Going Cruelty Free.

Back in September, I stumbled upon this Youtube video about cruelty free beauty products and somehow its message slowly grew on me during the past few months: why make animals suffer from something so unnecessary as make-up? I am pretty positive that no logical human being could answer that question. You don't really need make-up to survive at the end of the day, don't you... even if it makes us feel prettier and more confident, it's definitely not necessary as food or water is.

Before watching said video, it had never crossed my mind that we are basically making animals die for something that we don't actually need. So I decided to take the three girls' advice and switch to cruelty free beauty products. It won't be a drastic change, since I'm going to use up the non-cruelty free make-up that I already own; but I will try and buy non-animal tested cosmetics only, especially vegan ones. 

Since March 2013, companies can't sell cosmetic products that have been tested on animals in the European Union. Unfortunately, it only means that the finished product has not been tested on animals, while the ingredients probably were. Also, many brands say they don't test on animals, but they suppliers do, or they commission tests to third-party companies. It's kinda sad to hear, isn't it? Lots of widely available brands such as L'Oréal, Rimmel, Chanel, Dior, Maybelline and MAC test on animals in some way, even though there definitely are alternative testing methods available.  

The good news is that there are plenty of readily available beauty brands that sell cruelty-free! Too Faced, Wet'n'Wild, Soap & Glory, Hourglass, ELF... switching to cruelty-free is not as hard as it may sound, and I think it will be an interesting journey :) 

Obviously there's so much more to be said on the topic, but I'm a newbie and I still have a lot to learn myself; I just wanted to write a short post to hopefully raise some awareness in my readers. I will leave you with a few links that I found very helpful: 

Gocrueltyfree.org FAQs

The Leaping Bunny Program

Cruelty Free vs Vegan

Cruelty Free Brands List

What do you think about animal testing on cosmetics? Do you think it's something necessary?

The Perfect Shower Combo

I was grocery shopping in a organic shop I had never been in before, so obviously I had to check out their beauty isle! I actually found some little gems there - mainly products from Lavera, Benecos and Logona. I wanted to take every product they had to the till with me, but I had to resist and I chose the Logona Harmony Quince and Vanilla Shower Gel. Now, doesn't that sound heavenly? I was blown away by the sheer gorgeousness of the scent right when I opened the cap. This super creamy shower gel has a light and uplifting pear scent, with warm, sugary vanilla notes. Maybe it's not the most appropriate scent for this time of the year, but I am in love with it nonetheless!

A few days before I had ordered the Vanilla Brulée Body Polish from The Body Shop from one of their holiday collections, and as soon as I got it I went straight into the shower! Oh God, where do I even begin to describe it. It's amazing. It smells just like a vanilla candle from IKEA (I love that candle, even if it's the cheapest candle in the world!), but at the same time it doesn't feel artificial at all.  

I love the texture of this body polish, because it's exfoliating without being harsh, and the exfoliating particles don't just wash off right away! It has actual kiwi seeds in it... so cool! This body scrub has a creamy texture that turns to milky once you start rubbing the product in, so you don't really need body wash afterwards. 

The scents of the Logona Harmony Quince and Vanilla Shower Gel and the The Body Shop Vanilla Brulée Body Polish mix so beautifully that I could honestly spend my whole life in the shower! If you want to treat yourself, I highly suggest checking those two products out... And if you are looking for Christmas presents, they would be the perfect choice!

La settimana scorsa stavo facendo la spesa in un supermercato bio in cui non ero mai stata prima, e ovviamente ho dato un'occhiata alla sezione beauty! Era davvero ben fornita, con prodotti Lavera, Benecos e Lagona, tutti brand di cui avevo sentito parlare ma che non avevo mai provato prima. Non c'è nemmeno bisogno di dire che volevo comprare lo scaffale intero, ma mi sono contenuta e ho scelto il bagnoschiuma Harmony al Cotogno e Vaniglia del brand tedesco Logona. Ha un profumo semplicemente celestiale! La trovo una combinazione di essenze davvero raffinata e poco scontata; è un profumo fresco, dolce e vivificante - forse non proprio il più adatto a questo periodo dell'anno, ma lo adoro lo stesso! 

Qualche giorno prima avevo ordinato, approfiittando della spedizione gratuita, il Doccia Esfoliante alla Vanilla Brulée di The Body Shop. Mai combinazione di profumi fu più azzeccata... usandolo prima del bagnoschiuma, lo scrub ne esalta l'essenza senza renderlo stucchevole. Lo scrub ha lo stesso profumo delle candele alla vaniglia di IKEA, ma giuro che non è la solita vaniglia super dolce e artificiale! Mi piace perchè esfolia al punto giusto, e soprattuto le particelle esfolianti non scivolano via alla prima goccia d'acqua come tanti altri scrub che mi è capitato di provare. 

Entrambi i prodotti costano circa €9 - non esattamente economici ma neppure troppo costosi; diciamo il prezzo giusto per un regalo di Natale, per un'amica ma anche per sé stesse ;)

On being grateful.

Thanksgiving is that one American holiday that I wish was celebrated all over the world, probably because it's not strictly linked to a specific religion or culture. I have been thinking of writing about the topic of gratitude and giving thanks for sometime now, so what better moment than to do it on Thanksgiving day?

I have never been a positive person by nature - I have always looked at the negative side of things rather than looking at the good one first. My mind has worked like this forever. Now that it's almost over, I can easily say that 2014 has been the first tough year in my life and somehow all the difficult times I have gone through have started changing the way I see life. Slowly but surely.

I have learnt so much this year - maybe it's true what they say, that you only learn some things the hard way. I felt alone because I wasn't living with my family, I felt ugly because my acne had never been so bad and the only thing I was allowed to do was studying - no distractions allowed.

It was easy to get stuck in a negative thinking rut, and for some time I did. I constantly thought about all the things I didn't have -a boyfriend, perfect skin, free time-, and thought things couldn't get worse. WHAT?! How did I even get to that conclusion? Don't ask me. I was acting so silly. You know why?

I wasn't taking the time to think about all the things I did have. Yes, I was single. Yes, my skin was definitely not great, and yes, I had to spend 80% of my hours on textbooks. But what about all the millions of other things I didn't earn, but was gifted nonetheless? Tea. Your favourite food. A sunset. Your family. A pair of earrings. Health. A nice movie. Your favourite lipstick. A friend to talk to. Even having the possibility to attend University, despite how tedious it may be at times. If you wrote all the things you have on the side of a piece of paper and the things you don't have on the other, you would be amazed by the result. And you would feel a bit silly, too. I actually did this, with actual pen and paper, because I like making lists and writing things down; and I suggest you do it too.

Maybe it may seem unnecessary to some people, but something I find really helpful to keep me aware of all the positivity my life is filled with I keep a little book, which I call my Gratitude Journal, that I write every night right before I go to bed. I use a day-per-page Moleskine in which I write at least 5 things I am grateful for that day: yesterday I wrote "It was sunny today; I bought a book I had been wanting for ages; I am in peace". It doesn't have to be something extraordinary. Not every day something amazing happens, but that's ok. What's amazing, on the other hand, is the feeling I get when I read the pages I wrote on my journal – I highly recommend this way of keeping track of the positive things that happen in your life.

I will round up this post now by telling you what I try and remind myself every morning when I wake up:

You have so much. Everything will come to you at the right time. Be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Avène Micellar Lotion - Better Than Bioderma?

As much as I love and use Bioderma H2O every single day, I'm always looking for a dupe - not because I'm getting bored of it, but because I want to find something that works even better. You know by now that my love for Avène products is big, so when I saw they had a micellar lotion I had to test it out! 

The Avène Micellar Lotion is a clear liquid make-up remover, and just like Bioderma it looks and feels just like fresh water. It has the typical fresh Avène water scent which I really enjoy - it makes me feel cleaner, is that even possible?

I generally like to remove the bulk of my make-up using the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish and and then do a second cleanse using a micellar water, but I have tested the Avène micellar water alone as well. It takes off face make-up very well: generally my skin is perfectly clean using one cotton round for each side of my face. However, I find it not as efficient as Bioderma in removing eye make-up. It does a great job for sure, but a few times I woke up the next day with slight mascara residue under my lower lashline. 

As like every Avène product I have tried so far, it's extremely gentle on the skin: it doesn't burn or leave my skin feel tight, even around the eye area, nor does it leave any kind of residue behind. It's so refreshing and uplifting that sometimes I even use it during the day when I feel my skin getting a bit oily and gross. I love it! 

Is it any better than Bioderma? I think there's not much difference between Bioderma and the Avène Micellar Lotion. Both are targeted towards sensitive skin-types and would be perfect for acne-prone skin. They even are in the same price range (they cost about 12 euros) and I really enjoy both of them, so I guess I'll just have them on rotation :)   

Have you tried the Avène Micellar Lotion? What's the best Bioderma dupe in your opinion?

Things I'm Loving At The Moment

I moved back to Rome a month and a half ago and I already managed to make four trips to Tiger. If you're not already familiar with it, I would define it as IKEA without the furniture! It sells tons of different gadgets and little trinkets for the house. I especially love its stationery section: they always have some kind of cute washi tape and it's usually €1 for two! Last time I went, I picked up some colourful jumbo markers and a set of alphabets stamps that I will use to decorate my Filofax.

Now that the weather is getting colder, I enjoy drinking tea even more. It's honestly one of my favourite things ever, so when I found a little shop selling Kusmi brand I decided to treat myself and get a tin of the Almond Green tea. I absolutely adore it! It has a very powerful almond scent, but  tastes quite delicate and doesn't taste like straight up grass like normal green tea! It's definitely more expensive than regular tea, but it's so worth it in my opinion. 

I finally saw Keira Knightley's latest movie last week as it's just came out in Italy and I have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop ever since. I really enjoyed the movie, but I think the songs are just so good! Keira did such a great job with her singing, and I much prefer Adam Levine's style in this film than in his Maroon5 songs. No One Else Like You and Coming Up Roses are two of my favourites from the Begin Again soundtrack (you can click here to listen to the full version!)  

Since there's not a single day where I don't check Gh0stparties for a new post, I thought I'd mention it in this post! I'm sure you all know about it because it's honestly the best beauty blog ever. It's run by the amazing Kate which manages to take the most Pinterest-worthy photos ever, write lengthy and helpful posts and run another amazing blog, Nouvelle Daily. Go check her blogs out if you haven't already!

What have you been obsessing over lately? :)