Vegan Beauty Review» vegan skincare

GIVEAWAY: Holiday Gift Basket From derma e

Sunny — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:44:58 +0000

Are y’all ready for some proper holiday pampering and TLC? Me too!

VBR has teamed up with derma e, one of my all-time favorite vegan skincare companies, for a special holiday gift basket giveaway! Yahooooooooey!

Get excited ’cause the derma e beauty products in this deluxe gift basket are sick! Seriously, I’m totally jels that I can’t enter to win myself.

The pamperin’ goodies up for grabs ($84.40 value):

Fruit Enzyme Facial Scrub
Cleansing Enzyme Mask
Intensive Therapy Foot Crème
Lavender Hand & Body Moisture Therapy
Peptides Plus® Wrinkle Reverse Eye Crème

To enter to win this holiday gift basket from derma e, simply “like” derma e on Facebook, and comment below with your favorite way to pamper yourself during the holiday season. All entrants must be residents of the US to enter to win. The winner will be chosen at random and notified on Friday, Dec. 9th, 2011! Good luck! xx

Cruelty-Free Summer Skincare

Sunny — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:28:09 +0000

The following is a guest post by Christy Hall. She’s not only vegan, compassionate and stylish, but she knows a thing or two about cruelty-free skincare! Feel free to add her on Facebook!

Although the summer is winding down, the sun is still out in full force. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been a busy little beaver doing outreach, petitioning at Warped, and walking around the (surprisingly) hot streets of DC in a frantic state trying to figure out where the hell I am! :O

I know this next statement may be hard to believe, but you best believe it; this girl HATES the sun. Ok ok, I know we need the sun for photosynthesis, vitamin D, and all that mess, but does it really have to be so damn hot and do horrible things to my fragile fair skin?! >:(

I like to keep my skin fair and my tattoos vibrant. This is impossible with overexposure to the sun.

So here’s what I do:

I lather up with sunscreen any chance I get. When I’m in the sun for a long amount of time I will apply sunscreen like every 15-20 minutes. No shit. Here is one of my fave cruelty-free sunscreens that is easily accessible.

I like this one from Alba Botanica because it claims to be “sport” sunscreen. When I’m out walking around struttin’ my stuff I tend to get a little sweaty. So I don’t want to sweat my sunscreen off as soon as I apply it. I feel like that defeats the purpose. This stuff stays on through the blood, sweat, and tears, of a new DC resident running around like a… you know. ;D

Trader Joe’s also carries an amazing sunscreen with an SPF of 50. It comes in a very convenient spray bottle and it is very affordable. However, I will admit it smells a little weird. >:/

When I come home from being out in the sun all day I like to apply some sort of Aloe Vera gel and Vitamin E oil. Again, I am all about the Trader Joe’s brands. They are affordable and they work really well!

Aloe Vera works to calm the overexposed skin and relieve any burning that may have happened.

Vitamin E oil has been proven to reverse the affects and damage caused by sun exposure and can even prevent and diminish the appearance of wrinkles. Gotta start on some early wrinkle prevention folks if we wanna stay young and hot fah ev-ah!

Also wear big cruelty-free sunglasses and hats any chance you get and don’t stay in the sun longer than you have to.

So go ahead and get up off your tush and do some activism, go for a run, or hell at least walk your ass to the vegan bakery instead of driving! :3 Just remember sunscreen and Vitamin E oil and you should be good to go!

Stay sexy, bitches!

Divine Skincare from the U.K.: MuLondon

Sunny — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:46:19 +0000

I’ve got mad, mega, mucho ♥ for the U.K. I just got back from a one week vacay there with my boo, and I was seriously blown away by the culture, the old-ass buildings and architecture, the lush greenery, and of course, the vegan food (omgomg, deliciousness times 12!). ←Will post grub pics soon!

So, it’s kind of no surprise that the U.K. has some kick-ass skincare products, too! Btw, did you know that the U.K. has banned all animal testing for cosmetics (and household cleaning products are soon to follow)?

Anywho, I wanted to tell you all a bit about MuLondon, a super fab skincare company based in London. I’ve become smitten with their organic, vegan face creams—among my faves fo’ sho!

These aren’t ordinary moisturisers—they’re über rich, super concentrated (a little goes a long way), and they are as pure as can be. Here are my faves:

Organic Rose, Rosehip & Rosemary Face Moisturizer, £19 (~$27): This fancy trio of rosiness, along with badass ingredients like shea butter, coconut butter and golden jojoba, will quench your skin with all the nourishment and hydration it could ever possibly need (plus it smells heavenly divoon). You can use this on your face, your hands, all over your body… I bet this would work wonders on preggo bellies (re: stretch marks)—just throwing that out there for any mommies-to-be.

What I especially love about MuLondon is that they don’t add any water to their products at any stage. What you get is pure, undiluted herbal power. Hells yeah! I wish all skincare companies would rock it like that!

Organic White Chocolate Truffle Face Moisturizer, £13 (~$18.50): White. Chocolate. Truffle. End of story. Slap that shit on my face, and call it a day! This yummy smelling face treat contains organic shea butter, jojoba oil, and extracts of cocoa and pure bourbon vanilla. I don’t know if y’all have picked up on this, but I’m a HUGE fan of chocolately goodness on (and in) my face! Both of these creams have the potential to combat signs of aging. I alternate between the two of these every night, and I’ve noticed my skin looking happier and more glowy. I’m such a fan! xx

Potent Wrinkle Fighters from derma e

Sunny — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 02:45:21 +0000

If you’re vegan and as obsessed with wrinkle creams as I am, then you’re probably already acquainted with derma e. All of their beauty products are free of parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfates, petroleum, mineral oil, artificial colors, and are all vegan, cruelty-free and gluten-free.

I recently got hooked on two of their anti-aging goodies, and I had to share!

Hyaluronic and Pycnogenol Eye Crème, $19.50: Oo, what are these fancy ingredients, you ask? Pycnogenol is a super active anitioxidant (from French maritime pine), and is 50 times (!!!) more powerful than vitamin E and 20 times more effective than vitamin C when it comes to fighting free radicals. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance that helps tone, firm and hydrate skin. This under-eye hydratin’ formula absorbs quickly and has a nice thick-ish consistency that I find essential for eye creams (seriously, watery eye creams make NO sense!).

Pycnogenol Crème, Fragrance Free, $29.95 (← btw, I love that these wrinkle fightin’ creams are pretty affordable!): Pycnogenol (our new favorite magical ingredient) + Vitamins C, E and A = yes, please! This fabu combination of antioxidants helps reduce inflammation, diminish fine lines, and improve elasticity. It has a nice, creamy, emollient texture and it’s perfect for pre-beddies pampering. I use this nightly along with the eye cream, and even though I don’t have a whole bunch of wrinkles to watch progressively diminish, I’m taking comfort in knowing that I’m doing everything I can to keep them at bay.

If you’d like to try some of derma e’s most popular products, you should order their free sampler!

What are some of your favorite vegan anti-aging beauty products?

Winning with Anti-Wrinkle Goodies!

Sunny — Wed, 04 May 2011 21:50:50 +0000

While most ladies collect and obsess over shoes, cute cocktail dresses and sexy jeans (OK, I’m guilty of that too), I spend a lot of time scoping out cruelty-free anti-aging/wrinkle creams. Granted I’m a relatively young lassie, I firmly believe in the healing power of an antioxidant, peptidey-rich wrinkle-fighting formula.

These are the two I’ve been using every day for the past two weeks, and I lurve them!

Système 41 Rejuvenating Masque ($29.95): What I love most about this masque is that it tingles a little bit while it’s on (which seems like a sign that it’s working… could also be the menthol and tea tree oil in it too). I do notice that my skin feels impeccably smooth after I wash the masque off… it’s almost trippy how soft and seamless it feels.

Key ingredients in this power-packed anti-aging masque:

Amazon White Clay which unclogs pores and lifts impurities.
Natural Pomegranate and Papain Enzymes which remove dead skin cells.
Olive Squalane which helps skin hold moisture and suppleness.
Probiotic Complex which protects skin from the elements.

derma e Peptide Plus Wrinkle Reverse Crème ($43.50 ← bought this at Whole Foods, btw): Ladies and germs, meet your new friendly peptide posse—Palmitoyl Pentapeptide, which tells skin to restructure itself and synthesize new key components like collagen (which improves elasticity). The other peptide is Acetyl Hexapeptide, which relaxes facial muscles, smoothes away fine lines and discourages new ones from forming. Add in some kick-ass antioxidants like Pycnogenol, Vitamin C and green tea extract, and badda bing badda boom.

Whether you’re a die-hard anti-aging freak like I am, or you’re a skeptic and would rather spend your money on edibles or wearables (all good, I feel ya)—I think we can all agree that it can’t hurt to at least try some of these fab creams in an effort to look deliciously youthful and H-O-T until we’re 112. ←What? Didn’t you hear 112 is the new 80?

Anywho, which anti-aging products are your faves? Please share in the comments below. xx

Valentine’s Day Giveaway from Skin MD

Sunny — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:05:33 +0000

The wonderful peeps at Skin MD are helping make Valentine’s Day a hell of a lot cooler. They’re hosting a giveaway that includes a whole bunch of goodies sure to make you and/or your sweetie smile.

The prize basket is valued at $100 and contains the following:

- Bottle of Skin MD Natural shielding lotion

- Bottle of Skin MD Natural + SPF 15 shielding lotion

- One pound of See’s dark assorted chocolates

- Pack of Starbucks VIA Ready brew coffee pouches

- Kiss Me coffee mug

- A Cuddly teddy bear

- Lollipop Bouquet

You have until Feb 8th to enter. All you have to do to be in the running for this fabulous prize is leave your name and e-mail address. To enter the giveaway click here. Good luck!

Skin MD Shielding Lotion Giveaway!