First Impressions & Spotlight **EarthSap/Pure Beginnings Products**

Hello Lovelies,

I'm more and more starting to gravitate towards products that are natural and contains the least amount of chemicals and preservatives, I guess cruelty free was the first step to buying more eco-friendly and natural products.  There used to be a stigma on natural products, for me anyway, maybe because I didn't know as much as I do now, but I never believed that these products worked as good as the other ones, but what I've realised is that my skin reacts 100% better to products that are not toxic, and I do urge you to include more natural products in your regime and you will see the difference.

EarthSap Body Wash in Money & Almond Milk - R47.00 for 400ml - Available from selected Pick 'n Pays and Healthshops nationwide*

Essential lemon oil, almond milk and honey combined with coconut to create a wonderful cleansing body wash.

The smell of this body wash is so delicious and yummy, it creates a foamy later that leaves skin feeling clean and cared for.

Pure Beginnings Body Lotion - Available from selected Healthshops nationwide or online at Pure Beginnings *

Created from the finest natural ingredients, no petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances, parabens or animal products - vegan and cruelty free.

A caring citrusy creamy lotion, the consistency is between a body butter and normal body lotion.

EarthSap Shampoo & Conditioner Lavender & Sugar Beet - R36.95 Each - Available from selected Pick 'n Pays and Healthshops nationwide*

Based on pure simple ingredients including coconut, palm, lavender, sugar beet and other natural oils, which helps to strengthen, repair damage and leave the hair supple and healthy.

This is the firs time I've used an all natural shampoo and conditioner, and it's exceeded all my expectations!  My hair feels conditioned and cared for after only one wash, and it smells really good.  My hair feels super clean!  It dos an amazing job at removing any product build-up which is a huge bonus in my eyes.

I highly recommend both these brands if you're looking for vegan and cruelty free products, I'm really excited to have found hair care products that are 100 % natural, which I will definitely include with my Lee Stafford.

Have you tried any of these products?

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Brand Spotlight: Greenland * Natural and Organic Body Care *

Hi my Beauties,

One of the things I absolutely love about blogging is discovering new brands, truthfully, a lot of brands I would never have known about were it not for blogging.

So today I wanted to bring the spotlight on this awesome new brand!

Greenland Body Butter in Pomegranate available from selected Edgars stores nationwide

{For more information visit them on www.greenland.nl} *

Greenland body butter is the answer to a rough and dry skin.  Natural products for body with cocoa butter to protect and shea butter to soften skin.  Our butter formula instantly transforms that unpleasant dry and weather-beaten feel, restoring the skin's natural suppleness and radiance with a single gesture.

About Greenland:

Established in 1990 in Netherlands, dedicated to developing bath and body care products based on natural and organic ingredients.  With fruit extracts, essential oils and milk, Greenland products protect and cares for your skin, while also being a delight to your senses.

When I looked through their brochure, I literally wanted almost every single item on a page, they do everything body care:  body wash, body scrub, lotions, foot care, body and bath oils and lip balms.  The fragrances sounds so divine, from Coconut to Strawberry, Papaya, Mango, Lime & Vanilla, Mint & Lavender and Grapefuit & Ginger to name just a few.

This body butter is absolutely luxurious!  It's such a treat to use after a bath or shower, it smells incredible and absorbs into skin really quickly leaving it feeling super soft, with the loveliest lingering scent.  Greenland body butter is better than The Body Shop butters, and big plus is that they are 100 % cruelty free, whereas you know that The Body Shop is still owned by L'Oreal, so you are in fact supporting animal testing by supporting The Body Shop, whereas a brand like Greenland is 100 % cruelty free!

My husband loves this body butter, in fact I've had to take it from him otherwise he would've used the whole thing, so we'll be making a trip to Edgars very soon as I want to pick up more of their products, this brand will be a permanent in my beauty cabinet. 

Will you be picking up any products from Greenland, or have you tried any of their stuff and can give me any recommendations?

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Sparkle Away {Mavala Eye Shadow in Gris Cosmique}

Hi Lovely Friends,

A smokey eye is one of my staple make-up looks, from really dramatic to more subtle, using browns, purples, greys and black.

With a touch of sparkle a smokey eye oozes glam:

Mavala Eye Shadow in Gris Cosmique available online *

Recently I did a wearable smokey eye tutorial, this eye shadow is so pretty!

It's a very creamy eye shadow, and can be worn alone, as a base for a grey/silver eye shadow which will make it pop, or as the base for a glittery shadow or something like the Essence Pigments.  Wear this in the corner of your eye to help your eyes appear brighter, generally glittery eye shadows like these are best for night time or special occasions.

This is a lovely addition to have as it can be used in so many ways, especially if you're also quite obsessed with a smokey eye ~ I blame Alexa from Glam Fairy ;) LoL just kidding, although I do think she took the smokey eye to the next level.

Anyway, hope you have a fab Sunday beauties!

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{Review} Physicians Formula Organic Wear 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush

Hi Lovelies,

I hope you've had a good week so far?

As we "speak" LoL I am probably sipping on some fine wine with a tummy stuffed with goodness in Franschoek, luckily I always schedule posts so my blog doesn't die away with all the masses of other bloggies ;)

One of the other products I received with the Organic Mascara is this 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush.

Physicians Formula Organic Wear 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush in Bronze/Rose 1060 - R180.00 available at Dischem *

 

I'm absolutely obsessed with the Organic Wear range from Physicians Formula, they have such an amazing concept and design, actually, this bronzer/blush combo is just so beautiful I want to leave it on my dressing table for decoration too.

 

Bronzer and blush is two of my favourite cosmetic items, I do have a slight obsession with contouring, honestly, if you manage to get it right, you can sculpt yourself some serious Kim Kardashian cheeks.  So imagine my delight when I received this pretty little thing.

 

When I tried it, it gave me a very subtle look.  It's perfect for everyday/weekend wear as both of these aren't very pigmented, so if you like a natural look this will work like a charm.

 

The bronzer is a gorgeous shade that gives a sun-kissed look, have you ever tried those bronzers that made you look muddy?  Yes well if you did like me you'll quite happily reach for this one as it's just a gorgeous bronze shade.  The blush is the perfect rose colour, with the slightest of shimmers in that will give you some dimension , it's a very light blush that gives you that English rose look.  Prettyness in a tub!

 

This is really handy to take with in your handbag for touch ups, as it comes with a nice size mirror and an eco-friendly brush that is super soft and works really well.  Normally I don't use these brushes that come with bronzers etc. as I always find them fussy to work with, in fact, I think this is the first brush that I'm using in a very long time that came with a product like this.

 

This product is eco-certified and 100 % free of harsh chemicals, parabens, synthetic preservatives and cruelty free.

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Winner of Harmless House Giveaway !!!

Hi Friends,

Thank you to each and every one that entered this giveaway!!

I wish I could select more than one winner as I feel that each one that entered deserve this ~ there were two girls that absolutely rocked it out with their RT's and they were the clear front-runners, so I did it the old fashioned way and wrote names on little pieces of paper and goes to show that it does help to get as many entries as possible, because one of the front runners won!!

Congratulations Meghan!!!!!

I hope you enjoy this amazing prize, please email me your full address and contact details to:

dressedinthecity@yahoo.co.za

Have a fab day!

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New In & First Impressions: Mavala Nail Care

Hi Pretties,

Mavala must be one of the oldest brands around today, their company was started in 1959 and they're manufactured in Switzerland.  With over 50 years experience, you can be sure that have earned their title as specialists in the nail care field.

Mavala Protective Base Coat 002 *

Mavala Colorfix Top Coat *

Mavala Nail Color Cream in Ginza 288 *

Available online

 

Mavala Protective Base Coat 002:

 

~  Protects nails and prevents colour from staining nails

~  Improves adherence of nail polish

 

Mavala 002 forms a flexible barrier between nails and colour that absorbs shocks and prevents colour from staining nails, doubles life of your manicure.

 

Mavala Colorfix Top Coat:

 

~  Super gloss and prevents chipping of nail polish

 

Colorfix Flexible Top Coat reinforced with acryl, dries to a hard elastic glaze that enhances the lustre of your nail polish.  Adds an armour coating that protects against chipping and peeling.

 

MY THOUGHTS:

 

I can see why these have been raved about by other bloggers, just by the packaging you can see they're in a different league and not just another nail polish.  I haven't had time to try these out yet, apart from the swatches I've done to get a feel of how it works.  The base coat is a lovely transparent blue, and I'm excited to see if the acryl-ingredient actually makes nails harder and if it actually helps with chipping.  Saying that, with so many decades of experience I'm sure they've refined their formula to achieve this.

 

The nail polish colour is so pretty!  It's a rosy colour with the most beautiful golden sparkle ~ this is a very natural colour that will go with any outfit and I think is particularly pretty for winter, it reminds me of that in-between leave colour in Autumn.

 

Do you have any favourite Mavala products?



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Review ~ Physicials Formula Organic Wear Mascara

Hi Beauties,

I'm absolutely loving all of the new eco-friendly and cruelty free products that are being released.  Physicians formula is a luxury drugstore brand, I've used a few of their products and have always been impressed with the overall quality.

Physicians Formula Organic Wear Mascara in Black Organics 1063 - R115.00 available from Dischem *

What they say:

~  1st Ever Ecocert certified organic line of makeup in the US

~  100 % Free of Harsh Chemicals

~  100 % Free of Synthetic Preservatives

~  100 % Free of Parabens

~  100 % Free of GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms)

~  100 % Free of Synthetic Colours

~  100 % Free of Synthetic Fragrances

~  100 % Cruelty Free

5 x Lash Boosting:

Lengthens

Volumizes

Defines

My thoughts:

The packaging of this mascara is so amazing and I love that they designed it in such a way that is clear that this is eco-friendly.  I'm not normally a fan of plastic wands, I prefer a brush application, but I actually don't mind this wand.  It has an oval shape to it, which I find helps to lift and curl lashes.  Look, I think we all know when brands claim to make something 5 x bigger it's more of a statement than reality right?  But this mascara definitely doubles my lashes, it's very buildable and also creates a really glam effect when you curl your lashes first then use the mascara, I also find that this holds the curl in really well.  

I would never recommend that you use mascara then curl your lashes, I know it's become quite popular to do that and also heat the eyelash curler up a bit then curl lashes, but all that does is break your eyelashes, therefore a mascara like the Physicians Formula Organic Wear Mascara is worth the investment, as you wouldn't need to that.

This mascara definitely delivers in terms of length, but not volume!  It's perfect for daytime though but I would suggest pairing this with a volume mascara, not sure if I'm the only one but I do find most of the times that two mascaras work really well together, so I will be trying this with an essence one.

PS ~ This mascara is not waterproof!  And yes, it will run at the first sight of tears ;) 

Overall, this is definitely an amazing mascara if you're looking for a more upmarket but still affordable mascara that gives you mega length and curl.

Hope you have a fab day!

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{Review} SpaRitual Nail Lacquer in Sage Creme

Hi Lovelies,

I hope your Monday wasn't too blue today?

I'm getting really excited for our weekend away!  Although I do have a fear of flying, I'm not sure how that's going to do down cause I do tend to get quite anxious on flights, but nevertheless, I'll grin and bear it :)

 

"Beauty is the spontaneous expression of a harmonious mind, body & spirit."

SpaRitual Nail Lacquer in Sage Creme - 15ml R105.00 {Available in Salons and Spa's nationwide or online at Style36 *

 

SpaRitual is a vegan and cruelty free nail product line, free of DBP, toluene, formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin.  Each SpaRitual Nail Lacquer comes with a sleek patented cap, is easy to open with a non-slip grip while applying the product, their bottles is also crafted in Italy from reusable glass with up to 50% recycled materials and is recyclable with proper care.  Their nail lacquers are vegan because they use Mica in their shimmers instead of Guanine (fish scales).

 

I must admit I've never tried anything from the SpaRitual line, and after I received their media kit and had a browse through the polishes available, I already have quite a long wishlist.  This colour isn't normally something I would pick, I tend to be drawn to pink or turquoise ones, but after applying it on my nails I actually really like it.

 

It's a gorgeous mauve colour, the swatch is a bit darker than the polish is in real life, it's just a pretty natural colour, if you're looking for a nude wearable colour I'll highly suggest this one, it's quite flattering on light skins too but if you are darker skinned it'll have more of a nude look.

 

It dried really quickly, which helped with the fact that it's not a very pigmented colour, so one coat didn't really provide a lot of depth, but 2 - 3 coats will give a perfectly smooth and even colour.

 

Have you tried anything from the SpaRitual range?

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