I'm so excited to start cooking fresh spring recipes and salads, they are usually the easiest lunch to make! Whole Foods Market, although only available in London at present, have so many amazing freshly prepared meals, or fresh ingredients if you prefer cooking from scratch! 

I love indulging in the occasional boujee treat in the form of ready meals. Even better, all of Whole Foods Market food is of the highest standard and these items were all on offer. The best way to justify not cooking at home, is to support sustainable brands and they have a great selection of organic, fair trade products. Perfect especially if you are an omnivore and want to support better quality meat production. 

 I chose the spicy squash and peanut salad, vegan caprese, baked aubergine and banoffee pie dessert pots. 

Let me know if you’ve tried anything from Wholefoods!

xoxo

No7 is a classic favourite brand for me, it’s so accessible for us in the UK and sold at my favourite drugstore - Boots. A product I didn’t plan on buying despite all the hype around the release, was this Clearing Paste from their Laboratories range.

 I love trying new brands that I hadn’t heard of previously or that aren’t plastered all over social media. It’s a chance to find a new favourite! 

I received this for Christmas as part of a Holland & Barrett’s gift set with lots of treats and a few products, it turned out to be really good value as I found products I’d never buy on my own.

This Urban Veda shower gel smells of a very distinct mix of sandalwood and rosemary, it has one of those botanical spa scents if that makes sense. It really lingers on the skin, I could smell it the next morning and the bathroom smells lovely after using this, so a major bonus! It also lathers up very easily and I have to admit, I use more than necessary but I really enjoy that foamy texture of a thick shower gel.

I would recommend this for anyone with sensitive skin, as they mentioned, but not if you have an allergy or issue with essential oils and botanical extracts. Other than that, if you want a more luxurious option, this is one I highly recommend!

Have you tried this?

xoxo

You get 150ml which is the standard size for a Simple facial product so the value for money is exceptional here. Normally I'd be hesitant to use a product on my face which costs less than £2 but due to the truly simple ingredients, I can see how the low price makes this an exception to my rule. I use quite a lot as I like to feel it really lather up on my face and coat every area so I'm getting all the dirt from the day off my face.

I use this once a day usually, in the shower at night, and I love that it's soap free so you don't get that awful tight feeling across your skin once it dries. You can see from the label all the other benefits, plus, it's cruelty free and vegan!

The one downside is that it doesn't feel as softening and moisturising as the micellar gel wash, and if you leave your face without moisturiser for too long after washing, it does start to tighten a little. Other than that, I can highly recommend this for all skin types and I haven't noticed any redness or breakouts or any issues, in fact it's probably helped calm my skin a lot

Have you tried this?

xoxo

 

This is made from a thicker fibre material which personally I didn't like as it was harder to adjust across my face, and started gradually peeling off at the corners. However, it felt nice to apply and didn't have too much essence on the mask itself. 

You can find this for just £4 on Look Fantastic, if you're looking to treat yourself! This contains glycerin glycol which helps attract more moisture to your skin and prime your skin with a hydrating base. Although I don't know the benefits of betaine and arginine, those are some of the other top ingredients. So you can see any irritating components will be minimal if present at all.

My skin felt soft and soothed after, however the texture and tone didn't really look much different. Perhaps after a few regular uses, the real benefits will come through. I enjoyed it though, and it definitely didn't have any negative effects!

 Given the number of great extracts used, I would highly recommend this. Perfume is the last ingredient on the list, so it shouldn't cause irritation! However, açai berry is very low as well. I imagine this was used to promote the range as a superfood mask, but really the benefits come from the other ingredients.

xoxo

One of my sudden and unexpected favourite brands is Lacura from Aldi. They have a number of great products in their range, many of which rival their high end luxe dupes. I never really thought of this as a brand to try, let's be honest - most people wouldn't think of the supermarket as the trendiest place to find skincare!

I haven't seen the Miracle Oil in stores before but my mum gifted me this recently as a substitute for their miracle cream which contains animal derivatives! This is a dry body oil, similar to that of Nuxe or Rituals. It has a pleasant scent and sinks into the skin really easily. I believe this is a direct dupe for the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour range.

I'm not sure if this is meant for imperfections such as scars or stretch marks, but its described as a multi-use oil for the face, hair and body. I personally wouldn't use a body product on my face as facial skin is very different to the rest of our bodies. I do like the idea that it's light enough for the hair though as my wet hair probably soaks up some of the oil after the shower. 

There are a number of potentially irritating and drying ingredients in here that are non-essential such as perfume and citric acid. I appreciate the delicate scent, but the natural extracts which are plentiful in the top half of the ingredients list would have sufficed.

However, those ingredients are so far down the list, it's possible they have minimal damage if any to the skin. This is why I don't use these types of products on my face! This has the tiny price tag of £5, which is a bargain in comparison to other oils with the same benefits.

As this is cruelty-free, I highly recommend this if it ever comes back in stock! It has tons of natural extracts which have lots of benefits to the skin, and feels very soothing and moisturising after application. 

Overall I'd give it an 8/10 and on their website, they have about a 4.7 rating out of 5 which suggests it's one of their best products.

Have you tried this?

xoxo