App of the moment: Logical Harmony

I've been following Logical Harmony's blog and YouTube channel for a while now. To me these are both great places to find out about companies that are cruelty free, vegan, or both, and I trust the information Tashina provides, especially as she always researches all the products.  

One of the most useful parts of the Logical Harmony website is the 'What brands are cruelty free and vegan?' page which provides a list of companies that are cruelty free, which are not cruelty free, or which they are still waiting to hear back from.  

They are all pretty easy to find and I love that you can also find out which companies are also vegan and which have parent companies that do test on animals.

The reason I choose this list over any other you can find online is because of how thoroughly they check each company - doing a lot of research themselves and only including companies that are prepared to complete the documents they send out. As far as I'm aware there is no money involved to get on the list and it's also updated on a weekly basis, so you can be sure of the most accurate information.

Tashina has also provided an explanation on how you can turn this page into an app on your phone for both the iPhone and other Android phones. 

It's safe to say it's now my go to before I buy any new beauty products and I will be using it to move more towards vegan products as well.  Do you have any apps that you use to help you make more ethical decisions?

Ethical Clothing

This year I decided it really was time to do something about my clothing.   While I've never been a big shopper and have always been happy to shop in charity shops, most of the clothes in my wardrobe are not particularly ethical.  My goal is to have a smaller, ethically minded wardrobe full of great items.  So, these are the steps I'm taking to get me there.

Getting rid of items I no longer wear or love.
While I'm not intending on getting rid of every item in my wardrobe that doesn't fit with my long term goal straight away (I just couldn't afford it) I am getting rid of items that I don't use.  I had already been pulling out clothes over the last few years, but at the beginning of this year I went through every item and pulled out anything that I really didn't wear anymore, didn't fit me or that didn't suit my style.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the expectedly large pile but I did decide to take them down to my local H&M to try out their conscious fashion campaign and got a nice litte £5 voucher.
Now my wardrobe is still bigger than I want it to be but at least it's now made up of items I actually wear.  I've given myself an idea of how many of each clothing type I want (which I will adapt if I find it doesn't fit what I need) and once an item is worn out or I no longer get any use out of it I'll just get rid it, only replacing it once I've reached my goal number. 

Do I really need it.
This is something I'm going to use throughout my purchases and that is to ask myself if I really need the item before I buy.  I've already started doing this and to begin with it was more difficult than I was expecting to resist the urge to buy when I liked the look of something.  But I'm now finding that just by telling myself I don't actually need it is enough to put me off the item.

Buy second hand first.

To me the simplest way of ethical shopping is to buy second hand. The products are already out there so no extra resources are needed and it's usually easy to find a style you're looking for.  I especially like vintage clothing so this type of shopping is right up my alley. Charity shops are my usual go to when it comes to this type of shopping but ebay also brings out some good finds.  This has been especially useful when buying the dresses that I wear to work.

Ethical and new.

For items I can't find second hand I've been looking for ethical alternatives. On my list of things to look for are organic, recycled, fair trade and non sweat shop, or preferably a combination of those.  This one is a little bit more difficult for me as my bodyshape means I usually have to try before I buy and I can only really get the ethical brands on line.  I have been buying from the H&M conscious brand but I definitely want to drive a little deeper into this and get much more etical products. I'll just have to bite the bullet and order items I know I might have to send back.

Project Pan Update #2

I wasn't expecting to do particularly well this month as I'd already used up most of the easy products in January, but I'd actually did a lot better than I thought. 

Winter is the time when my skin is at its driest and scrubbing is an important step (which I usually forget) to keeping my skin soft. So this seemed a perfect time to use up the Miss Cole body scrub, except that it didn't do anything. The product went on easily enough and had large granules like sea salt, but it didn't actually remove any of my dry skin and the products in it even seemed to dry out my skin.  I also used up the Naturally Thinking Body Polish Salt Scrub which I've had for a while now (which I'll talk about more in another blog) and this item was much better, though still not scrubby enough for my needs.

It was a lot easier to use the Benefit High Beam once I had depotted it and I was using it on a daily basis, even when I was having a no make up day.  It's not completely finished but has now become too dry to use anymore, and there's so little left that I'm counting this as done.  I'm not really a highlighter person as I prefer a matt look and as I use a powder foundation this didn't really mix very well.  If I do decide to get another highlighter it'll probably be a powder highlighter, and Benefit is not a cruelty free company.  I'm now using the Maybelline white eyeshadow as a highlighter to help use that up.

The only nail varnish in this month's update is the Models Own Nude Beige.  I was concentrating on this one as I knew it was beginning to thicken up and managed to get a few uses out of it before it became unusable.  This is a lovely colour and Models Own is a cruelty free company so I would recommend it.  The only reason I won't be buying it again as a want to transition into more natural nail varnishes. 

The Natural Collection Fig Leaf lipstick is another product I've been working on due to its age rather than its cruelty free status.  I had hoped to get it all finished by the end of February but I think that was being a bit optimistic. Got quite far though and I think it should be finished by the end of this month.

I'm also hoping to at least hit pan on my Lily Lolo eye primer next month which I've been using every day I wear make up.

I've carried on working through the Sephora and Maybeline palettes this month and have managed to make quite a good dent in them. However, I have realised just how long it's going to take to use them up. This is especially true of the silver eyeshadow (which I put all over my lids every day I wear make up) which seems quite pigmented when you first put it on so you only put on a little, then the colour falls off quite quickly and you're left with just a glittery eye lid.  I haven't really made much work on the dark grey, but I am thinking of using it to cut my crease now and then to start working through it.
I think the only thing I'm going to have finished by the next up date is my Natural Collection lipstick.  So that should be a very short blog. :-D