As Nature Intended Beauty Haul

One of my places to browse for beauty products is a natural and organic shop called As Nature Intended. It isn't a dedicated beauty store but it does have a very well stocked beauty section full of gorgeous brands such as A'kin, Pacifica, Antipodes, Dr. Bronners and Lavera (as well as many others). I'm lucky to have an As Nature Intended store located relatively near where I live, and it's on the local high street where I regularly go to do my food shopping. This means that I often have the occasion to pop in to have a little browse of the beauty stock. However, on my last visit I did a little bit more than browsing…

I've always wanted to try more of Lavera's extensive natural bodycare range and I finally bit the bullet and decided to pick up a couple of their body care bits. First up is Lavera's Soft Moisturising Cream which has a creamy, medium-thickness texture which seems to offer a good dose of hydration. I also picked up Lavera's Mositurizing Body Lotion which has a much lighter consistency (with a little going a long way) but this seems like the least hydrating option out of the three. Lastly, I picked up Lavera's All-Round Cream which seems to have the heaviest consistency but was my instant favourite. I think all three would be great for those of you with dry skin and I think the pricing is very reasonable considering the quality of the products. All in all, I'm very happy to be giving these a go and I'm sure that once I've had longer to test them out then they'll make future appearances where I can review them more fully.

Have you tried anything from Lavera before? 

What body moisturisers do you like using?

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Easy Breezy Beauty

A couple of days ago I threw on some make-up in record speed and thought "hey, this doesn't look half bad for a record speed make-up look". I'm a big fan of easy to apply and easy to wear makeup that doesn't need lots of touching up throughout the day. I've shared all the products I used and a little bit of information on how I applied them. 

I began by quickly priming my face with The Body Shop's Instablur Primer, it does a really good job of giving me a smooth and even base. I then followed up with a very light application of The Body Shop's Tea Tree BB Cream in shade 01, covering any left over redness with Lavera's Natural Concealer in Fair. To add some colour back into my face I applied a small amount of NYC's Blushable Cream Stick in Soho Pink. For a budget blush it's actually really nice and I've gotten a good amount of use out of it. It only comes in two shades and this one is a slightly shimmery mid-pink that's really easy to wear and does a great job of enlivening my complexion. To add some definition to my eyes I reached for Wild About Beauty's Eyeshadow in Eva which I used as an eyeliner, smudging it into my lash line using one of my Real Techniques liner brushes. I find the shade really easy to wear and the formula is great, it lasts all day without budging. I then reached for my new tube of Maybelline the Falsies Volum' Express Mascara which I find gives me really big, fluttery lashes but offers much more in the way of volume than my MaxFactor Masterpiece Mascara. Then to finish off my makeup I applied a quick slick of Living Nature's Lipstick in Summer Rain*. It's definitely become a favourite of mine as the shade and formula are really easy to wear.

Are there any products I mentioned in today's post that you've tried before? And do let me know in the comments if you'd like to see individual reviews of any of the products I've mentioned in today's post.

Lavera Natural Concealer in Ivory 01

I picked up Lavera's Natural Concealer in my Naturisimo Haul which I blogged about earlier this month. I decided to pick it up because I was looking for a natural alternative to my 'go-to' concealer from Seventeen (the Stay Time Concealer which has a very thin and light consistency but which lasts very well throughout the day). 

If you're looking for a heavy duty concealer than Lavera's Natural Concealer is not going to be for you, it isn't thick and I like to sheer it out further as I blend it under my eyes and around my nose. I like applying a light layer of concealer underneath my foundation (to diminish but not completely conceal my imperfections) and I find that Lavera's Natural Concealer works well when applied like this. It is very easy to blend and it dries much more quickly than Seventeen's Stay Time Concealer (see my swatches below). It isn't quite as yellow toned as Seventeen's concealer (which I think is a shame) but I still find the colour very natural and wearable. 

Lavera's Natural Concealer isn't quite as light in colour as Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair but it isn't quite as dark as their Light shade either. This is perfect for me as I usually have to blend Fair and Light to get the right colour. 

I'm not blown away by this concealer but I do like it and I will definitely continue to use it. I think it works very well at evening out skin discolouration but because it isn't very thick and creamy it isn't amazing at covering blemishes. I don't think I could entirely rely on this concealer alone, especially when I want a more done-up look featuring a heavier and more "perfecting" base. However, it does work well as part of the light, natural every-day make-up looks for which I generally opt.  You can find Lavera's Natural Concealer online at Naturisimo for £9.81 (with free delivery).

What concealers do you like using? 

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What Made The Shortlist (AKA another travel beauty bag)

This week (since Monday) I've been in Shropshire visiting one of my best friends. Usually when I visit him we tend to do a lot of outdoorsy stuff so I'm don't spend a lot of time worrying about what I look like or what make-up I'm wearing. That being said, we did also make plans to visit some of the local towns on more gentile excursions so at least some make-up was going to be needed and today I'm going to share with you what I decided to take with me. In case you're interested in trying any of these products for yourself, and want to know more about them, I've included links to any reviews I've done on the products I'm mentioning.

I always seem to have a mini Benefit the PoreFessional Primer in my collection and it is my travel primer of choice. Nowadays, when I'm not travelling I very rarely use it - I much prefer mixing The Body Shop's Instablur All in One Primer with Revlon's PhotoReady Skin Illuminator in in Bare Light. I find that it's a more affordable option that not only adds radiance to my skin but really helps with the longevity of my make-up. However, when it comes to travelling I do prefer the dinky Benefit primer because it takes up so little space.

For my base I've generally been mixing my foundations because I am in between shades. When I was in Amsterdam I got a bit of a tan and now all of my foundations are too light for me, including Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory but being the darkest foundation I own it is the best of the bunch. For concealing, I've been reaching for Lavera's Natural Concealer in Ivory which offers very light coverage but is dreamily blendable. It doesn't cover as much as I'd like but it is very good for everyday wear and I'm going to be doing a full blog post on it in the near future.

For my cheeks I thought I'd take my Stila Convertible Colour Trio in Cool which gives me three shades to play with and I absolutely love these blushes. They last incredibly well on my skin and the colours are really flattering, I'd highly recommend them! For highlighting my cheekbones I'm taking my Catrice Made to Stay Highlighting Pen because I'm sort of between highlighters at the moment. Although I don't mind this highlighter from Catrice I am looking for something new, preferably a natural and cruelty free product, that I could swap into my routine. If you know of something I could try recommendations would be welcomed!

I've only planned on taking one lipstick (which is very unlike me) because I don't think I'll want to wear anything else. I've really been loving Living Nature's Lipstick in Summer Rain* and if you want to see what it looks like you can see me wearing it in yesterday's post. It's the most easy to wear raspberry shade and the formula is really moisturising. It's all I've worn on my lips this week, which is quite something because I love trying out new lipsticks. For eye makeup, I've opted for a couple of my old favourites. For mascara, I chose to take MaxFactor's Masterpiece Mascara in Black/Brown, I like this because it adds loads of length, doesn't flake or smudge but is still easy enough to remove (which is good because I'm not taking my full skincare routine away with me). I also decided to take Essence's Stays No Matter What Waterproof Eyeliner because it has become a bit of a daily staple. I find it lasts very well for such an incredibly affordable product and I primarily use it on my upper lash line to enhance the look of my eyelashes. 

Lastly, for my eyebrows I've been opting for a heavier brow look using Cosmetics A La Carte's Brow Ink in Taupe and Catrice's Eyebrow Filler. I use the brow ink to fill in my brows and then go over them with the tinted eyebrow gel (if you want to know what this looks like I was using this combo in the FOTD in yesterday's lipstick post). I really like using these two products together and I think the brow ink is particularly good, it lasts incredibly well and is very easy to build up the exact look that you want.

That's all I'm taking with me, apart from a couple of Real Techniques' brushes - the Buffing Brush, Stipling Brush and Expert Face Brush. I hope that you've enjoyed having a peep into this week's make-up bag - if you like this sort of make-up overview post (I don't know if it is interesting or a bit too rambly) I could write them more often as regular weekly beauty feature. 

What make-up have you been wearing a lot this week? Would you recommend any of it?

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A Little Naturisimo Haul

During the month of September I became more and more interested in natural beauty products - especially natural and organic make-up, which I haven't really had much experience with. One Little Vice doesn't exclusively feature natural and cruelty-free products, but I would like to become more knowledgeable about natural and cruelty-free alternatives and to share with you my experience of these alternatives. 

A week or so ago (just before I wrote my first Natural Beauty Wishlist post) I ordered a couple of products from Naturisimo to get me started. The make-up item I decided to try out first is Lavera's Natural Concealer in the shade Ivory which I'm hoping will stand up to my current drugstore favourites. I'm planning on doing a full review with swatches and a make-up look once I've had the chance to properly put it to the test. I also picked up two samples, a generous 15ml sample of Elemental Herbology's Facial Glow Radiance Peel (an old favourite of mine) and a very small sample of Vapour's Trick Stick Illuminator in Star. My first impression of the Illuminator are that it is very glittery, perhaps too glittery for my tastes, but I definitely need to test it out further before giving my final judgement.

What new make-up have you tried recently?

 Do you have any natural make-up favourites that you would recommend?

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Natural Beauty Wishlist #1

Ever considered opting for more natural makeup alternatives but never known where to start? This post is all about sharing some of my natural beauty finds with you, showing you where you can buy them and where you can find swatches so you can make informed decisions about whether or not you'd like to try them yourself.

Living Nature Lipstick in Summer Rain 

(available online at MyPure)

My first natural beauty pick is a gorgeous raspberry lipstick from the brand Living Nature. Their products are made in New Zealand in small batches by an experienced team of experts, and this lipstick is 100% all natural and isn't tested on animals. My Pure have four shades of Living Nature's lipsticks on their website but Summer Rain stood out to me as my ideal everyday lipstick shade. If you're interested in learning more about the brand then you can find their website here and for swatches and more info head on over to Shannon's blogpost.

AnneMarie Borlind Lipstick in Rosewood

 (available online at Naturisimo)

Rosewood is a matte dark pink shade, and coming in at less than a Mac lipstick I think this is a great natural beauty pick. Borlind products are made in Germany, are suitable for vegetarians and are cruelty free. The reviews of these lipsticks on Naturisimo are positively glowing and along with Rosewood they also have a gorgeous crimson shade called Celebrity Red. If you want to find out more about the brand then you can find their website online here and to see what Rosewood looks like take a peek at Emma's Quick Make Up Look on Youtube.

Lavera Lips and Cheeks in Sunny Cherry 

(available online at Naturisimo)

Made in Germany, this product is 100% natural, free from parabens and fragrance and is completely cruelty free. Lavera is a slightly more affordable natural beauty brand and the dual nature of this product, I think, makes it even more appealing. There are three shades to choose between, I chose Sunny Cherry because I think it would best replicate a natural flush making it very easy to wear on an everyday basis. I haven't tried any of Lavera's products yet but I've heard so many good things that this may be the product I try first out of my wish list. If you're interested in finding out more about the brand then you can find their website here and to see what Sunny Cherry looks like then check out GreenMakeup's review here.

Ilia Multitask Stick in All of Me 

(available online at Naturisimo)

I recently discovered Ilia through one of my favourite blogs, We Were Raised By Wolves. Evelyn reviewed a gorgeous lipstick and I was inspired to look up Ilia's beauty line. Lo and behold, I found a whole treasure trove of gorgeous products. Not only does this Multitask Stick come in an array of gorgeous colours but it is also made up of between 68-72% organic ingredients. It is made in the USA, is cruelty and paraben free and has very positive reviews on Naturisimo's website. I love the look of the shade All of Me which is described as a warm watermelon colour. For swatches see Cori's blog.

Ilia Illuminator Stick in Polka Dots & Moonbeams

 (available online at Naturisimo)

Another Ilia product, another gorgeous chubby stick applicator but this time housing a shimmering highlighter. Polka Dots & Moonbeams is described as a pearlescent cream shade and it looks right up my alley. It isn't a cheap product but with high quality organic ingredients and the appeal of a product that I would reach for everyday I'm sold. Interested in learning more about the brand? Check out their website online here and for swatches see Cori's blog.

RMS Beauty Burity Bronzer 

(available online at Love Lula)

This bronzer is 100% natural, vegetarian (but not vegan because it contains beeswax) and is cruelty free. The colour of this bronzer looks pretty perfect for anyone with pale skin who is looking for a bronzed glow without any orange hue. I've heard so many good things about RMS' products and I think I would definitely like to start exploring their collection with this bronzing product. I love cream cheek products because they're so easy to apply and the sheer consistency of this bronzer will make it foolproof to apply and give it a very natural finished look. If you want to find out more about RMS then check out their website and for swatches take a look at If Make Up Could Talk's blog.

I'd love to hear your feedback on this post and if you have any natural beauty favourites I would really love it if you could share them with me in the comments!