BLOGS IN BLOOM - Samantha's 100% Cruelty Free Beauty Companies

Samantha from The Beauty Diaries shares her favourite BUAV approved companies and products.

Hi everyone, I’m really happy to be guest blogging for Lily and hopefully you’ll find my post interesting

I thought I’d list my favourite BUAV approved products. Whilst I review cruelty-free products not all of them are BUAV approved (which if they are you can be 100% certain that there has been absolutely no animal testing whatsoever at any stage of the production or sourcing of ingredients). Also, whilst I don’t want to come across as ‘preaching’ because hey if you’re not particularly concerned about animal rights that’s your prerogative and I would never judge, my attitude however, is that not many people know how easy it is to pick some well known amazing ranges that are 100% cruelty-free! So here we go....

L’Occitane: My favourite product of theirs simply has to be the Shea Butter hand cream! Without this my hands go so dry and it’s the only thing that keeps them nourished and stops my skin from cracking around the cuticle, it’s an absolute god send. Plus it smells lush!

Urban Decay: I know everyone says this but honestly their Naked Palette is fantastic. I couldn’t understand the hype, and plus they were always sold out! But then my local Debenhams must have just had a delivery because they were stocked to the brim, and after a few swatches I knew I needed it! When I showed it to my bestie, she fell in love so I bought her one for her birthday and she wears it all the time now

Thalgo: I discovered Thalgo at 18 in my first role as a Beauty Therapist and fell in love instantly! They do these fantastic bath salts, called Thalassobath with algae; it feels like your having a Thalgo treatment in your own bath, and your skin afterwards feels so revitalised

Liz Earle: I’ve only gotten to know this range in the last 6 months, and like everyone else I love their cleanse and polish, it really does work. But for me it has to be their new sheer skin tint SPF15. I’ve actually started calling it my ‘hero’ product because even though I have a base I don’t feel ‘made up’ if that makes sense, and my skin still feels like it can breath. You really all need to go out and buy it when it’s released!!

Neal’s Yard: My favourite product has to be their Beauty Sleep Concentrate, which is a godsend if you’ve had a late night! Simply pop it on before you go to bed, and your skin literally looks and feels like it’s had a full 8 hours even if you feel awful and have the worst hangover in the world. I never fail to pop it on before sleepy time

So how many of you honestly knew these ranges didn’t test on animals AT ALL? Did anyone every give it a second thought until just now? I hope I’ve raised some awareness without being ‘preachy’ and also made you aware of how easy it is to find amazing, well known brands who take this so seriously

Big thanks to Lily for letting me guest post, and big thanks to you guys for reading

Questions...

1. Tell us a little about yourself...
Well, I’ve been a Beauty Therapist for 8 years, and have been teaching it for half that time, and I absolutely love what I do! I couldn’t see myself being or doing anything else, I knew when I was 13 it was the career for me, and I work really hard to make sure my techniques never get old and that I’m up too date with the latest trends, because this industry is so fast paced if you don’t keep up you will get left behind very quickly

2. What can we expect to see from your blog?
Lots of cruelty-free reviews, and updates on my health kick progress. I went cruelty-free in April and am currently making the transition to becoming vegan, so I want to document both my progress, my discoveries and the food/products I love and find along the way

3. Top three blogs/ sites?
This is so hard because there are so many amazing blogs (have you seen my blog roll??? I add to it at weekly lol!)

Ok, first up is www.alexaheinrich.com, which is beautifully presented and so professional looking, plus she gives some really amazing tips, like how to save your broken lipstick, and how to make sure your blush is actually applied correctly. She’s also a Beauty Therapist and I like how she incorporates that into her blog

Secondly, I recently found www.keepinghealthygettingstylish.com is such an inspirational foodie blog, for anyone who is (or is thinking of going) veggie/vegan. Or even if you just fancy something super healthy thats also going to taste awesome. Plus the woman behind it is so nice!

Lastly, but by no means least, I adore www.fashiontoast.com , which is my all time favourite fashion blog because she posts a lot of pictures and writes very little, which is what I’d expect from a fashion blog. I love the pictures, very inspirational!

Thanks again Lily, love being a part of your Blogs in Bloom feature!

Xoxo

Interested in cruelty free beauty? Pop over to The Beauty Diaries to find out more!