Review of Liz Earle face exfoliator – cruelty free

Hi everyone

I am a massive fan of Liz Earle, my boyfriend brought me a set at Christmas and I have so far been very impressed. The products are very gentle but effective.

This is why when I needed an exfoliator I turned to Liz Earle. I’ve said in a number of posts that my skin is oily particularly around my T Zone and I can get quite big blemishes around my jaw. I really struggle with face exfoliation as I need to exfoliate to clear my pores but I am very scared about breaking the blemishes. This basically spreads the bacteria across my face making my skin worse or making my already red skin worse. So I need an exfoliator that will clear away the dead skin and bacteria but be gentle on my skin. So I introduce to you the Liz Earle Gentle face exfoliator.

It is so gentle and lovely and it is packed full of lovely ingredients including cocoa butter, eucalyptus and jojoba. I was quite surprised with the cocoa butter but I think this is key to make the exfoliator gentle as it adds that moisture. I use this exfoliator after cleansing my face, I have been using the Liz Earle cleanse and polish first then once I have exfoliated I moisturise with either Liz Earle skin repair moisturiser or my Aveda botanical kinetic moisturiser. I use the exfoliator about 3 times a week. All beautiful products and all products are cruelty free as well.

I would recommend this product if you need that exfoliator that is gentle and kind to your skin, it does smell chemically and my face feels fresh and clean after using. I have oily skin but even for dry skin I would suggest this is very gentle.

What exfoliator do you use, are you a fan of Liz Earle? I would love to hear your reccomendations.

Thanks for reading

AKL

Cruelty free face masks for oily blemish prone skin

Hi everyone

I love a good face mask but it’s only the last few years I’ve bothered to invest in good ones. I am very guilty of getting drawn in by the fruity brightly coloured ones but I’m not sure that they do anything positive for my skin. So I thought I would share my favourite masks that I feel are worth paying that little bit extra for.

Just to give you an idea of my skins type so you can see if they might work for you, my skins is oily around my T Zone, normal on my cheeks, neck and back. I get the occasionally spot on my nose or forehead but often they go quickly with no scaring. My biggest problem area is my jaw just either side of my chin and running under my jaw line. I get really painful blemishes that are really red and take a long time to heal and then they also tend to scar. This is the area that the mask needs to earn it’s money.

My first recommendation is the Lush Oatifix, I think this is one of there most purchased masks and I really like it. I use this after the blemish has died down and needs to heal so once the pain has gone. This mask is more moisturising than the other two I am going to mention and I found very soothing on my skins so good for red blotches. It makes my skin feel smooth, soft and cleansed throughly. My only critism is it’s a bit messy and tricky to use as it is oats as the names suggests. The price point is £7.25 in the U.K so well worth the price.

Next is the Lush cupcake fresh face mask. I’ve never been tempted to lick a face mask but I could be tempted with this one, it smells amazing. It also really does what it says on the pot, when I use this it feels like I put really digs deep to draw out all the dirt and bacteria. I use it after a long week or a day when I have worn a lot of make up. The good thing about this one is that it draws out the dirt but is very gentle and calming on the skin. Other masks that are for oily, blemish skin can leave my skin red and a bit stripped but this one doesn’t. This is also £7.25, I actually got this free by collecting my 5 tubs and taking them back to Lush for recycling.

The last of my 3 masks I would recommend is the Body shop Himalayan Charcoal mask, this is the most expensive at £16.  It is slightly more heavy duty than the Lush ones as it contains exfoliating bits as well. It is excellent for when I have a particularly bad few days with blemishes. It contains tea tree oil and is designed to reduce the appearance of pores. I only need a tiny bit each time so this mask is lasting me a long time. It’s a little messey and take a bit longer than the cupcake mask to wash off but still a great mask and worth the price tag.

So that is my reccomendation for face masks, in both a Lush and in the Body shop Himalayan range. If your are not oily or prone to blemishes then there are many different masks in the same range so check them out. Let me know if you find any good ones.
Thanks for reading
AKL

Vegan chocolate cake

Hi everyone 

Chocolate cake, need I saw more, it’s one of the things I’ve been missing since I went vegan. I find a lot of vegan sweets, puddings, chocolate a bit savory and really missing the googy deliciousness of a none vegan pudding. So last week I found myself with a massive bunch of ripe (just about to be over ripe) bananas and there really was only one thing to do with them – make a cake.

 Here are the ingredients you will need:

2 ripe bananas

1 cup of flour

1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Half a teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

Half a bar of Bournville chocolate (or any vegan chocolate)

Half a cup of vegetable oil and half a cup of soya/almond/rice milk (whatever your non dairy milk of choice is)

 Here is how I made it:
I mixed all the dry ingredients together, add the wet ingredients and then whisked till smooth – very simple.
You can then choose to put into a baking tin or into cup cake paper cups which ever you prefer and then bake in the oven at 220 degrees celcious for about 20 minutes. You can test it is done by placing a knife in the middle and if you pull the knife out and it has not got cake mixture on it then you know it’s done.

For the topping I melt a bar of Bourneville chocolate or again you vegan chocolate of choice and pour over the cake once it has cooled. 

You can then add in fruit, nuts, different vegan chocolate or any other vegan topping you wish and then the most important bit – eat a huge slice or 2.

If you are really going for googy you could get a soya based custard or cream to go on top, I love Alpro soya custard it’s tastes so good.

Thanks you for reading and enjoy

AKL