Lily Lolo mineral eyeshadow: review

Lily Lolo mineral eyeshadow (2g) £5.29
Available online at lilylolo.co.uk and amazon.co.uk

Ethics:
BUAV approved cruelty free
Ethically sourced
Natural ingredients
Made in UK

Review:
These eyeshadows come in cute little pots. Although they look quite small, the products are highly pigmented so a little bit goes a long way. It's also really easy to build up the colour, making it stronger and darker by applying another layer. I apply them onto my eyelids with an eyeshadow brush but you can also use your fingers. They're really easy to apply, aren't drying and easily blend into the skin without leaving creases. I find that they're also long lasting, so I can't fault the formulation at all. The ingredients are really simple; the main one is mica followed by titanium dioxide (which also adds a SPF) then a small handful of colours. That's it!

In order, the colours I've tried are: Chocolate fudge cake, Honey peach and Vanilla shimmer but there are loads more to choose from. Chocolate fudge cake is my favourite of the three, it looks very purpley in the pot but once it's applied it appears as a mid to deep, rich brown colour with shimmery purple undertones when it hits the light. All of these colours are two dimensional and shimmery, revealing a slightly lighter sheen when they catch the light. I think this is really flattering and brightens up the eyes.

Overall I love the natural ingredients, beautiful colours, high quality and ethics behind this family brand. Their eyeshadows could also make a perfect gift as you can choose for yourself any three colours and have them packaged in a nice-looking gift box for £14.99.

10/10

Dainty Doll loose mineral powder foundation and concealer click pen: Review

Dainty Doll loose mineral powder foundation (32g) £19.50
and
Dainty Doll concealer click pen (12g) £12.50
Available at larger Boots stores, Debenhams stores and online at daintydoll.co.uk

Ethics:
I emailed Jelly Pong Pong before buying their products and they assured me that:

They do not test on animals.
They do not use any animal by-products.
Their manufacturing plants are environmentally conscious and cruelty-free.

However I noticed after buying them that they are distributed by Original Additions, who seem to be an animal testing company.

Foundation Review:
Dainty Doll is a makeup collection inspired by Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud and created by company Jelly Pong Pong. The idea is that the range of product colours and tones will match and suit very place skin colours. This is absolutely what drew me to the brand because I’m very pale skinned and have always found it problematic searching for skin make-up that doesn’t leave me looking orange.

I bought the foundation in the very lightest colour, 001 and was surprised to find it was actually too light for my skin and made it look much paler. So unless you’re extremely pale, as in goth-pale, go for the colour up (I presume that would be 002) even if you’re very light skinned. The product itself is fine, I think the foundation looks very light almost as if you’re not wearing much makeup while the coverage is still decent. Mineral foundation is really good for oily skin which is why I picked this one up, and found that the formula worked well with my skin type. The brush that comes with it is very soft and good quality, but you’d expect that for the price.

However, the packaging design is horrible. The applicator brush is attached to the vial of powder which means it doesn‘t come out easily at all, making it take far longer to apply than I can put up with since only tiny bits of powder come out at a time. It would be much better if the two were separate but alas I cannot seem to rip them apart. Shame.

Overall, the quality of the product is good but the design lets it down. It’s also pricey and wouldn't have bothered buying it if I'd realised the problems. I only used it once, disappointed.

6/10

Concealer Review:
The clicky part of the pen moves the formula up from the tube to the brush tip. This can be a bit tricky and it can take a few seconds for it to register, which lead to way too much concealer plopping out all over the place for me. As with the foundation, I think this is a design flaw. The actual concealer itself however is pretty nice, very light on the skin and doesn't look cakey. It's creamy so suitable for use around the eye area.

7/10

Lush Enzymion facial moisturiser: Review

Enzymion facial moisturiser (45g) £13.50
Available from Lush stores or online at lush.co.uk

Ethics:
Against animal testing.
100% recycled packaging.
Fair trade.
Vegan.
Made in UK.

Read more about Lush’s ethics here


Review:
Enzymion is a light moisturiser intended for oily skin, formulated with fruit extracts. Fresh lemon juice is the main ingredient and is intended to mattify skin, helping to keep natural oils away. Aloe vera gel is second on the list of ingredients and acts to calm spotty skin while papaya juice is meant to ‘brighten’ skin. In lesser quantities, emollients are also included to keep your skin hydrated; Cocoa butter comes third on the list of ingredients, followed by glycerine and essential oils which all act to lightly moisturise.

The first thing I noticed about this cream is the lovely strong lemony fragrance which is long lasting; I can still smell it a few hours after application. It is a light moisturiser, but not as light as some others I’ve used so I think it would suit both oily and ‘normal’ skin. The claim that it prevents oil production however isn’t true for me; my skin gradually becomes just as oily as ever using this cream so that disappointed me a little.

Overall, this product is a little bit on the expensive side compared with it’s cruel-counterparts but I think it’s worth it if you’re looking for ethical cosmetics as this one ticks every box.

7/10

Superdrug Pro Vitamin shampoo and conditioner: Review.

Superdrug Pro Vitamin shampoo and conditioner (400ml) £1.99
Available from Superdrug stores or online at superdrug.com

Ethics:
BUAV approved.
Product and ingredients have not been tested on animals.
Shampoos suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Conditioners suitable for vegetarians.
UK brand.

Review:
These shampoos and conditioners come in four varieties: smooth & shine, classic, thermal protect and volumising. I use the volumising shampoo as my hair is very straight so gets flat at the roots, but use smooth & shine conditioner because the ends of my hair are very dry.

This range is Superdrug’s own brand version of Pantene Pro-V, which is made by the animal testing company Procter and Gamble. Price wise, the Pantene versions are more than twice the price, so the Superdrug version is definitely better value. I was a regular user of Pantene before I discovered their unethical practices, since swapping their shampoos and conditioners for the Superdrug versions I have noticed the results of both Pantene and Superdrug’s are the same, so there is no difference quality wise. I haven’t noticed any negative changes in the condition of my hair, which can sometimes be a bit frizzy. Since using Superdrug’s smooth & shine conditioner, I’ve actually noticed an improvement in the smoothness of my hair which I didn’t get with Pantene. It actually does make my hair smooth and shiny!

The products have a nice fragrance, a similar fresh smell that Pantene has. The ingredients list shows that panthenol (vitamin b5) is fairly high up in the list too. Unfortunately, although the shampoos in this range are completely animal ingredient free, the conditioners are not. This is very common even in cruelty-free conditioners which tend to use lanolin which comes from sheep’s wool. Although there is no lanolin listed in the ingredients of Superdrug’s conditioners, I notice “milk protein” is listed which may be why the product isn’t vegan.

Overall, these shampoos and conditioners are much cheaper than their branded counterparts, they match very well in quality and they’re also cruelty free. No excuse not to try them!

10/10

Superdrug Natural high cleanser and eye-makeup remover: review

Natural high cleanser and eye-makeup remover. (200ml) £2.99
Available from Superdrug stores or online at superdrug.com

Ethics:
BUAV approved.
Product and ingredients have not been tested on animals.
No animal ingredients: suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
UK brand.
High in organic extracts and natural ingredients.

Review:
As a Natural High product, this contains many natural and organic ingredients such as: green tea, witch hazel, coconut oil and grapefruit water. After checking out the ingredients, coconut oil and witch hazel are the top two after water.

This make-up remover is creamy in consistency, it feels like a light moisturiser but contains coconut oil and liquid paraffin which enables face and eye-makeup to easily slide off. The smell is fruity and I think is a bit overpowering for me.

Overall, this product is easily applied and works very well, removing even mascara very easily with a cotton pad. It leaves skin feeling moisturised and looking toned.

8/10

Superdrug Natural High radiance balm: review

Superdrug’s Natural High radiance balm (50ml) £4.99
Available from Superdrug stores or online at superdrug.com

Ethics:
BUAV approved.
Product and ingredients have not been tested on animals.
No animal ingredients: suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
UK brand.
High in organic extracts and natural ingredients.

Review:
Natural high is Superdrug’s slightly more expensive range of own-brand products. The idea of Natural High is that the cosmetics are formulated with a high amount of natural ingredients. After looking at the ingredients, I think this holds true although of course there are also many synthetic ingredients included. The first ingredient is water, after that it’s witch hazel which is extremely soothing for the skin - this is one of the main ingredients, great! It also contains olive oil and elderberry.

This face cream has a slightly fruity smell and the consistency is a little bit sticky. It’s a very light daytime moisturiser which suits normal to oily skin. The cream has a light sheen to it as a result of “light reflective particles” so I avoid using it around the T-zone as it just makes my face look greasy. It’s great to use under makeup however, especially to highlight around the cheek area. For me, it’s sort of a cross between makeup and moisturiser.

Overall, this cream definitely feels like it’s soothing my skin. Although since I have very dry patches it just doesn’t moisturise enough for me and I think the sparkly bits aren’t suitable to apply all over the face (especially if you’ve got young or oily skin).

7/10

Superdrug Vitamin E nourishing night cream: review.

About:
Since recently making the discovery that the vast majority of popular brands still unnecessarily test on animals, I’ve vowed to do my best to find alternatives. Two problems I’ve come across is with finding comparable products of a similar quality, the other main problem is that cruelty-free products are much more difficult to find. As a general rule if you find a popular branded product, it’s probably been tested on animals. I’ve given up most of my favourite make-up items and cosmetics because I used many L’Oreal and Procter and Gamble products which are arguably by far the worst offenders when it comes to animal testing.

There is a list of good and bad brands available here.

I’m going to start off my new blog by reviewing all the Superdrug products I’ve used so far. I’ve found that buying Superdrug’s own brand products is a really easy way of cruelty-free toiletry shopping, as their entire range is BUAV approved. I’ve also managed to save money while the quality has remained comparable to much more expensive brands. I should also mention that The Co-operative Group’s own brand range is similarly cruelty-free and BUAV approved although they don’t have the wide range of products that Superdrug do.

Superdrug’s Vitamin E nourishing night cream (100ml) £2.99
Available from Superdrug stores or online at superdrug.com

Ethics:
BUAV approved.
Product and ingredients have not been tested on animals.
No animal ingredients: suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
UK brand.

Review:
This cream boasts “12 hour moisturisation” , “rich in vitamin E” and “high in antioxidants”. It is recommended for normal to dry skin. After taking a look at the ingredients, many vitamins are included such as vitamin E (of course) which comes high in the list, A, B5, F and H. There are also a number of natural soothing ingredients such as horse chestnut and parkii butter.

The fragrance is light and slightly coconutty, but not too overpowering. The cream rubs well into the skin and sinks in quickly, not leaving it too greasy. I have combination skin, some of it’s dry and other parts very oily, but I find this cream suitable for both types and mild enough not to lead to a breakout in spots. This cream does what it says on the tin- it leaves even dry skin feeling soft and looking moisturised. I’d say the level of moisturisation (if there is such a thing) is medium to high.

I’ve had the tub for a few months now and there’s still a lot left, so you get plenty for the price. I now much prefer it to other animal-tested face creams I ditched such as Garnier’s or L’Oreal’s as I found they were overly fragranced and were actually very harsh on my skin. I think they lead to breakouts and sometimes even a sore skin feeling which just made my skin look worse. So not only is the product actually better, but also a hell of a lot cheaper. I definitely recommend anyone to give it a go, don’t be put off by the home-brand label. Good quality and great value for money, I’ll definitely be buying this again.

10/10