Late to the Party

This has been such a fabulous month for favourites! Starting with the Black Friday sales, my birthday, a couple of giveaway wins, Christmas and the sales - it's been a bumper month of goodies for me and lots of instant favourites.   Nudge Boutique   The beginning of the month saw me meeting up with the incredibly talented Jo Klassen of local (Norfolk) luxury, vegan handmade skincare brand Nudge Boutique . I had a great time chatting with Jo and she very kindly gave me her entire range of products to try out. Her range currently consists of the Saffron Glow Facial Oil Serum, the Saffron Glow Cleansing Clay Mask and the Kokum Body Boost Butter. Every product contains the superstar ingredient Norfolk Saffron. Saffron (the stigma) has amazing anti-oxidant properties and has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and skincare but Nudge Boutique are the first UK brand to use the Saffron petals (usually discarded) in their products too. The dried petals turn a beau

     The Skin Organics Clean Beauty Box is a monthly subscription service offering a selection of five full/deluxe sample sized natural beauty, skincare and makeup products.   100% natural, organic, non-toxic, eco-friendly, cruelty free, ethically sourced and often from up and coming British Indie Natural Beauty brands, the products chosen are free from Parabens, Petrochemicals, PEGs (petroleum-based compounds), silicones, Sodium Laureth or Lauryl Sulphate, Phthalates, Propylene Glycol , Synthetic Colours and Fragrances, Triclosan,  Formaldehyde, Toulene, Benzophenone/PABA, Petroleum/Mineral oil, Alcohol,  Urea, PEG, PG/BG, Dioxin, Aluminium, DEET, Camphor, Talc and Carmine. A monthly subscription costs £21.00 + £3.95 p+p BUY HERE   I'm particularly excited about this month's box as it's the Christmas edit! I had perhaps thought that I might save this box and pop it under the tree to open it on Christmas Day as an extra treat to myself. But, excitement, ea

  I managed to be reasonably restrained this year with new purchases, focusing instead on what I already had in my stash and using items up before buying new ones. But 2018 still managed to be a year for new discoveries - in particular, I found myself veering into the 'Natural & Clean Beauty' lane.  I've been really enjoying, and seeing the benefit of clean, simple, natural and organic ingredients; reduced wasteful packaging; buying from British indie skincare brands and an altogether more sensory self-care experience.    Here are my favourites from 2018:   SKINCARE   First Cleanse   A.Florence Skincare - Balm to Milk Cleanser RRP £13.00 35ml This was very tricky to pick one favourite as I love all of my cleansing balms (I'd always choose a balm over an oil or a cream cleanser). But the A.Florence balm to milk cleanser was my favourite discovery of the year. With a beautiful sherbet scent, this balm cleanser is suitable for use on the eyes

Getting excited! It's the last week before Christmas! At the end of last week I tried out some samples of mineral foundation that Annabelle Minerals sent to me. I've never tried a powder foundation before and previously, never even considered them as a viable option - erroneous presumptions on my part again! The matte powder foundation I tried was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever been so instantly impressed by a foundation. So I ended up making an order from Annabelle Minerals and I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival. Will follow up with a post when they get here and when I've had a chance to play with them.     * Foundation - Annabelle Minerals Powder Foundation samples * E.L.F - Under Eye Primer (not pictured) * Under Eye Concealer - Maybelline Age Rewind * Contour - Makeup Revolution Contour Palette (not pictured)   * Highlighter - Fenty Beauty Kilawatt Highlighter * Blusher - Nars Orgasm * Mascara - Ciate Wonderwand * Eyeshadow Palette

We have so many fantastic Indie Artisan, small-batch, clean and natural beauty brands in the UK and I keep finding out about more brands every single day. Thanks to the likes of natural beauty subscription boxes like the Skin Organics Clean Beauty Box and the Natural Beauty Box, it's possible to try out products from many of these brands before committing to buying a full size product.   But here I present my own 'virtual wish list' of British Indie Skincare brands that I would really like to check out. I'm sticking to the ones that are in my budget-range and ones that also offer samples and smaller sizes so you don't have to take a risk by shelling out too much money!   None of these links are affiliated and some of these brands I haven't actually tried myself yet - this is just as much a mental reminder for myself of brands who have caught my eye recently! Nudge Boutique Shop HERE Of course I'm going to start out with a local-to-me brand!