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Posts tagged organic

Dr Bronner’s Magic Organic Shaving Gel Soap

By Helena on October 10, 2012

I’ve never really bought shaving gel before, I’ve always just used shower gel to shave my legs, so I can’t really compare Dr Bronner’s Shaving Gel to other shaving gels but I can say that it is so much better than using normal shower gel! I love the lemony smell and that you only need a small amount to cover both legs. The gel also stays put on your legs and isn’t rinsed off easily like shower gel – I quite often shave my legs in the shower and find that shower gel is gone really quickly! Dr Bronner’s shaving gel is also very moisturising which is brilliant. Definitely a thumbs up from me!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body and tagged Dr Bronner's, magic, organic, Shaving Gel, soap.

Summer Essentials: Body Skin Care

By Helena on August 14, 2012

I think I’m a bit obsessed with skin care at the moment. I’ve got a few moisturisers on the go at the moment and have also found a really lovely aftersun to take on holiday.

Nurture Replenish Body Butter

I think this may be the most hydrating body butter I’ve ever used. It doesn’t leave any sort of greasiness but it does take a little while to sink in, especially if you’re still not completely dry from a shower. It has a sweet scent, I would have said it was kind of floral but according to the website it is sweet almond oil, cocoa butter and shea butter. I love it! The Nurture Body Butter costs £8.45 for 200ml.

Living Nature Ultra Rich Body Cream

Some of the Living Nature products I’ve tried from MyPure have had a bit of an odd smell but this one is gorgeous. It contains active manuka honey so the scent is very, very sweet. It has a really thick texture but only takes a bit of rubbing to get it to sink in and once it’s sunk in it doesn’t feel greasy at all. It is actually quite similar to the Nurture Body Butter except that all of the ingredients are completely natural. However, it is quite a lot more expensive – £27 for 150ml!

Lovea Organic After Sun Lotion

I don’t think I really get the difference between after sun and just general body lotion – does anyone know?! I always buy after sun for holidays even though I don’t tend to burn much. I love the smell of this after sun! Again it sinks in really well and doesn’t feel greasy. I’m taking this to Thailand but it’s only 125ml which doesn’t seem like it will last for 3 weeks so I’ve got a little Boots after sun as well! The Lovea After Sun is entirely natural which I think is brilliant and it costs £8.99 for 125ml (currently on offer for £6.75) which is more than I’d usually pay but I wanted to try out a natural after sun.

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body and tagged after sun, body butter, body lotion, Living Nature, Lovea, manuka honey, mypure, natural, Nurture, organic, Replenish.

Summer Essentials: Body Scrubs

By Helena on July 10, 2012

Body scrubs are essential for smooth summer skin. Here are a couple I’ve been using recently, one which is an everyday sort of price and another more expensive.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Body Scrub costs just £4.99 for 200g. It smells very chocolatey in the tub but a little synthetic once you start lathering it. It has a nice creamy texture and contains cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E to moisturise while exfoliating. The smell doesn’t linger on your skin for long so is good if you want to use a scented body lotion or perfume.

Pure Lochside Organic Sugar Body Scrub is more expensive at £23 for 200g. It smells totally amazing and feels much more luxurious. Even the tub, made of thick glass, feels expensive. This scrub contains macadamia, sweet almond, organic essential oils and virgin coconut oils with no parabens or other nasty chemicals. I really love this scrub as it leaves my skin feeling moisturised and also lightly scented. As it’s a sugar scrub, it doesn’t leave little gritty bits behind which are a pain to clean!

Has anyone used either of these? If you have any other scrubs which you’d recommend then let me know in the comments!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body and tagged body scrub, Cocoa Butter, organic, Palmer's, Pure Lochside, Sugar Body Scrub.

Rachel’s

By Helena on May 3, 2012

On Tuesday, I handed in my final year project report and today, the poster and website to go with it! After months of work it feels weird that it’s all done (and scary, it’s worth quite a lot of my degree!). You’d think I’d be out celebrating but no, I’ve got more coursework due in tomorrow! I’ve literally had no time recently to buy/use/review anything exciting but a few weeks ago I was sent a load of products from Rachel’s to try out, so even if I didn’t have time to shop, I did have time to eat!
There was way too much for me to eat on my own so the girls I live with helped me out and we’re all in agreement, we love Rachel’s! I’m not going to review each product separately as there’s only so much you can say about yogurt but we were really surprised by lots of the flavours. I wasn’t at all sure about the coconut yogurts but they actually have a perfect balance of coconut and fruit so are really tasty. The breakfast yogurts are good for mornings when you are in a rush and they are also quite filling because of the granola.

The big tubs are a good size for sharing but seeing as we had so much, and I had a cake craving, I decided to attempt to make yogurt cupcakes. They turned out quite well but I haven’t got any photos because I didn’t ice them (no time!) so they didn’t look like anything special. I used the Apple and Elderflower yogurt which gave the cakes a sweet, delicate flavour. I reckon they are also much better for you than normal cake as there is hardly any butter and the yogurt is low fat. You could use any of the yogurt flavours (I might try some blackcurrant ones with the leftover blackcurrant yogurt next, I love the colour!) and some of them are fat free so would be even healthier! Here’s the recipe in case you want to try them….
Ingredients

250g self raising flour
200g caster sugar
225ml Rachel’s Apple and Elderflower Yoghurt
50 g butter
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Mix the butter and sugar to a breadcrumb consistency. Beat in the yogurt. Then fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Split into cupcake cases and bake for around 15 minutes. (I ended up with loads of cakes – 11 normal sized ones and about 12 mini ones).

Out of all the products I was sent, my favourite would have to be the rice puddings. They are the nicest, creamiest, non homemade rice puddings I’ve ever had in the world!

Rachel’s products are all made using locally sourced organic ingredients and are available in supermarkets throughout the country.

This entry is filed under Food and Drinks, Other Reviews and tagged apple, blackcurrant, Cupcakes, dairy, elderflower, fat free, Greek yogurt, low fat, organic, Rachel's, recipe, rice pudding, yogurt.

Melvita Body Lotion

By Helena on February 7, 2011

Melvita is a company which produces natural, organic beauty products. All of their packaging is completely recyclable and they have long-standing relationships with growers in both their local area and in underprivileged parts of the world. In 2002, it was one of the first companies to get the ECOCERT certificate which certifies organic products. Melvita was formed in 1983 in the Ardèche in France where they have an eco-factory complete with solar panels as well as a living ‘green’ roof to help it camouflage into its surroundings.

The first UK Melvita store has opened in the new St Martin’s Courtyard development in Covent Garden and you can also buy the products from some John Lewis stores or online.

I will definitely be buying more Melvita products after trying out the Moisturising Body Lotion. It contains rosehip seed oil, cotton extract and olive squalane and you can read about what each of these does here. I really love the smell – I can’t work out what it is but it smells very tropical and reminds me of holidays! The lotion is quite runny but it absorbs quickly and works so well. The pump is handy for getting the right amount of lotion out of the bottle. Although the products are more expensive than your average high street beauty products, I think it’s worth it as there are no nasty chemicals and it is a really eco friendly company so you feel as though you’re doing your bit for the planet!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body and tagged Ardeche, body lotion, cotton, Covent Garden, France, Melvita, natural, olive, organic, rosehip.

Love Letter Solid Scent

By Helena on January 18, 2011

Love Letter is a new solid perfume by The Green Grocery. It is 100% organic and comes in a 100% recyclable tin inside a cute gift box. The scent is a mixture of rose, jasmine and sandalwood. It smells gorgeous, not overwhelming, and lasts for hours as well but the tin is small enough to fit in your bag if you do need a top up during the day. There is no alcohol in the perfume as some perfumers believe that the scent from the essential oils can be lost when mixed with alcohol so it is hand-blended using traditional methods instead which takes over two weeks. And here’s the best bit – it only costs £9.99 so is lots cheaper than most perfumes out there!

This entry is filed under Everything Else!, Other Reviews and tagged Jasmine, Love Letter, organic, rose, sandalwood, solid perfume, The Green Grocery. | 1 Comment

Bonterra Gift Pack

By Helena on November 15, 2010

If you’re looking for a present for a wine fan then you can’t really go wrong with this Bonterra Gift Pack which includes Bonterra wine and Green & Black’s chocolate. You can pick from either Zinfandel for people who love red wine or Chardonnay for those who prefer white. Bonterra is based in California where it was one of the 1^st vineyards to commit to organic and sustainable winegrowing which means you can enjoy the wine without harming the environment. The gift pack is available from Tesco and it costs £10 which is really good value as it definitely looks like it should cost more.

This entry is filed under Food and Drinks, Other Reviews and tagged Bonterra, Chardonnay, chocolate, Gift Pack, Green & Black's, organic, wine, Zinfandel.

Godminster Vintage

By Helena on October 4, 2010

Godminster Vintage has been making food gifts for 10 years from its farm in Somerset. Their range includes organic cheeses, chutneys, fruit cake, vodka and sparkling wine. I think their products make the perfect Christmas gifts for anyone who loves food.

I’ve got the ‘The Combo’ gift set which has a 400g organic cheddar and a 235g beetroot and apple chutney. The cheese is inside a purple wax which is a really nice colour and matches the packaging perfectly! My favourite thing about this gift set is that you can choose between a circle or a heart shaped cheese and you can leave apersonalised message for whoever the lucky recipient is. And of course, it tastes delicious! It costs £23 but is definitely worth the money as it makes a different and tasty gift.

I’ve also got the ‘Triple Tipple’ which contains 3 5cl bottles of flavoured vodka. There are lots of different flavours available from cucumber to horseradish to damson but the flavours you get depend on the season which I really like this as it proves that it’s all fresh. On the back of the pack are some ideas of how to use the vodka, for example blackcurrant vodka goes well with champagne and cucumber vodka makes a nice cucumber martini. The set costs £15.66.

I love this website and you can also buy Godminster Vintage products from local delis and cheese shops around the UK. I’m sure I will be buying some Christmas and birthday gifts from them over the next few years!

This entry is filed under Food and Drinks, Other Reviews and tagged cheddar, Christmas, gift set, Godminster Vintage, organic, The Combo, Triple Tipple, vodka.

Green & Black’s Miniature Collection

By Helena on September 30, 2010

Green & Black’s is one of my favourite brands of chocolate. All of their chocolate is organic, they use ethically sourced ingredients and every flavour that I’ve tried tastes delicious.

Their new 24 Miniature Bar Collection is a brilliant idea as it includes 8 of their best selling flavours. It is perfect for people like me who can’t decide which type of chocolate to go for and also for those who have never tried any type of Green & Black’s. The collection would make a great Christmas present for just about anyone so I will definitely be buying a few between now and December!

The collection costs £8.99 and you can buy it from most supermarkets, making it an even better Christmas present as you can easily just pick one up!

This entry is filed under Food and Drinks, Other Reviews and tagged 24 bar, chocolate, Christmas, gift, Green & Black's, miniature collection, organic, present.

Balm Balm Rose Geranium Hand Balm

By Helena on September 18, 2010

As you would guess from the name, this hand balm has the gorgeous smell of roses. The balm is quite greasy and takes a while to be absorbed so I tend to use it before I go to bed. This gives it time to sink in properly and leaves my hands feeling lovely and soft in the mornings. Balm Balm Hand Balm from BigGreenSmile.com is 100% organic and uses 100% natural ingredients so you know you are not putting any nasty chemicals into your skin.

The balm can be used on more than just your hands; the box suggests using it on your feet, lips, face, neck and elbows as well. I don’t think I’d try it on my face due to the balm being greasy but it is definitely a good idea for elbows and feet.

At just £5.99 I would recommend this hand balm to everyone!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body, Nails and tagged Balm Balm, BigGreenSmile, Hand Balm, natural, organic, Rose Geranium.

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