My lovelies, I’ve been away for these past couple weeks focusing on some big changes in my life. It is taking me some time to get my head around what has been happening. While I’m healing, I want to thank you for being so patient and continuing to visit each week. I love my LPN readers. You guys brighten up my day. <3

On with the show!

I’ve received a lot of “beauty boxes” in my day – and I love them. I love receiving a variety of products, trying new brands, discovering new ingredients and reading new company stories. This week, I had – by far – the best Beauty Box arrive at my door: The Be Cruelty Free Beauty Box from Vegan Cuts.

Why was it my favourite? Here are a few of my reasons:

1. Full-sized products – 7 of them!
2. Variety of brands both new to me and recognizable favourites
3. A price point of $39 USD … as opposed to their value of over $100
4. All products are “leaping bunny” certified (cruelty-free!)
5. All the products made the cut on my “Ingredients to Avoid” list
6. The goal of this special box is to get more to support the Humane Cosmetics Act – to END animal testing. Sign the pact here!

The SPECIAL EDITION: Be Cruelty Free Beauty Box from Vegan Cuts

In celebration of Be Cruelty Free Week (in 12 countries) Vegan Cuts partnered up with the Humane Society and some fabulous natural, vegan-friendly brands to celebrate and raise awareness. As some of you may or may not know, one of the first reasons I started to go natural in my skincare was by default. I was looking for products that did not test on animals and found that many of those were also better and safer for me too.

So What’s in the Box this month?

Some old favourites like Blissoma Solutions & Dr. Bronner’s make an appearance with some new brands to explore like Biao Beauty and their flower seed-embedded plantable packaging! Here’s a little review on what you’ll find in this month’s box and what I think about each:

Dr. Bronner’s – Liquid Castile Soap in Peppermint

I use Dr. Bronner’s for a myriad of things – cleaning my makeup brushes, sponges (beauty blender), handsoap, body wash and even dishsoap when I’m out of my Seventh Generation. Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap is the best for waking up on groggy mornings. It’s organic and biodegradable liquid castile soap which lathers and cleanses like the rest of the best.

Schmidt’s – Cedarwood & Juniper Deodorant

We all know my feelings on natural deodorants, I praise Soapwalla to no end. This Schmidt’s Cedarwood & Juniper deodorant, however, gave Soapwalla  run for her money. It’s an aluminum-free deodorant cream, but more solid than most deodorant creams I’ve used. It comes with a little spatula to help take the product out, although that stiffness does affect how easily you can apply it. What I loved was the woodsy scent that neutralizes odour – so it’s a great unisex deodorant too. While it didn’t last as long as my Soapwalla (in terms of effectiveness throughout the day), it is still a great alternative for those who are seeking a milder alternative.

Beauty Without Cruelty – Moisture Plus Shampoo

I’m not going to say too much on here, as I want to do a longer post on this shampoo at a later date. By in large, this shampoo was a huge find. While there are a couple ingredients I am not a fan of (coamidopropyl betaine, which is synthetic and can cause allergic reactions) the majority of the ingredients are natural and beauty enhancing. Natural and effective shampoos are a tough one, and this beautiful aromatherapy cleansing shampoo gave me a shiny head of hair with a soft texture. You will be hard pressed to find any “conventional shampoo” that is as lovely as this one.

Aubrey Organics – Natural Sun SPF 45

I am a stickler on sunscreen, and I’m always trying new brands to see what’s the best. I’ve wrote on sun protection previously, so you can check that out here. This Aubrey Natural Sun is a broad-spectrum SPF 45 sunscreen (thumbs up!) made with shea butter and organic aloe to protect and hydrate skin at the same time. The active sunscreen is zinc oxide, so it rests on the top of your skin and does not completely absorb in. That’s a good thing. We don’t want to be absorbing all the sunscreen into our skin. It’s gluten and fragrance-free so you won’t find too many opportunities for sensitivities. Like most mineral sunscreens, it can leave you with a bit of a white-sheen (if you’re pale like me, this isn’t much of an issue), but when blended well it’s easy to disguise. Protection lasts about 2 hours and is water resistant for ~40 minutes.

Blissoma – Awake Morning Firming Facial Moisture

My love of Blissoma Solutions is no secret. It’s one of the purest lines with fantastic high quality ingredients and it’s affordable. Awake is Blissoma’s firming facial moisturizer which is great for reducing puffiness with its blend of aloe, herbs, and vitamins. Over these past few weeks I have admittedly shed some tears and have had a puffier face than usual. This product has been an amazing morning addition after cleansing and toning. It’s combination of wonderful moisturizing oils (including coconut, tamanu, and hemp) and herbs have been nourishing & cooling my skin. I have been applying this under a facial oil for the past couple weeks and really love it. If you have oily skin, this might be the perfect morning moisturizer for you.

Biao Beauty – Rejuvenating Mask

For the belles fighting dry skin, here is a face mask for you to give a spin. The Biao Beauty Rejuvenating Mask is a creamy facial mask packed with nourishing ingredients like babassu oil, rose oil, almond oil.  It’s a quick pick-me-up for dry skin, only taking 5 minutes before needing to be washed off. While I wouldn’t put this on my absolute faves (might be better for more mature skin-types), the packaging was awesome – you can plant it and grow wild flowers with the seeds implanted in the box.

Little Extras:

Some extra additions include Crazy Rumors Leaping Bunny Lip Balm which is a super yummy fruit-flavoured lip balm containing moisturizing shea butter and jojoba oil, as well as the Humane Society of the United States’ cosmetics bag with a cruelty-free shopping guide and pledge card for pledging to be cruelty-free.