to do some more smoky looks in the future to try and get some more use out of this.  It also very blend able and I might experiment with it to darken up some eyeshadows.

I’ve only just started using the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale this month so there’s not going to be a big change between the start of the project and now.  It’s also not a product that is easy to layer so only a small amount can be used at a time.  Thankfully there was already a big dip in it so I’m still hopeful that I’ll finish it by the end of 2018.  It doesn’t supply the best coverage, but I’ll keep working at it.

There’s been a change in the way the roll ball part of the Pacifica roll-on perfume in Island Vanilla now works, similar to the Blood Orange perfume I had before, which means it now lets out more of the product.  Whilst there still hasn’t been a huge amount of progress I think it’s definitely going to increase now.  The scent is a little longer wearing in this fragrance and I do enjoy it, I just don’t like the applicator as much as I thought I would.

I almost feel like not bothering to put in the Barbara Day eye primer in this update, it’s almost a running joke now.  I use it every time I wear makeup but there is not an obvious progress.........yet.

I’m now using the Burt’s Bees hand salve a lot more now that I’m no longer wearing nail varnish, especially as I’m trying to improve the health of my nails after years of wearing polish.  However, you still need very little of this so it’s another product that’s showing very little progress and is in for the long haul.  I do think I will be able to get this finished at the end of the year.

The Argan Oil hair treatment is one of those items I keep forgetting to use.  My hair could probably do with this extra TLC, but it just keeps slipping my mind.  I need to find some way of reminding myself to use it, as so far everything else I’ve tried hasn’t worked.  Because of that there hasn’t been any progress since the last update.  Any advice on this please let me know.

One additional product I’ve finished this month which isn’t in the project is the Green People sun cream in SPF 30.  I’ve had this for a while now and as sun creams have definite shelf lives I wanted to make sure this was finished before that was up.  We haven’t exactly been having the right weather recently to be able to have much flesh so I’ve been mostly using this on my face.  Whilst it’s not specifically a face sun block it did go on really well, my skins didn’t react to it badly, and it actually made quite a good base for my makeup.  I have other sun cream I need to get through at the moment, but once that’s gone I’ll definitely look into the possibility of getting this again.  It is very effective, my skin seems to like it, and Green People is a cruelty free company.

The last product is the Lush Eyes Right Mascara.  I'm not really sure how I feel about this product.  On the plus side it uses more natural products, is vegan, and cruelty free.  However, the product is quite a wet product (though it improves a lot once it's dried out for about a month), did flake a fair amount throughout the day, and didn't really give my eye lashes the look I was looking for.  Basically with this product, if you just want darker, natural lashes, and don't mind a bit of flaking then this mascara is for you.  Otherwise, another mascara might be for you.

The toiletries that are coming on my trip

My parents are coming up to Scotland and we are going to take a trip on the west coast.  Normally I would take the least amount of toiletries possible, but, as I'm using up and testing different products, I taking quite a bit more than usual.  In the future this should get less and less as I use up my products and start finding more multi use items.

So, starting with the teeth.  I'm bringing my Lush Atomic Tooth Powder to carry on testing while I'm away, which should give me long enough to see if it's going to have any negative impact on my sensitive teeth.  My toothbrush is a Monte Blanco (which I think is now called Yaweco).  I've used this toothbrush for many years and I love the fact that you only need to change the head of the toothbrush and not the whole brush.  You can get natural bristles, but this one is nylon as I'm trying to remove animal products the items I use.  The last item is just common old dental floss.  At the moment I'm just using this up , but will start looking for a more natural products later.

I'm taking the usual sun block with me, especially as I always put an spf on my face.  Jason is one of my favourite companies and I really like this face suncream.  It sinks in well, isn't too white, and not that oily.  The body suncream is the Green People sunblock that I got free with a The Vegan Kind subscription.  I've liked it so far, but have only had the chance to test it a couple of times.  I might get a bit more of a chance to use this this holiday.

Obviously I would normally only bring one deodorant with me, but I want to carry on testing the Native Unearthed natural deodorant (also from The Vegan Kind subscription box) which has been working well so far on an opposite day basis with my normal deodorant.  This holiday I'm going to try and use it a few days in a row to see.

I was going to bring one of my shampoo bars with me, but I'm still getting used to using them along with trying to find the right apple cider vinegar to water ratio for my hair type.  Because of that I decided it would be easier to just bring some testers with me and, as I have enjoyed other products from John Masters Organic, I thought I would try these shampoos.  I only have to wash my hair twice a week so only 2 samples are needed and, as my hair has been doing fine without conditioner, I didn't bother getting any.  I did umm and ahh about taking the Wella product from my project pan with me, but as I'm so close to finishing this I thought I would put it in.  While it is unlikely I could finish this over the holiday, I can put a good dent in it.

I am, of course, taking my usual face products.  These are my home made face oil (I've already written a blog about this here), my toner of witch hazel and nothing else, and my new Jason Vitamin E cream face moisturiser.  You really don't need a lot of the last one so I've just decanted a small amount into a glass jar to take with me.  I won't even use all of this, but the amount is just in case other areas of my body get dry.

For lips I using up my Korres lip butter in Mango, which is nice but not as moisturising as I would like for a night lip treatment (it's also tinted), and a lip balm by Sweet Snuggles which smells of vanilla.  I'd never heard of this brand before, but brought a pack of these from Superdrug when I had really chapped lips and nothing to moisturise them with.  It does the job and smells lovely, there's not much else I can say about it.

I didn't want to bring a big tub of body moisturiser with me on this trip as I already had so much other stuff with me.  So I did a big moisturising section before I set off and, instead, brought just the tiny pot of Lush Charity Pot moisturiser (small but very effective) and the Lavera Intensive Care Hand Cream.  While this cream is labelled for the hands I have found it to also be effective for my elbows, feet, and other dry patches - so a nice all rounder.

The last of the general toiletries are my Travalo containing the Jean Paul Gaultier perfume I am trying to use up, my favourite Aloe Vera soap by Friendly Soap (I have quite literally brought about 10 of these) and a razor.  This is one of the last disposable razors I have and I am looking to either use the No! No! I've had for years but never really used or to buy a safety razor and use this instead.

Lastly, the only cosmetics I am bringing with me is the nail varnish (with the usual required base coat, top coat and nail varnish remover) that I am concentrating on using up in this section of project pan.  The polish is the Max Factor Glossfinity varnish in Raspberry Blush and it's already starting to thicken up so I don't think I'll get many more applications out of it.  The camera on my phone seems to have washed the nail varnish remover out, but it is the Zoya 3 in 1 varnish remover.  Pretty effective, though I have heard that it causes peeling on your nails and I have noticed a little peeling on mine.

Next time I travel I hope to have a lot less than this, but it will all depend, of course, on how much I've been able to go through for my project pans.

Night Face Moisturiser

Ok, so I know I've said this a 100 times, but I have dry skin and it can be very sensitive to some products.  It has taken me awhile to find products that are more 'natural' than the conventional products, gave my skin enough moisture and didn't cause my skin to itch or go red.  I concentrate on putting moisture back into my skin during the night (my morning routine is pretty simple) and use oil and then a cream.  I'll do another blog on the oils I use, but here are the face moisturisers I've been trying.

After doing some reading about ingredients that are good for dry skin I decided to go for something which contained Vitamin E, known for it's moisturising properties.  I had a nosey in my local Holland and Barrett and found the Dr Organic Vitamin E Cream.  This was a lovely product, sunk into the skin really well, and I liked that, while I mainly used it on my face, I could use it anywhere I had dry patches.  It's also vegan, cruelty free, and paraben and fragrance free.  The fact that it's in a glass jar is also a plus when it comes to reducing waste.  Definitely worth having a look at and I will probably buy it again in the future.

Next I tried the Barefoot SOS Face & Body Rescue Cream that I had a sample of.  Designed specifically for dry and sensitive skin, this seemed like the perfect solution.  This product is also vegan and cruelty free, as well as being free from a whole load of synthetic products including parabens and sulphates.  Though it does contain essential oils it didn't irritate my skin at all and did leave my face feeling very soft and nourished.  The only problem I had was that I could still feel it sitting on my face after a couple of hours and I don't like that feeling.  I might think about getting this as a hand and dry patches moisturiser, but not as a face moisturiser.

Another product that I first got as a tester, but then brought as the full product, was the Green People Fruitful Nights Night Cream.  I love this stuff.  It smells amazing and did really feel like it was moisturising my face, though maybe not as well as the first two products.  Vegan, cruelty free and free from a number of synthetic products, it also donates some of it's profits to charity.  Green People is a great company and I don't think I've not enjoyed a product I've bought from them.  I am very tempting to buy this again and probably will in the future, but as I'm trying to streamline my beauty products right now I wanted to see if I could find something that could be multiply purpose, like Dr Organic Vitamin E Cream and Barefoot SOS Face & Body Rescue Cream.  This product is also on the slightly pricey side.

The last product that I got (and am still using) is the Jason Revitalizing Vitamin E 5,000 i.u.  I decided to go for another Vitamin E product as I felt it did so well before and this has been very effect.  Jason is another environmentally friendly company and all their products are vegetarian (though I believe this one is vegan), cruelty free, and free from the usual synthetic ingredients.  They also support Care, a charity that helps girls go to school.  As a product it has done a good job at moisturising and has been something that I could use on other areas of my body where there has been dry patches.  During my time using this I had also used up my last eye moisturiser and have just been using this instead of buying a new eye moisturiser.  It has done a very good job in this role as well and hasn't irritated my sensitive eyes at all.  You also get a lot of product for not a lot of money so is well worth getting.  The only downside for this product is that it comes in a plastic container, but seeing as it lasts for such a long time I don't feel as bad using it.  I've almost finished this one, my second pot, and am going to buy it again.  However, this time I'm thinking of going for the 25,000 i.u. as my skin has been unusually dry recently so I want something stronger.

So that's all the moisturisers I have tried so far and it may not seem like a lot, but all of these products take a long time to use.  I love the fact that I have found a multi-tasker which I can use on my face, eyes, and body.  Definitely makes life a lot easier.

If you have a moisturiser that you like let me know.

June The Vegan Kind subscription box

So another lovely The Vegan Kind vegan, lifestyle box came to my door again at the beginning of this week and I wasted no time in opening it to see what we had this time.

To begin with is the usual sheet letting you know about the guest recipe contributor is, information about the charity that The Vegan Kind supports (which is Teen VGN's Vegan Summer Camp, and details about the products in box.

The recipe this time is a Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta by Fettle Vegan, run by Amber who produces plant-based recipes.  I love avocado's and I love pesto so this is right up my alley and I've already added it to my list of menus for next week to test out.  The biggest test will be whether or not my partner, Jim, likes it.

The first thing I saw (and the first thing I ripped into before even taking a photo) was the Hoots Cheese and Onion Multigrain Snack.  This was really nice, not too cheesy or strong, and I really liked how crunchy it was.  I also liked the fact that Hoots is now removing animal products from their food.  Jim liked them too and actually took the pack out of my hand.

The next product I tried was the GranoVita Vegetable Pate. I spread it on some toast to try it and while it reminded me of a meat based pate I had at school years ago it wasn't something that I was particularly keen on.  It was salty tasting to me (it has sea salt added to it) and I'm not a fan of salty food, but if you do like slightly salty food then you should try this.

The next product I pulled out was the Good Full Stop Chocolate and Orange Bar which is a chocolate and orange fruit and nut bar.  It definitely tasted of orange chocolates and which quite easy to eat on that front.  The texture was squiggy though, I prefer my snacks to be crunchy.

I actually took the Foods of Athenry Chocolate and Raspberry Cookie with me when Jim and me went to Lunan Bay (East Scotland).  This we really liked.  It's not a chewy as usually cookies are, which we actually thought was a good thing, and the flavours were not too overpowering.  All and all this one was definitely a success and I will definitely be looking out for these when I'm having a cookie monster moment.

This was the last food product I pulled out, and actually the one I was most interested in, was the Smooze Fruit Ice.  I have a real ice-cream addition.  Not chocolate, not cakes, and not biscuits, but ice-cream.  Normally when it kicks in, and I give in, I get a big tub of Cookies and Cream which I finish completely.  What I'm hoping will happen is that this might be able to replace that as a smaller, vegan version of this to help with the cravings so I don't fall of the wagon.  Mango was the perfect one to get as it's a fruit I love and this was a really nice product.  I'm not sure it's exactly the same of the Cookies and Cream, but I think I will be able to use this as a substitute while I deal with this addition.

For me the best part of this box is the non-food products and this one was the Green People Sun Lotion.  I am a fan of Green People and have purchased and enjoyed their products in the past (specifically their sunscreen), so I was really pleased to receive this.  I was also intending on buying some sunscreen on the day I received this box as I'd run out, so this was perfectly timed.  This is a great product, rubs into the skin really well, isn't white, and lasted a long time.  I would recommend this (this size is £13.50 on the Green People website).

Click here to read my blogs on the April and May The Vegan Kind boxes.